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5 Month Old Boar, Blood In Urine And Squeaking In Pain

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Rolofudge

Rolofudge

Junior Guinea Pig
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Droitwich Spa, Worcestershire, U.K.
Hi,

Just joined the forum hoping for some help/advice for my little Rolo.

Rolo is 5 months old and 12 days ago I noticed blood in his and his friend Fudge's house. Soon realised it was his urine and he was passing a lot of little blood cots in it too. I had him in the kitchen with white paper towelling down so could check what was happening. He was urinating very frequently with small amounts each time and squeaking a lot with the pain bless him.

Got him in at the vets next morning and he showed pain on examination of his tummy. He was put on 0.4ml of baytril twice a day and 0.3ml of metacam once a day as he is just 1kg (he has lost a bit of weight). The vet suspected a urinary tract infection or possible bladder stones or tumour. We were hoping for it to be just an infection which medication would help clear and make him more comfortable.

Took a urine sample to be tested next day and went back to vets 3 days later. He hadn't really made any improvement unfortunately. His urine sample had been tested and it showed an infection. We thought that his medication would of started to work by now. He was still eating but not as much as usual. Vet suggested to get him X rayed to check for bladder stones. He had two taken but they showed nothing conclusive, which meant we still had no answer to his problem. Vet suggested to carry on with medication and see how he goes over next few days. I had read about some Guinea pig owners giving cystease which is a medication used in cats to line the bladder to help protect it. I asked the vet about this and she said she would look into it.

He wasn't looking so good the next day and hardly ate a thing. I resulted to crushing some of his pellet food and mixing it with water to syringe him and tried him with some diluted cranberry juice. He took some but then just started dribbling it out. Luckily the vet phoned and said she is happy for us to try the product similar to cystease called cystophan. Collected it the next day and hoped it would help him.

6 days after first noticing blood, Rolo had his first dose of cystophan and over the next 24 hours there was no blood. But he was still squeaking with pain each time. Good news was he had started eating a bit more and seemed happier in himself.

Day 7, we went back to the vet for a check up. There had been no blood for 48 hours but he was still squeaking and showed pain on his examination. As he had improved slightly on the cystophan, vet suggested another 48 hours on meds and see how he is.

Day 9, there had been a small tinge of blood today and he seemed to be squeaking when he passed faeces too. He was still brighter in himself and was eating better. This time vet suggested an ultrasound scan to check again for bladder stones. Poor little boy had his belly shaved but was good as gold for his scan. But scan still showed no sign of stones which meant we still had no explanation to his pain. The rest of his anatomy looked to be normal. Another urine sample showed high ph levels which can indicate infection. Vet says to carry on with medication and when next course of antibiotics is finished to test urine again and do a culture. He has some oxbow urinary support supplements which he likes each day to try and help.

Feeling very sorry for my little boy as he's still just a youngster and wish I could take his pain away. Still think there must be an explanation or something that can help him. Today is day 12 and unfortunately he is passing blood in his urine again and squeaks each time as well as when he passes faeces. He is still happy in himself and has been jumping around with his mate today and eating ok.

If anyone has experienced similar symptoms to Rolo's and has any advice on what to do next with him or any different medication suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Many thanks
 
Hi and welcome!

I am very sorry for your poorly boy! It is at least good news that there are no stones (for which he is a bit young anyway).

There are several issues lumped under UTI, as they generally present with very similar symptoms. Your vet has been able to exclude bladder stones and sludge, which is the most obvious alternative. The classic UTI is a bacterial urine infection, which is reacting to antibiotics, but it may need a stronger antibiotic and several weeks to get it to clear in severe cases. The third is an inflammation of the bladder walls (cystitis), which often doesn't react well to antibiotics and can sometimes become a chronic/recurring problem which you rather have to manage than heal; this is called "interstitial cystitis". It often disappears on its own after 2-3 years. Cystitis reacts often better to metacam or its derivatives; metacam is a painkiller and anti-inflammatory.

In order to be able to help you better could you please give us more information:
- what is Rolo's weight and what antibiotic/dosage is he on?
- has your vet prescribed a painkiller/anti-inflammatory to tackle the painful peeing/pooing?
- could you please add your country, state/province or UK county to your details, so we can tailor any advice and recommendations accordingly. We have got members from all over the world. Medical brand names vary a lot and not all medications are available everywhere; it will also helpus to take your climate into account where necessary. Click on your username, go to personal details and scroll down to location. Thank you!

