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Blood In Pee Round 4

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Coco&Luna

Coco&Luna

Adult Guinea Pig
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Hey guys, Stanley had blood in his pee again. He has been treated with abx four times for it, the highest and longest course being 1ml septrin for 2 weeks.
There is defo an improvement while on them but after a few days the blood spots start again.
Hes been xrayed for bladder stones which showed nothing.
He finished a course of baytril 2 days ago and just watched him strain and produce this
IMG_20150822_140621.webp IMG_20150822_140617.webp

I'm about to phone the vets but any advise before I go would be appreciated.
Cheers.

Edit: he also has a really loud gumbling stomach back, which has been going on for months.
 
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Has he had a scan? it can show more than an xray because the vet should be able to see the bladder wall etc. That's how the vet spotted my Amy's Interstitial cystitis.
 
My guinea pig is going through it for the second time, this time he's on something like Septrin, I think it's Sulfatrim, if it doesn't work this time then he will have to have an xray. I hope you manage to get your guinea pig sorted out.
 
Maybe an infection that is resistant to antibiotics? Has he had a urine sample tested?
 
Thank you so much guys.
I've now got 0.5 ml of septrin twice daily for 3 weeks.
If this doesn't work I'll get the ultrasound.
I feel like the doses he's had just haven't been strong on long enough. So here's hoping.

He's on the Metacam again too. But apparently he is trying to recover from his painkiller addicition and is refusing to take it when before he would pull the syringe from my hand and lick it clean. Haha

I forgot to get a probiotic, so ill get that online tonight. :mal:
 
P.s is it ok to start a course of septrin 2 days after a course of baytril?
 
I would ask the vet about Cystophan or Cystease, which contains hyaluronic acid to help any healing and glucosamine to help protect the wall. If it is interstitial cystitis, then it is a case of trying to manage it long term. I know that Cystophan helped my Joe when he had bladder problems and I know others have had some success with these. It is a powder contained in a capsule and you break the capsule and you can put the powder on lettuce and they take it really well. My vet suggested half a capsule per day and it seemed to help.
 
lol I thought mine got addicted to metacam, he doesn't like the anitibiotics but will nom down the metacam and probiotics.
 
Joe loved Metacam too. He got to the point where he would bite the end of the syringe as he loved it so much. When I mentioned it to the vet, she said that they all like Metacam. She said it was supposed to taste like honey, but my Joe use to absolutely love it. Good job really as he had to have it for some weeks with his problems.
 
If an ultrasound doesn't show anything else then it might be worth culturing a sterile urine sample. (I sound like I know what I'm on about but I'm just repeating the cavy specialist after my referral to him with Bumble).

Basically Bumble had an x-ray and ultrasound after 1 week of septrin and she had urinalysis. Urine showed traces of bacteria but also very dilute urine so my vet thought that something else was causing problems and referred to a local specialist.

The specialist repeated the x-ray and scans but found arthritis at the base of the spine causing pain when she tries to go toilet. She also had a bladder flush after finding a tiny amount of sediment in her bladder. The vet also inserted a needle into her bladder for a sterile urine sample which he has sent to be cultured so if there is a resistant UTI going on we should find out which antibiotic will be best to treat it with.
 
I think a lot of times the stone's aren't big enough to appear on Xray, so ultrasound is the next best option although both won't always confirm if or not there is a problem.

It's worth remembering stones can form very quickly or get bigger, they later will appear on Xray.

When was the Xray done?

Yes, it's fine to start Septrin.
 
I know that when my Joe had problems, the ultrasound showed up a thickened wall, but no stones. The X ray showed up a stone in the urethra. The vet said that the ultrasound is Ok, but does not show the urethra and the hips can mask any stones in the urethra. So I do not think either test is without its problems. If it shows something - OK you have something to treat, but often times, it may not show anything much, but this does not mean that there is nothing going on. Bladder problems are hard on both guinea pig and you, as it is both frustrating and expensive to treat. We were backwards and forwards to the vet and the dining room table was covered with a wide variety of medications trying to treat Joe's problems. I know how tiring and difficult it can be, so hope you can get to the bottom of it and help Stanley to get better.

Best wishes to both and hope Stanley gets better soon.
 
The xray was done about 4 weeks ago I think @flintstones

Tbh, I think this all started just after he was neutered....maybe it was a coincidence, but I dunno...

I'm just crossing my fingers that this is a stubborn uti.
I had a little girl with recurrent bladder stones and underwent two stone removal surgeries and was pts because of bladder cancer. It was really stressful and horrible to watch. Little Stanley is so young (I think) and cheeky I'd hate for him to end up with that so young. So I'm living on hope that it is a uti.
@JackJack1 see if a stone was in his eurethra, would that not prevent him peeing or cause a slow dripping pee? Because the vet squeezed his bladder and he did 2 massive pees all over the table, lol
I literally have no knowledge on interstitial cystitis, I've never had to deal with it so I'm quite ignorant about it.
I'll have to read up on it.

