3 month old boar squeaking and drinking alot?

[kayemerton]

Hi all one of my boys I noticed did a high pitched squeak while he was in his tunnel away from the other one. He was also drinking loads this afternoon which I know its hot but worried about stones! It's hard as they are outside so don't watch them all the time. Any suggestions?

 

[Baby's Mom]

If you're little boar is squeaking while urinating, that could mean a couple of different things. I'll give you some helpful links, but I'm sure that I'm bound to miss something here. So when one of the more experienced ones come on, I'm sure they'll be able to help you even better.

The first thing you may want to check out is -- Bladder Stones. (as you've already mentioned) For more info on these -- http://www.guinealynx.info/stones.html

Another problem could be a UTI. (Urinary Tract Infection). For more info -- http://www.guinealynx.info/uti.html

Again... I probably missed something...

Is your boar just starting to drink alot of water recently? If the amount of water that's being consumed has been different lately, it could mean a couple of things.
-- dehydration
-- Teeth problems. Please check his teeth, because sometimes if a guinea pig has problems with his molars. He may not be able to eat, but he'll be drinking alot due to hunger.

 

[Wiebke]

Sorry to disappoint you, but at that age, stones are MOST unlikely! It is MUCH more likely that your boy got bitten by an insect while in the tunnel or hurt himself somehow or just had a fright.

If he is in pain while urinating, I would always assume and treat for urinary tract infection first and looking for a stone only if the pain/bloody urine when peeing won't ease with antibiotic treatment.

Any pain while peeing starts very low level, more like a little muttering than a screaming, anyway. I have had a bladder stone piggy myself and can reassure you that stones do not happen overnight and that not every piggy is likely to develop them - in fact the vast majority of piggies will be perfectly OK throughout their lives.

Drinking much more than normal is probably due to the heat. Piggies sometimes do drink more while not drinking much at other times without obvious reason. Heavy drinking is also more a sign of UTI than a stone and can have completley different causes as well.

I hope that I have been able to your mind to rest.

You may find this thread useful - it tells you what to look out for in terms of early signs of illness: http://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=36332

 

[naboosmummy]

naboo is now 3 months nearly and started doing this too but he is happy and popcorns lots...maybe its a way of asserting himself and letting us know he is there...soemtimes he jabbers on and on so loud its quite funny