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Post by walsh59 on Nov 29, 2010 18:00:39 GMT
Hi all....I'm sitting here crying my eyes out and would love to hear if anyone has had a piggy with pnemonia? I noticed yesterday my piggy, Frankie was breathing heavy. Still eating and acting normally. My exotics vet, who is wonderful, is not in on Mon and Tues. I didn't want to wait, so I brought him into another exotics vet, who was like the grim reaper. She said his lips are blue and his lungs sound full. They did an x-ray and she said he has pnemonia in both lungs and it's very bad. She said she doesn't know how he is still eating and jumping around. She said she just lost a guinea pig last week to the same thing and went on about how bad it looks and they will try to help him, but the outcome is not usually good. She went on and on and not one word of encouragement. She gave me Baytril and told me to cross my fingers. She looked like a hippie reject from the 1960's. Maybe she's a good doctor, but I came home and cried my eyes out. I wanted some hope. I gave him the baytril which made his breathing worse from the stress. I am so frightened. He's only about a year. He is a guinea pig that about six months ago, or less, I found dumped on the side of the road. It took me 5 days and long hours to trap him. He's a little wild and I can't put him near my other guinea pig because he gets agressive. With me, he is as sweet as can be. I named him Frankie and he's been with us for around 5-6 months now. I love him and can't stand the thought of losing him already. I would estimate by his size that Frankie is about a year old now. I was wondering if anybody has had a guinea pig with pnemonia?? The vet made it sound like there is no hope. I haven't been able to stop crying like a baby. I am heartbroken. I didn't spend 5 long days rescuing him to lose him like this. Please tell me this isn't his death sentence. Has anyone had a piggy come back from this? Both his lungs are infected but he still eating and doesn't seem like he's at deaths door. I'm hoping she's a bit of a looney doc. I pray she's not right with this. I would love any advice or opinions. Thanks all.....I need some hope.
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Post by Kayleigh on Nov 29, 2010 18:34:43 GMT
Oh im so sorry to hear this, Keep your piggie in a clean dust free enviroment, if hes on shavings or a loose bedding id advise transfering him onto newspaper and give plenty of nice fresh food & hay along with water. The good thing is hes still eating right? Keep him munching on food/hay as this is a good sign. Keep him warm and dry and keep an eye on him. Your vet shoudlve given you a few days supply of baytril to treat the upper respitory infection. I should mention that pneumonia is contagious to other piggies so keep him away from others if you have any.
Keep us posted.
Kayleigh
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Post by glossedoutlips on Nov 29, 2010 19:40:38 GMT
im so sorry you and frankie hav to be going thru this right now! iv never went through this myself but, Can imagin how sad you must be. Like kyleigh say id put him in a seperate cage and a whole other room from the other GPs and use fleece or something other than shavings. He sounds to be doing better than what the vet said seeing as how hes eating and drinking. I'll keeo him in my prayers.
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Post by walsh59 on Nov 29, 2010 20:45:31 GMT
Thanks guys..your ideas are very helpful. I'm going to clean is cage out now and put clean newspapers in. I do clean the cage out everynight by taking out the soiled bedding and putting more in. Maybe I need to wash the whole cage. The guinea pigs are apart because Frankie is very agressive. I wish I could put them together, but Frankie does not like Ricky (my other guinea pig). Ricky is a very sweet guinea pig, but two males just don't seem to get along sometimes. They are in separate rooms, so Ricky should be fine. The vet gave me enough Baytril for 10 days, but she was so doubtful that he would make it that long. She had no bedside manner, not even a little encouragement. This little guinea pig survived about a month in the wild, so he's strong and I won't give up on him. He's been hiding in his igloo since we got home from the vet. I think he is just traumatized and he didn't like the medicine. He pull hay into his igloo and I just gave him a piece of apple and he stuck his head out and yanked it out of my hand! So that's a good thing. It breaks my heart to see him breathing like this. Well, thanks again for both of your ideas. They were very helpful. I got all my crying out, (for now) now I need to tend to my piggy and get him better. I'll keep you posted! Thanks again!
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Post by Orlaith on Nov 29, 2010 21:06:36 GMT
It's a great sign that Frankie is still eating. As you said, he's a strong piggy and he'll fight for you. I hope he gets better.
