CV

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Eliza

Post   » Wed Jun 30, 2021 5:43 pm


New to the forum but guinea pig owner for 2ish years. I have four sows who, up until now, have been in excellent health. They eat well w/ ample veggies, have a 80"x50" enclosure with a 50"x30" loft with fleece bedding, and they get run of two rooms during floor time. I am hoping to get some advice on the logistics of my herd's recent and sudden battle with CV. Background info:

On Monday night while I was doing body checks, I noticed grape-sized lumps in the throat area in two of my pigs, Winter and Piper. They were movable masses and didn't seem to cause any discomfort. My third pig (Lyra) had what I assumed at the time to be a small ringworm spot under her chin (it looked just like the little bald spot one of my Guinea Pigs had when she had ringworm when I first got her) but no palpable mass anywhere. Suspecting CV in my pigs with masses, I separated them from my other two pigs and put them in a separate room. On Tuesday morning, I brought my two with masses to the vet. She said it was almost certainly cervical lymphadenitis. Because all other vital signs were excellent, pigs were still happy and healthy, and the masses were relatively small, she prescribed Bactrim and an anti-inflammatory for 10 days to see if we can get them to shrink. If not, she said they may need to be drained. Well, Tuesday evening I got Lyra out to check her spot and put ringworm spray on it, and I noticed a little scab that was half off. I cleaned the area (which caused the scab to come off) and pus immediately started to come out. So it must've been an abscess that ruptured on its own. I squeezed all of the pus out (there wasn't much), flushed it with saline, and cleaned the area again with peroxide. Called vet this morning when they opened to let her know the third pig was likely patient zero, and she advised me to move my one pig without a mass (Delilah) to her own enclosure and start my third pig on the same meds as my original two.

I've got my two with masses but no draining abscess in their main enclosure, my pig without symptoms (Delilah) in another room in another enclosure, and I have my pig with the draining abscess (Lyra) in another room in a third enclosure (she's not with the 2 with masses because I was worried her draining abscess would continue contaminating the enclosure and challenge my other 2's recoveries...no idea if that's even a thing; I've been overthinking everything). Her abscess looks good so far...there was a tiny bit of pus in it this morning when I flushed it, but when I checked again this afternoon it was still empty. The problem is that Lyra and Delilah (my only pig without symptoms) have never been separated before now. Their first owners got them from the same cage at a pet store and kept them in a tiny cage together until I adopted them, and they've been together ever since. They sleep beside each other all the time and are very bonded. They are taking the separation hard. I feel so conflicted because of course I want to keep Delilah from being exposed even more than she already has been, but they just are not themselves and I'm worried the stress of separation is going to make Lyra worse...😔 Since moving her away from Delilah she's been eating less than she normally does. I asked about going ahead and treating all pigs with antibiotics on Tuesday, thinking maybe that would be a way to keep them all together, but the vet said she doesn't want to treat unless they have symptoms. Which I get...but now I'm worried that right when my other three kick this (if they do...and I so hope they do) Delilah will start to show symptoms, and then she'll have to be alone even longer while she's treated.

Just not sure what the right thing to do is and feeling so guilty about all of it. I've been crying on and off. Just want to do right for them and help them get better but I'm not sure the exact path to take. My brain tells me to listen to the expert and keep Delilah alone, but my heart just wants to put them back together again 😭 Would be grateful for thoughts or any advice/experience with CV.

bpatters
And got the T-shirt

Post   » Wed Jun 30, 2021 5:58 pm


The recommendation is that CL lumps be excised and antibiotics also given. If not, the infection will just keep recurring.

The vet needs to order a culture and sensitivity test to see what the organism is and what antibiotic will work. There's no point giving Bactrim if it's not effective against whatever is causing the infection. I do realize that three culture and sensitivity test would be outrageously expensive. If it were me, I'd have one done and hope that the same organism is causing the problem in all three pigs.

I'd also probably assume that all of them have been so thoroughly exposed that there's no point in separating them.

Have you read https://www.guinealynx.info/lumps.html? Follow the links all the way through.

Eliza

Post   » Tue Jul 20, 2021 7:10 am


Thank you bpatters!!

