Squee makes sudden turn for the worst

[Psychobunny]

So, after 10 days of treatment with Baytril, Squee was showing improvement, and appeared to be back to his normal self, eating are drinking normal.

This morning, I find him in the middle of the cage, where it's cooler, limp as a wet noodle!
I reached in and touched him, he is alert, but no movement, arms and legs dangling like a rubber toy!

I called the vet and told them I had to bring Squee in right away.
So off we went to see the vet.

Vet gave him a shot of Baytril, took a blood sample, and a shot of saline to keep him hydrated.
To make problems worse, Squee will not get under the basking lamp, stays in the coolest, darkest spots in the cage.
So he is always cold, and is not regulating his body temp.

For now, I have him in his "hospital room" with a heating mat under it to keep him at 85F.

I may have to keep him in this box a few days, so may need to put a UV over it.

I have to call the vet tomorrow morning to get part of the blood work results, the other part needs to be sent out to a lab.

I am back to giving him Baytril once a day for a week, pending the results of the blood testing.

Here is a pic of poor sick Squee in his hospital room:

 

[ridgebax1]

Oh no, poor baby! I had Pete in a similar "room" when he was ill. I used a critter keeper with fake vines wired to the lid and hanging down into the container. I did have his UVB, heat and dripper set-up over it. I put a little plastic sandwich container with a sponge in it to soak up the water from the dripper. I had a branch on the bottom over a towel in case he wanted to perch on it. I also would take him out and hold him in a heating pad several times a day. He would fall asleep in the heat pad which I am not sure was a good thing now or just because he would be in a dim light during that time.
I hope he gets better

 

[NHenn]

Oh man, I hope Squee gets better! Hopefully the blood work will be able to pinpoint what is wrong and get him back to full health asap! I wish you and him the best of luck!

 

[Psychobunny]

Thanks guyz, I am feeling sick myself over this!

Yeah, the box was slapped together in a hurry, will make him a deluxe hospital
room this weekend.
I don't think he would do well at all in his normal cage, I need to have strict control over his temps and stuff.

He is too weak right now to climb on those sticks, which are actualy a few inches above him, pic makes it look like the sticks are sitting on top of him!!

I will put his heating mat on a timer, so I know he is warm during the afternoon, then off at night.
Your dripper idea sounds good, I will do that too.
And thanks for the other "sick room" tips.

 

[Rottsko]

oh no! i can't believe i'm reading this. so sorry stan. i hope he turns it around. hang in there.

 

[little leaf]

aww poor little guy - will keep him in my thoughts and prayers - sorry to hear he is not feeling well again

 

[qdude46]

So sorry to hear about that, no matter what, I can tell he has a good dad.

 

[Kath44]

Sending best wishes to squee from across the pond. Hope he improves. Kath.

 

[jannb]

Poor Squee. I'll be praying for a full recovery here.

 

[Psychobunny]

Thanks everyone, I am shocked by this sudden turn!!

He went through quite an ordeal today with the vet, and I didn't want to
disturb him from his little box.
He climbed up on the 2 sticks at bedtime, and I just covered it with a towel
to keep it dark, and just let him spend the night in it.

I even put away all my "nursing" stuff thinking he was on the mend

I made a better hospital room for him and will move him to it tomorrow.

I will update as soon as I get word from vet about the blood tests.

 

[PoshPenny]

I'm praying for squee too, I was just laughing at the glazed donut thread the other day, this post makes me sad. I hope they figure it out soon and can get him better.

Just slightly off topic, I know some forms of mupirocin may contain polyethylene glycol which has been linked to kindney issues. We used polyethylene glycol for procedures in the past at the hospital I did my first clinicals at and it was swapped out because some studies were done where polyethylene glycol caused kindney damage. It's a filler basically, the "glaze" part of the antibiotic cream. Just a thought. I know baytril can be hard on the kidneys, but this cream can be too. Silver sulfadiazine has been proven to be effective against preventing mrsa infections, impetigo, ect, not sure if he could swap them out if yours contains it. Just a thought. Thinking of your Cham. Best wishes.

