[Gpdd] (Bridge) LuLu Belle

[Stacy Harvey]

It is with a heavy heart that I must announce the passing of yet another member of the Squee Squad, LuLu Belle.
 
Some may remember that she had bladder stone surgery about a year ago, and it took her some time to recover. She seemed to be doing well, but lately we noticed that she had started losing weight and squeeking when she peed so we assumed it was a UTI or another stone. I took her in to the clinic and did her x-rays--sure enough, a very large stone. Her surgery was scheduled for Wednesday (1/28/09). She hadn't been eating very well, so I was syringing her Critical Care and water to keep her strength up.
 
We prepped her for surgery and the procedured started smoothly. The vet was concerned because LuLu Belle had developed adhesions (scarring) from the last surgery, and she already had a slightly deformed bladder to start with. Doc couldn't feel the stone anywhere and it was very large on the xrays. We rushed her into xray again (silently hoping that maybe she had somehow passed the stone) but it was still there. Doc sent me in to study the old xrays because she felt that the stone looked to be too "high" in the body wall. I came back and asked if it could be in the ureter--she started gently probing and found the stone in the ureter below the left kidney. It was completely blocked. Just goes to show that even really good radiographs can be deceptive sometimes, especially with very small animals.
 
During the surgery, LuLu Belle seemed to be doing okay, although she would seem to hold her breath occasionally, and her heart rate was strong. As the doctor was trying to determine how to safely remove the stone from the ureter she stopped breathing. After about a minute of gently massaging her sides and pumping her front legs, she started breathing again. Another minute later she stopped breathing, as did her heart. There is no way to "shock" a guinea pig heart into beating again like they do with humans--you can only do gentle chest compressions. The doctor tried her best to get the heart going again but it just wouldn't. At least LuLu Belle slipped away while she was under the anesthesia, unconscious and feeling no pain.
 
There's always the "coulda-shoulda-woulda", and the guilt, and the second guessing. I do know that if we had opted not to do the surgery she would have died a painful death as she would have most likely been going into kidney failure. It's still very difficult because I was monitoring the anesthesia--one minute she was "there" and the next she wasn't. And there was nothing I could do to save her. Nothing anyone could do. Still doesn't make me feel any better. LuLu Belle wasn't even 2 years old yet.
 
Goodbye, little one. Say hello to Tigger for me--I bet she's holding the door for you since she just left for the Bridge herself.
 
-Stacy and the still grieving Squee Squad