Update on the CL situation: both Winter and Piper had their abscesses surgically removed to great success. The vet was able to remove them entirely encapsulated with no spillage at all. Incisions are healing nicely, pigs finished up antibiotics, so far no other lumps to be seen in them or my other piggies. Fingers crossed it stays this way...

On an (possibly?) unrelated note, Winter has begun having episodes of 'hooting' or monkey-like sounds that start while eating and are cleared with a big cough/sneeze. This has never happened before the surgery...has anyone heard of anesthesia causing something like this? The first time it happened was on July 16th. It resolved itself with a sneeze and she didn't make that sound again all weekend so I assumed hay dust.

Took her to the vet Monday morning (7/19) for her surgery followup to check incision etc and let vet hear the recording I took of her breathing. She wasn't worried since it wasn't happening on every breath/constantly and Winter is healthy otherwise. Winter's stats were as follows: weight: 2.3 lbs, heart rate: 220, no discharge from eyes or nose, no murmurs or arrhythmia detected, lungs asucultate clear bilaterally. She said she didn't see any reasons on exam for it and Winter looks great.

She began making that sound again late last night (7/19...of course right after the vet visit) and it got pretty loud before her sneeze-like sound cleared it. Was good again until 6 am this morning when I woke to her making the same sound...again, a sneeze stopped it.

Other than the hooting, she's her normal sassy self and excited to eat, pooing regularly, etc. I don't really see other heart pig signs beyond the hooting. She does not sleep deeply and doesn't seem to be less active.

I am honestly at my wit's end with the constant worrying...I love these little things so much and they seem so fragile. I feel like every time I turn around something is wrong. Not sure the right course of action, but I'm quickly exhausting my vet funds with how much I've spent the past 2 months on the CL issue, so I really don't want to rush her in again unless absolutely necessary. Hoping someone here has some insight on this.

EDIT: forgot to specify that the hooting first began while on Bactrim. She finished her course yesterday morning. So I'm assuming definitely not a URI based on her good exam yesterday morning and the fact that she's been on antibiotics basically nonstop since 6/30. Also forgot to add that she rebounded VERY quickly from the anesthesia. Vet also mentioned she had a hard time getting her to actually go to sleep for her surgery-- Winter kept popping back up! She was 100% her normal self the afternoon after the surgery whereas Piper took a bit longer to come around after the anesthesia.

Also, I noticed that Winter had nibbled 2 bites from the corner of an incontinence pad last night. I usually use washable absorbent liners under their fleece, but since their surgery I've been changing out the liners under the fleece frequently and then putting their hay atop one so I can better monitor if there's any draining/bleeding from incisions (I've since removed all accessible liners and switched back to washable ones since I noticed the nibbles. She did not get at the absorbent layer part, just the thin paper edges). I'm wondering now if maybe some of this has gotten stuck in her throat??

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Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Tue Jul 20, 2021 7:50 am


So glad the surgeries were successful!

Is the incontinence pad paper or plastic? Some covers can be plastic (like baby diapers). I suspect this is not a problem and is not the cause.

I suspect the hooting is not significant but would continue to monitor, keep a log and note any changes or suspicions. My guinea pig used to wolf down green pepper and would breath funny until she coughed.

Regular weight measurements (at least once a week) will also help you monitor health.

Eliza

Post   » Tue Jul 20, 2021 7:59 am


Got one out to check and you are right -- the bottom coating is a thin plastic material and the top is a bit 'softer' (but still part of the plastic bottom). Do you think this something that will pass through on the off chance it is stuck in her throat?

I will definitely monitor it and continue watching her weight. It's just such a scary sound! My heart drops every time I hear it and it rattles me for most the day. I will say Winter definitely wolfs down her veggies...and 2/3 occurrences have begun directly following a serving of veggies. Exception would be the occurrence early this morning. She should have only had access to hay and pellets during the night (though it's possible she dragged a bit of green pepper to a hidey and ate it later I suppose...)

Thank you for the reply!

bpatters
And got the T-shirt

Post   » Tue Jul 20, 2021 9:42 am


Hooting while or immediately after eating isn't generally a problem. And greedy pigs can get a bit of something lodged in their throats that gets dislodged with the sneeze. I really wouldn't worry too much about it unless it's happening frequently at times other than when food is involved.

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