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cystitis advice

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kittyla

kittyla

Junior Guinea Pig
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Hi peeps, I haven't posted for some time!
I'm after some advice about Crystal's reccurrant cystitis. She's had an xray (no stones) & 2 lots of septrin, but 2 weeks on she's getting the odd
discomfort again when she wees. I thought I'd try some home remedies
before she has any more antibiotics. I have some pearl barley, can anyone advise how to prepare it - do I simmer it or just soak it & how much should I give her, I'd also like to give her cranberry juice but most of the shop stuff has added ingredients, I have some frozen whole cranberries,
I wondered if I could seive them into her drinking water. Has anybody had success with this? or can suggest anything else?
(needless to say, if she gets worse I'll take her back to the vet!)

She's a bit of a dumpling & the vet suggested being overweight might be partly to blame!:red Does anyone else with a podgy pig have this problem?
 
Some piggies can have a proper stubborn infection and from reading on GuineaLynx it seems that there are pigs who need a course of Septrin lasting up to a month to finally see the end of things.

How podgy is podgy?
 
Just weighed her, 1kg250gms, thats a bit under 3lb I think? Not massive I know, but
she's a dainty build with a fat squidgy tum so it shows on her! Her 2 daughters at her
previous owners are exactly the same build!
 
She sounds fine weight wise! Especially so if her piggy relatives are like that. Does she tend to sit around in mucky parts of the cage? I have a piggy like that and she is dreadful for that, I have to keep it spotless.

Not sure about the cranberry juice, we have a health food shop locally that sells the pure version - maybe try Holland and Barratt?
 
Cystitis can be tricky to clear in some pigs. One of my sows had intermittent bouts of cystitis - squeaking when peeing and pooping being her main symptom - for a couple of years, and courses of Baytril and Septrin, with Metacam, didn't help. Only when I altered the diet to adjust the Calcium: Phosphorus ratio did things clear up, she's not had any cystitis trouble for months now.

Here's Peter Gurney's info on the Pearl Barley: http://www.oginet.com/pgurney/cystitis.htm
 
I thought things would improve when I started putting the pigs on the grass more, so they were having less other fruit & veg, but it hasnt helped - its probably just made her fatter! The vet also suggested less dried foods as this is often overfed, I may try changing from Waggs to to something like Oxbow which is hay based I think.
Thanks, I saw the PGurney thing but he didnt say if it needs cooking up.
Oh and yes Crystal does sit around - anywhere she can really, mucky or not, I've tried to get her to be more active, but the only way I've succeeded is by laying a trail of food around the floor!
(oh but she's so cuddly)
 
I use Ocean Wave unsweetened cranberry juice from the supermarket mixed half/half with water, as my guinea pigs don't like it pure.

I'm having an infectious form of cystitis making the round here; Nerys has just started again.
 
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