Barry Jenkins, AKA BJ

[renonvsparky]

It's not a boarding fee. It's an extra charge for urgent care. They did an examination, including an x-ray and found little or no gut motility, some gas and a small amount of sludge in the lower end of his digestive tract. He's not in a lot of pain but he is experiencing some moderate discomfort. He's getting a motility medication and some pain med. I'll have to keep feeding him critical care until he starts eating on his own.

This is close to the same thing that happened to Mr Bubbles a few months ago. It came on a little more gradually than it did for BJ. He's recovering from the sedation, so I'll be picking him up in about an hour. I'll have an exact list of meds and a more clear explanation of what they found. I'll post an update later, but it looks like an easy treatment and hopefully a fairly quick recovery.

[Sef]

Ah, I see. Well, I'm glad they could squeeze him in, and even more relieved that they were able to determine what was wrong. He's going to be so glad to be back home after what turned out to be quite a long day for him.

Let us know how he does this evening and weekend.

The boys and I all wish him a speedy recovery.

[renonvsparky]

So they prescribed 5mg metoclopramide tablets for BJ. He gets a quarter of a tablet twice a day for gut motility and meloxidyl 1.5 mg/ml as needed for pain. They preloaded his dose into syringes for me. He just got his first dose of metoclopramide with his critical care. I'm not seeing any indication that he's in any pain. I'm watching him carefully and if he shows any signs of pain, I'll give him his meloxidyl.

[Sef]

Sounds like a good plan. Re-reading what you wrote earlier, was the vet sure the sludge was in the digestive tract, or might it have been in the bladder?

[renonvsparky]

Not in the bladder. It was in the digestive tract near his rectum. When he gets those bowels moving, it should pass.

[Sef]

Sending good thoughts to you both! Get better soon, BJ, you sweet boy.

[pigjes]

Fingers crossed once more!

[janlovingcavies]

Paws crossed here from the girls and me!

[renonvsparky]

Long night. Got the second dose of metoclopramide in along with at least 10ml of critical care at midnight. I'm staying up to make sure BJ gets his critical care every 4 hours. I'm about to do his 4AM feeding and then I'll be taking a nap. He ate more of his veggies than he has in the last couple of days. He also ate a few strands of hay. He ate some pellets too, so I can do his 4AM critical care and then get some sleep. He's not due his next dose until noon. I'll see how much more he eats on his own and adjust the feeding schedule if necessary.

[Sef]

This sounds very encouraging. How are his poops?

[Sef]

How's BJ doing this afternoon?

[renonvsparky]

BJ is looking better, but still not eating properly on his own. After his third dose of metoclopramide and a good amount of critical care, he went to foraging a little bit before laying down in his house. His droppings are pretty normal, but that's probably because I'm keeping him well fed with the critical care. Still not drinking from his water bottle, but he's getting plenty of water in the critical care. We're pressing on.

[Sef]

Very good. You're doing all the right things. I hope he is feeling more like himself tomorrow.

[pigjes]

Sounds like progress indeed!

[renonvsparky]

Not much change today. BJ did eat more lettuce last night, but none today. Continuing the critical care. He passed a lot of droppings at last night's feeding and two of them came out stuck together side by side. One regular sized and a small one stuck to it. He hunched his back a little bit, so it was clearly uncomfortable for him. This afternoon, he passed two that were not formed completely. He immediately ate both of them. I'm giving him about 7-10 mL of critical care every 4 hours.

I thought he'd be eating more on his own by now, but he isn't. I'll keep feeding him by hand for as long as it takes. He's halfway through the gut motility medication now. I was encouraged that he ate his lettuce last night, but that was short lived. We'll press on and keep hoping for the best.