Peppa’s Possible Pyometra

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JJGiebz
Make Good Choices

Post   » Fri Apr 01, 2022 9:26 pm


The calcium range listed is .6% - 1.10% per tab. I agree, I don't know what that's doing in there. I know they were sugary, but I miss those Oxbow vitamin C treats that resembled flintstones vitamins. They were easier for my pigs to eat and much more enticing (sugar, I'm sure). I did buy them some vitamin C drops tonight, which I have never used before, so I'm going to have a go at mixing that in with the carrot juice and water concoction I syringe to them to make sure they're getting extra fluids. See that what happens.

I spoke with the vet today re the xrays after the radiology consult. There wasn't a lot of insight offered. They mentioned possible early signs of elongation of the molar roots, which wouldn't be causing the rotten looking incisors, and she's have absolutely no trouble chewing. So I'm going to put a pin in that for now. She mentioned also a slight thickening of the bone around Peppa's ear, suggesting again possible infection. We are going to start her on a round of anti-biotics when I return from my work trip next week. She didn't mention which AB, and I forgot to ask. I did tell her that Peppa has been on "the pink stuff" in the past for UTI and tolerated it with no issues. The vet said that wouldn't be broad enough for an infection of the bone, so I assume it will be a more aggressive AB.

I'm nervous about it all and I don't even have the drugs yet. She's been in such a good place until now - living her best life at ca 5.5/6 years old. I don't want to wait for her to develop additional signs of infection though, and find that it has taken too strong a hold, if that is what it is.

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Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Fri Apr 01, 2022 11:05 pm


Your being proactive is absolutely the best thing to do.

See if you can get a mg number from Oxbow for the calcium in the treats. It may end up being a very tiny amount - if calcium is an issue, though, I bet there are chewable 100mg children's tabs that could be quartered that only had vitamin C and no calcium.

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ItsaZoo
Supporter in 2023

Post   » Fri Apr 08, 2022 5:19 pm


According to the package I have, each tab is 2 grams. The maximum calcium is 1.10%, which would be 0.022 grams of calcium per tab. There is no calcium carbonate in the ingredient list, but there is barley flour, oat flour, and flax seed which all have small amounts of calcium.

JJGiebz
Make Good Choices

Post   » Fri Apr 08, 2022 8:40 pm


Thanks, ItsaZoo! That puts it in better perspective. I did start adding the Oasis Vitamin C drops to their shilintong cocktails instead - it seemed easier to control/make sure they were ingesting, since they're both having chewing difficulty anyway.

I returned home today from my work trip and was very happy to see that Peppa has not lost any weight while I was gone, and her teeth have grown out a bit, but they still look yellow and rather porous. Our vet had a compounding pharmacy ship some Baytril to the house while I was gone, so I am about to start her on that this evening. She's never had any antibiotic stronger than Bactrim, so I'm nervous about it. I hope it helps! And I equally hope it doesn't mess her up. Fingers crossed, and here we go.

JJGiebz
Make Good Choices

Post   » Sat Jan 28, 2023 1:51 pm


Greetings, all!

Back with a new complication... I'm wondering what thyroid drugs people have given their guinea pigs. The short version of this story is that Peppa has been steadily losing weight since the end of October. She is down from around 1200g to 850g. She now has a large lump on her chin/neck that has appeared in the past few weeks and I will be taking her to the vet ASAP for thyroid meds and want to go in as informed as I can.

The long version:

We moved to Geneva, Switzerland in September and Peppa was doing really well at first - her teeth had straightened themselves out (pun intended), she was not phased by the move, eating and drinking well etc. We discovered in January 2022 that she had a cyst on her remaining ovary, but it had not grown at all (ca 1 cm) and her only real symptom there was hair loss. About 7 weeks after we moved, she began to lose weight fairly rapidly.

I took her to an exotics vet here in Geneva who recommended an ultrasound, during which they found she had, in addition to the cyst on her ovary, a cyst on what was left of her uterus, also about 1cm, and a cyst on one of her kidneys. They assessed the weight loss must be caused by lack of appetite due to pain and recommended me to an animal hospital over the border in France for surgery.

There was no way I was having abdominal surgery done on my ca 6 year old guinea pig for a couple of 1cm cysts, and she didn't seem to be in pain to me (she still takes meloxicam everyday for her interstitial cystitis), but I took the hospital consult. They immediately dismissed the pain theory and recommended blood work, and I pushed for a CT scan as well and asked them to check her thyroid. The blood work came back normal, but the CT scan found tumors on both of her lungs. Two tumors on each lung, of about 4-6mm each. The scan also showed a "slight enlargement" of one of her thyroid glands as compared to the other.

The lung tumors were a blow - she was not, and two months later still is not, displaying respiratory symptoms. They believed the tumors were likely cancerous, and they said they would not (maybe could not? their english was better than my french but there was certainly a language barrier) treat for thyroid because it could be cancer, and they had no way of knowing whether the cancer originated in the lungs or in the thyroid.

