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Bladder stones

E

Ellie.kr5

Junior Guinea Pig
Joined
Dec 4, 2024
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Location
Nottingham
Currently have a pig with a bladder stone that needs surgical intervention. He stopped eating initially and has been urinating blood, but has resumed eating since starting mediation and is pooping normally.

Vet is of course recommending surgery ASAP which would be ideal except I’m going away in 2 days for a week. Trip is unfortunately non negotiable. My daughter will be looking after him but she has a disability and will struggle massively with his current med routine let alone post op care.

My only options are to either have the surgery done when I’m back, and hope and pray he makes it through the week without issue, or euthanasia which I really don’t want to do, especially when the vet believes he’s got great chances of making it through the surgery. But equally, I don’t want him to suffer, so I’m really at a loss for what to do.

Can I ask anyone’s experiences with bladder stones and removal surgery? And if anyone has any additional advice? Thank you in advance.
 
Oh no I’m so sorry. There’s never a good time for them to be ill but just before a holiday is definitely the worst time.

I have been in the exact position about 4 years ago. Unfortunately my Percy didn’t make it and I felt bad for the person I had left him with to sort it out. In hindsight I would have waited and had the surgery done once I was back home. But at the time I thought he would sail through the anaesthetic.

Obviously there is the risk that the stone will cause a blockage and become an emergency. But that may not happen.

There is also TEAS guinea pig sanctuary in Northampton. They may have room to look after your piggy while you are away. They usually look after dental piggies. @furryfriends (TEAS).

They are amazing. I’ll see if I can find their details for you.

IMG_6464.webp

PS I’ve just dropped off my Patrick for bladder stone surgery this morning 😢
 
weepweeps said:
Oh no I’m so sorry. There’s never a good time for them to be ill but just before a holiday is definitely the worst time.

I have been in the exact position about 4 years ago. Unfortunately my Percy didn’t make it and I felt bad for the person I had left him with to sort it out. In hindsight I would have waited and had the surgery done once I was back home. But at the time I thought he would sail through the anaesthetic.

Obviously there is the risk that the stone will cause a blockage and become an emergency. But that may not happen.

There is also TEAS guinea pig sanctuary in Northampton. They may have room to look after your piggy while you are away. They usually look after dental piggies. @furryfriends (TEAS).

They are amazing. I’ll see if I can find their details for you.

View attachment 288682

PS I’ve just dropped off my Patrick for bladder stone surgery this morning 😢
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Thank you so much, it’s definitely a difficult one. So sorry about your piggy, and keeping all my fingers crossed for you for your Patrick! Our vet says he’s never lost a piggy in all his years doing this surgery which definitely helps my nerves a little but as we all know it can go either way. I contacted a piggy boarder near me who is also a vet nurse who seems lovely and said she would be happy have him post surgery so I think I may have found a good option there 🤞🏻
 
That’s excellent. Good luck with the surgery. Keep us posted.

Try and enjoy your trip. ❤️
 
weepweeps said:
That’s excellent. Good luck with the surgery. Keep us posted.

Try and enjoy your trip. ❤️
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Popcorn just had his surgery and is at home. Feeling very sorry for himself and not moving right now but so pleased he made it through the surgery and hopefully he’ll pick up soon :) Hope your piggy is doing well!
 
Good luck Popcorn. So far Patrick has been ok. What medication have you been given?

Patrick was a bit cold when I got him home (feet and ears) so he’s had a snugglesafe in with him last night and today just in case.

Patrick’s on Loxicom and paracetamol
And a gut stimulant cisapride
He’s also getting three syringe feeds a day as he is losing weight.

He also on oral antibiotics as the vet found an abscess under his chin and also antibiotic cream for his back cyst which had popped and she cleared out for him.

My vet has prescribed potassium citrate to hopefully stop any more stones forming. I hope Popcorn has a smooth recovery.

Feel free to compare notes ❤️
 
weepweeps said:
Good luck Popcorn. So far Patrick has been ok. What medication have you been given?

Patrick was a bit cold when I got him home (feet and ears) so he’s had a snugglesafe in with him last night and today just in case.

Patrick’s on Loxicom and paracetamol
And a gut stimulant cisapride
He’s also getting three syringe feeds a day as he is losing weight.

He also on oral antibiotics as the vet found an abscess under his chin and also antibiotic cream for his back cyst which had popped and she cleared out for him.

My vet has prescribed potassium citrate to hopefully stop any more stones forming. I hope Popcorn has a smooth recovery.

Feel free to compare notes ❤️
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Popcorn is on gabapentin, enrocare, rhumocam and emeprid for his gut but he was already given another gut stimulant while at the vets today anyway. He’s also a bit cold so we’ve got the heater on in there for him.

Is your boy eating independently as well? This is our first time having a piggy have an op so going in blind 🫣 So far he’s just sitting in the corner bless him. So pleased your piggy seems to be doing so well!
 
Patrick had his op at about 1.30 yesterday and I collected him at 6. He was already eating a bit of hay in the carrier. He was moving around okay too.

I think Gabapentin can make them a bit sleepy.

If you haven’t seen Popcorn eat then I’d probably try a little syringe feed. I gave Patrick some cucumber at midnight in case he was thirsty and he wolfed that down. I hope Popcorn is soon feeling better 🤞🏻

When is he going to the vet nurses?
 
weepweeps said:
Patrick had his op at about 1.30 yesterday and I collected him at 6. He was already eating a bit of hay in the carrier. He was moving around okay too.

I think Gabapentin can make them a bit sleepy.

If you haven’t seen Popcorn eat then I’d probably try a little syringe feed. I gave Patrick some cucumber at midnight in case he was thirsty and he wolfed that down. I hope Popcorn is soon feeling better 🤞🏻

When is he going to the vet nurses?
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Just given him a bit of a feed when I gave him his meds so that should keep him ticking over for a bit. I’ll try him with some veg later tonight when he’s hopefully a little more himself.

He’s going tomorrow morning/lunch time. Dreading leaving him but I know he’ll be looked after.
 
One of my past pigs had a huge bladder stone. He had it removed and I was amazed how well he did afterwards. They wouldn't let me keep the stone, I think they wanted it for showing off to the other vets as it really was enormous when you consider how tiny a pig's bladder is.
Despite changing his diet to a low calcium one, he got another stone a year later (I was told by the vet that some pigs are just prone to getting them and he was one of them), that was also removed and he recovered well.
It took a few days for the effects of the anaesthetic to wear off - he had to be encouraged to eat as he was woozy. At that time I had no access to a specialist exotics vet so I was worried sick he would die when 'under' but they have always looked after my pigs really well and take extra measures to make sure they are warm and comfy during surgery and the wake-up afterwards.
 
Little update! Piggy is very settled at the boarders, eating a lot more than before and has starting pooping at last. The lady looking after him is lovely and has given him a heat pad and plenty of bedding to keep him comfy and sends updates all the time. He seems to be doing really well :)
 
Little update! Piggy is very settled at the boarders, eating a lot more than before and has starting pooping at last. The lady looking after him is lovely and has given him a heat pad and plenty of bedding to keep him comfy. He seems to be doing really well :)
 
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