Blood in urine

[Lauraspigs]

Saffie had a bladder stone op at the end of august, we’ve had a lot of issues since and she had to go back into the animal hospital for 5 days at the end of September. She had a large stone remove initially and has since passed a couple of small stones.
she is eating well and is slowly gaining back some of the weight she lost (she lost over 100g when she was last in the vets and 200g overall despite supportive feeding).

She seems happy but we are still getting blood in her urine. She has just finished a 14 day course of sulfatrim and is still on metacam once a day. We’ve also tried two courses of Baytril.

she isn’t straining or hunching and isn’t crying. (I’m working from home so am with her all day). She’s out eating a lot. The vets have said they have tried everything they can so it’s just a case of managing her with metacam now and re scanning if it continues but I don’t think she would make it through surgery again.

does this sound like Interstitial Cystitis? Is there anything else I can do or as long as she is happy in herself and her weight improving should I not worry too much about the blood?

we were using cystophan but it upset her stomach badly and was causing hair loss so have stopped that now. She’s having oxbow joint biscuits as they have the highest glucosamine in them. The vet checked with the specialist exotic hospital and they haven’t used cartrophen for bladder issues and weren’t keen on using it as they said there isn’t any proof it works. I don’t want to put her through more procedures unnecessarily.

 

[Siikibam]

I’m sorry your girl is suffering. I can only offer support as I don’t have a clue. I’ll tag @Wiebke @VickiA

 

[VickiA]

I’m sorry I’ve not had any piggies who’ve had stone removal surgery, so I can’t say if it’s normal to have blood in the urine so long after surgery.
I do have experience of IC. I feed grainless pellets, filter all water and feed the recommended diet (from this link Long Term Balanced General And Special Needs Guinea Pig Diets). Is she on a low calcium diet with filtered water? Those can help reduce calcium build up and irritation. I also use cystease capsules.

 

[GuineaCrazy20]

I had a guinea that suffered bladder stones. Sadly he is no longer with us and passed when he was just 12 months old. Based the experience I had with him I can give you some advice. Simba my pig was urinating blood and a scan showed bladder stone. He had a op had it removed and removed sludge too from the stomach. He survived the op and come home fighting fit. Only for him to start urinating blood ( again ) about 5 months down the line. I took him back as it was a lot of blood and he was given baytril and I arranged for a scan. He had a scan only to be confirmed another stone and I arranged for it to be removed. During the op I got a call to say a tube inside had snapped, that it could be repaired but they were insisting that I put him to sleep saying it's a recurring thing that will keep happening and I'm putting him through pain by not putting him to sleep. Of course I declined and they phoned me back again to ask again. I ended up agreeing to it as you like to think the vet knows best and I had to put my own feelings a side and thing of his suffering.
Meti cam is a pain relief and inflammation med but I just lost one of my boys on saturday and they would not prescribe me meticam while he was poorly with some sort of bowl problem. They said it can cause hemorrhage and long term use can cause internal bleeding. While I see it as a pain relief if your pig is already urinating blood and what the vet said above is true about the meticam then I cant see this being a good thing long term for your pig who is already urinating blood. However please do question this information with the vet just to see if it is true as this could be a last resort with you but at the same time could be making your pig worse if that makes sence. I give my pig cranberry juice in a syringe it works for us and it did help a little back then for my simba. Worth a go in a syringe. Dilute a little. You could go request a scan again to check if any more stones. Cut back veggies, carrots and kale and peppers, there high and vitamins C which tend to cause the bladder stones. I was told to use bottle water with simba at the time of his stones. Try that too. Too much something or other in tap water so I was told despite having a filter so i just got the bottle water to be safe. Warm hot water bottle on her belly, see if that helps. Lots of fluid though for sure. Syrenge feed if not drinking enough. Put in the corner of mouth so it dont go down to fast.

If I was in your position now then I would ask for a scan or xray and if more stones then it's going to be a ongoing situation like it was for me 2 years ago with my simba. You will pay to get it fixed and then be back in the same position few months down the line. Sadly you have to think what is the right thing to do here. Heart breaking I know.

But defiantly go vet, you cant have urinating blood and being given med in hope to improve, if no stones on a scan then it has to be a infection and the antibiotic and meticam could be irritating the problem so you could bring that up with the vet and suggest fluid maybe ?

