I've spent many an hour reading posts on this forum over the years but my first post here! So hello all!
Banjo has always loved drinking a lot of water and snacking on his biscuits/hay - he seems so happy when doing so, only the last few days perhaps a week I've been starting to wonder if he has been a bit too obsessed with his water bottle, spending longer there and going back for seconds immediately.
I switched out water bottles a few days ago to take note of his water consumption as his other glass one seemed to drip a lot.
The last 3 days he's averaging between 80 - 100ml a day of water, which was a lot less than I thought it would be.
His friend (mango next door) who I thought wasn't a fond drinker, is actually the thirstier boy!
Anyway, this morning I went to say good morning and do the usual feeding etc and I noticed what looked like a blood stained patch of sawdust, I dug around and found another patch which was a lot fainter in colour and immediately called the vets.
He was seen this afternoon, the vet said his heart was fine, bladder felt empty and free of stones (although did note that may not be the case), I also asked to check his teeth as sometimes he seems to chew out of sync for a few mouthfuls but as he loves his grub so much I never thought anything too sinister dental wise, he said his front teeth are fine and one side of his back are fine but couldn't check the other side as there was a lot of food obstructing his view.
He did mentioned he thought he looked really good for his age (4years 5 months) and he was so good for the vet examining him I nearly started crying watching him being so sweet and well behaved/un fazed. Even in the waiting room with dogs barking and people shouting he was pottering around his carrier, munching his snacks and sniffing my fingers for more treats like nothing out of the ordinary was happening!
He prescribed him 0.37ml of meloicam for 1 day then 0.18ml for the following 6 days and 0.38ml x2 daily of trimethoprim-sulphonamide - he said incase of a UTI. Also adviced just to keep an eye on him and bring him in if it persists or gets worse.
Banjo is otherwise completely bright in him self, done several popcorns today, jumping up to say hello to his neighbour and exploring on the carpet no different to usual and being his funny, charming little self.
I did note also a few days ago I thought his poo's looked slightly smaller too which I made a mental note of, but all seeming okay today.
In terms of what I should do from here, what are the signs I should watch out for? I'm now thinking I should of asked for an - - Ray for stones or to try examin teeth better on the other side (although not sure how that would cause the urine issue).
I think banjo thinks I've gone mad as every wee I see him do i'm unearthing it and taking it to the light to examine, but all seems clear so far since this morning/last night.
I've also just picked up some new biscuits to change over to slowly that are grain free/lower calcium and going start giving filtered water (been reading up on stones a lot more today). Also, thinking of mushing up some droppings from his friend (banj will be most displeased) to act as a probiotic..?
Sorry for the long post, he is my absoloute world.. I've spent a lot of today crying and panicking while he has remained as cool as a cucumber lol.
Feeling extra emotional as I welcomed banjo into my life to help fill me with love, hope and purpose while grieving a particularly painful event in my life, which happens to be the 5th anniversary today so today as been a very emotional one.
Any advices/insight/info/anything greatly appreciated. X
Ooh also, I've attached some pics of all the shavings I collected. I did have a scare last summer with discoloured urine - only to discover it in both seperate cages after eating banana peel, I did feed him some red cabbage (he eats it about once a week though) about 2 days before would that be too long to cause discolouration?
Thanks again!
Banjo has always loved drinking a lot of water and snacking on his biscuits/hay - he seems so happy when doing so, only the last few days perhaps a week I've been starting to wonder if he has been a bit too obsessed with his water bottle, spending longer there and going back for seconds immediately.
I switched out water bottles a few days ago to take note of his water consumption as his other glass one seemed to drip a lot.
The last 3 days he's averaging between 80 - 100ml a day of water, which was a lot less than I thought it would be.
His friend (mango next door) who I thought wasn't a fond drinker, is actually the thirstier boy!
Anyway, this morning I went to say good morning and do the usual feeding etc and I noticed what looked like a blood stained patch of sawdust, I dug around and found another patch which was a lot fainter in colour and immediately called the vets.
He was seen this afternoon, the vet said his heart was fine, bladder felt empty and free of stones (although did note that may not be the case), I also asked to check his teeth as sometimes he seems to chew out of sync for a few mouthfuls but as he loves his grub so much I never thought anything too sinister dental wise, he said his front teeth are fine and one side of his back are fine but couldn't check the other side as there was a lot of food obstructing his view.
He did mentioned he thought he looked really good for his age (4years 5 months) and he was so good for the vet examining him I nearly started crying watching him being so sweet and well behaved/un fazed. Even in the waiting room with dogs barking and people shouting he was pottering around his carrier, munching his snacks and sniffing my fingers for more treats like nothing out of the ordinary was happening!
He prescribed him 0.37ml of meloicam for 1 day then 0.18ml for the following 6 days and 0.38ml x2 daily of trimethoprim-sulphonamide - he said incase of a UTI. Also adviced just to keep an eye on him and bring him in if it persists or gets worse.
Banjo is otherwise completely bright in him self, done several popcorns today, jumping up to say hello to his neighbour and exploring on the carpet no different to usual and being his funny, charming little self.
I did note also a few days ago I thought his poo's looked slightly smaller too which I made a mental note of, but all seeming okay today.
In terms of what I should do from here, what are the signs I should watch out for? I'm now thinking I should of asked for an - - Ray for stones or to try examin teeth better on the other side (although not sure how that would cause the urine issue).
I think banjo thinks I've gone mad as every wee I see him do i'm unearthing it and taking it to the light to examine, but all seems clear so far since this morning/last night.
I've also just picked up some new biscuits to change over to slowly that are grain free/lower calcium and going start giving filtered water (been reading up on stones a lot more today). Also, thinking of mushing up some droppings from his friend (banj will be most displeased) to act as a probiotic..?
Sorry for the long post, he is my absoloute world.. I've spent a lot of today crying and panicking while he has remained as cool as a cucumber lol.
Feeling extra emotional as I welcomed banjo into my life to help fill me with love, hope and purpose while grieving a particularly painful event in my life, which happens to be the 5th anniversary today so today as been a very emotional one.
Any advices/insight/info/anything greatly appreciated. X
Ooh also, I've attached some pics of all the shavings I collected. I did have a scare last summer with discoloured urine - only to discover it in both seperate cages after eating banana peel, I did feed him some red cabbage (he eats it about once a week though) about 2 days before would that be too long to cause discolouration?
Thanks again!