What you can do as supportive extra measures:
- great that you are using a glucosamine-based food supplement to protect the bladder walls (cystophan, cystease etc.) While it may not have a noticeable impact, it is going to help.
- syringe-feed your boy water, as much as he can take, once daily in order to flush the bladder; ideally you use filtered water. Please do not give him more than 1/3 full of a syringe at once (i.e. one mouthful for a guinea pig of his young age) and make sure that the previous lot has gone down before you give more. This will hopefully help to flush out any bacteria that are sitting in the bladder and causing the symptoms; it can initially make things a bit worse while the bacteria is being flushed out. Many bladder piggies are not very good drinkers and can be on the whole more prone to bladder/urinary tract problems.
- make sure that your boy is in a stable and warm environment free from drafts and dampness; ideally indoors or under cover and not outdoors in a hutch. Dampness, drafts and major temperature swings are the other major cause of UTIs.
- be patient. UTI and cystitis can be persistent and may need several weeks of medical care.
- increase the vitamin C in his diet or give additional vitamin C (about 1/8 of a human vitamin C tablet for an acutely ill guinea pig) to boost his immune system.
 
Hi,

Thank you for your reply

Yes it's good that they found no stones, but wander if it's possible for them to be too small to show or be hidden though? I know he's only young and his friend Fudge eats the same and he's fine.

Rolo is 994g in weight currently.
He has 0.4ml of baytril x2 day
And he's on 0.3ml of metacam X1 day for pain. ( I did ask if he could have it split in half and have it twice a day, but vet didn't think it a good idea)
He also has 1/2 capsule of cystophan mixed with 2.5ml of water once a day
And 1-2 of the oxbow urinary support hay tablets a day.
Will sort out giving him some extra vitamin c too.

He doesn't seem to drink much on his own but he gets juice out of cucumber and celery and other veggies so hopefully that helps, and have been giving him some by syringe too.

He's housed in a well insulated shed and has a snugglesafe to keep him warm and I'm about to get a heat lamp for the extra cold nights.

He seems to be in more pain today as his squeaks seem more often and for longer bless him. And more blood yet again, he did have 5 days with none. It's so frustrating hearing him in pain and not being able to help him ☹
Is it usual for them to still be squeaking with pain although they are having pain medication? It's nearly 2 weeks now.
Spoke to vet today and he said about interstitial cystitis and he's going to look into what else we can do for him too.
Fingers crossed he's feeling better soon, he's such a sweet little boy
 
A) The dosage of baytril is correct for your piggy's weight and type of illness (urinary tract issues require a higher dosage). However, if baytril is bringing a nitceable subsidence within 2 weeks, please ask your vet whether he would consider switching to septrin. Baytril is the only licensed antibiotic for guinea pigs, but it often doesn't cut through a urine infection. Many vets now use septrin instead, which is generally considered to be the most effective antibiotic for urinary tract issues. It needs to be taken for about 3 weeks, but it generally does the job more effectively than baytril. The dosage is 0.5 ml twice daily for a 1 kg guinea pig. So there is a further option for you and your vet to try, if necessary not just the pediatric, but full adult strength. if necessary, your vet and you could consider whether a test to see which antibiotic (if any) is the most effective would be the way forward. It won;t be cheap, though.

B) It is good that you have got metacam and have started on the cystophan. Please split the dose, as guinea pigs have a very fast metabolism; it is generally much better to split (as per recommendation from several piggy savvy vets with who I have had the same discussion). One dose doesn't last 24 hours. The dose is about as high as your vet can go for more than just 2-3 days. So your vet is already doing the important thing in case it is not a UTI, but cystitis or IC (interstitial cystitis).

Having been there with piggies of my own with UTI, IC and stones, I feel for you! It is so frustrating to try and get past the pain. Because guinea pigs have a naturally alkaline urine, they are particularly prone to urinary problems and stones and it can be quite a journey to clear them. :(
 
Hi,

My vet said baytril is good for urinary tract issues, but agreed that by now we should of seen some improvement. Will ask him about Septrin then and see if we can change to it.

