Emergency please help: Duck's URI gasping for breath

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Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Sat May 27, 2023 11:55 pm


For what it's worth, years back it was recommended to use unflavored pedialyte so you will have to decide yourself what you'd like to do (I think it is mainly additional sugars one would avoid). If you saw the nutritional content of this compared to unflavored, you could tell how significant any sugars are.

It may be that the plain and the flavors all have about the same amount of sugar:
https://www.pedialyte.com/products/classic/unflavored

I wonder if a dislocated joint could be manipulated back into place.

beefyduck

Post   » Sun May 28, 2023 12:41 pm


I was hoping the vet would try to push it back into place yesterday, but I guess since it wasn't obvious if it was a dislocation she wasn't sure how to manipulate it to do that. She described it as the bad hip having this extra band of tissue that she can feel slipping beneath her fingers as she palpates that the good hip doesn't have.

I found out today that my parents gave duck a bath while they were watching her for me and I am so angry about this. I don't trust that they can handle her gently enough through all the squirming that comes with a bath. I can't help but think that maybe she was held too tightly or held wrong and she got injured.

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Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Sun May 28, 2023 8:38 pm


I am sure your parents were trying to be helpful and am betting they were careful. However I don't know what happened to cause the possible dislocation.

One animal physiotherapist was able to rock a dislocated jaw back into place for one guinea pig some years back. Looking online, it looks like there are veterinarians who do surgery for things like hip dislocation and more.

One article I ran across:

Hip Luxation
https://www.acvs.org/small-animal/hip-luxation

beefyduck

Post   » Fri Jun 09, 2023 2:18 pm


Hello it has been a while and I just wanted to update thread to say that Duck is doing well. Her leg looks much better now- a different vet thinks she may have sustained some type of injury/strain to her spine that affected her nerve and made lose feeling in her leg. But the injury must have healed because she is much mkre stable on it now.

She is struggling a bit with keeping her weight up, but she eats like a champ and we are offering critical care to help with it. :)

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Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Fri Jun 09, 2023 10:15 pm


That is great news! I hope she continues to do well. Glad she is eating fine. A modest weight (but not being underweight) might help her leg too.

Thanks for the update.

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ItsaZoo
Supporter in 2023

Post   » Sat Jun 10, 2023 2:22 am


So glad there has been some improvement! Thanks for the update.

beefyduck

Post   » Sat Jun 17, 2023 8:13 pm


Hi everyone. Duck still appears to be doing well. Loves her veggies, hay, and pellets! She's now up to 970g with no more critical care supplements.

I picked her up today and her underside/belly area felts kind of hard and distended. Kind of like a balloon that's been inflated too much. I know this could be bloat, but she's constantly dropping beautiful healthy looking poops. Any idea what else it could be? Are ovarian cysts known cause distended abdomens?

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Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Sat Jun 17, 2023 11:12 pm


Thanks for the update. It sounds like she is doing fine.

Not rereading this whole topic but recommend reviewing info on handling bloat in case it develops.
https://www.guinealynx.info/emergency.html#bloat

beefyduck

Post   » Fri Jun 30, 2023 11:00 pm


Hi everyone. I think Duck's uri is back. One of her nostrils is runny and has a clear and white discharge. She is currently still acting ok, eating and drinking and moving around like normal. I am going to make an emergency vet appointment tomorrow. I really hope it doesn't escalate while we wait for the vet. Is there anything I can do for her until then?

Words can't describe how my heart sank when I saw her runny nose. Poor baby can't catch a break 😢

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ItsaZoo
Supporter in 2023

Post   » Sat Jul 01, 2023 2:27 am


Oh no! I would give her extra vitamin C and make sure she’s eating enough.

When Gidget had back-to-back URIs, I happened to have some of the antibiotics from the last one so I started those. However, the downside is that the vet might decide on a different antibiotic and then you have to stop for 24 hours before you can make the change. Hopefully you can get an appointment and get some meds for her.

beefyduck

Post   » Sat Jul 01, 2023 11:20 am


We have an appointment for 2 today. Behaviorally, Duck still looks good. But I fear that her breathing is getting heavier. I am so afraid of her uri escalating like it did last time. Not being able to breathe seems like the worst way to go. Would anyone consider euthanasia in the case of senior pigs and uris? Her treatment for her last uri just took so much out of her and I was so worried that she would leave us not remembering how much fun it was to be alive

beefyduck

Post   » Sat Jul 01, 2023 3:00 pm


We are back from the doctor. Despite Duck's seemingly heavy breathing, the vet said her heart and lungs sound good. She took a nasal culture to see what (if any) bacteria we need to target. For now, Duck will be on sulfatrim twice daily as she reacts better to it than baytril. Here's hoping sulfatrim is all she needs.

Duck occasionally has a noisy breath that culminates in a sneeze or cough so I was surprised that the vet said her lungs sound good. Maybe she just keeps getting hay stuck in her windpipe and that's all that wheezing/honking sound is

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