[Gpdd] announcement--Molly

[deb ganley]

We lost Molly on 7/28/09, probably due to liver damage from way too much anesthesia given for no good reasons.  Molly was a wonderful, sweet girl, with a beautiful personality.  She was everypig's mom. She had 4 babies in 2004, after I brought her home from Humane Society of Pinellas, where she was rescued from a school breeding program. Dana has Mina & Lucy, my vet's receptionist adopted her little boy, Rex (who has since passed on)  & we have Emma.  Molly also was a great mom to Winnie & Lily, the Little Girls we adopted last June. 

Molly was diagnosed last year with malocclusions by my vet in Palm Harbor, Fl. of 7 1/2 years.  Every time I brought the girls in for nail trims, I had my vet check her teeth for overgrowth--& every time, he put Molly under anesthesia  to trim them--every 6 weeks to 2 months.  I brought the girls in on 6/23/09 for their usual manicures & had the vet check Molly's teeth--as usual, he put her under anesthesia to trim them.  At this point, I noticed she slowed down on her eating--she wanted to eat, just didn't seem able to so I figured it was her teeth.  I brought her back 6 days later & the vet found an ovarian cyst--he drained it (under more anesthesia) & he said that must have been making her feel lousy--she should be fine, it wasn't anything to do with her teeth..  Now she Stopped Eating so I started syringing Critical Care!  I brought her to another  vet in Tampa on 7/7& he also said her teeth were fine & DX'd her with renal failure due to her dramatic weight loss.  He did lab work under anesthesia (CBC, which he claimed was the only blood sample he could get from her due to dehydration--a chemistry profile would have shown renal failure, not a CBC, & the lab work could have been done by overcutting a nail, not going for the jugular vein.)  I brought her back to the Tampa vet 4 days later, & he did Xrays--under anesthesia.  They came back negative.  In desperation, I put Molly's condition out on the GPDD & was lucky enough to get an answer from Ann Evans--& OMG, Ann is in Tampa, only a 30 minute drive from me!  I got Molly to Ann on 7/21/09--Ann was horrified at Molly's incisors, they were overgrown to the point that she couldn't open her mouth to eat!   I was right!  Ann trimmed them (without anesthesia) & we hoped for the best--she put Molly on Metatonic, Immodium since Molly had diarrhea by then & I continued the CC feedings.  We were hopeful.  On Sunday, 7/26, Molly suffered a series of strokes, I called Ann at home & we started her on calcium plus D therapy.  Bottom line, it just wasn't meant to be for my poor girl--I made the horrible decision to have her put to sleep at our next appointment on Tuesday, 7/28.  Molly might have recovered somewhat from the strokes with the calcium & D therapy, but she wasn't going to recover from the liver damage caused by so much anesthesia--poor Molly was just wasting away, even with 4-5 times/day CC feedings.  She went peacefully with her whole family present (Ann is family by now & was with us throughout it all.)  Molly is  buried next to  Potter  & they're hopefully having a ball at the Bridge.

My major point in relating all this medical info is that I don't want anyone to go thru what we have had to deal with  for the past 6 weeks.  I have gotten a huge amount of cavy education from Ann over the past 6 or 7 weeks--she's an amazing, dedicated rodentologist & we're so blessed to have her in our corner.  DO NOT allow your piggie to be put under anesthesia for anything but major surgery--lab work, Xrays lipoma-diagnosing & teeth trims CAN be done without anesthesia.  Emma just had Xrays on Friday to DX a bladder stone, which she unfortunately has, tho a very small one--but it was done without anesthesia & she was fine, not stressed at all.  I have been stupid for 7 1/2 years & just let my previous vet call the shots--no more.  Ann works with an incredible vet, Dr. Frank Bonsack, Adventure Animal Hospital on Jackson Springs Road in Tampa (just off of Sheldon Road)--phone # 813-885-3888.  They work in conjunction with each other, they're a wonderful team.  Ann volunteers at Dr. Bonsack's office as a cavy health advisor & she's a wealth of piggie info.  She has spent innumerable hours on the phone, emailing & in the office with me & my girls--Dr. Bonsack has also devoted  a huge amount of time, over and above his usual office visit time, to treating my girls & talking to me.  If you're happy with your pig vet, great--if you feel the need to change vets, this is the place to go.  If you just want a second opinion, Ann & Dr. Bonsack are the people to call & ask questions of--they're happy to help, no strings attached.  

If anyone in the Tampa Bay area wants to know which vets I have gone to that I'm not happy with, just email me privately--like I said, I don't want anyone to go thru what we went thru & I'm open to letting you know who to stay away from, due to our experiences.  

Sorry to be so long-winded--Deb, Emma, Winnie & Lily (& Potter & Molly, always with us)