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Bladder Stone! =[

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Chubby11

So i just found out about a week ago that my guinea pig, Chubby, has a bladder stone. I noticed he was squeaking when he was peeing and took him to the vet right away...anyway they couldn't get him to pee and told me he would either have to have surgery of be put down. While i was there they used a catheter to help relieve his pain a bit, and they must have dislodged the stone when doing so because the next day when i brought him back, he was peeing all over the place. They put him on a course of pain killers for a few days, and hes now on antibiotics twice a day. After a few days of that, hes back to his old self, but i know if the stone gets lodged again he'd have to get surgery or be put down....He's four and a half and i just dont know if he's up for surgery. Anyway, i was just wonder what you guys thought i should do, consider surgery now or wait and decide when the stone is causing him pain again? Also, is there anything i can do to help prevent the stone from getting any larger?
 
I would not consider putting your piggie down. Bladder stones can be removed through surgery. I would cut down on veg that is rich in calcium suc as cale, brocolli stalks, greens, etc. as it is a build up of calcium that causes the stones. I'm not really sure what to suggest about surgery at the moment. If he seems a lot more comfortable now then I'd probably leave any exploratory surgery/x-rays for now :)
 
bladder stone

Hi, sorry to hear about your little chaps problem, I would say you have got nothing to lose if he needs to have the stone removed surgically, if he doesn't make it through the op at least you tried your best for him. Putting him to sleep doesn't give you that option, but there is one thing that is certain the problem won't go away unfortunatley, unless the stone is that small he is able to pass it. Sorry to seem slightly negative, but I have been through it lately with one of my guineas. Good luck to your little chap.
 
I wouldn't have him PTS for a bladder stone. As has been said, switch to a low calcium diet, if he is on museli type (gerty) dry food, consider switching to a pellet based one. Is he a good drinker? You could make his veg extra wet if not and give more wet stuff like cucumber, lettuce (not iceberg).

You may find this article of interest:
http://www.gorgeousguineas.com/documents/Marbles Bladder Stones.pdf

Good luck :)
 
Bladder stones, particularly in males, really do need removing; if they block the urethra it can be very dangerous, and tricky to remove them. A catheter is a good method of pushing a stone back up into the bladder, and to prevent them re-entering the urethra during surgery, but you really can't afford to leave the stone as it is long-term. It has the potential to form an adhesion to the lining of the bladder/urethra which would cause damage when the time came to remove the stone.

It sounds like you may have a little time to think about what route to take next. As everyone else has said, euthanasia is the last thing on the list.
 
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