Bladder Sludge

[Snoopy]

,Hi, my 3 1/2 year old sow (kept indoors) has just been diagnosed with 'bladder sludge' by our vet.
She appears to be in perfect health - eating drinking etc, but last Monday I noticed blood when she did a poo.
This stopped the next day, but her urine is cloudy & the vet says her bladder feels thick.
She has prescribed - metacam0.25 ml once daily, Zantac .36 twice daily & Baytril .20ml twice.
She has now had 2 X-rays & 2 ultra sound scans, which have shown a clouding on the bladder.

She has been on burgess complete blackcurrent pellets since birth, with hay on demand & a mix of veg once a day.
I have increased the veg on vets instructions, but now I read that too much lettuce is not a good thing

My vet is now recommending an operation to clear the bladder, which I am not keen to do as I lost my previous boy after a detail op with anaesthetic.

I would appreciate any help you can offer, I have tried to look as previous threads but got completely confused!

 

[Wiebke]

,Hi, my 3 1/2 year old sow (kept indoors) has just been diagnosed with 'bladder sludge' by our vet.
She appears to be in perfect health - eating drinking etc, but last Monday I noticed blood when she did a poo.
This stopped the next day, but her urine is cloudy & the vet says her bladder feels thick.
She has prescribed - metacam0.25 ml once daily, Zantac .36 twice daily & Baytril .20ml twice.
She has now had 2 X-rays & 2 ultra sound scans, which have shown a clouding on the bladder.

She has been on burgess complete blackcurrent pellets since birth, with hay on demand & a mix of veg once a day.
I have increased the veg on vets instructions, but now I read that too much lettuce is not a good thing

My vet is now recommending an operation to clear the bladder, which I am not keen to do as I lost my previous boy after a detail op with anaesthetic.

I would appreciate any help you can offer, I have tried to look as previous threads but got completely confused!

Hi and welcome!

In order for us to help you better, could you please add your country, state/province or UK county to your details? We have got members from all over the globe, so brands and access to knowledgeable vets can vary widely. Click on your username on the top bar, then go to personal details and scroll down to location.

Bladder sludge can be everything as bad as bladder stones; it is like lots of small ones. The good news is that with a good vet, a bladder operation on a sow is generally pretty straight forward and with a good healing record.

Times move on, so recommendations change. This is what we currently recommend to feed any bladder problem piggies:

- filtered water (takes not only care of excess calcium but also the build-up of minerals in the urinary tract) for the rest of the life; it can make a difference with any bladder piggies.
To help flush the bladder in the short term, you can syringe feed filtered water (about half a 1 ml syringe full at a time = 1 mouthful), as much as she will take twice daily. Ideally up to 10-15 ml, but you may not able to get as much in. Many bladder piggies are not good drinkers, which can be one of the contributing factors.

- Here are our recommendations for a long-term low calcium balanced daily diet:
Veg and fresh herbs that can be fed daily and used for a long term balanced low calcium diet ("IC diet") in the quantities listed:
1 slice of bell or sweet pepper/capsicum of any colour; 1 slice of cucumber; 1-2 chunks of celery; 1 French bean; 1 sprig of coriander/cilantro; 1 one inch strip of spring greens

In the short term, you can slightly up the intake of mildly diuretic veg like lettuce, cucumber, celery or baby dandelions; this is what your vet is recommending to help flush as much out of the bladder as possible. Don't overdo it, though, or you can end up with diarrhea! My water syringing recommendation is to the same effect.

- for pellets, we now recommend a fairly newly available low calcium brand for our UK members. It is not cheap, but you only need to give 5 pellets per guinea pig per day: Bunny GuineaPigDream BASIC | Free P&P on orders £29+ at zooplus!

- to support the irritated bladder walls of any guinea pigs suffering from longer term issues, we recommend giving either vegetarian glucosamine or a glucosamine-based cat food supplement that is sold under brand names like cystease or cystophan. This helps to build up the natural glucosamine film on the bladder walls. It is not a medication per se.

The medication sounds reasonable to me; the baytril is on the low side, but your vet is not treating a full-out urine infection. I would recommend to split the metacam dose into two, as guinea pig have a very quick metabolism. The metacam is a painkiller and anti-inflammatory. Zantac is given to calm down the belly to help counter the discomfort.

 

[gizzy]

some times lime in the water can add to the bladderstone problem, (for humans as well )

If your water is hard (water authority will tell you ) then you may benifit from one of these, though personaly it would have to be pritty hard before
l would use mine

 

[Snoopy]

Many thanks for your answer, I already use one of these, but our water is about midway between hard & soft.
Thanks for your support.

 

[Snoopy]

Hi and welcome!

In order for us to help you better, could you please add your country, state/province or UK county to your details? We have got members from all over the globe, so brands and access to knowledgeable vets can vary widely. Click on your username on the top bar, then go to personal details and scroll down to location.

Bladder sludge can be everything as bad as bladder stones; it is like lots of small ones. The good news is that with a good vet, a bladder operation on a sow is generally pretty straight forward and with a good healing record.

Times move on, so recommendations change. This is what we currently recommend to feed any bladder problem piggies:

- filtered water (takes not only care of excess calcium but also the build-up of minerals in the urinary tract) for the rest of the life; it can make a difference with any bladder piggies.
To help flush the bladder in the short term, you can syringe feed filtered water (about half a 1 ml syringe full at a time = 1 mouthful), as much as she will take twice daily. Ideally up to 10-15 ml, but you may not able to get as much in. Many bladder piggies are not good drinkers, which can be one of the contributing factors.

- Here are our recommendations for a long-term low calcium balanced daily diet:
Veg and fresh herbs that can be fed daily and used for a long term balanced low calcium diet ("IC diet") in the quantities listed:
1 slice of bell or sweet pepper/capsicum of any colour; 1 slice of cucumber; 1-2 chunks of celery; 1 French bean; 1 sprig of coriander/cilantro; 1 one inch strip of spring greens

In the short term, you can slightly up the intake of mildly diuretic veg like lettuce, cucumber, celery or baby dandelions; this is what your vet is recommending to help flush as much out of the bladder as possible. Don't overdo it, though, or you can end up with diarrhea! My water syringing recommendation is to the same effect.

- for pellets, we now recommend a fairly newly available low calcium brand for our UK members. It is not cheap, but you only need to give 5 pellets per guinea pig per day: Bunny GuineaPigDream BASIC | Free P&P on orders £29+ at zooplus!

- to support the irritated bladder walls of any guinea pigs suffering from longer term issues, we recommend giving either vegetarian glucosamine or a glucosamine-based cat food supplement that is sold under brand names like cystease or cystophan. This helps to build up the natural glucosamine film on the bladder walls. It is not a medication per se.

The medication sounds reasonable to me; the baytril is on the low side, but your vet is not treating a full-out urine infection. I would recommend to split the metacam dose into two, as guinea pig have a very quick metabolism. The metacam is a painkiller and anti-inflammatory. Zantac is given to calm down the belly to help counter the discomfort.

 

[Snoopy]

Hi, you mention vegetarian glucosamine- is this from a vets or from a health shop - and in what quantity?
Also you say to add coriander to her diet - I have parsley but my vet has said not to use this?
Many thanks for your support, I would prefer to try to manage with diet not surgery, but my vet seem to believe surgery is the only option. I am thinking of trying another vet for a second opinion.