Cystease, Cystaid plus or Cystophan

[Laura 1899]

Hello

My 2 year old boar Graham is still suffering with what we believe is IC. Metacam does not help at all. He has been on Cystease too but not showing much improvement. Baytril for 2 weeks, and Panacur in case he needed worming. Not much is helping. We had about 5 days with nothing but last night he was squeaking in pain alot. I am about to do an order for more Cystease but see that there are others. Are they the same supplement? Also my guinea pig has been given Betamethasone as metacam not helping him but I have not tried it yet as worried. Has anyone tried this on their piggies please? Thank you..

 

[Deleted member 139433]

How long has he been on the cystease? It is a nutraceutical so takes a while to build up any effect in the bladder

 

[Piggies&buns]

If he is in pain, then I would ask your vet to look at his metacam dose - it may be too low or perhaps its only being given once a day (they need their pain meds twice a day as they metabolise them so fast).

 

[Swissgreys]

I agree with the others.
It would help us a lot if you could let us know what meds he is on, what dosage and how long he has been on them.

Also what diet is he having?
Is his water filtered?

Small dietary changes, plus long term Cytease and twice daily metacam during flare ups helped my girl Lucy a lot.
We also took a long time to sort out her diet and decide what specific veggies triggered a flare.

 

[Laura 1899]

How long has he been on the cystease? It is a nutraceutical so takes a while to build up any effect in the bladder

about 2 weeks continously

 

[Laura 1899]

If he is in pain, then I would ask your vet to look at his metacam dose - it may be too low or perhaps its only being given once a day (they need their pain meds twice a day as they metabolise them so fast).

I have been asking the vet if it can be increased for about a year now & they inform me he is on the highest dose for him (although the online guinea pig vet disagrees) he is on 1.5mg 0.4ml once a day dog strength. He weighs 1.24kg. He has now been given Betamethasone but I am a bit worried to use it but will try tonight i think.

 

[Deleted member 139433]

about 2 weeks continously

It can take a while longer. How much is he having? I agree with the others re discussing dosages of pain relief with your vet

 

[Laura 1899]

I agree with the others.
It would help us a lot if you could let us know what meds he is on, what dosage and how long he has been on them.

Also what diet is he having?
Is his water filtered?

Small dietary changes, plus long term Cytease and twice daily metacam during flare ups helped my girl Lucy a lot.
We also took a long time to sort out her diet and decide what specific veggies triggered a flare.

Ok he is on 1 capsule of Cystease (been on it constantly for 2 weeks sold) he has filtered tap water although we live in a very hard water area. He has Marriages cold pressed grain free food. 2 scops of Pro Fibre probiotic granules. Sometimes Fibreplex. Every day he has Timothy Hay (big piles of it), cucumber, a thin piece of carrot and romaine lettuce or little gem lettuce leaf. A few times a week he has celery, red pepper, banana, fresh mint, fresh basil, fresh coriander and fresh parsley but only a few sprigs or leaves. I did not give him anything other than hay, pellets & cucumber for a few days and nothing changed. I have a feeling though pepper may be a culprit. He has had scans & Xray plus urine tested. Swabs taken from bum & penis and it did show some nasty bacteria but baytril was given. No ulcers on penis anymore. No blood ever seen. He has just been wormed as advised by vet. He acts normal & happy apart fom when he squeaks in pain & hunches up as he poos and wees.

 

[Swissgreys]

OK, the diet looks good and filtered water is excellent.
Don't loose hope - you are definitely on the right path, but you also need to be patient. This can be a fairly long journey to achieve a good result.

I am not an expert but a few points to consider that helped me get this under control;

I found it took around a month for the Cystease to start to have an effect - it needs time to sooth the bladder walls so 2 weeks isn't very long.

