[Gpdd] The Bridge

Tue Dec 9 16:30:33 EST 2008

I very sadly report that Pork Chop (my first pig) has gone to the Bridge.  We had to put her to sleep the Saturday after Thanksgiving.  She very abruptly stopped eating and I took her to the vet who couldn't find anything wrong with her so she gave me an antiboitic and sent me home with critical care.  It wasn't my regular vet, but I trusted her.  Pork Chop wouldn't take the critical care or the medicine so I brought her back to my regular vet the Wednesday before Thanksgiving and they hospitalized her because she was severely dehydrated.  They ran some tests and took X-rays and said that her liver was enlarged.  By Friday the vet said that we could either go to a specialist or put her to sleep.  She was so weak already and they had done so much I just couldn't see putting her through anything else.  The vet asked if she could do an autopsy on Pork Chop for her own information and I consented.  She called me a few days later and said that her
 liver was badly diseased and there was really nothing that could have been done for her.  I miss my little girl terribly.  She was a wonderful pet.  I have three other pigs that I adopted last year but they are crazy.  I didn't socialize them because they were so traumatized and now they won't let me pet them.  I'm going to pick one of them, Rusty, and try to hold her every night and pet her little by little.  If anyone has any suggestions, please let me know how I can get close to them without frightening them.  They have come a long way, but I still can't hold them or pet them.  They used to run if I even came near the cage, but now they will eat from my hands and let me touch them a tiny bit before they run away.  Pork Chop would have been 5 years old sometime this month so she had a pretty good run and she was a complete diva pig.  The three new piggies have a large cage to themselves and the Porkster had her own cage, just the way she
 wanted it.  The vet said she was trying to eat right up until the end.  It made me smile through the tears.  Thanks to all of you for your advise and support.
Grace, Oreo (at the Bridge), Porkster (at the Bridge), Gus, Babe and Rusty

--- On Tue, 12/9/08, gpdd-request at gpdd.org <gpdd-request at gpdd.org> wrote:

From: gpdd-request at gpdd.org <gpdd-request at gpdd.org>
Subject: Gpdd Digest, Vol 7, Issue 371
To: gpdd at gpdd.org
Date: Tuesday, December 9, 2008, 12:00 PM

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Today's Topics:

   1. MISC- condolences (Jaime)
   2. HEALTH- vitamin c (Jaime)
   3. MISC- welcome back! (Jaime)
   4. MISC- peeing piggies! (Jaime)
   5. [HEALTH] Details of urethral stone removal (Ann Evans)
   6. [Rainbow Bridge] Sailor Willie and Squeakers (Audrey Binder)
   7. Re: SILLY HELP WITH A NEW NAME (Suzy D?nser)
   8. Misc:  Show off my Captain Jack dressed for Chrsitmas
      (Algernon07 at aol.com)

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Message: 1
Date: Mon, 8 Dec 2008 18:48:02 GMT
From: "Jaime" <rzm.2 at juno.com>
Subject: [Gpdd] MISC- condolences
To: joanhess4 at sbcglobal.net,	 Gpdd at gpdd.org
Cc: rzm.2 at juno.com
Message-ID: <20081208.104802.6934.1 at webmail03.dca.untd.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=windows-1252

Joanie-
  Sorry to hear about "The Blob". Perhaps it was her name that made
her insecure! ;) At least she had a home with people who loved & understood
her unique quirks. I seem to always get the quirky animals too! My condolences
to you & your family.

~Jaime, Mimi & Daisy~
~Molly, Radar & Albert always in our hearts~
http://piggiepages001.blogspot.com/

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Message: 2
Date: Mon, 8 Dec 2008 18:50:20 GMT
From: "Jaime" <rzm.2 at juno.com>
Subject: [Gpdd] HEALTH- vitamin c
To: Gpdd at gpdd.org
Cc: rzm.2 at juno.com
Message-ID: <20081208.105020.6934.2 at webmail03.dca.untd.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=windows-1252

  I have a question to ponder. I give Mimi 1 Oxbow vitamin c tablet a day. Is
that too much? Should I be cutting them in half? She gets either a piece of
carrot or a grape in the afternoons as a snack & a handful of romaine
lettuce in the evenings as a snack, so she gets a little vitamin c from those,
but I know that's not enough. I just want to make sure she's not getting
too much. I want to avoid those dreaded stones. Any opinions? Thanks.