( Hugs )

 

[Siikibam]

I had a guinea that suffered bladder stones. Sadly he is no longer with us and passed when he was just 12 months old. Based the experience I had with him I can give you some advice. Simba my pig was urinating blood and a scan showed bladder stone. He had a op had it removed and removed sludge too from the stomach. He survived the op and come home fighting fit. Only for him to start urinating blood ( again ) about 5 months down the line. I took him back as it was a lot of blood and he was given baytril and I arranged for a scan. He had a scan only to be confirmed another stone and I arranged for it to be removed. During the op I got a call to say a tube inside had snapped, that it could be repaired but they were insisting that I put him to sleep saying it's a recurring thing that will keep happening and I'm putting him through pain by not putting him to sleep. Of course I declined and they phoned me back again to ask again. I ended up agreeing to it as you like to think the vet knows best and I had to put my own feelings a side and thing of his suffering.
Meti cam is a pain relief and inflammation med but I just lost one of my boys on saturday and they would not prescribe me meticam while he was poorly with some sort of bowl problem. They said it can cause hemorrhage and long term use can cause internal bleeding. While I see it as a pain relief if your pig is already urinating blood and what the vet said above is true about the meticam then I cant see this being a good thing long term for your pig who is already urinating blood. However please do question this information with the vet just to see if it is true as this could be a last resort with you but at the same time could be making your pig worse if that makes sence. I give my pig cranberry juice in a syringe it works for us and it did help a little back then for my simba. Worth a go in a syringe. Dilute a little. You could go request a scan again to check if any more stones. Cut back veggies, carrots and kale and peppers, there high and vitamins C which tend to cause the bladder stones. I was told to use bottle water with simba at the time of his stones. Try that too. Too much something or other in tap water so I was told despite having a filter so i just got the bottle water to be safe. Warm hot water bottle on her belly, see if that helps. Lots of fluid though for sure. Syrenge feed if not drinking enough. Put in the corner of mouth so it dont go down to fast.

If I was in your position now then I would ask for a scan or xray and if more stones then it's going to be a ongoing situation like it was for me 2 years ago with my simba. You will pay to get it fixed and then be back in the same position few months down the line. Sadly you have to think what is the right thing to do here. Heart breaking I know.

But defiantly go vet, you cant have urinating blood and being given med in hope to improve, if no stones on a scan then it has to be a infection and the antibiotic and meticam could be irritating the problem so you could bring that up with the vet and suggest fluid maybe ?

( Hugs )

Vitamin c doesn’t cause bladder stones. It’s veg high in calcium such as kale, spinach and parsley.

 

[Piggies&buns]

I had a guinea that suffered bladder stones. Sadly he is no longer with us and passed when he was just 12 months old. Based the experience I had with him I can give you some advice. Simba my pig was urinating blood and a scan showed bladder stone. He had a op had it removed and removed sludge too from the stomach. He survived the op and come home fighting fit. Only for him to start urinating blood ( again ) about 5 months down the line. I took him back as it was a lot of blood and he was given baytril and I arranged for a scan. He had a scan only to be confirmed another stone and I arranged for it to be removed. During the op I got a call to say a tube inside had snapped, that it could be repaired but they were insisting that I put him to sleep saying it's a recurring thing that will keep happening and I'm putting him through pain by not putting him to sleep. Of course I declined and they phoned me back again to ask again. I ended up agreeing to it as you like to think the vet knows best and I had to put my own feelings a side and thing of his suffering.
Meti cam is a pain relief and inflammation med but I just lost one of my boys on saturday and they would not prescribe me meticam while he was poorly with some sort of bowl problem. They said it can cause hemorrhage and long term use can cause internal bleeding. While I see it as a pain relief if your pig is already urinating blood and what the vet said above is true about the meticam then I cant see this being a good thing long term for your pig who is already urinating blood. However please do question this information with the vet just to see if it is true as this could be a last resort with you but at the same time could be making your pig worse if that makes sence. I give my pig cranberry juice in a syringe it works for us and it did help a little back then for my simba. Worth a go in a syringe. Dilute a little. You could go request a scan again to check if any more stones. Cut back veggies, carrots and kale and peppers, there high and vitamins C which tend to cause the bladder stones. I was told to use bottle water with simba at the time of his stones. Try that too. Too much something or other in tap water so I was told despite having a filter so i just got the bottle water to be safe. Warm hot water bottle on her belly, see if that helps. Lots of fluid though for sure. Syrenge feed if not drinking enough. Put in the corner of mouth so it dont go down to fast.

If I was in your position now then I would ask for a scan or xray and if more stones then it's going to be a ongoing situation like it was for me 2 years ago with my simba. You will pay to get it fixed and then be back in the same position few months down the line. Sadly you have to think what is the right thing to do here. Heart breaking I know.

