Four year old losing weight (big thread inside)

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Tracy

Post   » Wed Sep 14, 2022 8:47 pm


There is a thread about Skinny Pigs and T-4, in which I had posted the following from my vet. And on the last page of that thread, another book is mentioned, but maybe same one? I dont know authors of reference below.

My vet gave me the "norms" for thyroid in guinea pigs, from The Clinical Chemistry of Laboratory Animals textbook. I don't understand the units, but hopefully the numbers will help other owners and vets in diagnosing thyroid problems.

T4: male 2.9 +/- 0.6 ug/dL, female 3.2 +/- 0.7 ug/dL

T3: male 39 +/- 17 ng/dL, female 44 +/- 10 ng/dL

Free T4: male 1.26 +/- 0.41 ng/dL, female 1.33 +/- 0.25

Free T3: male 257 +/- 35 pg/dL, female 260 +/- 59 pg/dL

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Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Wed Sep 14, 2022 11:12 pm


Thanks for adding the report, Squiggles! I reformatted it with some breaks, a list, and made the words wrap properly (easier to read). Hope that is okay with you. It is useful to read his analysis.

Squiggles

Post   » Thu Sep 15, 2022 12:24 am


Tracy- That's where I'm so confused, because according to the chart you posted, my pig is definitely considered hyperthyroid, and yet he still reads normal to both vets. I know T4 is difficult to get an accurate reading, so I understand, but I'm going to go with that he has it, and hopefully when he starts the medication today after I pick it up, it'll help with something. I am not sure what the dose is, but when I get the bottle, I will post it.

Lynx- No problem! Still trying to get a grasp on the forums, so feel free to edit anything you need to.

Squiggles

Post   » Thu Sep 15, 2022 9:57 pm


Started the medicine around 9 tonight. It's 0.1 twice a day, in banana flavor, because I have to try to make everything a bit better for my pets. Asked if they had carrot or cucumber, no go. So banana it is. I weighed him tonight before I gave it to him, and he hasn't fallen much since his vet visit, so that's good. I hope it works, but I'm also prepared in knowing what I have to do if it doesn't.

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Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Fri Sep 16, 2022 7:43 am


I so hope it works too and that this dose will make a difference.

Squiggles

Post   » Mon Sep 19, 2022 9:20 am


His weight has been fluctuating between 672 and 653. I hope it doesn't get any lower, but I also know he's only been on the medicine for not even a week yet. He has spent more time in the playpen because I feel that's better for him, and he seems to be more relaxed and snuggles under his blanket. I do put him in the cage to see his brother at breakfast, but then I remove him because his brother wants to "play" and doesn't understand climbing on him isn't a good idea right now.

(Hope I posted the photo right. Feel free to edit!)


Image

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Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Mon Sep 19, 2022 9:30 am


Photo showed up fine! Having trouble finding him in the pen, though!

Squiggles

Post   » Mon Sep 19, 2022 9:37 am


@Lynx, he's actually in the cage in that photo. Haha.

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Tracy

Post   » Mon Sep 19, 2022 10:52 am


Squiggles, I don't know what time period to determine whether medication is "working," but definitely keep in mind that even holding his weight may be success, a.k.a. not losing. Weight GAIN is very hard. Also, with tapazole it sometimes takes a few adjustments to get the dosage right. I'm not sure why... I guess there's a range. At one point my vet realized we were giving wrong dose (perhaps miscalculated?); another time I was advised to double the dose and watch carefully. Be sure to discuss with your vet. I do hope it helps your piggy.

Squiggles

Post   » Mon Sep 19, 2022 11:16 am


@Tracy, I'm just glad he's still eating. My last guinea pig (that I think I realized the weight drop too, too late) just wanted cucumbers. He stopped eating hay entirely, and that's how I knew I couldn't do anything more. Think he ended up bloating as well because of that. This guy is eating everything, hay, pellets, vegetables, even the little oxbow "cookies". Right now he's on 0.1 twice a day, and boy, does he hate it. I tried to get it in a "better" flavor, banana, but maybe when this is done, I'll see if they have watermelon flavor.

Here he is in the pen. So tiny compared to his brother, who, ironically, was always the smaller of the duo. It's like they somehow switched weights, and then he got sick.


Image

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Tracy

Post   » Mon Sep 19, 2022 1:02 pm


My Inca (with thyroid mass) ate and ate also. And while I don't remember what flavor medication we had, she cooperated at first and then really didn't like it. My advice is to stick with it regardless. I tapered off (after several weeks, maybe months) and then stopped the med because she didn't like it, it didn't seem like it was working, and I wanted to preserve a good relationship with her. But tapazole should not be discontinued; that's my understanding from vets. Although Inca's death was relatively quick (may have been a thyroid storm), I regret stopping the med and would act differently if I ever have another thyroid piggy. It may have been helping imperceptibly.

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ItsaZoo
Supporter in 2023

Post   » Thu Sep 22, 2022 1:35 am


Can you mix the med into a flavor of Critical Care or other recovery food that he might like? I do that with the orange-flavored vitamin C drops for Gidget.

I’ve also used watermelon juice to mix meds and feed with a syringe.

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