Bladder Stones And What To Expect?

[Kaila]

I have an appointment for one of my male guinea pigs tomorrow for a bladder scan to see if he has bladder stones. I was just wondering if anyone had any advice on best and worst things to feed/do and what to expect if he does have bladder stones.

 

[TAN]

It all depends on where the stones are - if they are sitting in the bladder then your piggy will need an op to remove them - if the stones are in the kidneys or ureters your vet might very well say there is no hope and it's best for your piggy to be put to sleep - that is a worst case scenario - but I have had a bladder pig (4 bladder stone operations) that my piggy specialist vet has successfully managed to get the stones out of the kidneys and out of the ureters and into the bladder for removal - this does depend on the size of the stones - if they are small then your vet can prescribe a small amount of fizzy water (not too much as you don't want to cause bloat - your vet will tell you how much ) daily for approx a week, as the gas in the fizzy water helps to move the stones along - this has been successful for us on 3 separate occasions - if your vet pooh poohs the idea ( as my local vet who is actually a partner in the practice that I use for non piggy emergencies like conjunctivitis did) I would personally get a second opinion - You can always contact my vet Rachel Mowbray or if she is not around I would recommend her colleague Alison White who has also dealt with my guinea pigs and bladder issues with two of them - Rachel is at Vale Vets in Dursley - they are a specialist referrals vet who other vets refer their patients on to when they can't work out what the problem is - this is how I found her - one of my boars was pain sqeaking when weeing and we couldn't find out the problem - she found that he had a crumbling spine - chiropractor treatment sorted him out. - normally x-rays are carried out for bladder stones - a top view first and then if needed a side view - as sometimes the stones are hidden under the spine on an x-ray and then can't be seen - Rachel or Alison would be happy to speak to your vet and look at your x-rays if your vet was unsure and she could then give her opinion / recommendations - hopefully if there is a stone it will just be a straightforward op - sometimes boars do pass the stones themselves but the stone has to be very small and it's quite rare - its easier for sows to pass them as they don't have a penis for the stone to travel down.

You need to feed a low calcium nugget - my vet recommends Vetcare multimodal guinea pig food - which I had never heard of until she told me about it and she feeds this to her piggies (she has kept her own pigs for years ) low calcium veggies and filter the water - stay away from readygrass and limit access to grass in the summer - Vale vets dursley 01453542092 email [email protected] good luck xx

 

[Kaila]

Thank you for the advice. He seems fine in himself and is running around and eating and drinking as normal. He is still interacting well with the other pigs and with me. He has been booked in for a bladder scan. I'm not sure how they are going to carry it out. I'm hoping it will be straight forward and nothing more sinister. Thank you again! xx