Next step will be the ultrasound though if needed in 3 weeks, hopefully not though :(

you guys for all your help once again.
 
Keep us updated, sending lots of healing vibes.. Made me lol at the metacam addiction it is like piggy crack....
 
Coco&Luna said:
The xray was done about 4 weeks ago I think @flintstones

Tbh, I think this all started just after he was neutered....maybe it was a coincidence, but I dunno...

I'm just crossing my fingers that this is a stubborn uti.
I had a little girl with recurrent bladder stones and underwent two stone removal surgeries and was pts because of bladder cancer. It was really stressful and horrible to watch. Little Stanley is so young (I think) and cheeky I'd hate for him to end up with that so young. So I'm living on hope that it is a uti.
@JackJack1 see if a stone was in his eurethra, would that not prevent him peeing or cause a slow dripping pee? Because the vet squeezed his bladder and he did 2 massive pees all over the table, lol
I literally have no knowledge on interstitial cystitis, I've never had to deal with it so I'm quite ignorant about it.
I'll have to read up on it.

Next step will be the ultrasound though if needed in 3 weeks, hopefully not though :(

you guys for all your help once again.
Click to expand...
Hi - Just to share my experience of this condition. My Joe had a stone in his urethra and was still weeing, with sometimes blood. The wee was getting past the stone and when he went to the toilet he was raising his back end, struggling to wee and crying at the same time. If Stanley did massive wees, then it sounds unlikely Stanley has a stone in his urethra. However, what the vet told us is that X ray will pick up parts of the urinary track that the ultrasound will not, as the hip bones mask part of the urethra when ultrasound is done. So in Joe's case the ultrasound did not pick up a stone, but the X ray did. The X ray was done straight after the ultrasound as the ultrasound did not pick up any stones. As it was, Joe had a massive stone in his urethra which was picked up with X ray.

If Stanley has interstitial cystitis which my cavy savvy vet told me was quite common in guinea pigs and sometimes hard to treat/cure, then there is quite often no bacterial infection, just massive inflammation of the lining on the bladder. They said they do not know why it happens, but they think it is related to stress sometimes. Apparently, cats get the same thing if they get stressed and get bladder inflammation or interstitial cystitis. That is why the Cystease or Cystophan is really for cats, but used in guinea pigs. I guess the operation when he was neutered was stressful for him, so this could also tie in with this.

Hope Stanley picks up soon.
 
@Claire W I'm so sorry. Millions of healing vibes for your little one. Yeah it's so stressful. :(

@sport_billy lol! Usually I would congratulate anyone overcoming addiction, but I'm not this time. I'm like his enabler trying to get him hooked again "c'mon one little hit won't harm you :sly:" *waggles syringe seductively*
Unfortunately, the force is strong with this one.

@JackJack1 & @Lady Kelly thanks so much. Your posts have been really helpful. I'm gunna use them to write notes for my next trip to the vets.
 
@helen105281 @Wiebke and whoever else can help. Lol.

I've lost the guineas weight chart notepad, hunted everywhere and its driving me nuts.
But anyway Stanley is gaining weight really quickly.
I cant give an accurate weight history until I find this bloody notepad. But, less than 10 weeks ago Stanley weighed just under 1,100g. On the 8th of this month he weighed in at 1,221g exactly at the vets and on Friday the 25th (2 days ago) he weighed 1,313g. I've never actually worried about weight GAIN before, but this seemed a bit dramatic. Does it sound odd to you guys?
He is weeing fine and fingers tightly crossed, but he's had no blood in his wee for 2 days! (Were now on septrin day 18) X
X
 
Good about the wee. That does seem a bug gain but is he eating more than he was? how long has he been with you?
 
Hrs not eating any more than usual, that's what I find so odd. The only change is that I've been feeding him a little dried nettle and birch because it's supposed to be good for urinary health, but even that's only a pinch.
I've had him since the start of April and he was a big boy (slightly heavier than he is now) but he was being fed crap post office muesli. I had his weight stable at about 1,100 but he's packed on a good 200g for no reason so I was a little worried he was retaining fluid or something.
Should I just keep an eye on it?
 
I am hoping his weight has just evened out now he is hopefully getting over his health issues. I am not sure about retaining fluid, I would run that past your vet unless someone else on here knows.
 
That would be so exciting if it was him finally getting over it all. He's so beefy he keeps getting his butt stuck half way out from under his his stool and dragging it about like a turtle shell lol.
Yeah I'm gun a make an appt on Wednesday when his abx course is finished, so ill mention it then.
Thanks a lot Helen :)
X
 
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