[Gpdd] HEALTH- Albert's in bad shape

Lisa Choiniere lmchoiniere at yahoo.com
Sun Feb 12 13:44:17 EST 2006


Jaime,
   
  Your vet told you wrong. Poly-K INCREASES the pH of the urine or alkalizes it, it does not acidify it which is why his pH is so high at 9. With a pH that high, he can start having other troubles with a different type of stone precipitating out of his urine. I would bring that to your vet's attention. If you want an acidifier you use something like vitamin c or cranberry or something of that nature. 
   
  I used a similar drug to Ammonil and that is actually an "acidifier." I would not give it to him and risk swinging his pH the other way so drastically and having stones precipitating out. You could go from a 9 to a 5 in one day and that seems harsh to me. Push fluids and fresh foods high in fluids like apples and watermelon, if you can get it, and that will help out (sugar content be darned at this point). Vets push drugs drugs drugs and I don't think that is always right especially when they don't know which way they want to go with the pH of the urine. So don't mess with it. His urine will go back to a happy 6-6.5 all on its own.
   
  Simethicone is not a drug that is absorbed systemically. It passes through the gut breaking up bubbles and then out with the poos so you can give it several times a day. I would also try making him some tea (fennel, chamomile, peppermint brewed together) and then give him a couple mLs a day. Store it in the fridge. This worked well for my Nigel who had chronic gas problems. The tea worked better than the simethicone.
   
  His problems sound more gut related than urinary related. Keep food going in so he doesnt have any sort of gut-stasis issues. Push the Benebac too. Put juice in his water if it encourages him to drink more (Sonny prefers regular V-8, not the crazy V-8 splash varieties). Keep giving him Critical Care and offer it as a mush (mix it with some of his pellets and stuff too) in a bowl if he likes it for while you are gone. Have his regular stuff in a separate bowl. Just keep food and especially fluid going in, and he should perk back up again...
   
  Keep us posted!
  Lisa and the gang at Wheeks and Squeaks

Jaime <rzm.2 at juno.com> wrote:
    I am sending this to the digest & some people individually too, because I am looking for any advice I can get. Last night we had to rush Albert to the emergency vet clinic. He seemed fine all day & then when I got him out for floor time last night he was just listless & almost unresponsive. His stomach was making horrible, hideous noises. He was shaking all over & when I put him down in his playpen he kept straining like he was trying to poo or pee & couldn't. Then he started kind of laying on his side & seemed dehydrated. I extracted his penis & it did have a tiny amount of grit on it, but not hardly much. Anyway, we took him right in to the emer. place & the guy who saw him, while he was not an exotics vet, did seem to have a pretty decent knowledge of piggies & seemed pretty nice. They took his temp. & it was low & he got him to pee & took a sample of it & it is just filled with blood & white blood cells. Apparently the infection is still not gone, so he is now on Baytril
 again. He gave him some sub-cut. fluids & that seemed to perk him up pretty well. He started munching some hay while we were there. They took x-rays to see if there is another stone & there was not. The x-ray did show his belly is just filled with gas. Also they gave him a dose of metaclopromide to get his belly moving. By the time we got home there was a mighty pile of poo in his carrier! I was so proud! =)  He sent us home with the x-rays & instructions to go to our regular vet this morning. After I got him home last night he did eat the rest of the pellets he didn't eat at supper & took a syringe of Critical Care (CC) & a syringe of water. 
  So this morning I called the vet & our regular vet was off (of course) so we saw his assistant. 1st off she said that he needs to be on something more then the acidolphius because she thinks he has something called illius (sp.?) & his gut flora is way off. I guess it's kinda like when I had c-diff in my intestines. So she gave me a tube of Benebac for him & I already got him to take a dose today. She also said to continue his Metacam once a day (0.1ml.), which I wonder if that's enough. I don't want to overdose him, but I just feel like I want to be sure he's not in pain. I have been giving him simethicone twice a day (0.1ml.) & want to know how much I can give him & how many times a day I can give it to him. He is just filled with gas, both vets said. I didn't think to ask her how much I could give him. I'm not going on much sleep here.  So she also talked about his urinary situation & I'm gonna try & get this straight, but I may not. Last week when I kept seeing tiny bits of
 sludge in his urine, I called the vet (my regular vet) & he said to start Albert on the Poly-K again. That was Wed. night. She said that his ph of his urine was 9 & that is high for a piggie. What is the normal ph, does anyone know? She said the Poly-K makes the urine very acidic to dissolve the stone, but since there is no stone he should not be on something that makes his urine so acidic. She thinks the acidity of his urine is hurting him. So now I am to give him something called "Ammonil 200 mg. tablets". I take a 1/2 tablet & crush it & syringe it up with some water & give it to him once a day. Has anyone ever heard of this before? They gave him a dose while we were there today & it hasn't made him sick yet that I can see. I hope she knows that this is safe for piggies. I just worry cause I never heard of this before. He is eating somewhat on his own, but I still need to syringe him his CC & I just mixed the Benebac & shilintong into the CC. Also how much vit.c should he have
 while he is sick like this. I was afraid too much vit.c will cause another stone, but right now that is the least of my worries. I think he needs extra when he's sick right? He just won't drink much on his own, so I syringed him almost 4 syringes of water so far today & he did drink a little own his own from his bottle. I worry about dehydration again, because he keeps getting dehydrated. So ANY advice on ANYTHING here will be sooooo appreciated. I worry because Mon. when I go back to work I will not be here to syringe him water & CC all day & I'm afraid he will get weak again. I know the time will come when I need to make a decision. We really totally thought we were not coming home with him last night. But then he eats a little & purrs at me & I just think he isn't ready to go yet. I pray if it is his time that he will go peacefully in his sleep & there won't be any more suffering. I just think when he is ready he will tell me. I honestly don't think it will be much longer. It
 might be tonite or it might be next week, I just want him to go in his sleep so I don't have to make that decision. I know that's selfish, but I can't help myself. I just ask for advice if you have it & prayers for us. Thnaks.

***JAIME***
http://www.piggiepages1.blinkz.com/ 

		
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