With dietary changes you need to go the total elimination route for at least a week - 10 days. So the first step was feeding nothing but hay, a small amount of pellets for 10 days. After that introduce 1 veg (cucumber is a good starting point) and feed only hay, pellets and 1 veg for at least a week. After a week introduce 1 more veg. I kept a food diary and quickly worked out what veg caused Lucy to have flare ups. This was a very long process. Looking back to took almost 3 months to develop a diet that worked for her and even then it was more limited than my other piggies.

The Metacam does is very low and definitely needs to be split into twice daily doses. He is currently on around a quarter dose, and you should try and talk to your vet about this. Your boy can have 1mg/kilo of body wight twice a day to get things under control. Once everything has settled back down you can slowly start to reduce the Metacam but in the short/medium term pain control is critical.

Lucy also only had blood in her urine right at the start. Even during the occasional flare up blood was never seen, and I don't think this is uncommon.

Hang in there - it can be a gruelling process and you are doing a fantastic job advocating for your boy.
He is lucky to have you on his side.

 

[Laura 1899]

OK, the diet looks good and filtered water is excellent.
Don't loose hope - you are definitely on the right path, but you also need to be patient. This can be a fairly long journey to achieve a good result.

I am not an expert but a few points to consider that helped me get this under control;

I found it took around a month for the Cystease to start to have an effect - it needs time to sooth the bladder walls so 2 weeks isn't very long.

With dietary changes you need to go the total elimination route for at least a week - 10 days. So the first step was feeding nothing but hay, a small amount of pellets for 10 days. After that introduce 1 veg (cucumber is a good starting point) and feed only hay, pellets and 1 veg for at least a week. After a week introduce 1 more veg. I kept a food diary and quickly worked out what veg caused Lucy to have flare ups. This was a very long process. Looking back to took almost 3 months to develop a diet that worked for her and even then it was more limited than my other piggies.

The Metacam does is very low and definitely needs to be split into twice daily doses. He is currently on around a quarter dose, and you should try and talk to your vet about this. Your boy can have 1mg/kilo of body wight twice a day to get things under control. Once everything has settled back down you can slowly start to reduce the Metacam but in the short/medium term pain control is critical.

Lucy also only had blood in her urine right at the start. Even during the occasional flare up blood was never seen, and I don't think this is uncommon.

Hang in there - it can be a gruelling process and you are doing a fantastic job advocating for your boy.
He is lucky to have you on his side.

Hello thanks so much for replying! I have asked & asked about the Metacam/Meloxidyl not working but they keep insisting that he is on the strongest dose. He is on 0.4ml of DOG strength (1.5mg) once a day. Just in case I never made that clear before, but the guinea pig vet online called Ellie she once told me he can be on more. It's hard when your vet tell you one thing but everyone else seems to tell me another. He weighs 1.24kg?

Thank you & I will certainly try more time and eliminating foods etc.

 

[Swissgreys]

Hello thanks so much for replying! I have asked & asked about the Metacam/Meloxidyl not working but they keep insisting that he is on the strongest dose. He is on 0.4ml of DOG strength (1.5mg) once a day. Just in case I never made that clear before, but the guinea pig vet online called Ellie she once told me he can be on more. It's hard when your vet tell you one thing but everyone else seems to tell me another. He weighs 1.24kg?

Thank you & I will certainly try more time and eliminating foods etc.

Your boy is gorgeous - honestly I think silver agoutis are my absolute favourite guinea pig colour.

And I am sorry but your vet is wrong about the Metacam dosage and there are many (many) recent studies not he use of meloxicam in small animals (rabbits. rats, guinea pigs, etc) that prove this.
The does they are giving is one based on dog and cat dosages which have been shown to be ineffectual in both rats and rabbits.

