Bladder Stones - Post Op Care

[DisneyPig]

Hi all,

I have had an incredibly difficult couple of weeks. Firstly the day before going on holiday to Disneyland Paris, my guinea pig Daisy (age 6 and a half) was admitted to the vets for x-rays as she had suspected sludge/potential stones in her bladder. The x-rays showed no presence of stones but she did have a distended caecum and build up of gas in the stomach. Sadly the following day whilst on holiday the vets rang me to say that she had collapsed and could no longer breathe on her own so I had to make the heartbreaking decision to end her suffering. As you can imagine I was completely devastated. I rescued Daisy (along with her mum and siblings) when she was 4 weeks old. The fact I couldn't be there for her is something that haunts me on a daily basis. I am just thankful the team at Ashleigh Vets were able to take such good care of her.

Two days later and the terror attacks happened just half an hour from where I was staying. It was honestly such a terrifying time. Thankfully we remained safe and I came home on the Sunday.

I noticed after a few days of being home that Rio (Daisy's neutered brother) wasn't himself. I was unsure if he was grieving for Daisy as he was very quiet and hiding away a lot. He had lost 100g in weigh over 5 days and was crying in pain when going to the toilet. I took him to the vets and we discovered whilst in the carrier that he was also urinating blood and upon examination his bladder was very painful. Rio was put on marbocyl and metacam and subsequently x-rayed and had bloods taken to check his liver and kidney function. The x-rays showed a bladder stone and build up of calcium sludge so Rio had surgery to remove the stone and they flushed his bladder. I brought him home yesterday and I've now got to introduce a low calcium diet gradually as he's obviously still recovering and we want to make sure he continues to eat well. I was wondering if any members feed a low calcium diet and if so can you advise what you give on a typical day? Also, if they have a cage mate, do you feed them both the same or do you feed separately? Rio lives with another piggy still.

Any advice would be massively appreciated. I have had such a stressful and upsetting couple of weeks and I just want to make sure he continues to recover well. I am incredibly grateful to have such a wonderful vets to have taken care of Rio in the way they have. They have just been fantastic as I was so worried at the thought of losing him so soon after Daisy.

Here's my old boy, home after his surgery!


And here's the culprit causing all the trouble!

 

[Wiebke]

Poor boy; that is a sizeable stone! I hope that is he going to make a good recovery.

Please put him on cystease (or a similar brand) or vegetarian glucosamine (the main ingredient in cystease) to help coat and repair the bladder walls. This is a food supplement and not a medication. Some people recommend alternatively to syringe the strained gloopy water in which you have boiled pearl barley.

You will likely find the IC diet for guinea pigs with chronic bladder issues (that is listed with amounts under daily veg) in our balanced diet the easiest one to follow; the daily veg listed makes a balanced low calcium diet in itself without any additions. What can make a major difference for the long term is filtering the water. It is not just calcium, but also a build-up of minerals that contributes to stones and sludge. It also pays switching to low calcium pellet brands that are now available like bunny or grain-free vitakraft; please limit the amount of pellets you feed!
Calcium absorption in guinea pigs is a complicated and not yet well researched and understood process. Diet is one - if important factor - in the formation of bladder stones, but not the only one.

Here is more information:
Recommendations For A Balanced General Guinea Pig Diet (follow IC diet recommendations)
Low Calcium Diet For Bladder Piggies
Low calcium pellets brands (available from zooplus online):
Bunny GuineaPigDream BASIC | Free P&P on orders £29+ at zooplus! (5 pellets per piggy per day)
Vitakraft Emotion Professional Prebiotic Guinea Pig

Looking After A Bereaved Guinea Pig

 

[DisneyPig]

Poor boy; that is a sizeable stone! I hope that is he going to make a good recovery.

Please put him on cystease (or a similar brand) or vegetarian glucosamine (the main ingredient in cystease) to help coat and repair the bladder walls. This is a food supplement and not a medication. Some people recommend alternatively to syringe the strained gloopy water in which you have boiled pearl barley.

