[Gpdd] [HEALTH] Ruffie and Cheyenie

[Ann Evans]

Dear Ellen,
  I am happy that Ruffie is feeling better but I am concerned that he is 
not eating on his own and now has a respiratory infection. If he has 
fluid in his lungs I would recommend that you ask your vet to give him a 
one off dose of 10 mg of Lasix. Fluid in the lungs prevents the 
antibiotic from being able to clear up the infection.  Fluid in the 
lungs will also cause a cavy to go off of food as will the pain from 
having bladder stones. Rimadyl not only controls pain but is very 
helpful in reducing the inflammation that is found in the lungs when a 
cavy has an upper respiratory infection. Vicks wiped across the nostrils 
3-4 time daily also will help Ruffie breath better. Vedra 
Stanley-Spatcher always starts off Rimadyl at 10 mg twice a day for 
several days then reduces it to 5 mg twice a day for up to 14 days. 
Ruffie can then be put on 5 mg of rimadyl/day until he has bladder 
surgery. At that time the Rimadyl would need to be increased to 10 mg 
twice a day. Cavies are very Rimadyl tolerant. Thought all NSAIDs have 
the potential to cause liver and kidney damage Vedra has been using 
these dosages on thousands of cavies for about 20 years without any ill 
effects.

Regarding Cheyenie it is very easy to treat cystic ovaries. I learned 
this procedure from Vedra Stanley–Spatcher of the Cambridge Cavy Trust 
and Guinea Pig Hospital. 
http://www.britishassociationofrodentologists.co.uk/ Draining an ovarian 
cyst is far less invasive than doing an ovio-hysterectomy. First take an 
x-ray. No anesthetic is necessary. Then clip the hair and swab the area 
with surgical scrub. Press the cyst towards the skin and insert a 21 
gauge by 1 inch needle; it does not need to be attached to a syringe. 
Keep pressure on the ovary and the fluid will drain out.   After the 
cyst is drained administer Human Chorionic Gonadotropin (HCG) 1000 USP 
units at a dose of 0.2 ml subcutaneously. Repeat the HCG injection after 
four weeks. The vet may need to give a third injection of HCG to prevent 
ovarian cysts from re-occurring. Reconstituted HCG is only active for a 
few hours, thus a new vial needs to be used for each injection. I hope 
this information helps.


Cheers,

Ann and the Rescued Piggys of Piggyville, Tampa Florida USA.