But defiantly go vet, you cant have urinating blood and being given med in hope to improve, if no stones on a scan then it has to be a infection and the antibiotic and meticam could be irritating the problem so you could bring that up with the vet and suggest fluid maybe ?

( Hugs )

I agree with siikibam.
Vitamin c does not cause bladder stones. Calcium does. While you need to minimise the amount of high calcium veg which is fed, and it’s the calcium in pellets and unfiltered water which is highest and needs to be looked At When minimising bladder issues. Vitamin c is important for piggies.

IC piggies can be set off by certain veggies but it’s not the same for every piggy and feeding a watery diet can help keep the bladder flushed through so cutting back on veg isn’t always the best thing to do.

Metacam is a safe pain medication which is tolerated well by guinea pigs at high doses. If a piggy has an infection then antibiotic and pain relief is exactly what is needed.

@Lauraspigs - I’m sorry she is poorly and I hope you can find out the cause. If it is IC then it can be managed.

 

[Lauraspigs]

I’m sorry I’ve not had any piggies who’ve had stone removal surgery, so I can’t say if it’s normal to have blood in the urine so long after surgery.
I do have experience of IC. I feed grainless pellets, filter all water and feed the recommended diet (from this link Long Term Balanced General And Special Needs Guinea Pig Diets). Is she on a low calcium diet with filtered water? Those can help reduce calcium build up and irritation. I also use cystease capsules.

Yes, she’s always been on a low calcium diet so unfortunately must be genetically predisposed to the stones. She has voss bottled water as that’s the lowest in calcium I could find and the science selective grain free pellets.

 

[Lauraspigs]

I agree with siikibam.
Vitamin c does not cause bladder stones. Calcium does. While you need to minimise the amount of high calcium veg which is fed, and it’s the calcium in pellets and unfiltered water which is highest and needs to be looked At When minimising bladder issues. Vitamin c is important for piggies.

IC piggies can be set off by certain veggies but it’s not the same for every piggy and feeding a watery diet can help keep the bladder flushed through so cutting back on veg isn’t always the best thing to do.

Metacam is a safe pain medication which is tolerated well by guinea pigs at high doses. If a piggy has an infection then antibiotic and pain relief is exactly what is needed.

@Lauraspigs - I’m sorry she is poorly and I hope you can find out the cause. If it is IC then it can be managed.

She’s always been on a low calcium watery diet and has grain free pellets. She has Voss bottled water as it’s the most low calcium option.
She’s not in any pain and if it wasn’t for the blood you wouldn’t think there was anything wrong with her which is why I’m wondering if it is IC. She’s such a sweet girl and has fought so hard, I just want her to get better.

 

[Lauraspigs]

Vitamin c doesn’t cause bladder stones. It’s veg high in calcium such as kale, spinach and parsley.

She’s always been on a low calcium diet so unfortunately must be genetically predisposed.

 

[Siikibam]

She’s always been on a low calcium diet so unfortunately must be genetically predisposed.

I’m sorry if that’s the case.

BtW i think my reply was posted after yours. I was replying to the poster who said vitamin c is the cause.

 

[Lauraspigs]

I had a guinea that suffered bladder stones. Sadly he is no longer with us and passed when he was just 12 months old. Based the experience I had with him I can give you some advice. Simba my pig was urinating blood and a scan showed bladder stone. He had a op had it removed and removed sludge too from the stomach. He survived the op and come home fighting fit. Only for him to start urinating blood ( again ) about 5 months down the line. I took him back as it was a lot of blood and he was given baytril and I arranged for a scan. He had a scan only to be confirmed another stone and I arranged for it to be removed. During the op I got a call to say a tube inside had snapped, that it could be repaired but they were insisting that I put him to sleep saying it's a recurring thing that will keep happening and I'm putting him through pain by not putting him to sleep. Of course I declined and they phoned me back again to ask again. I ended up agreeing to it as you like to think the vet knows best and I had to put my own feelings a side and thing of his suffering.
Meti cam is a pain relief and inflammation med but I just lost one of my boys on saturday and they would not prescribe me meticam while he was poorly with some sort of bowl problem. They said it can cause hemorrhage and long term use can cause internal bleeding. While I see it as a pain relief if your pig is already urinating blood and what the vet said above is true about the meticam then I cant see this being a good thing long term for your pig who is already urinating blood. However please do question this information with the vet just to see if it is true as this could be a last resort with you but at the same time could be making your pig worse if that makes sence. I give my pig cranberry juice in a syringe it works for us and it did help a little back then for my simba. Worth a go in a syringe. Dilute a little. You could go request a scan again to check if any more stones. Cut back veggies, carrots and kale and peppers, there high and vitamins C which tend to cause the bladder stones. I was told to use bottle water with simba at the time of his stones. Try that too. Too much something or other in tap water so I was told despite having a filter so i just got the bottle water to be safe. Warm hot water bottle on her belly, see if that helps. Lots of fluid though for sure. Syrenge feed if not drinking enough. Put in the corner of mouth so it dont go down to fast.