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Post by kellyb on Nov 29, 2010 23:25:12 GMT
He's definitely a fighter! I remember your story of how you rescued him - he's meant to be with you and hopefully for much longer than this. So sorry to hear about his lungs.
My sow, Toffee, had some kind of respiratory issue when she was only 3 months old. She started with sneezing and coughing and within 24hours she had stopped eating, stopped drinking and curled herself up in a corner by herself. I only had her for 2 weeks and had none of the information I know now. All I knew was that something was very wrong. I thought she was going to die once I frantically searched the internet for ideas of what could be wrong. I brought her to the vet associated with the pet store where I bought her. They kept her for 2 weeks (store policy because she was sick within 14 days of purchase) and I cried like a two year old when I had to hand her over to them, truley thinking she would die. They kept her in the "quiet room" which is extra nice and warm. They cleaned her cage everyday and gave her lots of fresh veg along with all her other food. They thought she could have been allergic to the pine shavings we were using because she was barely sneezing anymore once they moved her. Slowly she started eating and drinking again. The vet didn't even give her baytril! (She probably doesn't have two clues about piggies). But slowly, she got better on her own. Toffee is now 9 months old and doing great! Be encouraged! I know they can go downhill quickly, but my girl got through it and she was terribly lethargic - your little guy sounds like he's still has energy so this is good! You could always put a small bowl of food in his hidey with him - Toffee drags her bowl into her house all the time.
I'll be praying for him. Keep us posted.
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Post by walsh59 on Nov 30, 2010 1:31:23 GMT
What a great story about Toffee! I love happy endings! So I guess it is possible to pull through. Frankie has not come out of his igloo since this morning. He is munching on hay in there but he won't come out. I took him out and held him for a while. He just laid on me and was breathing heavy. I'm very scared, but won't give up! Now he's not coming out to eat. I don't know if he's nervous about today's ordeal. I washed out his whole cage and he seemed excited about that. I saw him jump in his igloo! He's just laying down with his head sticking out. If this baytril is going to work, I hope it's soon. Well, I'll keep you guys informed. He's a fighter. I will put food in the igloo and see what happens. Again, I am so happy for you and Toffee. That's a wonderful story! I thought you were going to say he passed on, so it was great to hear he's alive and kicking!! Thanks for your kind words!!
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Post by puddlebuddy on Nov 30, 2010 6:38:06 GMT
sorry to hear about Frankie I hope he pulls though. About 2 months ago one of my guinea pigs had a really bad eye ulcer and the vet said to me that it is really bad and chances are it wont heal on its own and she would need her eye removed but i said no i want to keep her on the medication and 2 weeks later the eye completely healed on its own so if I had listened to the vet and went ahead and had her eye removed it would have been pointless. So lesson I learned out of this is vets aren't always right. Just keep giving him medication and I really hope he gets better
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Post by Kayleigh on Nov 30, 2010 9:04:16 GMT
Yep he does seem like a fighter, keep him nice and cosy and well fed and he does have a good chance of pulling through. If you notice him not eating, hunching up in the corner and looking sorry for himself then i would suggest calling an exotic vet for a second opinion. Hope he pulls through. Keep us posted.
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Post by walsh59 on Nov 30, 2010 16:21:00 GMT
Thanks again guys. Frankie will not come out of his igloo. Everything was cleaned out. I just took him out of his cage and he just layed in my arms. I gave him his baytril, which he hates. That was his 3rd dose so far. He doesn't look worse, but he doesn't look better. I'm so sick over this. Frankie loves to sit on top of his igloo and now he's just laying there inside of it. Every once in a while I see him eating the hay I stuck in. His breathing is still heavy and you hear a sound coming out of his mouth sort of like a whimper or a rumbling. He doesn't look in distress, but I know they hide it well. Tomorrow my real vet is back, so I'm going to get his x-ray and take it to him. The vet I went to yesterday just rubbed me the wrong way. I'm concerned that he's not eating his veggies. He nibbled on a cucumber but that was it. Well, I'll let you know how he is later.
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Post by Orlaith on Nov 30, 2010 16:33:48 GMT
Did your vet give Frankie an anaesthetic or anything while doing his x-ray? It's not necessary but some vets do that and that can make even a healthy pig seem very groggy for a few days afterwards.