~Jaime, Mimi & Daisy~
~Molly, Radar & Albert always in our hearts~
http://piggiepages001.blogspot.com/

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Message: 3
Date: Mon, 8 Dec 2008 18:53:02 GMT
From: "Jaime" <rzm.2 at juno.com>
Subject: [Gpdd] MISC- welcome back!
To: Gpdd at gpdd.org
Cc: rzm.2 at juno.com
Message-ID: <20081208.105302.6934.3 at webmail03.dca.untd.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=windows-1252

  I just want to give a big Welcome Back!!! to Lynn! It's good to hear from
you again & good to hear your piggies are still doing well. =)

~Jaime, Mimi & Daisy~
~Molly, Radar & Albert always in our hearts~
http://piggiepages001.blogspot.com/

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Message: 4
Date: Mon, 8 Dec 2008 18:59:19 GMT
From: "Jaime" <rzm.2 at juno.com>
Subject: [Gpdd] MISC- peeing piggies!
To: Gpdd at gpdd.org
Cc: rzm.2 at juno.com
Message-ID: <20081208.105919.6934.4 at webmail03.dca.untd.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=windows-1252

  I hold Mimi for a long time every night while we watch TV. I hold her on a
towel, but she very rarely has any accidents. Occasionally she will fall into a
deep sleep & pee in her sleep, but that's very occasionally. She usually
will wake up & chirp at me which means "I gotta go, put me down
now!" I put her in her cuddle cup on the floor, which she thinks is an
outhouse (always has, we don't know why!)& she pees & is good to
come back up again. Maybe your piggie gives you some kind of signal? Good luck!

~Jaime, Mimi & Daisy~
~Molly, Radar & Albert always in our hearts~
http://piggiepages001.blogspot.com/

____________________________________________________________
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------------------------------

Message: 5
Date: Mon, 08 Dec 2008 14:04:57 -0500
From: Ann Evans <ann.evans at hintlink.com>
Subject: [Gpdd] [HEALTH] Details of urethral stone removal
To: gpdd at gpdd.org
Message-ID: <493D6FD9.9030608 at hintlink.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=windows-1252; format=flowed

Our 4.5 year old sow Kinjaroo had a 16 mm long by 11 mm wide by 8 mm 
high stone in her urethra. The stone was 1.5 mm from the urethral 
opening. The female urethra is about 20 mm long and 2-3 mm in diameter 
(Cooper and Schiller).  On the 3rd of December Dr. Frank Bonsack DVM of 
Tampa Florida successfully removed the stone. Today she is totally 
normal. She was taking 10 mg of Rimadyl twice a day for pain for 2 days 
and 0.5ml of pediatric Bactrim twice a day to prevent infection for 7 
days. The following are the details of the surgery for those that are 
interested. Dr. Bonsack first spoke with Dr. Griffin of 
http://www.griffinexotics.com about a method he had pioneered using a 
catheter to remove urethral stones. However, Kinjaroo?s stone was too 
large to be removed by Dr. Griffin?s method. He then spoke with Vedra 
Stanley Spatcher of the Cambridge Cavy Trust (CCT) and Guinea Pig 
Hospital http://rodentology.co.uk/. She advised that he use a local 
anesthetic, insert obstetric lubricant into urethra via Jackson cat 
catheter, slide stone down to opening then using a number 11 blade make 
a slit at the opening of the urethra and remove stone. Vedra said there 
would be no need to suture the urethra because it will heal within a 
couple of days. She also advised to keep patient on clean towels or vet 
bed, give 10mg of Rimadyl twice daily for two days and give plenty to 
drink. I told Vedra that Kinjaroo is a very excitable cavy and I did not 
think that the surgery could be done under a local. Vedra then responded 
  ?We use an anesthetic chamber and once they are under we take them out 
and use a nose cone to maintain, once you have cut through the skin you 
can reduce the concentration to about 2 or 2.5. Half hour prior to 
operating we give 0.2ml of Rimadyl. We never use Vetagesic or any form 
of injectable anesthetic. On completion of op turn off isoflurane flush 
patient with oxygen put dollop of Vick vapor rub on nose and guinea pig 
should be back in cage and eating/normal within 10 mins. PS empty mouth 
with 1 ml syringe prior to induction and if guinea pig has not been 
drinking well give 10ml of Hartman?s sub cut at shoulder prior to op.?
Kinjaroo was given 10 mg of Rimadyl post op per Vedra?s instructions. 
Dr. Bonsack did not have an anesthetic chamber so he put Kinjaroo three 
quarters of the way into a large anesthetic cone where she was breathing 
2.5% isoflurane. She calmed down quickly and that gave me the 
opportunity to take her out of the cone and using a 1 ml syringe remove 
any fluid from the back of her throat. I then made sure her tongue was 
extended as to not block her trachea and placed her on the pre-warmed 
operating cradle. Dr. Bonsack then put a nose cone on Kinjaroo, which 
was delivering 2.0% isoflurane and taped it to her body. After 
approximately 10minutes of receiving the isoflurane she moved her legs 
when Dr. Bonsack cleaned her skin with povidone iodine surgical scrub. I 
advised that at this point we should give her an injection of local 
anesthetic. He administered the local and then held the urethra open 
using tweezers and made a small incision using scissors. He then 
inserted the cat catheter along the sides of the stone and applied 
sterile mineral oil around the stone. He then gently pushed on the back 
of the stone closest to the bladder and it just slid out of the urethra 
entirely intact. Using vicryl suture thread he sewed the urethra in 
three places. He then turned off the isoflurane and flushed the nose 
cone with oxygen. Within 10 minutes Kinjaroo was completely awake and I 
applied Vick?s vapor rub to her nose. By 15 minutes she was in her 
cuddle cup eating cucumber, urinating and defecating normally. She has 
never shown any sings of pain. Her incision is almost completely healed 
5 days post op and she has not developed an infection.
Thank you to everyone who has given me advice, prayers and encouragement 
during this difficult situation. I am happy to answer any questions that 
you may have.
Cheers, Ann and the rescued Piggys of Piggyville Tampa Florida USA

