[Gpdd] HEALTH: Rosie Update

[Maren Fouts]

I have been AWOL from reading they digest for awhile as I've been very busy
with Rosie.  My thoughts are with all people who have lost beloved piggies
and all other people and piggies struggling with medical issues.

Well, as you may remember, Rosie's been having some trouble with her
thyroid.  she's still losing weight.  she's now under 2 pounds.  870 grams
to be exact.  I've been weighing her several times a day and struggling to
keep her from losing anymore.

To make a long story short, there was some disagreement between vets on
whether or not her heart was enlarged.  My vet doesn't see it, our
petsitter's vet does.  So we took her to a cardiologist to have an echo
cardiogram.  She did very well under the circumstances.  I had to hold her
on her side so her heart would fall to one side and hopefully get enough
past the lung that air wouldn't interfere with the echo.  The good news is
she has a very strong heart.  There are some mild changes that the
cardiologist feels are consistent with hyperthyroid issues.  Additionally,
she's just like her dad.  She has regurgitation of one valve that requires
her to have antibiotics before any dental work.  The cardiologist says this
may correct itself once we correct the thyroid problem.

The bad news is it's really looking like she's going to have to have
surgery.  She's been on the thyroid medication for 5 weeks now and is
showing no signs of improvement.  However, we haven't had blood drawn and a
T-4 level reading since her dosage was increased so I'm not 100% sure about
that.  I feel better about surgery now that I know her heart can tolerate
anesthesia, though.  So we caught the thyroid problem early enough that her
heart hasn't really declined.  I'm happy about that!

So the cardiologist is going to be talking to our regular vet (the
cardiologist is not well versed in guinea pigs and my vet is so this should
be helpful).  After that, I'm hoping to hear something from our vet about
what to do next.  My guess is bloodwork, then surgery.

She's been having this raspy noise intermittently for about a month or 2.
We were thinking it had something to do with her heart, but the cardiologist
feels that it may be bronchitis.  If she does have surgery, then our vet can
get a culture once she's under and determine if that's the cause of her
raspy breathing.  It really sounds very phlegmy.  Then sometimes she'll have
a violent cough and that seems to clear the problem.

Other than the weight loss she seems to be doing well.  She's curious about
things, eating, drinking, etc.  I hate that I have to keep her and Charlie
separated and she can't have floor time but hopefully this will be remedied
soon.

On a lighter note, I had taken Charlie to the appointment with us so he
could be moral support for Rosie.  The cardiologist was trying to get
Rosie's blood pressure (had a tiny little cuff and everything).  I had to
hold her for this and Charlie was underneath 3 different people, all of whom
were fussing with Rosie.  He decided that he was tired of being ignored and
reached up, took a hold of my shirt with his teeth and tugged saying "Hey!
I'm cute too!  Is anyone going to pay attention to me?!?!"  It was a real
comic relief moment for me, anyway.  The vets found it very amusing.  The
pigs even got tomatoes from the intern!  The poor intern is allergice to hay
and pigs so she was sneezing up a storm.

Sorry for the length!

Piggy kisses!
Maren, Roise, and Charlie