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Post by walsh59 on Nov 30, 2010 23:14:42 GMT
I don't think she gave him anything. She didn't tell me if she did and it's not on the bill (I know they would charge for it). I made an appointment for tomorrow AM with his real vet. He's just laying in his igloo. Chewed a little hay, but no food. It's odd because he keeps picking up pieces of bedding and kind of tosses it. Then does it again and again. I've never seen this before and I don't know what it means. Has anyone had a piggy do that before?? Also, can anyone tell how you know when a piggy is having trouble breathing? He's breathing heavy, but doesn't look like he's in distress. The emergency vet said they can give him oxygen, but it's so costly. On the other hand, if he's having trouble breathing, I don't want him to be in pain. I'm just wondering if I would be able to tell if he's having trouble breathing. Well, I'll let you know how he makes out at the vet. Thanks again for all your support.
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Post by walsh59 on Dec 1, 2010 17:55:17 GMT
Just came back from the vet, my real vet. He was wonderful with Frankie. He said he won't take the Baytril because the first vet didn't flavor it and it's awful without flavoring. Long story short..he is pretty sick and asked if I would be willing to leave him. I'm trying to sort out the financial stuff..it's pretty costly but I had to do it. They are going to put him in a tank with oxygen because he is struggling to breath. They are going to sedate him and then take blood and and give him some shots while he is sedated. Like for dehydration (he won't drink) and for vitamins and whatever else he will need. He know's how financially hard it is and is keeping it as low as possible, but he said he probably won't survive without oxygen and 24 hour care. He said he still has spunk so it's a good thing. If he was lethargic and just laying there, he said it would be a different story. There are no guarantee's but he knows how upset I am and he is going to do all the tests himself. It is a big animal hospital and it is open 24 hours. They are wonderful and they never give up, so I am praying. I will keep you guys posted, please say a prayer for Frankie, I'm not ready to lose him.
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Post by Orlaith on Dec 1, 2010 22:26:37 GMT
Oh, i really hope Frankie gets better. Your normal vet sounds a lot better and seems to have a genuine care for his patients. You went through so much to give Frankie a safe and loving home. I bet he just adores you for it and he'll do his very best to get well.
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Post by walsh59 on Dec 2, 2010 3:25:47 GMT
My heart is broken. I lost my baby Frankie. I haven't been able to stop crying. They ran a ton of tests because he felt there was something else going on. The vet called all through the day with updates and said it was very bad. They wanted to do an MRI, and he told be it was costly and it would tell him exactly what was wrong. He left the decision to me and I agreed, knowing that it probably wouldn't save his life. My little boy had a massive tumor on his heart. He was struggling to breath. They drained some fluid from his lungs (under sedation) but then the MRI confirmed the tumor and there was no hope. I had to make the hardest decision of my life. But when I went down to see him, he was struggling to breath and I knew I had no choice. They sedated him and then put my baby to sleep. I'm having a really hard time with it and feel I won't get over it. I'll miss his popcorning and wheeking. He was no more than a year old. I try to think that if I didn't capture him from the wild, he may have died a lonely painful death in the woods. I had him for 4 months and loved him everyday. That will keep me going. Please tell me it will get easier. My eyes are just swollen from crying. Goodbye my little baby boy. I will never forget you.
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Post by kellyb on Dec 2, 2010 4:25:37 GMT
So very sorry for your loss. RIP Frankie. You did a good thing by ending his suffering. He was blessed to have you as his owner.
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Post by walsh59 on Dec 2, 2010 7:59:19 GMT
It's almost 3:00 am here in NY and I just woke up and remembered my baby is gone. We are going to bury him first thing in the morning. The vets office gave me a beautiful copy of Rainbow Bridge and a card with his name on it and they put his pawprints on it. I cry when I look at it. Anyway, I realized I never posted a picture of Frankie. I'm going to try now. Not the best shot, but I hope it comes out. Good nite all.
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Post by Kayleigh on Dec 2, 2010 9:21:05 GMT
Oh im sorry to hear about Frankie. You done your best for him and thats all that matters. RIP Frankie.
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Post by tehbuggy on Dec 17, 2010 8:14:51 GMT
I'm so sorry to hear that. RIP baby boy. I know it's hard, but I'm sure that if he could talk he would have thanked you so much. You made thes last four moths wonderful for him, and if it wasn't for you he would have been alone and scared, you helped him pass on quietly and peacefully. You did an amazing job and I'm so proud of you. RIP Frankie, you will always be remembered
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