Bladder stones

[hxxl]

Hi all,
One my piggies - Badger - has just been diagnosed with bladder stones after we noticed he’s been urinating blood. He is only a year old. He has one stone that we could see on the xray, our vet has said it is likely he would develop the stones again in future and that surgery would be more cruel that kind for him. The vet also does not seem to think he will be able to pass the stone since Badger is male.

Our only option is to have him cross the rainbow bridge, I was just wondering if anyone has any advice on this. Badger is still eating, drinking and socialising - we now have him on pain meds and antibiotics. I feel since he is still doing these things that maybe he is not ready to go and we could make him comfortable until he is ready but my partner believes that would be cruel and we are just prolonging the inevitable.

If anyone has any advice on when would be the right time to say goodbye to Badger or if there is anything we could be doing to help see if he could pass the stone that would be most appreciated.

Badger (black and white) and his cage mate Peanut.

 

[Bubble and Squeak]

*Bump*
(Hopefully someone with more experience will be along to give you some advice soon)

In the meantime, in the hope that it might help you, here is Bubble's bladder stone story.

Bubble had been doing squeaky pees on and off for a few weeks, but no signs of blood. There was however traces of blood (not visible to the naked eye) in a urine sample which we took to the vet. We went back and forth to the vet a few times, trying things such as antibiotics (Enrocare) and Metcam. They helped a bit, but poor Bubble was still squeaking in pain. An initial x-ray didn't show anything, but an ultrasound shortly after showed that Bubble had 2 bladder stones. Even though we were given the advice from the vet about the risks of anaesthetics especially in small animals and the risk of further stones, we decided that Bubble deserved to have the chance of surgery.....especially as he was such a happy little chap and still eating and drinking normally.

Bubble had his surgery (at a general vets) on 23rd June of last year (aged 4 1/4), and came through his operation really well. He was eating again that same evening, albeit a bit slower and a bit less. Over the next day or two though and he was back to his normal self. The surgery site healed really nicely. Bubble was prescribed Enrocare and Metacam following surgery.

Early November we were concerned that he maybe had stones back, as he was doing squeaky wees again. The vet couldn't feel stones, but an ultrasound showed a mass, which the vet said could be scar tissue, but could also be something else. Bubble was prescribed Enrocare and we went back to the vet about a week later for a follow up ultrasound. The 'mass' hadn't changed, which confirmed that it was scar tissue. We were also told that Bubble probably had sterile cystitis, which could flare and now and again. This flare was probably due to the stress of his litter brother Squeak getting his piggy wings at the end of October. One of the vets said that some people underestimate how social piggies and bunnies are, and what an impact not having company (even sometimes for a very short time) can have.

Bubble has just had another flare, which he is hopefully now on the tail end of. We did go back to the vet "just in case", but no stones could be felt.
Since November, Bubble is now on long term Metacam and Gabapentin. The Metacam alone, wasn't enough pain relief at times. With the Gabapentin, the vet is happy for me to adjust Bubble's dose (within a range), as I feel he needs.

Is it worth getting another vets opinion with Badger, as it seems strange that a vet would deem it more cruel than kind for him to have surgery. It could however depend on where the stone is, and whether it is lodged in the wall of the bladder which can make things a bit trickier.

Wishing you all the best with Badger, and hope that reading about Bubble, might help you.

 

[Merab]

So sorry that you are in this position.
I don’t have experience of bladder stones but wanted to offer support

 

[Truffolo]

Such a young piggy should have a fairly good chance of surviving surgery and it shouldn't be too painful if he gets decent pain control. I'm not an expert though. There are exotic vets who have done a lot of operations and who would be able to give you an idea of the risk involved. I think alot depends on whether you can find a vet who has lots of experience with surgery for bladder stones. I think there are medications which might help to hold off stone redevelopment, such as citric acid. It's worth trying to get a second opinion. I hope things can be fixed for Badger

 

[Truffolo]

Such a young piggy should have a fairly good chance of surviving surgery and it shouldn't be too painful if he gets decent pain control. I'm not an expert though. There are exotic vets who have done a lot of operations and who would be able to give you an idea of the risk involved. I think alot depends on whether you can find a vet who has lots of experience with surgery for bladder stones. I think there are medications which might help to hold off stone redevelopment, such as citric acid. It's worth trying to get a second opinion. I hope things can be fixed for Badger

There is The Guinea Pig vet in Derbyshire but that might be a bit far from you.

 

[Bubble and Squeak]

I forgot to mention yesterday that since Bubble's op, we have been giving him glucosamine every day to help too. At the moment we are using Johnson's 4joints, but I'm about to try Feliway Cystease to see if that is any better for him.
I think his recent flare might be due to him finding his friend Truffle a bit much at times, as Truffle has hit his teens right at the start of Spring and all that comes with it! They do get on together really well otherwise though.
In case you haven't already seen it, there is some really useful information here https://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/threads/wiebkes-guide-to-pees-and-stones.209191/
Hope that you can find a way to help Badger.....both him and Peanut are gorgeous!

 

[weepweeps]

As Badger is so young he may be predisposed to having bladder stones.

That being said you could try and remove this one and hope that this is a one off and he doesn’t get any more.

Do you filter their water and do you only feed a few nuggets? These are the two areas where you will be able to reduce the calcium in his diet so hopefully reducing his risk of more stones.

Good luck I hope you can find a vet who is confident operating on piggies. Maybe your vet isn’t confident and doesn’t have very high positive outcomes.