------------------------------

Message: 6
Date: Mon, 8 Dec 2008 13:02:51 -0800 (PST)
From: Audrey Binder <agbmcmd at yahoo.com>
Subject: [Gpdd] [Rainbow Bridge] Sailor Willie and Squeakers
To: gpdd at gpdd.org
Message-ID: <284023.19530.qm at web34408.mail.mud.yahoo.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"

I have been too busy to post or even to read the Digest as often as I would
like these days, due to way too much work, and my parent's health problems.?
I do manage to try to catch up when I can, and I am saddened to read about so
many of our little ones going to the bridge.
?
Although I have not posted my condolences to each person who has lost a dear
friend, my thoughts are with each one of you, as I read about each sad
departure.? I truly do know what you went through, and I am heartened by knowing
that each sad posting means that a sweet piggie was loved, and given a good home
while he or she was with us.? That is truly a mutual gift.
?
Alicia, I am sorry to hear about the loss of both of your little ones, in such
a short time.? As many have said here, I guess they just needed to be together.?
I do hope that when your heart mends a little, that you might be able to find
the room in your heart for another furbaby.? I am sure both Sailor Willie and
Squeakers would want that.? The memories of those who have gone to the Bridge
will be in our hearts forever, but there is still more room in our hearts to
love another piggie who needs a home.
?
My thoughts are with all who have lost a friend (2 or 4 footed), and to all (2
or 4 footed) who are doing poorly.
?
Audrey and her GP Gordon
(Remembering Reese)

------------------------------

Message: 7
Date: Tue, 9 Dec 2008 16:02:23 +1300
From: Suzy D?nser <suzy at dunser.com>
Subject: Re: [Gpdd] SILLY HELP WITH A NEW NAME
To: gpdd at gpdd.org
Message-ID: <54C459B4-72EF-49DC-A775-1F728EFC6001 at dunser.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII; format=flowed; delsp=yes

Hi Gwen,

I didn't think I would actually think of a name, I just wanted to see  
the video, but one did occur to me! I think your new little boy looks  
like a Jellybean. (-:   It's great that he and Woobie are getting  
along so well!

Cheers and Wheeks from Suzy and Rocky
and Cocoa in our hearts

------------------------------

Message: 8
Date: Tue, 9 Dec 2008 02:44:43 EST
From: Algernon07 at aol.com
Subject: [Gpdd] Misc:  Show off my Captain Jack dressed for Chrsitmas
To: gpdd at gpdd.org
Message-ID: <c82.343a8787.366f7beb at aol.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

http://www.smallanimalchannel.com/

If you still have the other things, Bill has a Chsitmas picture too.

Alge   (Fugly, glad you're giving you leg a rest.   :)   You and your
ruses!! 
You're a clever one!)

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End of Gpdd Digest, Vol 7, Issue 371
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