It isn't easy reading if you aren't familiar with scientific papers, but this is a good place to start covering dosages, bioavaibility and long term effects of high dose Metacam in guinea pigs:

DOI:Redirecting

Your boy can receive up to 1.25mg of Metacam twice a day in the short term.
This would equate to 0.8ml DOG Metacam TWICE a day.
At the current dose your boy is receiving a half dose ONCE a day.
The study above also talks about the half life of Metacam in guinea pigs and shows it is metabolised very rapidly and will not offer effective pain relief if only given once every 24 hours.
Would your vet consider speaking to a guinea pig expert about the Metacam dose?
Or just doing some research? My local vet (not a specialist ) is always happy to call a colleague or look into something further if she isn't sure.

I truly think pain control is so important and so often overlooked in guinea pigs and I am sure your boy would feel a lot better if his pain was more under control.
It isn't the solution to everything, but at least he would be more comfortable.

 

[Katsycakes]

Our IC piggie Luna took about two months of a consistent low calcium diet and cystease to stop showing symptoms. We’re in a ridiculously hard water area so we moved from filtered water and they now get the lowest calcium bottled water we could find, and we’ve cut the pellets right down as well to almost zero. We were in your shoes and losing hope that we could help her have a normal life, but it seems to be something that takes a while to improve. But of course take the advice above and increase the metacam as well.

 

[Zanzan]

Our IC piggie Luna took about two months of a consistent low calcium diet and cystease to stop showing symptoms. We’re in a ridiculously hard water area so we moved from filtered water and they now get the lowest calcium bottled water we could find, and we’ve cut the pellets right down as well to almost zero. We were in your shoes and losing hope that we could help her have a normal life, but it seems to be something that takes a while to improve. But of course take the advice above and increase the metacam as well.

Out of interest, what was the lowest calcium bottled water that you found?

 

[Laura 1899]

Hello

My 2 year old boar Graham is still suffering with what we believe is IC. Metacam does not help at all. He has been on Cystease too but not showing much improvement. Baytril for 2 weeks, and Panacur in case he needed worming. Not much is helping. We had about 5 days with nothing but last night he was squeaking in pain alot. I am about to do an order for more Cystease but see that there are others. Are they the same supplement? Also my guinea pig has been given Betamethasone as metacam not helping him but I have not tried it yet as worried. Has anyone tried this on their piggies please? Thank you..

Your boy is gorgeous - honestly I think silver agoutis are my absolute favourite guinea pig colour.

And I am sorry but your vet is wrong about the Metacam dosage and there are many (many) recent studies not he use of meloxicam in small animals (rabbits. rats, guinea pigs, etc) that prove this.
The does they are giving is one based on dog and cat dosages which have been shown to be ineffectual in both rats and rabbits.

It isn't easy reading if you aren't familiar with scientific papers, but this is a good place to start covering dosages, bioavaibility and long term effects of high dose Metacam in guinea pigs:

DOI:Redirecting

Your boy can receive up to 1.25mg of Metacam twice a day in the short term.
This would equate to 0.8ml DOG Metacam TWICE a day.
At the current dose your boy is receiving a half dose ONCE a day.
The study above also talks about the half life of Metacam in guinea pigs and shows it is metabolised very rapidly and will not offer effective pain relief if only given once every 24 hours.
Would your vet consider speaking to a guinea pig expert about the Metacam dose?
Or just doing some research? My local vet (not a specialist ) is always happy to call a colleague or look into something further if she isn't sure.

I truly think pain control is so important and so often overlooked in guinea pigs and I am sure your boy would feel a lot better if his pain was more under control.
It isn't the solution to everything, but at least he would be more comfortable.

Thank you SO much, I will certainly pass this info on. Yes I would love to give my vet your vets contact number etc please. Do you think Metacam is better than the buprecare?

 

[Laura 1899]

Out of interest, what was the lowest calcium bottled water that you found?

All I have is the Brita water filter but our tap water is extremely hard too. I did research bottled but cannot find the one which is always recommended (cannot think of name now) so bought a Brita jug & filter again. Thanks for your help too.

 

[Laura 1899]

Did anyone try giving Cranberry juice (Ocean Spray)?

