[Gpdd] Health: Stone-Free Brownie Bear!!!

[leah.mcneil at wachovia.com]

Hello Slaves!
Well, let me give you all the juicy details
of yesterday's event. Well, I got up extra
early and dropped off the Bear at the Vet's
around 8:15am. Then, I went to work. Dr.
Griffin's office and staff are just Wonderful
people, so they had already set up BB's
cage with Cavy Cuisine, and tim. hay and
water bottle. And I had brought some green
pepper and endive lettuce for her to eat
after the procedure.

I worried all day, but I tried not to. Because
it was consuming me. I just kept thinking,
"What if she doesn't wake up???" So, I tried
to think Happy thoughts.

Well, after I got the call from the Vet's, I was
Ecstatic!

Apparently, it wasn't just one stone, it was
more like 5 bladder stones...Urrrrrrrrgh. And
they were able to save 4 of them for me. 
The one BIG one was about 3-4 mm across
and it had ragged edges. It was almost as
wide as Lincoln's head on a US penny. Wow.
The big stone wasn't that big a couple of
weeks ago when I had x-rays done, but it
grew in size pretty rapidly because I had
gotten pretty agressive with her treatment
(Lasix and 2 Shilintong tablets per day and I
was syringing her tons of extra water during BBPH),
so a lot more of the 'stuff' was being flushed out.
And so those calcium deposits were sticking
to that big stone and not getting through. I
mean, I don't want to think that I was killing
her, but well, you know we always blame
ourselves. I'm just glad that Dr. G got the
stones out of her...

Oh, and that big stone was never going to pass.
It was stuck at the end of her urethra. So, Dr. G
went in through the urethra and removed it, as
well as 4 smaller stones. Then, he put a catheter
in her bladder through the urethra and drained
a whole bunch of that yucky bladder sludge/crud
out. They took digital pigtures of the procedure
and showed them to me. I was amazed that so
much gunk was up in there. They also told me
that during the procedure, even though B-Bear
was asleep, her bodily functions would still respond,
and that after the Big stone was removed, her
heart rate stabilized. So, her poor, little body has
been under so much stress. :-( I feel so guilty.
I should have had x-rays done sooner and not
just assumed that that last stone would pass.
I mean, it should have passed, it was definitely
small enough on the x-rays from Dr. C (in Virginia).
But, I guess something happened down there and
it got stuck.

Well, I'm not having the stones analyzed this time,
because I already know that she has the Calcium
Carbonate kind. But, Dr. G did take a urine culture
and that will determine which antibiotic is best for
her in the future. Also, I saw the follow-up x-rays
and everything was clear...Whew! Oh, and I have
BB on Baytril, Metacam, and Shlingtong.

I am sooooooo Happy that my Brownie Bear is
Stone-Free again...Woooooo Hooooooooooo!
I feel like Celebrating.

THANK YOU again for all of your Prayers and
Concern. I don't know what I would do without you
guys. Sorry this is so long, but you know me, I can't
help it. :-)

        Love 'n Wheeeeeeeeeps,
            Leah...Slave to Brownie Bear
                               & Butterscotch :-)