Status Quo

Pinniped has been stable.  She's still on the hydrochlorothiazide (which I can now spell and pronounce without looking at the bottle).  Unfortunately, she continues to receive daily subcues.  I've weaned her to a daily injection instead of the twice-daily routine.  After six months of getting jabbed, she's not taking it well.  I can no longer give the injections by myself because she's too wriggly.

I stopped at the vet last week to stock up on another month's worth of meds, fluids and needles.  I spoke briefly with the vet.  She was thrilled that Pinni has had a few weeks of 850-900g weight and that she'd been clean and dry for several days in a row.  It's a far cry from the state Pinni was in this winter.  I explained how I've modified the regimen and the problems we've had with subcues.  The vet suggested that if I'm down to 30ml of fluids a day to try syringe feeding Pinni that amount.  I could use the lactated ringers' solution orally, which would help keep Pinni's electrolytes in balance.

In classic guinea pig style, Pinni took a turn for the worse after I told the vet how great she was doing.  Why do they do that?!?  But she's perked up again.  For whatever reason, the warm weather seems to agree with her.  We've been trying the ringers orally.  I've never heard of doing this before.  It's thicker than water, which I hadn't realize.  I read online that it tastes terrible, but I found it to be mildly salty, which I'm sure Pinni likes.  She sucks down 9ml at a time, no problems.  I manage to give her the full 30ml in three to four servings over the course of the day.

So we'll try to give Pinni's back a rest.  As long as she keeps her weight up, I'll give her oral fluids for a while.  It's wonderful to see her sleeping comfortably, sprawled out in a cozy, or hanging out in the hammock.  She putters around and acts like her old self.  It's a vast improvement from huddling under the hay rack, all scrunched up in a ball.  Happy pig.  It's a good thing.