Kahlua sick? UPDATE!! BACK FROM VET BAD NEWS :(

[xenrielle]

So I'm back from the vet... Really not so good news. First off, she's constipated. A lot. So not so bad. So she took her back to see if she could get some poop out and noticed a lump on her right jaw. :cry4: No idea what it is! She thinks it might be an infection... or something lodged up there, but really doesn't make sense... The constipation explains the lethargy cause it would hurt and the jaw thing with the not eating so much. She thinks it's swollen and is painful to swallow.

Now for the worst news. She really isn't sure. To find out, Kahlua would need to be put under to be able to poke around in her mouth. This would cost me over $800. :cry4: :cry4: :cry4: I have no where near that. Not even close. I had around $300. (spent $150 today.) This is more than I make in a month. I am at a loss. Even if she took out the x-ray it would still be upwards of $600.

I have no idea what to do. I love her so much but $800. I can't pay that... I'm a working student. It's impossible... I'm just in tears because she's still so lively, so young, so much fight in her...

So for now, they gave her sub q fluids and baytril and sent me home with 10 days worth of baytril to see if that helps if it's an infection. If not, I don't know what to do... I REALLY can't pay that, as much as I want to...




So Kahlua, my roughly 6 week old baby girl is sick... I think. Today I looked at her and she had porphyrin all around her eyes, a lot of it. And she had some on the back of her ears (which I am assuming was on her nose and when she groomed went to her ears.) She also seems to be eating a little less, so I counted the number of blocks in her cage to keep count. Also, she only picks at the pablum baby food in her cage, but will lick some from my fingers. She also has lost interest in the baby puff treats. So I am really worried. She doesn't seem to have any problems breathing, and she hasn't sneezed in a while, she used to when she first came, but I assumed they were new home sneezes.

Any ideas? I'm most likely going to take her to Liston Animal Hospital Monday or Tuesday regardless, but I would like to have some ideas...

Thanks.

 

[xenrielle]

And kiwi. She used to go crazy over it, now she won't touch it...

 

[xenrielle]

She weighs 105g, so she has gained weight in 3 weeks, she was 75g...

 

[victoria]

It sounds like she's pretty sick. Sometimes you can't tell they have pneumonia or it can be something entirely different. Can you get her to the vet sooner than Tuesday? In the meantime keep her warm and try to get as much food and water into her as you can.

 

[jorats]

How long have you had her? She's pretty young at 6 weeks, how long was she with mom?

 

[xenrielle]

She is closer to 8 weeks sorry oops! I didn't count right. She was 5 weeks when I got her around Dec 26. She was with her mom the day I got her. I don't know... she's eaten a little here and there, a lab block in about a day and a half, some pudding, some granola bar, 2 choco chips, some ensure, some baby cereal and food... She only eats a little at a time (except the pudding, she went bananas for that O.O) She poops don't look quite right sometimes... Most of the time they seem normal, but every once in a while they are really small and grouped together, a little mucus on them. And she hasn't lost any weight... In one day she jumped up 6g... I'm trying to make an appointment today... so hopefully I know more after that.

 

[jorats]

Keep us posted!

 

[xenrielle]

My poor baby

 

[victoria]

If it's an abscess on her jaw there are better antibiotics than Batryl to treat it. Chlorpalm, Septra, and Clavamox are all better for abscesses I believe. If she's also constipated make sure she is getting a probiotic and maybe some mineral oil to help her digestion along. Hopefully it is just an abscess and it's resolved by antibiotics.

 

[xenrielle]

If it's an abscess on her jaw there are better antibiotics than Batryl to treat it. Chlorpalm, Septra, and Clavamox are all better for abscesses I believe. If she's also constipated make sure she is getting a probiotic and maybe some mineral oil to help her digestion along. Hopefully it is just an abscess and it's resolved by antibiotics.

It's not an abscess... It's inside, just a lumpy thing...

 

[victoria]

Oh, I misunderstood that. I'm really sorry. Did she give you pain meds then? It sounds like the reason she went nuts for the pudding was that it was soft and easy to eat, just keep offering her nutritious soft foods so she can get as much stregth to fight whatever it is.

 

[xenrielle]

That's okay . She's on baytril, she's not in any real pain, just uncomfortable from being constipated. She is on a diet of baby food, pudding, anything that's really soft. I am to see if she starts eating any lab blocks, because it she hasn't improved a little by Thursday, we have to figure out our next move. Which I am not look forward to, because it would most likely be the $800 procedure, that I don't have. :gaah:

 

[victoria]

It sounds like she may be in pain because of the lump in her jaw though, I would call and ask about Metacam as well. It shouldn't be too expensive and it may make her more comfortable if anything.

 

[xenrielle]

This is getting stranger and stranger. Ever since she has been home, she has been popcorning around her cage, eating, she finished the ensure. She is acting like her old self. ??? Soooo confused. She also popped out like 10 raisins...

 

[xenrielle]

She really isn't in pain it seems. More just wants to lay around before. Like outside of her cage she would be running around and jumping...

 

[jorats]

I'd continue with the meds and hope it works. $800 is quite high and I'd get a second opinion.

 

[Godmother]

If she made such an improvement, there is hope. I wonder if there is a way to get a second opinion without spending $150. I wish you lived in a smaller city. I imagine that Chlorpalm (which is available in a cheap and tasty format, and the bottle lasts for a long time) would be good for that kind of abscess.