#vetvisit — Public Fediverse posts

My housemate always laughs when she hears me talking to the dogs, especially at "make clever choices!" and "good gentleness!", and other phrases from when I used to work with kids.

She's still in Adelaide, so today she's missed out on my reminding Mia "let's keep our feet calm!" and "wow, good slowlies!"

In other news, Mia is tolerating the anti-inflammatory well and now she has less pain she's getting frustrated with being on rest.

#Dog #Dogs #DogsOfMastodon #VetVisit

I had Mia to the vet today.

She started limping yesterday, she doesn't seem to be in pain aside from the right foreleg limp, and there doesn't seem to have been an initial cause for it. It was a little worse when she woke up this morning, like it had seized up a little overnight.. so I called the vet for an appointment.

Our vet, Bernadette, is lovely. She looked at the joints, podded and poked. Mia was so well behaved... aside from her normal level of anxiety about vets*. One of the issues vets face, especially with anxious animals, is that adrenaline works to cover pain signals.. so assessing an animal for pain when they're running on adrenaline can be super difficult because they're no longer responding to painful stimuli.

She manipulated the joints and watched her walk around. She couldn't really find an issue aside from a slightly smaller range of motion in her front right carpus (the "wrist") and feels like she might’ve injured it at some point.

She said we could either:
1. Do xrays today, which would be between $1000 and $1500 and mean sedation.

2. Crate rest (no walks, no stairs, no jumping, no running), and anti-inflammatories for a week to see if it settles.

I chose 2, so we did some bloods to make sure she'll be ok on the meds.

The bloods showed some slight shifts in some things**, but we don't know if it's that we've caught an issue early or if it's her normal fluctuations in levels. Nothing was bad enough for us to withhold the anti-inflammatories but we're planning on doing a full health check in a month with a more complete blood panel to take a real look at her.

We have a tentative appointment for next Tuesday in case she isn't better (or we just want her looked at to make sure she is better).. no breakfast beforehand in case the need to xray after all.

Also, she's pigeon toed in the back 😆

The vet fell in love with her.. they always do, because she's such a gentle marshmallow and even when she's so anxious you can see how she's a happy and goofy thing under it all.

—————

*she's a rescue from an atrociously violent and abusive situation that we don't know much about.. other than when they rescued her she was only about 4 months old and was in a shocking state. So her first memories of vet care are connected with that trauma.

** lowered WCC, lowered urea, elevated ALT—all very slight.

#Dog #Dogs #DogsOfMastodon #VetVisit

Dog Vet Visit Update:

Both dogs are very healthy.

They both have a little bit of dental tartar and we need to book them in for a teeth cleaning and possible extraction of 1 tooth on each dog. Dogs dental health is pretty much decided by early diet, and both of these dogs are rescues.. so keeping their teeth healthy is an up-hill battle.

Mia was her normal anxious self, but well behaved for the vet. She has a lot of trauma associated with vet visits because of how badly she was injured when she was first rescued, but she's getting better with them.

Poppy was her inscrutable self, just watching everything quietly and vibrating into another plane of existence if anyone looked at her (if you're familiar with greyhounds, you know..). When the vet went down on the floor to say hi and examine her, Poppy headed over to sniff her which is super unusual for her - she's usually very standoffish with strangers.

I'm nervous about the dental cleaning for Poppy. It's done under a general anaesthetic, and greyhounds can be really touchy under anaesthetic.. but it needs to be done.

We also talked about diet, and are going to move them from a home cooked diet to a high quality kibble with toppers, because it'll be easier to balance the calcium and phosphorus they need, which will help counter bone issues like osteoarthritis (which can especially be a thing for greyhounds).

And everyone LOVED Poppy's disco ball shirt.

#Dog #Dogs #DogsOfMastodon #Greyhound #GreyhoundRescue #DogsOfFedi #GreyhoundAdoption #VetVisit

Loki is back home.

He stayed overnight to have some iv fluids to help kick his renal function into gear again. He's eaten (a lot!) since we've had him home. He seems a bit cold, so he's wrapped up in a blanket and snuggling with my housemate. He doesn't seem like his normal self, but also he's never stayed away overnight before and I think he might just be a little bit overwhelmed and tired.