As I mentioned it has been two months since that scan was done. She is still active, still eating, still breathing normally. But today I noticed a large lump on her chin. She is into the chin scritches, and I give them often when I'm giving her critical care or medication, so it can't have been there all that long - possibly a few weeks - but it feels like it is nearly an inch in diameter. (This based on my very scientific hold-it-in-my-fingers-and-measure-the-gap-between-my-fingers method.) She was hovering around 1kg when we had the CT scan done and is now down to about 850g.

I have been wanting to take her back to the hospital to follow up since I honestly did not think she would still be here two months on after discovering multiple lung tumors. Now that I have felt this lump tonight, I will be calling the hospital first thing Monday morning to get her in. I have read through the thyroid threads on this forum, and have been googling trying to get some insight.

Was the dr correct in what she was saying? Is it not worth treating for hyperthyroidism if cancer is causing the issue? Is there a down side/negative side effect to that? I will not do any biopsies unless it might make a difference to the treatment. If this lump in her neck needs to be benign to treat for thyroid, then I will let them test it. If it doesn't change anything, then I don't need to know. I don't want to put her through the stress of that for no reason. Her weight has been on a roller coaster ride for years, and multiple vets have suggested she may have thyroid issues. The tests have always been "normal" so no one would take the steps to treat it. I am going to be pushing for medication at this point, regardless of her T4 levels.

I have had my sweet Peppa Pig for nearly 5 years (end of March 2018) and she was an adult when I adopted her, so she is no spring chicken. But she is still feisty. I want to give her the best life that I can for as long as I can. I welcome any anecdotal prescription info/dosing info/cancer vs. hormone info anyone has as I want to go into this vet visit as prepared as possible. Especially since google translate will likely be involved...

Thank you all in advance for all of your advice and suggestions, now and over the course of Peppa's many strange medical journeys.

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Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Sat Jan 28, 2023 7:26 pm


Unfortunately, I cannot answer your main question - I do not have enough medical knowledge - but wonder if you have read this page and if it would help at all:
https://www.guinealynx.info/records/vie ... yroid#p264

I hope you can find some answers that help, that you can have more time together.

JJGiebz
Make Good Choices

Post   » Sun Jan 29, 2023 4:40 pm


Thanks for the link, Lynx! I have read that - there is no question of surgery in Peppa's case, I don't think. Given her age and her many other cysts and lung tumors, I don't see the benefit of trying it. I'm just hopeful that we can try medicating for hyperthyroid and maybe this particular lump will shrink a bit. Or at least stop growing. It covers essentially the entirety of her chin. I can't imagine that I haven't noticed it until now, so I'm afraid it is growing rapidly. She'd obviously rather I not touch it, but it otherwise doesn't seem to be bothering her. So at least there is that for now!

JJGiebz
Make Good Choices

Post   » Tue Jan 31, 2023 2:35 pm


Well, its worse than I even imagined. I was so ready to finally have a thyroid diagnosis. Instead, she has an abscess.

They did a CT scan of her head and chest to get a confirmation and we are waiting on the analysis of the scan, but the vet saw pus in her mouth and said her breath smells like it. I guess this explains why she was having trouble eating for a few days earlier this month, and why it popped up so fast. Sigh.

They are waiting for the analysis of the scans before recommending surgery, and they re-checked the lung tumors to see if they grew so I'm waiting on that, too.

In the interim, they gave me a whole pharmacy in a bag including two antibiotics, one of which I've never heard of (Eradia/Flacon?) and one I have to crush and mix with water and then only give her part of the solution (Azithromycine).

I have never dealt with an abscess before, but I just can't see putting her through any kind of invasive surgery at her age and with her many other cysts and tumors. I asked about draining it, but they said the pus would be too thick.

Not making any big decisions until the scan results are back and I know whether the tumors have changed the past two months. If they haven't, AND if the dr thinks they can safely remove the abscess, maybe I will consider the surgery. She did really well with the anesthesia for the scan today. I don't know. I'll just be over here googling these antibiotics. And dental abscesses.

JJGiebz
Make Good Choices

Post   » Tue Jan 31, 2023 2:53 pm


Scratch that - Eradia/Flacon appears to be metronidazole. Peppa has a good history of not reacting to bactrim or baytril, so hopefully her gut will cooperate here and not pile on. They did give us a probiotic as part of our giant-bag-of-treatment, so I'll give her that, too. Wish her luck!

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Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Tue Jan 31, 2023 7:27 pm


There is a topic in the Records forum that reminds me of this:

When an abscess is more than an abscess
https://www.guinealynx.info/records/viewtopic.php?t=95

I hope the antibiotic is safe and effective. I see Azithromycin listed in the Merck manual:
Azithromycin .... 15–30 mg/kg/day, PO (discontinue if soft feces develop)
https://www.merckvetmanual.com/multimed ... uinea-pigs

JJGiebz
Make Good Choices

Post   » Wed Feb 01, 2023 5:49 am


Thank you for that link! I had not read that before and it is very interesting. My girl has had so many strange and chronic issues over the course of her life, it is interesting to consider that they may all be related.

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Zaphy

Post   » Wed Feb 01, 2023 2:21 pm


Anecdotally as far as azithromycin goes, the guinea pig rescue owner around where I live has told me she finds azithromycin very effective, but that about half of pigs will develop inappetence/soft stools so she always makes sure to observe them closely while on it.

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