 

[Wiebke]

All the products mentioned above are the same in different packaging.

Please be aware that it can take several weeks to get on top of IC - easily 2-3 months. You may start woth a pretty high dose of metacam at first as it takes time for the glucosamine (Cystease to build up). From my own experimentation, you can give in more severe cases initially 1 capsule every 12 hours instead of half of one. You have to brace for acute flare-ups about every 2 months with gradually lengthening intervals after you have got the IC halfway under control - that is the 'interstitial' part of it. There is unfortunately nothing quick about it and you have to figure out for your individual case how much/little glucosamine and metacam does eventually work as a maintenance dose in the interim and how much you need to up the dosage during flares as this varies quite a bit individually.

If things are not improving over that time or are deteriorating, you may want to ask your vet to research into (glucosmine based) cartrofen; recent European research has shown that it is effective for the more severe cases of sterile cystitis in guinea pigs. It is however still being used on an individual trial basis in the UK and there is not yet a pooling of practical experiences and a consensual treatment approach from exotics vets - it is that new.

 

[Hath]

I've kept my 7yrs old boy on oxbow urinary support instead of cystease (pain to syringe) after his UTI. Anyone knows if there's a difference in how effective they are?

 

[Laura 1899]

All the products mentioned above are the same in different packaging.

Please be aware that it can take several weeks to get on top of IC - easily 2-3 months. You may start woth a pretty high dose of metacam at first as it takes time for the glucosamine (Cystease to build up). From my own experimentation, you can give in more severe cases initially 1 capsule every 12 hours instead of half of one. You have to brace for acute flare-ups about every 2 months with gradually lengthening intervals after you have got the IC halfway under control - that is the 'interstitial' part of it. There is unfortunately nothing quick about it and you have to figure out for your individual case how much/little glucosamine and metacam does eventually work as a maintenance dose in the interim and how much you need to up the dosage during flares as this varies quite a bit individually.

If things are not improving over that time or are deteriorating, you may want to ask your vet to research into (glucosmine based) cartrofen; recent European research has shown that it is effective for the more severe cases of sterile cystitis in guinea pigs. It is however still being used on an individual trial basis in the UK and there is not yet a pooling of practical experiences and a consensual treatment approach from exotics vets - it is that new.

THanks so much again. Graham is on 1 whole capsule of Cystease now. I have started to sprinkle it onto veg as he hates the Baytril so much and all I do is syringe liquid into his poor little mouth! Yes I have read about Cartrofen too. I think my German Shepherd had injections of this for 4 weeks for her arthritis.

 

[Katsycakes]

Out of interest, what was the lowest calcium bottled water that you found?

We were the weirdos looking at the back of every single bottle in the supermarket aisles. We found volvic had the lowest that we could see in our supermarket.

 

[Laura 1899]

Your boy is gorgeous - honestly I think silver agoutis are my absolute favourite guinea pig colour.

And I am sorry but your vet is wrong about the Metacam dosage and there are many (many) recent studies not he use of meloxicam in small animals (rabbits. rats, guinea pigs, etc) that prove this.
The does they are giving is one based on dog and cat dosages which have been shown to be ineffectual in both rats and rabbits.

It isn't easy reading if you aren't familiar with scientific papers, but this is a good place to start covering dosages, bioavaibility and long term effects of high dose Metacam in guinea pigs:

DOI:Redirecting

Your boy can receive up to 1.25mg of Metacam twice a day in the short term.
This would equate to 0.8ml DOG Metacam TWICE a day.
At the current dose your boy is receiving a half dose ONCE a day.
The study above also talks about the half life of Metacam in guinea pigs and shows it is metabolised very rapidly and will not offer effective pain relief if only given once every 24 hours.
Would your vet consider speaking to a guinea pig expert about the Metacam dose?
Or just doing some research? My local vet (not a specialist ) is always happy to call a colleague or look into something further if she isn't sure.

