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Can't Do This Again

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Amysmom

Amysmom

Teenage Guinea Pig
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After loosing Billy who was only a year old when he didn't recover properly from a kidney stone op I've now got another piggy with one. Daisy is four and she has had blood in her urine for a couple of weeks, we tried septrin but she then started to loose her appetite and sit in the corner not moving, We had to start syringe feeding her because although she's eating veg she's not eating hay or pellets. Today she's had an X-ray and I've just got the call to say she has a large kidney stone-the vet is calling me later for a chat.

I'm so afraid of putting Daisy through an op to remove it because despite Billy recovering initially from his op he then suddenly went down hill and died. His kidney stones (he had 2) were in very awkward places so I'm yet to be told where Daisys is. She's such a small timid little thing that I don't know whether she would survive. Do many pigs survive these ops?
 
Storm has kidney and bladder stones, we won't be having him operated on due to the risks, plus we were told it's very hard to remove them from the kidney, if it's possible at all and that we'd need a very good surgeon to do it.

I have no idea about the survival rate in regards to stone op's to be honest. I'm sure someone with more knowledge/experience than me will be able to help you :)
 
I don't know whether I've got that wrong-it could be a bladder stone? I'm not sure, on the phone they just said she's got a stone so I suppose I have to wait untill ive spoken with the vet.

How is Storm coping with a kidney stone?
 
I am very sorry that you are going through this again :( I remember when you lost Billy :(

From where to go from here, it rather depends on whether Daisy has bladder or kidney stones and where they are located.

I'm sorry that I can't advise myself but I know that @TAN has had piggies with both bladder and kidney stones so will hopefully be able to offer advice when seeing this xx
 
I am so sorry for you both what an awful thing to go through. My little Molly died on the operating table so I know how you feel.
Would I go through it again, yes I would. I would be worried the same thing would happen again, but I would have to, I would have to give her that chance.
I don't know anything about kidney stones, if you refused the op what would happen. Everybody on here says Simon is fantastic can you get up there or is he too far.
My heart goes out to you Amysmum
 
Tiamolly123 said:
I am so sorry for you both what an awful thing to go through. My little Molly died on the operating table so I know how you feel.
Would I go through it again, yes I would. I would be worried the same thing would happen again, but I would have to, I would have to give her that chance.
I don't know anything about kidney stones, if you refused the op what would happen. Everybody on here says Simon is fantastic can you get up there or is he too far.
My heart goes out to you Amysmum
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We do have an excellent vet who is very good with our piggys. We see Rosie in Wombourne.
 
I'm so sorry that you lost a piggy and have this awful dilemma again. Sending lots of healing vibes and hugs!
 
Amysmom said:
I don't know whether I've got that wrong-it could be a bladder stone? I'm not sure, on the phone they just said she's got a stone so I suppose I have to wait untill ive spoken with the vet.

How is Storm coping with a kidney stone?
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I am very sorry that your are faced with the same issue again. Kidney stones are generally very tricky or impossible to operate. Bladder stones are much easier, but a lot depends on where the stone is sitting (especially with boars) and how experienced your vet is with small animal ops.
 
Hi - stones are the bain of my life! - A bladder stone is usually a fairly straight forward op for a piggy savvy vet, - it is the kidney stones that are much more difficult / risky -
If it is a kidney stone and they are small they can sometimes be pushed out of the kidney by syringe feeding a very small amount of fizzy water 3 times a day for about a week / 10 days ( you would have to get your vet to ask my vet how much - too much and you could cause bloat and I can't remember the dosage I had to give Bumble ) that is if the stones are small enough to pass down the urethra's so they can sit in the bladder and the vet can then go in and retrieve them -

Your vet can remove the kidney as like humans they can survive with one, as this was a possible option with Bumble, but we couldnt get a good picture of Bumble's other kidney and my vet was concerned that the other kidney might have stones as well, so we may have gone through an op for nothing - but if the other kidney is showing as clear this could be an option if your piggy has big kidney stones - we did trial Bumble on several medications to help stop stones forming and we seemed to be keeping them at bay with a low calcium diet, moduretic, potassium citrate and calcorea carbonica from holland and barrat that Rachel had prevoiusly used on a baby tortoise on the advice of a homeopath -
Keeping fingers crossed for you xx
 
It's kind of 'good' news.
The vet rang me and we had a long chat. She said it looks as though there's a lot of sludge in Daisys bladder which could form into bladder stones so we need to get it flushed out. She said the plan is to give Daisy a steroid injection which should increase her need to drink and eat because right now we are having to syringe feed her. She said we need her to want to drink a lot. She has suggested boiling barley and making a drink from the liquid that comes from it so I'm doing that tomorrow. She's having her steroid jab on Sat am and she will have an anti inflammatory with it, we are also keeping her on septrin. My concern though is her pain, we can't give her metacam because it will interfere with the steroid.
 
I too remember seeing something about guinea pigs not supposed to have steroids - a bladder flush,metacam and septrin are the usual for bladder sludge.
 
Amysmom said:
It's kind of 'good' news.
The vet rang me and we had a long chat. She said it looks as though there's a lot of sludge in Daisys bladder which could form into bladder stones so we need to get it flushed out. She said the plan is to give Daisy a steroid injection which should increase her need to drink and eat because right now we are having to syringe feed her. She said we need her to want to drink a lot. She has suggested boiling barley and making a drink from the liquid that comes from it so I'm doing that tomorrow. She's having her steroid jab on Sat am and she will have an anti inflammatory with it, we are also keeping her on septrin. My concern though is her pain, we can't give her metacam because it will interfere with the steroid.
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Correct Metacam and anti inflams like Metacam cannot be given together.