Lilith and Mia are staying a cautious distance from him, I think because he smells of the vet surgery.

#Cat #Cats #CatsOfMastodon#KittensOfMastodon #VetVisit #Vet

So, Loki has chronic renal failure. It's manageable but not cureable.

He's staying in overnight again for some fluids to flush through his kidneys a bit, and then we'll start him on an appetite stimulant and prescription kidney food.

He seems his normal self, just a bit skinny.

#Cat #Cats #CatsOfMastodon #Vet #VetVisit

Wow, it's been a long day.

I had my pre-admission clinic day for surgery on the 17th. Everyone was nice, but it's a lot of people to talk with and be around.

Also, it's tiring to have people constantly surprised that your heart is healthy... like I had to explain to every single person I saw today that yes, my ECG does look good because fat people can have healthy hearts.

Meanwhile, my housemate had to take Loki (17 year old cat) to the vet because he hasn't been eating properly and looks like he's losing weight again. He has hyperthyroidism, so this is something we monitor fairly closely.

His creatinine and SDMA levels are elevated, which means he's is having some level of renal insufficiency/disease. He's staying in this afternoon (and possibly overnight) for them to try and get a urine sample - which would be hard for us to get because we have two cats and Loki often pees with his butt hanging out of the litter box. That will let us know if he has a uti and whether he needs antibiotics.

So, medical day for us old cats.

#Disability #disabled #Medical #Cat #Cats #CatsOfMastodon #Vet #VetVisit

Boudica investigating the consult room, whilst we waited for the vet.

She doesn’t like the one we saw today. Lowered and pushed herself into the crook of my arm when he came in!

#Tonkinese #RescueCat #VetVisit #MutualAid #CatsOfMastodon

Socks is back home. His teeth have been clipped again, so hopefully that makes him more comfy. We're picking up a hot water bottle to put in his cage to help him stay warm.

#GuineaPig #GuineaPigs #GuineaPigsOfMastodon #CaviesOfMastodon #VetVisit #SocksUpdate

This lucky little thing got her ovaries and uterus yeeted today.. and convinced the entire vet surgery that she's the most precious little darling that ever did live.

She's doing well. She has a bald belly with a big suture line. She's snoozing and snoring so loudly I can hear her from across the room.

#GuineaPig #GuineaPigs #GuineaPigsOfMastodon #CaviesOfMastodon #VetVisit #SurgeryDay #Pikelet

I had Socks at the vet again today, just for his progress check.

She's happy to continue how we've been going, with syringe feeds every couple of hours. He weighed in at 780g (her scale always weighs him a bit lighter than mine), and she gave him a good check over. His stomach is still soft and fine, his mouth and teeth look ok, his heart sounds great. His breathing was a little quick, but we think it was more to do with the stress of a waiting room full of dogs than anything else because I haven't noticed him breathing quickly otherwise.

So, the plan is to continue with how we're going now and check in again in early January.

In other cavie news.. Pikelet is off to the vet in the morning to be desexed. I've just packed her a little lunchbox with snacks, and I feel like I'm sending her off to her first day of kindy 😆

It's important to have female guinea pigs desexed before they turn about 2 years old, because they start developing ovarian cysts and cancers due to their hormone levels if they don't have litters.

#GuineaPig #GuineaPigs #GuineaPigsOfMastodon #CaviesOfMastodon #VetVisit #SurgeryDay #SocksUpdate

This little guy has finally broken 800g, weighing in at 817g this evening.

I'm not quite counting it as a win yet, because we still have a couple of hundred grams left to go, and because this was his evening weight after his feeds today.. his morning weight was 760g this morning.

Also, he has a touch of bumble foot on both front paws, which I'm treating with saline soaks.

He has another vet appointment next week.. I'm still hoping I may be able to cancel it.

#GuineaPig #GuineaPigs #GuineaPigsOfMastodon #CaviesOfMastodon #VetVisit #SocksUpdate

🐹SOCKS UPDATE🐹

We went to the vet again this morning, and she gave him a complete looking at.

There are no outward signs of illness, other than him losing weight (he weighed in at 792g there), lethargy and soft poops.