He's had two urine dipstick tests already at £40 each, so reluctant to do a culture which will cost more if it won't offer much more information. I'll pay whatever he needs but don't want to waste money if I can help it!
I have spilt his dose of metacam today so hopefully he will feel a benefit, would it be ok to add a bit of water to it do you think? He loves it and takes it from the syringe lovely so thought a bit of extra liquid intake would be ideal!
It definately is frustrating! Thank you for your advice
 
If I may butt in here, I had a sow who had repeated urine infections, and the two vets who saw her prescribed Baytril, Baytril, Baytril and more Baytril. Whilst I did see improvement on and off, the infection kept coming back and toward the end it never even helped at all. Baytril is licensed for guinea pigs and vets often don't realise there are other ones available (as they are not always officially recognised as being effective for guinea pigs), and seems to be a good overall antibiotic, but if your pig's infection comes back after using it please do ask about alternatives.
I know that if I had another piggy with this issue I would be asking for Septrin
Wishing you all the best x
 
Any comments and suggestions are welcome, thanks
Yes they do seem to like giving out baytril!
Going to be in touch with vet tomorrow as not happy with his lack of improvement over the weekend. He is bleeding and squeaking a lot more and has lost more weight Will definately try and swap him onto Septrin then, as he can't carry on as he is, poor little man.
 
Will up his dose for metacam for a few days then. Have given him metacam this morning as well and last night and will again tonight. Going to see vet later and hopefully change him onto Septrin too. He's eaten well today so far and not quite so much blood, a few blood clots again now though.
 
All the best! It is no fun when you are dealing with a severe UTI, cystitis or IC. :(
 
Thanks! It's a nightmare!
Well vet doesn't think a change to Septrin will be any help at the moment, and also that increasing metacam is not good to do either. He still thinks that it is a stone/crystals and that they are hidden, which I think I do too. But then he is only young. The blood clots he's passing makes him think trauma from the stones or crystals.
He has suggested we take him off the baytril for a week and carry on with metacam, cystophan and oxbow supplements and plenty of veggies.
Then if still no improvement or he gets worse,
1) catheterise him and flush out bladder and re X-ray (he'd be the first Guinea pig he's done it on!)
2) try course of Septrin
It's so hard to know what to do for the best
 
Rolofudge said:
Thanks! It's a nightmare!
Well vet doesn't think a change to Septrin will be any help at the moment, and also that increasing metacam is not good to do either. He still thinks that it is a stone/crystals and that they are hidden, which I think I do too. But then he is only young. The blood clots he's passing makes him think trauma from the stones or crystals.
He has suggested we take him off the baytril for a week and carry on with metacam, cystophan and oxbow supplements and plenty of veggies.
Then if still no improvement or he gets worse,
1) catheterise him and flush out bladder and re X-ray (he'd be the first Guinea pig he's done it on!)
2) try course of Septrin
It's so hard to know what to do for the best
Click to expand...

I would strongly recommend to x-ray for a stone or bladder sludge sooner rather than later. You do not need a full GA for it; just a little whiff so your vet can x-ray the piggy ideally from two angles. This should bring clarity as whether you are dealing with a bladder stone or sludge, or not and whether an operation is needed.
Unless your vet is experienced with a bladder flush (and if indicated by the findings of an x-ray), I would not recommend it. If inexpertly and to strongly done, it can back up into the kidneys with the piggy dying suddenly tpically about 10 days after the flush. We had several cases of that happening to members at the time when bladder flushes became fashionable for a short time. :(

However, as your vet is obviously not very experienced with small animals, you may want to consider switching to a more experienced one. We have got a recommended UK vet locator on the top bar.
 
He has already had X-rays 3 days after his symptoms started, and an ultra sound since them too, but they show no obvious stones, he thinks they could be hidden behind pelvis or leg bones. Not keen on idea of bladder flush and starting to think we are fighting a losing battle with him ☹
 
Hi,

A quick update on Rolo:

There has been no blood for the last 2 weeks and for the last week he has stopped squeaking with pain too
He came off the Baytrill 2 weeks ago to see if it was helping or not and he got no worse off it. And just out of the blue he stopped squeaking a week after. He's still having a low dose of metacam twice a day and cystophan every couple of days but so happy he is back to his happy self, jumping around with his brother Fudge
 
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