Blood in Urine - advice

[CocoRosie]

Hoping someone can offer advice. My female piggy Fifi is 3 years old. She has had blood in her urine for quite some time now and despite 4 trips to the vets (new to us as we just moved house) we haven't got to the bottom of the cause. At one point a few weeks back she actually had bright red blood dripping from her bottom! It was awful but apart from losing weight she seems fairly unconcerned by it. The vet noticed she is rather tender around the area of her bladder but gave her an ultrasound as best she could without anaesthesia and couldnt see any stones, tumours or cysts that were obvious. The vet said it's either opening her up to look or consider her quality of life which seems very drastic when she doesn't seem that unwell. She has been on two different courses of antibiotics, the more recent one has improved the blood loss significantly. It is more just discoloured urine now but it's definitely still there. She poos normally although does an awful lot! She is reasonably (for her) active and eats well. I have her on Oxbow Urinary support and have also now bought Sherwood Urinary support which is supposed to dissolve stones and sludge in case the ultrasound missed something. Does anyone have any idea what else it might be? Also, I am not convinced the vets I am using are that knowledgeable on guinea pigs so if anyone has a recommendation for a vet in South Somerset that deals with exotics I would be very grateful.
Sorry for long post but hoping someone can help as I am reluctant to give up on her when she has been through a lot already.

 

[Piggies&buns]

Welcome to the forum

First, there is no medication that will dissolve stones. Sherwood is not a medication and there is no evidence that it does anything but it certainly will not dissolve stones. Stones have to be surgically removed unless they are tiny enough to pass on their own.

Has her reproductive system been checked also?

The diagnosis after antibiotics have failed and all other bladder issues such as stones and sludge have been ruled out usually ends up being by sterile cystitis. Everything else does need to be ruled out first though. Antibiotics can suppress symptoms but because this is not a bacterial issue, antibiotics won’t help.
It is a condition which affects the glucosamine layer of the bladder but is generally unknown by vets who aren’t specialised in guinea pigs. It is the more common than bacterial infections now.
There is no cure but its treatment is with daily, lifelong glucosamine to help reline the bladder and Metacam to manage the discomfort. The glucosamine in the oxbow urinary product isn’t high enough to really help.

I will add a guide below which explains sterile cystitis further so you can see whether it matches what you are seeing with your piggy and then provide you a discussion point with your vet.
You can also find lots of other threads about this on the forum by searching for sterile cystitis in the search function.

Wiebke's Guide to Pees and Stones

If you haven’t already, please step in with syringe feeding to stop any further weight loss
Weight and Weight Loss Explained: BMI, Weighing, Poos and Feeding Support

All About Syringe Feeding and Medicating Guinea Pigs with Videos and Pictures

I have also added our vet list

Recommended Guinea Pig Vets

 

[CocoRosie]

Welcome to the forum

First, there is no medication that will dissolve stones. Sherwood is not a medication and there is no evidence that it does anything but it certainly will not dissolve stones. Stones have to be surgically removed unless they are tiny enough to pass on their own.

Has her reproductive system been checked also?

The diagnosis after antibiotics have failed and all other bladder issues such as stones and sludge have been ruled out usually ends up being by sterile cystitis. Everything else does need to be ruled out first though. Antibiotics can suppress symptoms but because this is not a bacterial issue, antibiotics won’t help.
It is a condition which affects the glucosamine layer of the bladder but is generally unknown by vets who aren’t specialised in guinea pigs. It is the more common than bacterial infections now.
There is no cure but its treatment is with daily, lifelong glucosamine to help reline the bladder and Metacam to manage the discomfort. The glucosamine in the oxbow urinary product isn’t high enough to really help.

I will add a guide below which explains sterile cystitis further so you can see whether it matches what you are seeing with your piggy and then provide you a discussion point with your vet.
You can also find lots of other threads about this on the forum by searching for sterile cystitis in the search function.

Wiebke's Guide to Pees and Stones

If you haven’t already, please step in with syringe feeding to stop any further weight loss
Weight and Weight Loss Explained: BMI, Weighing, Poos and Feeding Support

All About Syringe Feeding and Medicating Guinea Pigs with Videos and Pictures

I have also added our vet list

Recommended Guinea Pig Vets

Thank you so much for this. Very helpful.