• PLEASE NOTE - the TEAS facebook page has been hacked, take extreme care when visiting the page, for further information visit here
  • Discussions taking place within this forum are intended for the purpose of assisting you in discussing options with your vet. Any other use of advice given here is done so at your risk, is solely your responsibility and not that of this forum or its owner. Before posting it is your responsibility you abide by this Statement

Bladder stones

Maryjames

Maryjames

Junior Guinea Pig
Joined
Mar 16, 2016
Messages
113
Reaction score
53
Points
245
Location
Hampshire, UK
My Fuzzy girl has a bladder stone. Took her for an xray today and the vets said I should remove it. I started her on a course of antibiotics on Saturday and she has shown improvement but she is losing weight. I'm tempted to do it right away. Does anyone have any thoughts on this.
 
I’m sorry to hear that your piggy has a stone.
The only way to remove it is by surgery and the sooner the stone is removed, the better as they’re painful and if the stone restricts urine flow, this is classed as a medical emergency and can be fatal if left
 
Good luck with the surgery and recovery - it sounds like your girl is in good hands with a very committed owner.
Please let us know how it goes.
We are all here to support you.
 
Thank you so much. I am devoted to my guinea pigs and there is nothing in the world I wouldn't do to care for them.
 
Poor girl. Stones don't go away on their own. Sometimes they can pass smaller ones that are stuck in the urethra (one of my girls had one squeezed out by the vet which must have been as painful as it sounds). Changes in lifestyle can help them not to return but some pigs are thought to be more prone to them than others. Is she old or young? If she is young enough to withstand the op it's awful but there isn't really any choice. Good Luck x
 
Hi Thanks. She just turned 4. She is wimping and really needs to get this done. Lots of the vets are swamped or closed because of Covid so I might have to travel a bit but we will have to get it done.
 
She's on Metacam. I must say after getting her exam today she has been squealing more in pain. I gave her the pain meds this morning. She's not eating. I am not sure how much of the food to syringe feed her.
 
Maryjames said:
She's on Metacam. I must say after getting her exam today she has been squealing more in pain. I gave her the pain meds this morning. She's not eating. I am not sure how much of the food to syringe feed her.
Click to expand...

Good, I’m glad she’s got pain relief. Is she having two doses a day?

You syringe feed as much as is necessary to maintain weight and stop losses. In a total loss of appetite you are looking at syringing 90ml of feed in a 24 hour period, but anything from 40ml per 24 hours upwards depending on appetite.
So, give her as much as she will take per sitting - you may only get a few ml into her at each time, meaning you need to syringe more often. The guides I linked in my reply above give more detail
 
There are two types of metacam: Dog (1.5 mg/ml) and Cat (0.5mg/ml). The cat one was licensed for use in piggies I think maybe only a couple of years ago but a lot of vets have prescribed the dog one for several years, including my vet. You shouldn't change your dosing without first consulting your vet but we use 0.2-ish mls of the stronger dog version every 12 hours for a 1 kilo pig. For managing a stone pig I've gone even higher (after a consultation with my vet) and actually doubled that with no ill effects. Guinea-pigs apparently have a very fast metabolism and they can burn this stuff off.

If she's had her bladder poked or scanned it might have caused the stone to touch the walls and inflamed the sensitive tissues. They are miserable, rotten things these stones. Poor little fuzzy girl, if you can pick her up using a folded fleece or a snuggle tunnel for the top-up feeds it might be gentler than having to put hands round her body. My sow got a UTI with her stone and was dripping wet all the time at the back - she had urine scald on her bits and back feet. My vet said to put a thin coat of sudocrem (baby nappy rash cream) on to protect her: it suited us but I know some piggy people don't like to use it. Thinking of you both 💕
 
Maryjames said:
My Fuzzy girl has a bladder stone. Took her for an xray today and the vets said I should remove it. I started her on a course of antibiotics on Saturday and she has shown improvement but she is losing weight. I'm tempted to do it right away. Does anyone have any thoughts on this.
Click to expand...

The sooner a stone comes out, the better, to be honest. Thankfully a bladder stone op in sows is generally pretty straight froward and tends to heal without complications, pending your vet's operation skills and the quality of the recovery nursing team.
Tips For Post-operative Care

You may want to review your diet and also start with giving glucosamine in order to support the healing process in the beleaguered bladder walls. the walls in the urinary tract have natural glucosamine coat which prevents the corrosive urine from coming into contact with raw tissue. This coating is scratched with every pee when the tumbling stone is battered around and sucked against the opening. We recommend feliway cat cystease capsules for convenience. Simply mix the contents of 1 capsule with 2 ml of water, shake and wait until absorbed. shake again before use and either give 1 ml twice daily or 2 mls every 24 hours.
Long Term Balanced General And Special Needs Guinea Pig Diets (see special diets chapter)

Until then and if necessary after the op, please step in with feeding support. The immense pain in the bladder caused by the stone is responsible for the loss of appetite. The good news is that this pain will stop immediately as soon as the stone is removed, so you are facing only the normal operation soreness and healing process.
Complete Syringe Feeding Guide
Emergency, Crisis and Bridging Care until a Vet Appointment

All the best! All my bladder stone sows have made a good recovery, going back as far as 2006.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top