Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Aug 24, 2013 6:54:37 GMT
Before we left for Southern Germany (we came back yesterday) we took our guinea-pig Basil to the vet. He had lost too much weight and his butt was always wet. They found out he has stones in his gallbladder, quite a few of them and one quite big. The vet suggested surgery, however, they would have to remove one kidney which is affected and the gallbladder and since it is such a big surgery for such a small animal, it isn't really likely that he will come out alive. We decided against surgery. Instead, we have changed all our piggies' diet since the dry food contained too much calcium which caused the stones. They now live mainly on vegetables, but Basil has lost more weight. We want to try to find some calcium free dry food today so Basil will eat more. Am really worried about him, I don't want to lose him.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Aug 24, 2013 7:53:15 GMT
Eees no rat , eees hamster !''
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Aug 24, 2013 7:53:30 GMT
Eees no rat , eees hamster !''
|
|
|
Post by tangent on Aug 24, 2013 8:14:41 GMT
I hope Basil isn't in pain.
|
|
|
Post by raspberrybullets on Aug 24, 2013 8:52:39 GMT
Poor wee thing. I hope he'll be OK and in not much pain.
|
|
|
Post by JoeP on Aug 24, 2013 9:29:32 GMT
How long has he been on the low calcium diet? Maybe he needs more time to adjust.
But if he's in pain, and if he might not live that long with the gallstones ... maybe surgery is not such a bad idea?
|
|
|
Post by Thingy on Aug 24, 2013 9:51:14 GMT
Yeah, I'm afraid pain would be my guess as to why he's losing weight
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Aug 24, 2013 18:09:53 GMT
But if he's in pain, and if he might not live that long with the gallstones ... maybe surgery is not such a bad idea? If it was not such a big surgery, we would consider it. However, the risk that he will end up suffering even more and then die ist too big. We have always said we would let a pet as small as a guinea-pig go if there was some big problem that could only be solved with a complicated surgery. And the one he neeads has loads of risks, including infection later since they would have to take out so much. He panics incredibly when he has to go to the vet anyway. We're watching him and we#re hoping for him to recover a bit since changes in his routine often can get him quiet and scared and we only came back yesterday.
|
|
|
Post by Kye on Aug 24, 2013 20:35:02 GMT
Might be time to let him go...
|
|
|
Post by Moose on Aug 24, 2013 23:32:43 GMT
Yes. But I can understand the need to give it a little longer and see how it goes. Maybe things will get better. How old is he?
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Aug 25, 2013 6:26:14 GMT
He is 2 1/2 and still not in a state in which we would consider to have him put down, but bad enough to have us worried.
|
|
|
Post by raspberrybullets on Aug 25, 2013 8:33:48 GMT
Yeah, I wouldn't put him down. It's a very indulgent thing we humans do, put down our pets when they are in pain so we feel better about it. He's only got this life and perhaps he likes it more than being dead.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Aug 25, 2013 8:49:31 GMT
As long as he is not clearly suffering beyond a certain point, we won't. We've had to do it with a gerbil and with her, it was clear it was the only thing we could do for her. But he seems relatively content with his little friend Spotty and us.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Aug 25, 2013 11:07:52 GMT
Basil seems very weak now. He mostly sleeps and just seems like he is very, very tired. We're wondering if he is going to make it through this day and the night. It shows that it would have been useless to put him through surgery in this state, so I'm glad we didn't. I'm hoping he will manage to die "by himself", here at home in his cage, with Spotty. Right now I think that would be best for him if he can't recover. And it seems like it's too late for that. Frank said the big gallstone he saw on the x-ray was really big, so we're guessing that, because they are tough little things, he was still doing sort of alright for a long time and now his body seems to be giving up.
|
|
|
Post by raspberrybullets on Aug 25, 2013 11:37:22 GMT
Poor Basil.
|
|
|
Post by JoeP on Aug 25, 2013 11:58:51 GMT
*sniff*
|
|
|
Post by Miisa on Aug 25, 2013 12:08:35 GMT
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Aug 25, 2013 18:00:07 GMT
Basil died this afternoon. His condition became worse. I still had him on my lap for about two hours and then we put him back in his cage with Spotty. He was clearly in pain and uncomfortable. Eventually, we noticed that he wasn't breathing anymore and we left him there because we weren't sure, but then he became stiff, so we knew for sure. We are sad, but also relieved we didn't have to take him to the vet to have him put down. At least he is not suffering anymore, but we already miss him.
|
|
|
Post by raspberrybullets on Aug 25, 2013 18:33:28 GMT
I'm sorry Kaylee.
|
|
|
Post by JoeP on Aug 25, 2013 19:16:10 GMT
*sniff* again
|
|
|
Post by Moose on Aug 25, 2013 19:29:42 GMT
i am very sorry
|
|
|
Post by tangent on Aug 25, 2013 20:24:10 GMT
So sad He was very weak, I'm glad the final stages didn't last long.
|
|
|
Post by Miisa on Aug 25, 2013 20:28:26 GMT
Sad
|
|
|
Post by Alvamiga on Aug 25, 2013 22:52:25 GMT
I am also glad that it was quick and he did not suffer long.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Sept 1, 2013 12:11:18 GMT
We tried to introduce Spotty to Mr. You and Cotton, but it didn't work. So she is on her own now hich is not good at all. We will need to contact the animal shelter. They have loads of rodents atm so we're hoping they might have a cute male that we could pair up with Spotty. We could live a guinea-pig a nice home and Spotty would have a friend if it worked.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Sept 5, 2013 6:53:20 GMT
Basil will be burried this afternoon. The animal shelter has a graveyard where he can have a spot. We don't have a garden and it#s illegal to burry pets in public spaces.
|
|
|
Post by raspberrybullets on Sept 5, 2013 7:33:39 GMT
That's nice that you can do that.
|
|
|
Post by tangent on Sept 6, 2013 11:25:53 GMT
We have a tombstone where a certain snake is buried in our garden. It didn't occur to me that you can't bury animals if you don't have a garden.
|
|