Ugh! Why do animals always get sick on Sunday, in the middle of the night, or on a Holiday weekend. I broke down my 2x4 cage yesterday, and moved Piper into a Midwest cage. I decided I didn't need something so big, since I only am keeping one pig. It's weird, because the cage has been there for 12 years now, but my journey with pigs will be over once Piper passes. But, that's all a side conversation. Anyway, she was acting a little weird yesterday, and I assumed it was because of the switch to a new cage. She spent most of the day in her pigloo, but in the evening started to come out and today her behavior is back to normal. She's on white Carefresh, so I can easily see there are three areas where there is blood in her urine. I've dealt with a lot of weird things over my years with pigs, but I've never had to deal with blood in the urine. I know it's probably a UTI, or stones. I've dealt with stones multiple times, including medical intervention. I've never dealt with a UTI before. She seems to be okay, and doesn't appear to be experiencing pain. I do have some pain meds from when Bambi was sick last summer that have not been opened, so if she starts to look in pain I suppose I could utilize that.
Unfortunately, the veterinarian who dealt with exotics at the state university vet med has retired, and they did not replace her. They won't see exotics there anymore. There aren't any other vets who are great with guinea pigs within 50 miles, but there are people who see them. So I could probably get her in on Tuesday or Wednesday to the vet who is my "non-emergency" vet. There is only one vet at the local emergency who will see exotics, and she won't be in until tomorrow. She is the one who saw Bambi and couldn't find anything wrong with her, but admitted they don't have the equipment there to do extensive diagnostic tests. Although if I remember right an x-ray can show stones.
So, no matter what, I'm at least stuck waiting until tomorrow to get her seen, and even then if it's something like stones that may need a surgical intervention I don't know how easy it would be to find someone with extensive experience to do it. Beyond the allergies, this is another reason I can't have pigs anymore. I just can't feel helpless not knowing where to turn for help when an emergency occurs.
I should add there have really been no changes in her behavior, except yesterday, and again I assumed it was because of the change of cage. There was no blood in the urine in the previous cage, so this has happened in the past 24 hours. No weight changes either. Everything's been pretty normal.
Holiday Weekend, and Sick Pig
I don't think I have one for her. She's been pretty healthy as far as I can remember. No more blood today, or yesterday. It must've happened over Saturday night, because before I went to bed I checked on her and I didn't see anything, and then Saturday late morning is when I noticed it. I'll probably just call tomorrow and see if I can schedule her sometime this week just to have her looked over. Of course, she also waits to do this until I have to start back teaching. I've been off over a month, and so plenty of time for her to get sick and I could've easily scheduled an appointment. They never make things easy do they?
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Lynx
- Celebrate!!!
Do you want me to move this topic to the medical forum and rename it "Piper's medical topic"?
If you've read a bunch here, you may have noticed that there have been reports that on rare occasion there can be spotting that is possibly associated with a menstrual cycle. I hope the spotting does not return.
If you've read a bunch here, you may have noticed that there have been reports that on rare occasion there can be spotting that is possibly associated with a menstrual cycle. I hope the spotting does not return.
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