Ask Rosie for some alternative pain relief to metacam like opiate - vetergesic (this can be given as a small drop at side of mouth) or Tramadol. You'll need emeprid also with an opiate to make sure guts don't slow down due to opiate. Pain relief is vital.
I know people on here are against steroids but they worked wonders for Cookie's jaw issues when she had arthritis and bone spur. I guess every pig is different and reacts differently - I trust Rosie's professional judgment implicitly she is a very knowledgeable, forward thinking vet .

I am so sorry you are going through this
 
sport_billy said:
Ask Rosie for some alternative pain relief to metacam - vetergesic or Tramadol. You'll need emeprid also with an opiate to make sure guts don't slow down due to opiate.
I know people are against steroids but they worked wonders for Cookie's jaw issues when she had arthritis and bone spur. I guess every pig is different

I trust Rosie implicitly she is a very knowledgeable, forward thinking vet
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Hi! I was going to tag you because I know you use Rosie (we met in the waiting room remember?) so I did want your opinion on the steroids.
I have a big problem though-she isn't there until Monday and the vet whose doing Daisys steroid injection tomorrow isn't guinea pig savy. I could really do with talking to her before the injection.
 
Kerrie74 said:
Ahh I hope they sort her out for you, there's nothing like an ill guinea pig to make you feel down.
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Yes it's on my mind when I go to bed and when I wake. I just hate seeing her so down and obviously in pain
 
She is on the metacam at the moment yes? I would speak to Rosie. Give them a ring today and get to speak to her. If the other vet is going to give steroid they need to be willing to prescribe pain relief with it in some other form, if you can I would wait for Rosie to talk to and carry on with the Metacam until then. Rosie had no issue giving Cookie stronger pain relief when she was on steroids as pain relief is vital with stones like this.

I wouldn't be willing to have the injection tomorrow leaving the pig without pain relief.
 
Kerrie74 said:
I know what you mean, I've got 3 guinea's with health problems and I'm constantly worrying about them..
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Awwww sorry to hear that, I can't imagine having 3 with health issues. People don't realsie that they are actually quite delicate. My moms always saying how years ago when we were kids they were in the shed and had no problems. I can't get her to understand that we know more now and spend more time with them. Mine are indoor so i notice any early signs that they are ill.
 
Sorry to hear about Daisy. I have also had some bad outcomes with stones in my boys so am familar with 'stone worry'!
The pearl barley gloop the vet suggested did seem to go down well with my boys when they had similar - I can't say definitively if it helped because as you are doing you tend to try several things at once but if nothing else, it is a different way of getting fluid in her if she likes it.
 
Yeah mine are indoor as well. Mine are my little buddies, along with my dog and two hamsters, I don't really bother with people due to health problems.
 
lauraboara said:
Sorry to hear about Daisy. I have also had some bad outcomes with stones in my boys so am familar with 'stone worry'!
The pearl barley gloop the vet suggested did seem to go down well with my boys when they had similar - I can't say definitively if it helped because as you are doing you tend to try several things at once but if nothing else, it is a different way of getting fluid in her if she likes it.
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My hubby has a butchers and uses barley so he's bringing me some gloop home today
 
Poppy'sMum said:
I would definitely follow what Sportbilly says @Amysmom. If Rosie is his vet & has used steroids before then she will have the relevant experience. Personally I would rearrange the appointment so as to see her if you can.
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Rosie has always been very good with our guineas and she's very knowledgable. I'm waiting for a call from the other vet who always contacts Rosie if she's unsure about something. I will discuss with her about maybe waiting to do the steroid shot.
 
I've just had her on my lap and she's had a big syringe of critical care-she does struggle but I get it in. After some encouragement I got her to eat a wet lettuce leaf and a piece of cucumber. She did hunch and squeal as she did a wee and it was awful seeing her in pain so I am discussing some different pain relief for her.
 
Amysmom said:
I've just had her on my lap and she's had a big syringe of critical care-she does struggle but I get it in. After some encouragement I got her to eat a wet lettuce leaf and a piece of cucumber. She did hunch and squeal as she did a wee and it was awful seeing her in pain so I am discussing some different pain relief for her.
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Yes I would certainly do this. In the meantime between getting something stronger if you go down the steroid route, ask Rosie about increasing the dose of metacam perhaps?
 
I have had several bladder piggies and one had two bladder stone ops in quick succession but her prognosis was very poor. my heart goes out to you, its something I absolutely dread more than any other guinea ailment.

This little girl also then had a bad heart so coincidently ended up on Frusol to manage the fluid in her lungs. Bizarrely the Frusol, being a diuretic, made her thirsty so she drank a lot more, I did also give her additional water (10ml) twice a day every day until her last day.

As a result her bladder was flushed properly daily and she stayed with me for another 3 years. The main concern was the pressure on her kidneys from he Frusol but when she finally had to be PTS at the grand old age of 7, it was a tumour in her tummy which was her undoing and her kidneys were fine.

I mused with the vet that perhaps the Frusol helped to keep her drinking and she said it was an interesting side effect which actually helped the bladder issue. Just thought it maybe something to think about?
 
sport_billy said:
Yes I would certainly do this. In the meantime between getting something stronger if you go down the steroid route, ask Rosie about increasing the dose of metacam perhaps?
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When I spoke with Rosie last night she said not to give her any metacam today because it can interfere with her steroid injection tomorrow. I don't know whether this means she can't be on metacam at all while she has steroid in her. It's a fast acting one which will last a week. She didn't want to give her a long term one because if we did have to do surgery steroid can affect healing.
 
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