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Bladder Stones. Anybody Had Pigs With Them?!

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BlueDreamer

BlueDreamer

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Currently have a pig with a bladder stone. It had been confirmed by an x-ray today.

I was just wondering what people's experiences are with bladder stones. and if anyone could tell me their stories and experiences.

thank you in advance
 
Panda Pig had bladder stones. He had two operations for this, the first when he was at least 4 years old (never did know how old he was!) and the second a year later. He survived both surgeries, but when the stones came back again (about 6 months after 2nd surgery) we decided to let him go as he also had at least one tumour inside, and his kidneys were failing him.
Each surgery & associated x-rays etc cost me over £300, so he was nicknamed 'the most expensive guinea-pig in the world' :)
He was worth every penny :)
 
There are a lot of pigs on here with stones. My first Johnny had one but it was stuck just outside the bladder and at the time I did not use the vet that I do now. We opted for palliative care and eventually had to let him go. The same thing happened with Madeline about a year later. However, since then I have access to a great vet and would not be worried about an operation if needed. Sophie had a stone just before Christmas but luckily it was sticking out and the vet was able to manoeuvre it out. At the moment I am seeing the same vet with Maud who has sludge issues and no stones as yet. What has your vet suggested? do they want to operate? what medication have they prescribed?
 
My gpig is having her op right now and I am really concerned as there seem to be so many risks. However, she couldn't have carried in being in pain so frequently even though she frequently perked up in between weeing. It's £200 so a big decision. I'm really hoping she makes it as she's so lovely. Just waiting for the Vet to call.
 
Yeah, I had a boar who had two bladder stone surgeries about 6 months apart. He removed okay and we managed to keep the stones at bay with an amended diet, supplements and medication.
 
I basically told them I think it was stone and would like an x-ray to see for sure. They have referred me to a specialist guinea pig vet that I believe is one on the recommend vets on here. So waiting to hear from them. But the vet seemed to suggest that it could be removed with an operation. I changed their diet as soon as I suspected stones and the vet has given her metacam and Baytril
helen105281 said:
There are a lot of pigs on here with stones. My first Johnny had one but it was stuck just outside the bladder and at the time I did not use the vet that I do now. We opted for palliative care and eventually had to let him go. The same thing happened with Madeline about a year later. However, since then I have access to a great vet and would not be worried about an operation if needed. Sophie had a stone just before Christmas but luckily it was sticking out and the vet was able to manoeuvre it out. At the moment I am seeing the same vet with Maud who has sludge issues and no stones as yet. What has your vet suggested? do they want to operate? what medication have they prescribed?
Click to expand...
 
Jaycey said:
Yeah, I had a boar who had two bladder stone surgeries about 6 months apart. He removed okay and we managed to keep the stones at bay with an amended diet, supplements and medication.
Click to expand...
What sort of diet and supplements do you have them on?
 
Sue and Smartie said:
Panda Pig had bladder stones. He had two operations for this, the first when he was at least 4 years old (never did know how old he was!) and the second a year later. He survived both surgeries, but when the stones came back again (about 6 months after 2nd surgery) we decided to let him go as he also had at least one tumour inside, and his kidneys were failing him.
Each surgery & associated x-rays etc cost me over £300, so he was nicknamed 'the most expensive guinea-pig in the world' :)
He was worth every penny :)
Click to expand...
We have paid £100 for the x-ray so far. But she is worth every penny! The day I took her into the vets the dog got sick too. And I was more worried about her than the dog haha not that I don't love the dog (because he is my partner in crime) but Flicka pig has been here 4 years longer and has a very special place in my heart.
 
I found that there's not an exact science to stopping stones but it's definitely worth having a search on the forum to see what diets have worked for other people.

I limited the veg for my boy to veg that was lower in calcium.

I also increased his water intake by wetting his veg.

I also changed the water to a low calcium bottled water.

I stopped feeding him pellets, which isn't always recommended as pellets have good nutrients in them. But they can be high in calcium and he wouldn't eat grainless ones.

He was on a diuretic called Bendrofluzamide, a supplement called Cystease and also Potassium Citrate.
 
Thanks - really helpful. I have been filtering her water and cutting out high calcium fresh food. I will check her dried food.
 
Jaycey said:
I found that there's not an exact science to stopping stones but it's definitely worth having a search on the forum to see what diets have worked for other people.

I limited the veg for my boy to veg that was lower in calcium.

I also increased his water intake by wetting his veg.

I also changed the water to a low calcium bottled water.

I stopped feeding him pellets, which isn't always recommended as pellets have good nutrients in them. But they can be high in calcium and he wouldn't eat grainless ones.

