[Gpdd] [HEALTH] Isis's Crisis

Angela Taylor angela at lunaclick.net
Thu Apr 3 15:17:47 EDT 2008


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I've only posted here a few times, but I wanted to share my latest drama with you guys, in case it might help someone else!

My oldest sow Isis, who turned 3 this past December, has been dealing with bloat for just over a year now.  My boyfriend and I noticed her crying when she tried to poop last March.  We took her to a local vet who had an avian/exotics "specialist" (I think his forte is more avian than exotics, though).  He prescribed some motility and pain meds for us to give her via syringe for about a week.  Her crying decreased, but it never totally went away.

Last June, we noticed that she had developed a huge gas bubble in/near her stomach (which was verified with x-rays).  Same vet, similar course of treatment; the same motility and pain meds, this time adding in some Critical Care and cisapride to make extra-sure things kept "moving along."  I started giving her doses of simethicone (OTC "Infant Gas Relief" -- which she LOVES) to help ease the gas, and while she was soon farting like a champion, the gas bubble never went away and she continued crying occasionally when she pooped.

This last week has been her worst week ever, and I was honestly afraid I was going to lose her.  She'd nearly stopped pooping altogether and had developed a firm swelling on her left side (mirroring the gas bubble on her right).  She was in more pain than I'd ever seen her in, the poor girl, wanting and trying so hard to poop, but nothing was coming out.  I started dosing her with some of the meds I had leftover from her last episode, plus some Pediacare and mineral oil that I'd read suggestions about on Guinea Lynx's forums.  I gave her two or three warm water soaks a day, trying to make her more comfortable and encourage her to poop.  (I dunno what it is, but the girl loves to poop in the bath, LOL.)  I was having no luck whatsoever, and she was just getting more and more miserable, no matter what I tried.

Late yesterday I took her to the Tufts Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine's 24-hour emergency clinic for small animals (Foster Hospital) in North Grafton, MA, and they took a full history on her.  I didn't want to leave her, but they really seemed to care about her well being and comfort -- as well as my peace of mind.  They kept her overnight, and imagine my relief when I got a call this morning saying that not only is she pooping, she's pooping a LOT, and that her appetite has picked back up.  They asked my permission to do an ultrasound, and lo and behold, my furbaby has ovarian cysts.

The vet said that they were easy to spot in the ultrasound, and they've started her on hormone therapy.  She'll need another shot in 2 weeks, and a final shot 2 weeks after that.  The vet was pretty confident that the cysts were causing her GI problems and pain, so I really, -really- hope that this means she can get back to a normal life -- no more crying in the litter box and no more bloating.  She'll be coming back home to us later this afternoon.  :)

I knew Isis wasn't ready to leave me, and I sure as hell wasn't ready for her to leave.  Let's hope that now she has an underlying problem diagnosed and a treatment plan in place, that she lives to the ripe old age of eleventy-one!

I have to add that I put both girls in their playpen yesterday afternoon to try to get Isis moving a bit.  Mimi is quite "butch," and she usually torments Isis incessantly with her rumblestrutting, nuzzling, and insane popcorning.  Yesterday, though, she was apparently sensitive to Isis's situation and was nothing but polite -- even comforting.  Mimi took her red pepper from me and tugged it across the pen to where Isis was huddled so they could eat together.  When Isis stopped halfway through her pepper, so did Mimi (which is unheard of...I've never seen a pig that loves food as much as Mimi does, and you guys know that's really saying something!!).  Her behavior was so unusual, but it really touched me deeply.

~*~
Angela, Peter, and the Guinea Goddesses (Isis & Artemis ["Mimi"])
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