I truly think pain control is so important and so often overlooked in guinea pigs and I am sure your boy would feel a lot better if his pain was more under control.
It isn't the solution to everything, but at least he would be more comfortable.

Hello... I have a few bottles of 0.5kg cat Metacam left- is this just half the dose of the dog version please? So I double it for Graham? Sorry and thanks for your help.

 

[Laura 1899]

OK, the diet looks good and filtered water is excellent.
Don't loose hope - you are definitely on the right path, but you also need to be patient. This can be a fairly long journey to achieve a good result.

I am not an expert but a few points to consider that helped me get this under control;

I found it took around a month for the Cystease to start to have an effect - it needs time to sooth the bladder walls so 2 weeks isn't very long.

With dietary changes you need to go the total elimination route for at least a week - 10 days. So the first step was feeding nothing but hay, a small amount of pellets for 10 days. After that introduce 1 veg (cucumber is a good starting point) and feed only hay, pellets and 1 veg for at least a week. After a week introduce 1 more veg. I kept a food diary and quickly worked out what veg caused Lucy to have flare ups. This was a very long process. Looking back to took almost 3 months to develop a diet that worked for her and even then it was more limited than my other piggies.

The Metacam does is very low and definitely needs to be split into twice daily doses. He is currently on around a quarter dose, and you should try and talk to your vet about this. Your boy can have 1mg/kilo of body wight twice a day to get things under control. Once everything has settled back down you can slowly start to reduce the Metacam but in the short/medium term pain control is critical.

Lucy also only had blood in her urine right at the start. Even during the occasional flare up blood was never seen, and I don't think this is uncommon.

Hang in there - it can be a gruelling process and you are doing a fantastic job advocating for your boy.
He is lucky to have you on his side.

Hello Thanks for your help. I sent an email to the vet querying the Metacam dose this is what I have been informed... In regards to Meloxicam- the licensed dose for guinea pigs is 0.2- 0.5 mg/kg every 24h (once a day) at the discretion of the veterinary surgeon and depending on patient's pain assessment. Any other use is an off license use.

Is there any other medication that you have tried for helping them? Graham had no blood in his wee sample or crystals so they tried Baytril not Septrin for any infection he may have. He is still on Baytril (3 weeks now). It is odd how they have prescribed 0.4ml of both cat & dog strength meloxidyl! I pointed this out but did not get much response.

I have been given him 0.8ml twice a day as I just cannot bear to hear him in so much pain every night. For some reason day times he is not doing it as much! Last night I actually slept through so I think he only did it once that I heard.

I am finding that there just is not much to help these poor guinea pigs if it is IC?

Thank you

 

[Swissgreys]

Hello Thanks for your help. I sent an email to the vet querying the Metacam dose this is what I have been informed... In regards to Meloxicam- the licensed dose for guinea pigs is 0.2- 0.5 mg/kg every 24h (once a day) at the discretion of the veterinary surgeon and depending on patient's pain assessment. Any other use is an off license use.

Is there any other medication that you have tried for helping them? Graham had no blood in his wee sample or crystals so they tried Baytril not Septrin for any infection he may have. He is still on Baytril (3 weeks now). It is odd how they have prescribed 0.4ml of both cat & dog strength meloxidyl! I pointed this out but did not get much response.

I have been given him 0.8ml twice a day as I just cannot bear to hear him in so much pain every night. For some reason day times he is not doing it as much! Last night I actually slept through so I think he only did it once that I heard.

I am finding that there just is not much to help these poor guinea pigs if it is IC?

Thank you

I am sorry that your vet is not aware of the latest research, or prepared to consider consulting with an experienced guinea pig vet to check.
Even my local vet (not a specialist at all) looked up maximum dosages online and it took less than 3 minutes for her to find this info of 1mg/kg given twice a day.

