Protozoa in Bladder/Urine and Metronidazole

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DevoutHaruhiist
Supporter in '22

Post   » Mon May 02, 2022 11:50 am


And probably the oddest thing about her behavior is despite the fact that she is still pretty mobile and excited for food, etc. (despite some periods of what looks like discomfort), she keeps going back to sit in this one particular spot in the cage to sit.

It's not a spot she has ever frequented before or anything special. It's not in a hidey even. It's just kind of in between her food bowl and the entrance to a hiding area (but she is out in the open when she is there). I've noticed her "range" in the cage, where she chooses to go, has decreased a lot. Not sure what is appealing to her about this one random spot.

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Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Mon May 02, 2022 10:08 pm


Pinta used to use a glass file to gently trim down an incisor that would grow too long. If the back and forth movement normally done when eating things like hay is absent, it may be that you'll need to keep it in check. You want to make sure it is not preventing her from closing her mouth and it is not contacting any fleshy area of the mouth.

You'll want to review what medications she's on and what she's eating and make sure they know she is getting shilintong to help with her sludge.

Is hair growing back on her belly?

DevoutHaruhiist
Supporter in '22

Post   » Mon May 02, 2022 10:50 pm


Thanks, Lynx. Yeah the odd thing about this tooth in particular is how "chunky" it looks. My fear is that with its weird makeup it might not be getting ground down normally even though she is eating hay, etc. It has only just gotten barely longer than the other one so I should be catching it early.

I will definitely have to organize all of her medicines. She is on nothing but the metacam and shilintong as of today. But not sure if she might need to get back on antibiotics.

I took a quick look at her belly-- I don't think it is really growing back but I do think that keeping it drier has cleared up some of the redness that was there before and some of the sore looking areas. Her left leg though as in that earlier pic has pretty much 0 fur and all those skin folds-- it looks like a skinny pig's leg. And as I mentioned I am not sure if she is having the start of some mobility issues. When it's time for food or she is just generally hungry she walks to her food fine, but it seems like occasionally if she is just getting comfortable somewhere she rarely will kind of stumble.

Regarding her weight, I've read that in old age the nutrient absorption process can start to fail. Thus even though she is eating (and getting syringe food supplemental) her weight is still shaky or slightly declining. I am not sure if anything can be given to help with this.

Will definitely report back tomorrow!

DevoutHaruhiist
Supporter in '22

Post   » Tue May 03, 2022 12:54 pm


Went to the vet today

1. Tooth-- vet saw that the one tooth is very slightly getting longer, but wanted to wait a bit to clip it. I have an appt next week. He also noticed some food/plaque near the top of it by the root that he got off.

2. Weight-- he looked at her poop and does suspect that she is not fully processing all of her food/absorbing the nutrients. She is completely done with antibiotics as of Sunday so he told me to continue the probiotics and see if being off ABs helps with this. But it could be old age also. He also said I could be freer with giving her whatever she will eat.

3. UTI/sludge-- did a new ultrasound and looked at her urine on a microscope. Seems her infection seems mostly better but will be doing a culture next week when she has been off the ABs longer. Bladder wall looks a lot better but there is still a good supply of sludge in there.

4. Fur-- still has fur loss on her belly, which might be combining with some other factors to make her slightly cold (he did take her temperature and said it was a little low-- 98.2F). Will continue keeping her dry down there and soaking her to see if with the urine scald healing if she grows it back.

5. Weird behavior/retreating to one spot-- no real conclusion here. Not sure why she is doing that.

6. Heart/Lungs- Heart and lungs sounded good and healthy

7. Stomach bulge - still a bit unsure on this. Doesn't seem to be a thickened lower bowel. Just a distended cecum for some reason. She still seems to have plenty of poops coming through.

Next recheck is May 10th where her tooth will likely be clipped and we'll do a urine culture. Biggest concern is probably her weight instability but she still has quite an appetite.

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Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Tue May 03, 2022 9:04 pm


When he did the ultrasound, did he check the stomach bulge?

Sounds like the vet is being thorough - with your help and questions. I think being able to provide good information to a vet makes a big difference.

With the sludge, I don't recall if you have combined more fluids and a vibrator of some sort to help suspend the sludge and move it out?

Glad after clearing her of antibiotics that he will be testing to see if the bacterial infection is gone.

DevoutHaruhiist
Supporter in '22

Post   » Tue May 03, 2022 10:05 pm


He did check the stomach and said he did not see any lower bowel thickening or anything like that on ultrasound. And she was passing lots of poops. He did examine the poops (kind of breaking them up and looking at them) and said it looked like the ruffage was not fully processed, as I mentioned. Which could be more gut flora problems.

As far as the sludge, I have not had her on a vibrating pad recently. I was a few weeks ago doing it when I thought she had bloat. I am giving her extra exercise time and leading her around so she will walk. I do hope things continue to go well for her. A bit worried about waiting on her tooth another week, but to the vet's point it was only just barely noticeably longer at the moment.

DevoutHaruhiist
Supporter in '22

Post   » Wed May 04, 2022 10:40 pm


Despite everything else still persisting, I am happy with the state of her underbelly. I think with the frequent pee pad changes and occasional soaks it is starting to look cleaner! Pics from april and then today.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ktEj-e ... oQJmJ/view

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1sD5aWQ ... rfN9n/view

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Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Thu May 05, 2022 7:00 am


That is much improved! You are doing a great job!!

I am sure she is much more comfortable.

DevoutHaruhiist
Supporter in '22

Post   » Thu May 05, 2022 10:01 am


Thanks, Lynx.

Unfortunately she gave me a major scare last night. When I went to bed around midnight after feeding her she was seeming pretty lively and her weight had been trending well the last 2 days. But while I was lying in bed around 1 AM, about to fall asleep, for some reason I started from my bed and went to check on her. She was lying down but on closer inspection a little weirdly. She was even more leaned over to her side than usual as if she couldn't keep both of her back feet under her. I roused her with some food and saw she was able to walk, but after going to another spot and eating it, she flopped over again.

I took her out and really thought maybe this was it for her. She looked very tired and was leaned on one side or another. I was able to keep offering her various foods though, which she took and gave me some hope. I felt around her belly (both sides since it did not seem limited to the one side that was distended) and just generally sat with her. At some point she had some poops come out (there were already plenty of poops in the cage so it's not like she hadn't pooped) and started to liven up a little. I put her back and she ate hay on her own and seemed to have a normal night (what her normal has been recently at least). This morning she was back to wheeking for food and seemed normal.

I have no idea what could have happened. My only guess is some kind of acute bloat flare up? I do think I heard her pass some gas throughout the period I was comforting her. No idea but very scary.

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Sef
I dissent.

Post   » Thu May 05, 2022 1:17 pm


Poor thing! Bloat would have been not passing any poops at all, but maybe a bad gas episode. If it happens again, you might give her some Metacam in addition to massage and warmth. I would monitor her for any signs that her gut is slowing down.

Ditto Lynx, she looks greatly improved!

DevoutHaruhiist
Supporter in '22

Post   » Thu May 05, 2022 7:26 pm


Thanks, Sef. Yeah I did think to give her a tiny bit of extra metacam during the episode alongside the other things. I hope it was at least a somewhat isolated incident. I don't think I will sleep well for the next few days due to worry.

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Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Thu May 05, 2022 10:27 pm


Please do try to get some quality sleep. Taking care of yourself is actually taking care of her too, in an indirect way.

I don't know what might have caused her episode but am glad she seemed to get back to normal.

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