Elderly guinea pig- Blood in pee, possible UTI? Advice needed ASAP please

[caramell]

Hello everyone,

my pig Caramel is almost 8 years old and seems to have contracted a UTI. (Her sister, Coconut, passed away about two years ago.) Around last week, she developed splotches of blood in her urine along with lethargy/low appetite, so we fed her cranberry juice, it didn't seem to get better so we took her to the vet three days ago. The vet said that it's most likely that her weak teeth caused her to develop GI stasis, and bacteria from her gut infected her bladder, which is causing a UTI. No tests or anything of the sort were done on her urine or blood (I'm not sure if they were necessary) The vet also said she had only three days to live, and today is the last day of that estimate. I'm hoping she will pull through and recover.

My sister and I have been syringe feeding her critical care blended with lettuce and bell pepper water, 15-20ml every two hours, for the past three days. We've also been feeding her the Oxbow urinary support tablets. She's perked up significantly, and she's eating quite a bit of timothy hay as well, but her weight has not increased greatly. It's around 750-800 grams right now. I'm not sure if we are feeding too much but I am nervous she will develop a bloat of some kind. Her urine has been quite inconsistent since we've started feeding her critical care, oftentimes it is clear or yellow, but sometimes there will be a small splotch of blood (especially worse in the mornings.) She does not squeak while peeing, so I'm not sure if it is paining her. Her poops are a dark brown and have increased in size and frequency since we've started the critical care.

I finished syringe feeding her about an hour ago, and she was acting strangely and was running around while (squeaking?). I'm not sure if this is strange behavior or if she's in pain, so I've attached a video, you may have to turn the volume up:
I'm unsure of what to do now, or if there is anything else I can do to help her get better. Please leave your advice, thank you and it is greatly appreciated.

 

[Piggies&buns]

I’m sorry to hear she isn’t well.

Cranberry juice doesn’t work for guinea pigs, all it does is introduce too much sugar into the system (and too much sugar upsets their gut bacteria). If you are continuing to give it to her now, then please do stop.
Your syringe feeding and the fact she is eating some hay for herself is what is keeping her weight stable. This is good. You wouldn’t expect it to increase at this point. You are looking to stop any weight loss and stabilise the weight caused by a poorly piggy not eating enough hay for themselves. You’re not looking to increase the weight with syringe feeding (regaining any lost weight during a period of illness can take a very long time).

Syringe feeding doesn’t cause bloat. You don’t need to put the lettuce and pepper into the syringe feed (unless it is making it taste nicer for her and therefore encouraging her to take it) if she is taking the critical care well.

Weigh her daily while she is unwell as it is the only way to be sure you are getting enough syringe feed/she is eating enough hay independently.

Any reduction in amount and size of poops is down to reduced food intake (poop output is 1-2 days behind food intake), so the fact you are seeing her poops improve is good and means she is getting a good amount of food now

Has she been given any medication?

 

[caramell]

I’m sorry to hear she isn’t well.

Cranberry juice doesn’t work for guinea pigs, all it does is introduce too much sugar into the system (and too much sugar upsets their gut bacteria). If you are continuing to give it to her now, then please do stop.
Your syringe feeding and the fact she is eating some hay for herself is what is keeping her weight stable. This is good. You wouldn’t expect it to increase at this point. You are looking to stop any weight loss and stabilise the weight caused by a poorly piggy not eating enough hay for themselves. You’re not looking to increase the weight with syringe feeding (regaining any lost weight during a period of illness can take a very long time).

Syringe feeding doesn’t cause bloat. You don’t need to put the lettuce and pepper into the syringe feed (unless it is making it taste nicer for her and therefore encouraging her to take it) if she is taking the critical care well.

Weigh her daily while she is unwell as it is the only way to be sure you are getting enough syringe feed/she is eating enough hay independently.

Any reduction in amount and size of poops is down to reduced food intake (poop output is 1-2 days behind food intake), so the fact you are seeing her poops improve is good and means she is getting a good amount of food now

Has she been given any medication?

Hello, thank you for your response.

We stopped feeding her cranberry juice after we took her to the vet, but I felt as if it was worth mentioning anyways. I'm glad to hear that syringe feeding won't cause bloating, and I'll continue to weigh her in the mornings. The lettuce and pepper is helping her eat more of the critical care and it seems like she enjoys it more that way. She hasn't been given any medication.

Edit: I also forgot to mention in the original post that she is missing one of her bottom teeth. I'm not sure what I can do about it or how exactly she lost the tooth...

 

[Piggies&buns]

A confirmed UTI requires antibiotics and pain medication.
Can you perhaps take her to a different vet to get a second opinion?

 

[caramell]

A confirmed UTI requires antibiotics and pain medication.
Can you perhaps take her to a different vet to get a second opinion?

I wasn't there when she was taken to the vet, but apparently the vet was insistent that it was time for her to be euthanized after hearing about her age, and claimed that antibiotics would kill off her good gut bacteria. I will try to go to a different vet today or tomorrow. Would you recommend Bactrim?

 

[Piggies&buns]

I wasn't there when she was taken to the vet, but apparently the vet was insistent that it was time for her to be euthanized after hearing about her age, and claimed that antibiotics would kill off her good gut bacteria. I will try to go to a different vet today or tomorrow.

I’d definitely be speaking to another vet. You need a definite diagnosis and to begin treatment appropriate for that diagnosis.
Antibiotics can have an effect on the good gut bacteria in some piggies - but do also bear in mind that many piggies have antibiotics without any side effects - but that can usually be dealt with by using a probiotic while on antibiotics and by continuing to syringe feed if the antibiotics cause a reduction in appetite.

 

[caramell]

I’d definitely be speaking to another vet. You need a definite diagnosis and to begin treatment appropriate for that diagnosis.
Antibiotics can have an effect on the good gut bacteria in some piggies - but do also bear in mind that many piggies have antibiotics without any side effects - but that can usually be dealt with by using a probiotic while on antibiotics and by continuing to syringe feed if the antibiotics cause a reduction in appetite.

Thank you for your response. I just finished syringe feeding her again, she has a little bit of fight in her when i try and pick her up. We will be visiting another vet on Monday to see if we can get antibiotics.

 

[G&C]

Hello, what a beauty she is she seems very active and happy which is great to see. Can I ask what did she weigh before all the issues started? -just if she was always on the small side and eating a little better for herself now, then you could maybe reduce the syringe feeding times to say 3-4 hourly, you must be shattered!
regarding the vets I would def ask them to test her urine in the first instance, although it’s good she’s not in pain or straining when passing urine. The urinary support tablets have glucosamine in them etc which is good for the bladder. I bought them for my recently deceased boy but he wouldn’t touch them.

 

[caramell]

Hello, what a beauty she is she seems very active and happy which is great to see. Can I ask what did she weigh before all the issues started? -just if she was always on the small side and eating a little better for herself now, then you could maybe reduce the syringe feeding times to say 3-4 hourly, you must be shattered!
regarding the vets I would def ask them to test her urine in the first instance, although it’s good she’s not in pain or straining when passing urine. The urinary support tablets have glucosamine in them etc which is good for the bladder. I bought them for my recently deceased boy but he wouldn’t touch them.

Hi, sorry for my late response,

She weighed 887g on March 16th, and it went down to 820g on April 19th. On May 2nd, she was 830g, and on May 11th she dropped to 750g. My sister and I originally chalked up her weight loss due to old age, but looking back on it the drastic weight loss may have had to do with her bad teeth. She was still eating a lot around April. We will be heading to a different vet on Monday to get a second opinion. And I'm sorry to hear about your pig