Bladder in Young Guinea Pig

[Stewybus]

Ozzy arrived at Tees Valley Guinea Pig Rescue 3 weeks ago. He was born in November 2019 but was underweight weighing 600g. He has lost more since and been to the vets twice. The second time, yesterday he was xrayed. This revealed he had a massive bladder stone plus several much smaller stones in his ureter.

He is having an op to remove them on Tuesday which should bring him back to health and hopefully start eating more when he is pain free.

Has anybody had a guinea pig this young with bladder stones who can draw some light on how they coukd have been formed at such a young age.

 

[Siikibam]

I’m sorry I don’t have a clue. Best wishes for the operation. Seeing as he’s young hopefully it will go without a hitch. Do you know his circumstances before he came to you? What was his diet like etc?
@Wiebke @PigglePuggle @Piggies&buns

 

[Wiebke]

Ozzy arrived at Tees Valley Guinea Pig Rescue 3 weeks ago. He was born in November 2019 but was underweight weighing 600g. He has lost more since and been to the vets twice. The second time, yesterday he was xrayed. This revealed he had a massive bladder stone plus several much smaller stones in his ureter.

He is having an op to remove them on Tuesday which should bring him back to health and hopefully start eating more when he is pain free.

Has anybody had a guinea pig this young with bladder stones who can draw some light on how they coukd have been formed at such a young age.

Fingers very firmly crossed!

If stones happen at this young age, you are likely looking at combination of several factors, like exactly the wrong diet, a genetic disposition and/or something wrong with the complex calcium absorption process in combination with not enough to drink and flush his bladder.

Please follow our diet advice (see special diets chapter). Filtered water or low calcium bottled water and not more than 1 tablespoon of pellets max. to cut out the two dietary angles where most calcium actually comes into the diet, plenty of dog pee free fresh grass once he is used to it and plenty of water or more watery veg to help flush his bladder better can in the medium to longer term help even though they take several weeks to filter through in which you may see a recurrance of stones.
Long Term Balanced General And Special Needs Guinea Pig Diets

I would also strongly recommend to put your poorly boy on glucosamine like cystease capsules to protect the beleaguered natural glucosamine coating of the walls of the urinary tract that prevents the corrosive urine from coming into direct contact with flesh. It will help with the overall comfort. We recommend 1 capsule of feliway cystease per day mixed with 2 ml of water and given either half every 12 hours or all in one go every 24 hours.

 

[muffinmarshmallow1]

I hope he's all right!

 

[alpacasqueak]

Hope the op goes well for Ozzy on Tuesday bless him.

 

[Stewybus]

Fingers very firmly crossed!

If stones happen at this young age, you are likely looking at combination of several factors, like exactly the wrong diet, a genetic disposition and/or something wrong with the complex calcium absorption process in combination with not enough to drink and flush his bladder.

Please follow our diet advice (see special diets chapter). Filtered water or low calcium bottled water and not more than 1 tablespoon of pellets max. to cut out the two dietary angles where most calcium actually comes into the diet, plenty of dog pee free fresh grass once he is used to it and plenty of water or more watery veg to help flush his bladder better can in the medium to longer term help even though they take several weeks to filter through in which you may see a recurrance of stones.
Long Term Balanced General And Special Needs Guinea Pig Diets

I would also strongly recommend to put your poorly boy on glucosamine like cystease capsules to protect the beleaguered natural glucosamine coating of the walls of the urinary tract that prevents the corrosive urine from coming into direct contact with flesh. It will help with the overall comfort. We recommend 1 capsule of feliway cystease per day mixed with 2 ml of water and given either half every 12 hours or all in one go every 24 hours.

Thanks Wiebke, I'll wait to see how the op goes first. I've already cut out dark green veg and celery. Also changed his nuggets to Science Supreme Grain Free nuggets. I also have some Chanca Plus powder too and I'm going to give him that daily. Looks like he will become a sanctuary piggy.

 

[Wiebke]

Thanks Wiebke, I'll wait to see how the op goes first. I've already cut out dark green veg and celery. Also changed his nuggets to Science Supreme Grain Free nuggets. I also have some Chanca Plus powder too and I'm going to give him that daily. Looks like he will become a sanctuary piggy.

Please be aware that ANY pellets contain more calcium than even the highest calcium veg. Getting the bladder regularly flushed with strong pees is perhaps your biggest challenge as you can't just squirt water into his mouth without causing other problems - and the same goes for bladder flushes if these become necessary. They need to be very carefull done.

All the best!