His teeth don't quite line up, but she said that shouldn't be causing this amount of issue, especially because the back teeth are fine.

His chest sounds clear, his heart sounds great. His abdomen is soft and fine. His temp is normal.

Her thoughts are that we can either:
1. treat symptoms with some probiotics and critical care feedings, with the idea that it might be a bit of a stomach issue and the probiotics will get everything back online properly

2. take bloods, which would cost $275 and might not tell us anything at all

We're going with option 1 at the moment..

I've made another appointment for 2 weeks time, and have started him on a twice daily dose of probiotics and a twice daily feed of critical care (which he would like everyone to know that he absolutely fucking hates)

If he starts going further down hill I can call and take him in for the emergency clinic type appointment like today.

#GuineaPig #GuineaPigs #GuineaPigsOfMastodon #CaviesOfMastodon #VetVisit

Also, if anyone wants to help out with vet costs, I'd be super grateful.

https://www.paypal.me/kittensmeow

https://ko-fi.com/abydarling

Socks isn't eating properly and is losing weight again.. He's down to 817g. He looks like it's taking him a lot of effort to chew and that it's not working properly (I don't know how else to explain it), he seems interested in food but then gets tired of chewing. Other than that, he doesn't seems sick.

I called the vet and they can't help because they don't get to see guinea pigs often (when I took him last month they had a locum from Sydney who saw him). They suggested another vet in town who "does all the guinea pigs".

I called them and they don't have an open appointment open for over a fortnight, but they suggested I bring him in to wait "like an emergency department".. they said they can't tell me when I'll get seen, and I'll probably be waiting for hours, but I will get seen at some point.

So, tomorrow I'm popping him in the carrier and taking a book and some snacks (for us both), and we'll be in the vet waiting room from 8am.

..and then in Saturday I'm planning on not being able to do anything because of the pain of sitting in a waiting room chair for hours.

#GuineaPig #GuineaPigs #GuineaPigsOfMastodon #CaviesOfMastodon #VetVisit #Anxiety

Miss Lucia went to the vet for a blood draw today and because she gets stressed, we gave her something to calm her before we went. She's now so mellow hubs was able to brush all of her at once. Usually, she only wants her cheeks and chin brushed. Today she didn't really care. Now she's back to sleeping off her kitty drugs. #cats #CatsOfMastondon #VetVisit #MellowKitty

Dropped off our little guy (Ser) for oral surgery today. Please keep him in your prayers and send him some positive vibes. #tuxedocat #vetvisit

Socks is back.

His front teeth have been burred down, and his back teeth don't look too bad. So the vet thinks it might be a bit of arthritis in his jaw.

Because guinea pigs are smol and therefore have smol kidneys (or pigneys as we call them), regular pain meds aren't really an option.

The plan is to see how he goes over the next couple of days, and maybe get some pain meds if he isn't starting to pick up weight.. so fingers crossed that this was the solution and he starts chomping hay again!

#GuineaPig #GuineaPigs #GuineaPigsOfMastodon #CaviesOfMastodon #VetVisit #SurgeryDay #Anxiety #MyLittleGuy

Have crooked teeth?

Straight to jail!

#GuineaPig #GuineaPigs #GuineaPigsOfMastodon #CaviesOfMastodon #VetVisit #SurgeryDay #Anxiety #DoNotTalkToMeOrMySon #MyLittleGuy

I feel like I dropped him at his first day of school, with his little packed lunch...

(what's going on with Socks is here - https://aus.social/@aby/111248367495056652)

#GuineaPig #GuineaPigs #GuineaPigsOfMastodon #CaviesOfMastodon #VetVisit #SurgeryDay #Anxiety #DoNotTalkToMeOrMySon #MyLittleGuy

Chuck had his annual checkup today (and his vaccine booster shot) and suffice it to say he was *not* happy about his daytime napping being interrupted in this way. (The vet pronounced him in excellent health though, so that’s good!) #Bunny #HouseRabbit #BunniesOfMastadon #VetVisit

Woofers passed their annual vet check today. They haven’t forgiven me for the injections or the nail clipping….
#DogsOfMastodon #MiniDachshund #VetVisit

#dogs #dogsofmastodon #oscarthepup #vetvisit