 

[ridgebax1]

I read some bad stuff about polyethylene glycol a while back. It is in those water flavorings like Mio and the like. I pitched all of mine. I also think it is similar to ethelyne glycol which is in antifreeze and if I am not mistaken that also causes renal failure if ingested. I did not know it was also in topicals! Mupirocin is commonly used in my pediatric patients who have tracheostomies or gastrostomies. I will have to check their packaging to see if this is a listed ingredient. My one little patient does have kidney issues so his parents may need to check into this if it is in his med!

 

[PoshPenny]

It's an easy oversight but I read everything, I'm that weirdo reading the inserts in Medicine boxes. It's not used in all of them but in some. A google search will bring up a whole slew of things to freak you out.

I know how attached I am to my Cham, iv had her. 3 months, you guys have had yours for years , it breaks my heart to read these threads. I know how bad it must feel to wait it out. I'm rooting for bunny and Melissa.

 

[Psychobunny]

I'm praying for squee too, I was just laughing at the glazed donut thread the other day, this post makes me sad. I hope they figure it out soon and can get him better.

Just slightly off topic, I know some forms of mupirocin may contain polyethylene glycol which has been linked to kindney issues. We used polyethylene glycol for procedures in the past at the hospital I did my first clinicals at and it was swapped out because some studies were done where polyethylene glycol caused kindney damage. It's a filler basically, the "glaze" part of the antibiotic cream. Just a thought. I know baytril can be hard on the kidneys, but this cream can be too. Silver sulfadiazine has been proven to be effective against preventing mrsa infections, impetigo, ect, not sure if he could swap them out if yours contains it. Just a thought. Thinking of your Cham. Best wishes.

I think that is why the max treatment time (for small dogs) is 30 days, Squee
was only on it for 10, plus I made sure he was hydrated, even if I had to force
it down him.
I believe the kidney issues are complications of keeping well hydrated.
Animals will refuse water while on Baytril, and some pet owners may not be
aware of this.

Anyway, just checked on Squee this morning, he is perched on the sticks, and
grasping it with all 4's (not dangling), and looking up at me in confusion!!

 

[LLGabriel]

Aww poor Squee. I hope he gets better soon.

 

[Psychobunny]

Thanks laurenleeg,
Making vet call in 15 minutes

 

[Psychobunny]

I read some bad stuff about polyethylene glycol a while back. It is in those water flavorings like Mio and the like. I pitched all of mine. I also think it is similar to ethelyne glycol which is in antifreeze and if I am not mistaken that also causes renal failure if ingested. I did not know it was also in topicals! Mupirocin is commonly used in my pediatric patients who have tracheostomies or gastrostomies. I will have to check their packaging to see if this is a listed ingredient. My one little patient does have kidney issues so his parents may need to check into this if it is in his med!

Before u guyz get excited over the stories you read about PEG's, keep in mind that they come in many different grade's and molecular weights.
Chemical structures are different.
There are a zillion uses for PEG's, from industrial, to medical and food grade.

Mupirocin contains peg3350 (molecular weight) and 400.

I'm sure FDA's website would be loaded with information regarding the food and med grade PEG's.

Don't want to hijack my own thread with this though

 

[Psychobunny]

Well, called vet, no results from blood test yet, waiting for email from the
lab.
Need to call back in 2 hours

 

[MelissaB]

Good luck, Pyschobunny. I hope he feels better really soon. It sounds like he's perking up, and that's wonderful news.

 

[ridgebax1]

Give him a little pat on the head from my boys! Hope he feels better; Have you ever read anything about something called capture myopathy? Not that I think that is what's wrong and don't want to be a downer, but thought it was interesting and maybe could explain why these guys seem to turn so dramatically and so quickly. Here is a link if your interested: http://wildinstincts.wordpress.com/2012/09/09/capture-myopathy/