Diagnosed IC

[princesspiggies]

Two weeks ago one of my pig's cinnamon had major bloat, so I took her to the ER right away. She wouldn't eat veggies, pellets, or hay and wasn't drinking any water. She was diagnosed with partial GI stasis. They also found some fluid in her uterus, and uterer after some x-rays (GDV was ruled out, as the x-rays were sent out to a specialist to confirm as well as stones). She was hospitalized for the night for supportive care. She had blood work done that was all normal except elevated white blood cells, so the vet wasn't sure what exactly was going on, but figured there was an infection. She was baytril 2x a day for 10 days, and now she is eating on her own (we did critical care until she started eating normally again).

Two weeks later, she is peeing small bits of blood when she urinates. She does cry a little bit when she pees. Not every time, but she definitely does often. Vet said that she has IC. They gave her meloxicam for pain, and are going to see her in 2 weeks. He also recommended giving more watery veg in her daily veggies. I saw something called the IC diet? What is that? What has helped your piggies? (I have tried the oxbow urinary treats and she refuses to eat them)

 

[Wiebke]

Two weeks ago one of my pig's cinnamon had major bloat, so I took her to the ER right away. She wouldn't eat veggies, pellets, or hay and wasn't drinking any water. She was diagnosed with partial GI stasis. They also found some fluid in her uterus, and uterer after some x-rays (GDV was ruled out, as the x-rays were sent out to a specialist to confirm as well as stones). She was hospitalized for the night for supportive care. She had blood work done that was all normal except elevated white blood cells, so the vet wasn't sure what exactly was going on, but figured there was an infection. She was baytril 2x a day for 10 days, and now she is eating on her own (we did critical care until she started eating normally again).

Two weeks later, she is peeing small bits of blood when she urinates. She does cry a little bit when she pees. Not every time, but she definitely does often. Vet said that she has IC. They gave her meloxicam for pain, and are going to see her in 2 weeks. He also recommended giving more watery veg in her daily veggies. I saw something called the IC diet? What is that? What has helped your piggies? (I have tried the oxbow urinary treats and she refuses to eat them)

Hi

Crucial for the management of sterile or interstitial cystitis is glucosamine. For milder to medium cases we recommend 1 capsule of a cat bladder supplement (I am not conversant with the US brands but any should do), the contents of which you dissolve in 2 ml of water and shake well. You either give once a day or 1 ml twice a day. You can use tablets but since they come in different concentrations you would have to do the math yourself and cut and grind the tablet.
It is not a quick fix because the glucosamine needs to build up but goes furthest to ease any symptoms even more so than the metacam. Sterile cystitis seems to affect the natural glucosamine coating of the urinary tract. You can double the amount (two capsules in a day) shortly during the start and during any flare ups for 2-3 days in order to bring the symptoms under control more quickly again.
Glucosamine is classed as a food supplement and not as a medication so a vet will not prescribe it and it is freely available.

As to the diet: Please filter your water and only feed 1 tablespoon of pellets per piggy per day. In our own experience on here it is not what you feed but any changes to your veg diet that could trigger a flare. We recommend to keep to a balanced diet with a slice of peppers, green leaves and a slice of cucumber with every meal to help urination. Please feed a little kale or collard greens (UK: Spring greens or greens) once a week also offer a little fresh herbs or forage like cilantro/coriander herb or parsley, dill etc. They are quite high in calcium and/or oxalates but they also contain crucial minerals like magnesium and trace elements that piggies would have got with their wild forage but that are not in pellets.

A diet too low in calcium can cause the same problems as a diet too high in it since there is a sweet spot you want to hit. The USA is mainly a soft water country whereas the UK is mainly a hard water country so diet recommendations can be somewhat problematic. In the UK we have to generally dip lower with the calcium/oxalate allowance in our diet than our US members if that makes sense?

 

[princesspiggies]

Hi

Crucial for the management of sterile or interstitial cystitis is glucosamine. For milder to medium cases we recommend 1 capsule of a cat bladder supplement (I am not conversant with the US brands but any should do), the contents of which you dissolve in 2 ml of water and shake well. You either give once a day or 1 ml twice a day. You can use tablets but since they come in different concentrations you would have to do the math yourself and cut and grind the tablet.
It is not a quick fix because the glucosamine needs to build up but goes furthest to ease any symptoms even more so than the metacam. Sterile cystitis seems to affect the natural glucosamine coating of the urinary tract. You can double the amount (two capsules in a day) shortly during the start and during any flare ups for 2-3 days in order to bring the symptoms under control more quickly again.
Glucosamine is classed as a food supplement and not as a medication so a vet will not prescribe it and it is freely available.

As to the diet: Please filter your water and only feed 1 tablespoon of pellets per piggy per day. In our own experience on here it is not what you feed but any changes to your veg diet that could trigger a flare. We recommend to keep to a balanced diet with a slice of peppers, green leaves and a slice of cucumber with every meal to help urination. Please feed a little kale or collard greens (UK: Spring greens or greens) once a week also offer a little fresh herbs or forage like cilantro/coriander herb or parsley, dill etc. They are quite high in calcium and/or oxalates but they also contain crucial minerals like magnesium and trace elements that piggies would have got with their wild forage but that are not in pellets.

A diet too low in calcium can cause the same problems as a diet too high in it since there is a sweet spot you want to hit. The USA is mainly a soft water country whereas the UK is mainly a hard water country so diet recommendations can be somewhat problematic. In the UK we have to generally dip lower with the calcium/oxalate allowance in our diet than our US members if that makes sense?

Okay great so I will be starting the glucosamine. Is there any other tips?

 

[Wiebke]

Okay great so I will be starting the glucosamine. Is there any other tips?

You have wait and to see whether this works some weeks down the line. Sterile IC rnges from the very mild to the uncontrollable severe (which you are most definitely not dealing with).

The first step is to get symptoms under control so your piggy is mostly living symptom-free; concentrate on that for now because that is the most important for long term quality of life.
The next step is then to fine tune how you get the flares every few weeks back under control as quickly as possible within a few days by upping the glucosamine and metacam shortly. In my personal experimentation, upping the glucosamine is the more effective part; only upping the metacam doesn't bring the flare under control as fast.
If that doesn't work, then there is stronger but also much more expensive treatment available for the medium into upper range of severity if really needed. However, so far you seem to be dealing with the lower range in your personal case.

Since you are looking at your piggy living with sterile cystitis for over a year or several years, it is mainly a matter of fiddling the dosages once you have the IC under control so you know just how low you can safely go in between flares and how high you need to go with a flare - each case is individual.
In milder cases, sterile cystitis can settle down eventually on its own. Unless you fiddle too much with th diet and unsettle the calcium balance, sterile IC won't cause stones and in the milder to medium ranges won't be life shortening.

Nerys, the large teddy in my avatar on the left had IC back in the early days when it wasn't much known about at all; she had hers for 3 years after half a year of 'nonstop UTI' with several courses of antibiotics but it settled down when my vet and I tried the then new treatment with glucosamine and metacam. Once gone, she lived for another 3 years totally free of it to the grand old age of 8 years. In the mildest of cases, it seems to last about 1 1/2 years, in the more severe cases longer or life long. Companions without a nervous disposition can fend it off with their own immune system.