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Bladder Stone Surgery :((((

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Guinea_Lover

Guinea_Lover

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I posted a week and a bit ago regarding my Guinea Pig Spice who had UTI, well unfortunately after a week of pain killers and antibiotics she was still squeaking when urinating as well as showing blood in her urine. We took her back to the vets after the 7 days, which they suspected bladder stones, she proceeded with her x-ray yesterday and sadly they found a large bladder stone which is covering up most of her bladder which is why she is struggling to pee and poo the majority of the time. Because of how large it is, there is no way she can try and pee it out herself so we decided to proceed with the surgery which is happening on Monday. I'm pretty scared actually, ive heard a mixture of stories (good and bad) of what happens during the surgery which is a mixture of emotions really. She is my little princess so I'm very nervous for her, but I know this is what will be best for her because she is really struggling when she goes toilet which isnt fair for her at all- we want her pain free :) I have read a few things regarding post-op care and wandered what you did for your pigs after the bladder stone surgery? The vet has told us that Spice will have to be kept indoors for the week due to her wounds (she is an outdoor piggy!), I have also seen people talking about a low-calcium diet and a certain type of hay to try and prevent bladder stones? Could someone explain this, and what type of foods this might be? Currently, she is feeling very very sorry for herself, she isnt really moving much because I can imagine the pain she is in, I have have been syringing water into her so she doesn't get dehydrated and she has been moving around to eat some food, I phoned up the vets this morning and they said what I am doing is great and keep at it for the few days as she will be in surgery soon. She is currently on Septrin and Metacam for now until the surgery- lets hope she makes it :) I'm very sure she will, she is a strong piggy..(trying not to cry haha!) :bye: The image I have posted with this is my beautiful girl :)

spice.webp
 
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Welcome to the forum :)Aww she's gorgeous! Good luck for Monday! I think as long as your vet has done the op before she should be ok. If it's any consolation my vet removed 5 stones from pigs last week & all made it through ok :)
 
I have a bladder piggy & she is not allowed spinach, kale, parsley,spring greens etc which are high calcium, I filter her water & they only get a tablespoon of pellets each twice a day. If you look on Guinealynx you will find charts of low calcium foods :)
 
The good news is that bladder stone surgery with sows is in most cases a pretty straight forward operation and that it tends to heal without complications. I have been through several bladder stone ops over the years, a couple with large stones. Some stones can grow very quickly. Others, even massive ones, may not cause any symptoms whatsoever until a piggy suddenly loses its appetite and goes downhill very quickly.

Please make sure that your girl has got plenty to drink until then; ideally filtered water, especially if you live in a hard water area - that can really make quite a difference. Limit the pellets if they are alfalfa based (i.e. high in calcium).
Weigh her daily at the same time in the feeding cycle until the op as well as for 10-14 days after during the recovery period and hand feed as soon as the weight drops significantly; the daily weight variance can be as much as 30g due to a full/empty bladder/tummy.
Did your vet give you metacam or another painkiller/anti-inflammatory? If not, please ask for some to keep her as comfy as possible.

You can also start to put your girl on cystease/cystaid (a food supplement for bladder problem cats) or vegetarian glucosamine (which is the main ingredient in cystease) to coat the bladder walls and help bolster the irritation from the stone. Continue with it afterwards but mention it to the vet.

Here are some threads that you may find helpful to prepare for any post op care and a post op diet to hopefully prevent a reoccurrance. I and the majority of long term owners have found that a low calcium diet works best for their bladder piggies, but depending on what is causing your bladder stones exactly in the first place (see above), it can take some time to finesse it individually. A few people swear by the ph : ca ratio diet. Calcium absorption in guinea pigs is a pretty complicated and not yet well understood or researched process.
When picking up your girl after the op, please ask how soon after the op you can give a painkiller; she'll have an injection during the operation.
http://www.guinealynx.info/postop.html
https://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/threads/complete-hand-feeding-guide.115359/
https://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/threads/low-calcium-diet-for-bladder-piggies.105930/
https://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk...os-and-diet-advice-for-bladder-piggies.30297/
 
Everyone above has covered what I was going to say really. Hope the op goes well. I agree it is better that is in the bladder. My Maddie had a stone lodged between the bladder and urethra and was in tremendous amounts of pain on both Metacam and Tramadol so we made the decision to let her go. Our vet is not experienced in bladder ops and I was not prepared to leave her in that much pain until we could get her to a vet that was and the stone was also causing recurring infections. At least with it being in the bladder it will be easier to get to.

I follow a bladder friendly diet that was put together by someone with a lot of experience with bladder pigs. Let me know if you need any information as it tends to be different to a lot of the information that is out there. I also use Vegan glucosamine daily for my pigs with bladder issues, and one of them is on Quercetin too.
 
Thank you everyone for your help and advice :) she is still feeling sorry for herself and is very quiet, we are giving her fruit and veg that is quite watery so she doesn't dehydrate quickly, just about to give her metacam now so hopefully she should feel a bit better pain wise :) she did a big popcorn this morning when I gave her a bit of strawberry as that's her favourite food, just hope she can hold out till Monday, I feel awful making her wait but sadly Monday is the only available day that the vets can do :(
 
I have no advice from the great advice above, just wanted to send your pretty lady lots of love and healing vibes
 
Because she is still not right and infact worsened from yesterday, we rang up the vets to ask for advice and they have changed the date to have her operation tomorrow rather than Monday as were worried she won't hold out till then (she gets very stressed at the moment when she's pooping which is bad and especially when weeing). I'm glad she's getting done a lot earlier, but I'm very nervous at the same time as I know consequences that can happen, especially with the anaesthetic :(
 
Thank you :) I will let you know how she gets on tomorrow, fingers crossed she'll make it! :soz::soz:
 
Spice has now gone in, our pick up time is at 6pm, this will be the longest day of my life aha :/ just trying to keep occupied and giving her sister Sugar lots of cuddles and love :)
 
Good luck for Spice today, hope all goes smoothly & you soon have her home with you. If you've never had a piggy have an op before just ask us about aftercare :)
 
Hey everyone, we have just taken her home and thankfully her surgery went well :) she is still very sleepy, quiet and still hasn't got her bearings yet. She has been eating as well but not really moving, she's been laying down (feeling sorry for herself) so we have been hand feeding her, I may consider syringing water if she doesn't move to drink within a few hours, she is also on Timothy hay (as the vet suggested this). I'm very proud of her that she made it :) just the critical few days of making sure that she's okay, she's off to the vets tomorrow for a post op check up and she's going to be indoors for a week (separated away from her sister :( ) thank you everyone for your help, I really appreciate it!
 
Great news! Could you bring her sister in too but separate the cage in half? It would be good for them to see each other safely. I would wake in the night & try a small syringe feed then & again first thing in the morning. It will take a good few hours for her to come around from the GA :)
 
Well because it's pretty late at night now were going to leave sugar in their normal cage (she's in a room outside so she is warm and has shelter) and Spice (the one who had the Op) is inside for now, were going to put them together tomorrow for some play time for a few hours, I might consider maybe halving the cage inside where spice is so they can both be together but seperated at the same time :)
 
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