If I was in your position now then I would ask for a scan or xray and if more stones then it's going to be a ongoing situation like it was for me 2 years ago with my simba. You will pay to get it fixed and then be back in the same position few months down the line. Sadly you have to think what is the right thing to do here. Heart breaking I know.

But defiantly go vet, you cant have urinating blood and being given med in hope to improve, if no stones on a scan then it has to be a infection and the antibiotic and meticam could be irritating the problem so you could bring that up with the vet and suggest fluid maybe ?

( Hugs )

She’s been seeing the vet but they have said there isn’t much more they can do, the next step would be a rescan but she had one a few weeks ago that didn’t show anymore stones and the ones she passed would be too small to show. She’s always been on a low calcium diet so unfortunately is genetically predisposed. She’s not in pain at the moment as far as I can tell but it’s just the blood in the wee which is why I’m wondering if it’s IC. The metacam can cause an issue with stomach upsets and if you notice diarrhoea then you stop it but I would rather take the risk of using it to know she’s not in any discomfort. The risk are low and she’s on a low dose.
If anything changes I’ll take her back to the vet but at the moment she is happy and gaining weight so I’m keeping my fingers crossed the bloody Urine stops soon. Was just hoping someone else may have experienced the same.

 

[GuineaCrazy20]

Sorry I meant calcium that causes bladder stones Calcium and vitamins C ( confusion )

You can see if it calms down but if the blood is still a ongoing issue then despite eating and gaining the weight still, its still something that is unnatural and any blood is not good. Could be a infection or lead to one. If not cleared with at least 2 weeks baytril then there is a problem as it can't be a infection. I do agree with the Rescan if you had one done and not seen any then your wasting money as the likely hood is you want see any 2nd time round.

Sorry cant be of any more help. I know I've had 2 pigs with the same problem but a xray and scan showed bladder stones with my 1st pig and my 2nd had a infection if some sort and sadly died last week.

Long term pain relief is not good. So just be safe with that.

 

[Wiebke]

Saffie had a bladder stone op at the end of august, we’ve had a lot of issues since and she had to go back into the animal hospital for 5 days at the end of September. She had a large stone remove initially and has since passed a couple of small stones.
she is eating well and is slowly gaining back some of the weight she lost (she lost over 100g when she was last in the vets and 200g overall despite supportive feeding).

She seems happy but we are still getting blood in her urine. She has just finished a 14 day course of sulfatrim and is still on metacam once a day. We’ve also tried two courses of Baytril.

she isn’t straining or hunching and isn’t crying. (I’m working from home so am with her all day). She’s out eating a lot. The vets have said they have tried everything they can so it’s just a case of managing her with metacam now and re scanning if it continues but I don’t think she would make it through surgery again.

does this sound like Interstitial Cystitis? Is there anything else I can do or as long as she is happy in herself and her weight improving should I not worry too much about the blood?

we were using cystophan but it upset her stomach badly and was causing hair loss so have stopped that now. She’s having oxbow joint biscuits as they have the highest glucosamine in them. The vet checked with the specialist exotic hospital and they haven’t used cartrophen for bladder issues and weren’t keen on using it as they said there isn’t any proof it works. I don’t want to put her through more procedures unnecessarily.

Hi!

Unfortunately, in some piggies something in the complex calcium absorption process can just flip. I had that with my Cariad; we got to eventually lengthen the intervals between her needing another bladder flush but we could never quite stop her from forming more sludge (though never a stone again).

Can you please clarify whether you are dealing with highly red porphyrine coloured pee, pure blood or clear urine testing high in blood? This can help narrowing things a down a bit more as the symptoms for all bladder problems are very similar. Sterile interstitial cystitis can only be diagnosed by default once all other problems have been exlcuded.

As to cartrofen, there has been recent research in it working for guinea pigs, too, but your vet will need to be willing to do her own digging around. It is currently being prescribed only on a trial basis by interested UK vets; there is not yet a consensus as to how to best use it amongst exotics vets. It's come on the scene for no longer than a year or so; the research was outside of the UK.