Where are you based?
Would it be possible to see a more specialised vet?
If not you might want try e-mailing a specialist guinea pig vet and asking about dosage information for Metacam.

When I was struggling to get on top of a dental abscess with Eddi I e-mails Simon at the Cat and Rabbit Clinic and asked for his advice on antibiotics and dosages. Naturally I offered ot pay a consult fee for his time and additionally explained why I couldn't get there in person (I live in Switzerland).
He was extremely helpful and my local vet was very happy to look into his recommendations and follow his advice.

There is help out there fo these piggies and it will get better.
Sadly it just sounds like your current vet is not very well informed and sadly not prepared to do any research or consider alternatives.

 

[Laura 1899]

I am sorry that your vet is not aware of the latest research, or prepared to consider consulting with an experienced guinea pig vet to check.
Even my local vet (not a specialist at all) looked up maximum dosages online and it took less than 3 minutes for her to find this info of 1mg/kg given twice a day.

Where are you based?
Would it be possible to see a more specialised vet?
If not you might want try e-mailing a specialist guinea pig vet and asking about dosage information for Metacam.

When I was struggling to get on top of a dental abscess with Eddi I e-mails Simon at the Cat and Rabbit Clinic and asked for his advice on antibiotics and dosages. Naturally I offered ot pay a consult fee for his time and additionally explained why I couldn't get there in person (I live in Switzerland).
He was extremely helpful and my local vet was very happy to look into his recommendations and follow his advice.

There is help out there fo these piggies and it will get better.
Sadly it just sounds like your current vet is not very well informed and sadly not prepared to do any research or consider alternatives.

Funnily enough I have spoken to Simon! He was very helpful & I am going to contact him again. Yes it is sad that Vets Klinic cannot help I am in Swindon (our specialist Exotic vet wanted £600 just to see Graham before any treatment so I said no. When I ask on Facebook on Guinea Pig advice Uk etc most people feel it is cruel to let Graham suffer but he is perfectly normal in between each episode! So I have removed myself off of these Facebook groups as they're not much help. Thank you though you have been most helpful.

 

[Swissgreys]

Fab - Simon will definitely give the best advice.

And good on you for walking away from the FB groups - they can often be more focused on jamming their opinions down your throat than actually coming up with solutions.
You are doing a great job advocating for Graham.

 

[Laura 1899]

Fab - Simon will definitely give the best advice.

And good on you for walking away from the FB groups - they can often be more focused on jamming their opinions down your throat than actually coming up with solutions.
You are doing a great job advocating for Graham.

Guinea pigs:
Dosage
Post-operative pain associated with soft tissue surgery:
Initial treatment is a single oral dose of 0.2 mg meloxicam/kg body weight on day 1 (pre-surgery). Treatment is to be continued once daily by oral administration (at 24-hours intervals) at a dose of 0.1 mg meloxicam/kg body weight on day 2 to day 3 (post-surgery).
The dose can, at the discretion of the veterinarian, be titrated up to 0.5 mg/kg in individual cases. The safety of doses exceeding 0.6 mg/kg has, however, not been evaluated in guinea pigs.
Route and method of administration
The suspension should be given directly into the mouth using a standard 1 ml syringe graduated with ml scale and 0.01 ml increments.
Dose of 0.2 mg meloxicam/kg body weight: 0.4 ml/kg body weight
Dose of 0.1 mg meloxicam/kg body weight: 0.2 ml/kg body weight
Use a small container (e.g. a teaspoon) and drop Metacam oral suspension into the container (it is advised to dispense a few drops more than required into the small container). Use a standard 1 ml syringe to draw up Metacam according to the bodyweight of the guinea pig. Administer Metacam with the syringe directly into the mouth of the guinea pig. Wash the small container with water and dry prior to the next use.
Do not use the cat syringe with the kg-body weight scale and the cat pictogram for guinea pigs.
Advice on correct administration
Shake well before use.
Avoid introduction of contamination during use.

just found this on Noah Compendium.co.uk regarding dosage of cat strength metacam.