You will likely find the IC diet for guinea pigs with chronic bladder issues (that is listed with amounts under daily veg) in our balanced diet the easiest one to follow; the daily veg listed makes a balanced low calcium diet in itself without any additions. What can make a major difference for the long term is filtering the water. It is not just calcium, but also a build-up of minerals that contributes to stones and sludge. It also pays switching to low calcium pellet brands that are now available like bunny or grain-free vitakraft; please limit the amount of pellets you feed!
Calcium absorption in guinea pigs is a complicated and not yet well researched and understood process. Diet is one - if important factor - in the formation of bladder stones, but not the only one.

Here is more information:
Recommendations For A Balanced General Guinea Pig Diet (follow IC diet recommendations)
Low Calcium Diet For Bladder Piggies
Low calcium pellets brands (available from zooplus online):
Bunny GuineaPigDream BASIC | Free P&P on orders £29+ at zooplus! (5 pellets per piggy per day)
Vitakraft Emotion Professional Prebiotic Guinea Pig

Looking After A Bereaved Guinea Pig

Thank you Wiebke, that's really helpful. I will have a good read of everything and get some cystease in to help in his recovery. Thanks again!

 

[Wiebke]

Thank you Wiebke, that's really helpful. I will have a good read of everything and get some cystease in to help in his recovery. Thanks again!

I put any guinea pig with bladder problems or interstitial cystitis (which is what IC stands for) on glucosamine/cystease upon recommendations of my vets for the long term. Cystease is a cat food supplement (the other pet species prone to urinary tract problems), but is now widely used for guinea pigs with ongoing urinary tract problems.

 

[VickyMidlands]

I'm so sorry to hear what an awful time you've had. I've got a Guinea called Rio wgo is 6.5.
His brother died a year ago. When he was 2 he had bladder stones and the vet recommended a bit of apple and beetroot to help. I'm not sure how true it is but I do give Apple every week now.

 

[DisneyPig]

Thank you Vicky! It's been a really tricky couple of weeks with Rio and his recovery. Sadly he had a reaction to the Zithromax a few days after the surgery, I found him with severe diarrhoea and he couldn't use his back legs. Rushed him to the vets and the hospitalized him and put him on fluids and changed his meds. The severe diarrhoea caused him to lose electrolytes which affected the muscles in his legs and that's why he couldn't walk.
After having his meds changed he started to make progress but towards the end of last week he was really shrieking in pain whenever he urinated. Another trip to the vets and he was hospitalized again due to more bladder sludge. He's had a second flush and we're now on a new regime of meds. He rarely drinks so I'm having to syringe fluids at regular intervals to help keep flushing his bladder. It's only been a day since his second flush but he's doing ok! Fingers crossed we can put this behind us soon, it's been an incredibly stressful few weeks! x

 

[Wiebke]

Thank you Vicky! It's been a really tricky couple of weeks with Rio and his recovery. Sadly he had a reaction to the Zithromax a few days after the surgery, I found him with severe diarrhoea and he couldn't use his back legs. Rushed him to the vets and the hospitalized him and put him on fluids and changed his meds. The severe diarrhoea caused him to lose electrolytes which affected the muscles in his legs and that's why he couldn't walk.
After having his meds changed he started to make progress but towards the end of last week he was really shrieking in pain whenever he urinated. Another trip to the vets and he was hospitalized again due to more bladder sludge. He's had a second flush and we're now on a new regime of meds. He rarely drinks so I'm having to syringe fluids at regular intervals to help keep flushing his bladder. It's only been a day since his second flush but he's doing ok! Fingers crossed we can put this behind us soon, it's been an incredibly stressful few weeks! x

Wishing you all the best! I hope that you can make it through. Any serious illness or operation/recovery that is not going smoothly can really put you through the wringer.

Make sure that you syringe only filtered water to help minimising the build-up of minerals (not just calcium). Many bladder stone piggies are bad drinkers. It is one of the contributing factors.