He was on a diuretic called Bendrofluzamide, a supplement called Cystease and also Potassium Citrate.
Click to expand...
I looked up low calcium veg when I first suspected it and the wetting the veg. And today I actually read about the pellets so have decided to see what having less pellets will do.
 
Sundae had a bladder stone diagnosed when she was around 2. Her only real symptoms were recurrent UTIs. We discussed the options with the vet and it was either a costly surgery (about a thousand dollars Canadian) for a surgery that was high-risk because it was not much performed in my area of Ontario, Canada, or to try to manage her symptomatically and to reassess if we saw her quality of life decline. Because the surgery was high-risk and really costly, we decided that we would try to manage her symptoms for as long as we could maintain her that way. We did the recommended lower calcium diet and also filtered the water for minerals, since apparently some tap water can be high in calcium as well. She was on a course of suppressive antibiotics (Baytril) over a course of years, because she tended to get UTIs when untreated (apparently the stone can irritate/scratch the bladder walls and can give extra space for bacteria to grow as well.) In her case, this worked really well and, although she still had some UTIs where we had to increase the dose of antibiotics for a few weeks, she really never had signs of bladder pain, wheeking when she peed, loss of appetite, sitting hunched, etc. She actually went on like that for over four years, she passed away recently of old age a couple of months short of turning seven. Now bear in mind that I think Sundae was an uncommonly tough guinea pig, she also had a dental abscess that must have been very painful, but she ate through the entire process as much as possible (the only time we had to syringe feed when when the day before surgery, when the abscess suddenly puffed so much that she couldn't open her mouth to pick food up!) She truly was a tough girl, the vet always said she had the heart of a lion in the body of a guinea pig, so this expectant management might not work for everyone. I do think that the 'gold standard' of care is surgery, and had it been more affordable and more routine for my vet, I would probably have gone that route, but all in all fortunately things worked out well for Sundae even without.
 
Freela said:
Sundae had a bladder stone diagnosed when she was around 2. Her only real symptoms were recurrent UTIs. We discussed the options with the vet and it was either a costly surgery (about a thousand dollars Canadian) for a surgery that was high-risk because it was not much performed in my area of Ontario, Canada, or to try to manage her symptomatically and to reassess if we saw her quality of life decline. Because the surgery was high-risk and really costly, we decided that we would try to manage her symptoms for as long as we could maintain her that way. We did the recommended lower calcium diet and also filtered the water for minerals, since apparently some tap water can be high in calcium as well. She was on a course of suppressive antibiotics (Baytril) over a course of years, because she tended to get UTIs when untreated (apparently the stone can irritate/scratch the bladder walls and can give extra space for bacteria to grow as well.) In her case, this worked really well and, although she still had some UTIs where we had to increase the dose of antibiotics for a few weeks, she really never had signs of bladder pain, wheeking when she peed, loss of appetite, sitting hunched, etc. She actually went on like that for over four years, she passed away recently of old age a couple of months short of turning seven. Now bear in mind that I think Sundae was an uncommonly tough guinea pig, she also had a dental abscess that must have been very painful, but she ate through the entire process as much as possible (the only time we had to syringe feed when when the day before surgery, when the abscess suddenly puffed so much that she couldn't open her mouth to pick food up!) She truly was a tough girl, the vet always said she had the heart of a lion in the body of a guinea pig, so this expectant management might not work for everyone. I do think that the 'gold standard' of care is surgery, and had it been more affordable and more routine for my vet, I would probably have gone that route, but all in all fortunately things worked out well for Sundae even without.
Click to expand...
That amazing that she lived till she was 7! I have always said I want to get ours to 8 years old! So we will try anything to keep them happy and to let them live a great life!
 
BlueDreamer said:
I looked up low calcium veg when I first suspected it and the wetting the veg. And today I actually read about the pellets so have decided to see what having less pellets will do.
Click to expand...

My boy was diagnosed with severe arthritis later on. We don't know if there was any link between that and him not having access to pellets, or if it was more to do with genes.
 
BlueDreamer said:
That amazing that she lived till she was 7! I have always said I want to get ours to 8 years old! So we will try anything to keep them happy and to let them live a great life!
Click to expand...
Yes, I was so pleased with the life that she had in spite of having several health issues! We were very sad to lose her just last February, but at the same time when she was first diagnosed, both with her bladder and then with dental issues later that same year as the bladder stone, I remember thinking I would have been happy if she lived even to be 4 or 5, to have something close to a natural lifespan. So she did us very proud... we miss her, but it's hard to see her life as anything but a success story!
 
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