An Unfortunate Twist

Wedgwood's weight has been low for a while with no apparent reason.  It had coincided with losing Boadicea and adopting Mabel, which I figured were both stressful events.  But it hasn't bounced back like I expected once Mabel settled in.  I dragged my feet in calling the vet - until Wedg blew up like a balloon on the 4th of July.  This had to be bloat.

The word "bloat" can strike terror into any guinea pig owner.  It's painful and can be fatal - no one ever wants to deal with it.  The weird thing was that Wedgwood moved around like nothing was wrong, eating and drinking.  Even when I picked her up, she protested in being manhandled, not wheeking or grunting in pain.  She didn't act sick.

However, when we saw the vet, she used an even scarier word that bloat:  torsion.  Wedgwood has partial stomach torsion.  The vet did xrays and then an ultrasound hoping, hoping to find ovarian cysts.  Maybe a lump.  Any other cause for all that gas rather than a twist in her stomach.  This torsion is causing food not to move correctly, which in turn causes the gas.  If it gets worse, it could cut the flow of food completely.

It's a shocking diagnosis.  It took me nearly a day to just absorb it.  To top it off, the next day Wedgwood bloated again, and this time it was painful.  She was one very unhappy rodent.  I was wrung out by Monday afternoon, when she started to recover.  She is back to her normal self as I write this, but it's a crap shoot what any day will be like.

Wedgie is on simethicone and probiotics to help maintain the gas.  She's also on a diet of solely hay, pellets and water, which is terribly confusing.  She keeps begging for treats when I'm in the kitchen and doesn't understand why the usual veggies are not forthcoming. 

She came home from the vet sporting a shaved belly from the ultrasound.  Her belly button is sticking out!  At least it's summer bikini weather.  It's interesting that her skin is grey even though her belly fur is white.  It should turn white again as the fur grows back.

I'm awaiting feedback from the vet.  She was going to research what we will do next.  Option on the table is surgery to untwist Wedgwood's stomach.  She'd be a good candidate for surgery, since she's not in distress at the moment.  In the meantime, Wedgie is comfortable and acting as she has for months.  I'm crossing my fingers that we can keep the bloat at bay.  As long as the food keeps going in and the poo comes out, we're doing well.