 

[Laura 1899]

OK, the diet looks good and filtered water is excellent.
Don't loose hope - you are definitely on the right path, but you also need to be patient. This can be a fairly long journey to achieve a good result.

I am not an expert but a few points to consider that helped me get this under control;

I found it took around a month for the Cystease to start to have an effect - it needs time to sooth the bladder walls so 2 weeks isn't very long.

With dietary changes you need to go the total elimination route for at least a week - 10 days. So the first step was feeding nothing but hay, a small amount of pellets for 10 days. After that introduce 1 veg (cucumber is a good starting point) and feed only hay, pellets and 1 veg for at least a week. After a week introduce 1 more veg. I kept a food diary and quickly worked out what veg caused Lucy to have flare ups. This was a very long process. Looking back to took almost 3 months to develop a diet that worked for her and even then it was more limited than my other piggies.

The Metacam does is very low and definitely needs to be split into twice daily doses. He is currently on around a quarter dose, and you should try and talk to your vet about this. Your boy can have 1mg/kilo of body wight twice a day to get things under control. Once everything has settled back down you can slowly start to reduce the Metacam but in the short/medium term pain control is critical.

Lucy also only had blood in her urine right at the start. Even during the occasional flare up blood was never seen, and I don't think this is uncommon.

Hang in there - it can be a gruelling process and you are doing a fantastic job advocating for your boy.
He is lucky to have you on his side.

Hi I am back again as Graham is still suffering. He is on half a Tramadol tablet twice a day. 0.4ml of 1,5mg Metacam. He has 1 capsule of Cystease every day sprinkled on his food. I do not give him anything high calcium in his diet. He drinks plenty. Eats lots of hay. I was wondering if I can use the Cystitis powder? The vet wants to Xray again with mild sedation as last time was wihout so could only get 1 shot/angle of his bladder. On examination she felt his stomach area & there was an area on his bladder that he was uncomfortable with. I tried boiling pearl barley too but not sure it made any difference... Thank you for any advice x

 

[furryfriends (TEAS)]

Some vets are now of the opinion that we should be feeding a much wetter diet than has previously been recommended. I feed very much more veggies/salad leaves/herbs than most people give and I have never had a guinea pig with bladder issues. The diet we tend to feed is very dry and not really the sort of diet they are designed to eat. Whilst hay is incredibly important and should be the biggest part of the diet, it is very dry. This is an excellent webinar, by exotic vet John Chitty. Definitely worth a watch! The Webinar Vet | The Challenges of Indoor Living…Lockdown for Rabbits and Guinea Pigs?

 

[Deleted member 139433]

I've not used that product before, so wouldn't like to comment. It's always worth checking with your vet though.

I agree, re the wetter diet. When one of mine had bladder issues, my vets recommended wetting any vegetables that I fed, to increase water intake. They also prescribed a short term diuretic to encourage more water intake (though this was under strict veterinary supervision).

Hope all goes well with the next set of X-rays

 

[Laura 1899]

I've not used that product before, so wouldn't like to comment. It's always worth checking with your vet though.

I agree, re the wetter diet. When one of mine had bladder issues, my vets recommended wetting any vegetables that I fed, to increase water intake. They also prescribed a short term diuretic to encourage more water intake (though this was under strict veterinary supervision).

Hope all goes well with the next set of X-rays

hi just an update, Graham had his xrays and ultrasound yesterday. No stones found or anything worrying but his bladder showed thickening and he was very sore on examination. So, at the moment it is trying him on a mixture of Gabapentin, Tramadol & dog strength Meloxidyl for his pain. I have found the Waitrose water too so started on that. I will watch the video mentioned above on this threadtoo. He has loads of cucumber & on a low calcium diet. Next step is referral to Simin in Northampton but that is a long drive away for me. I would do it though if needed! Thanks for your help.