Feeling So Rubbish, My Sow Still Has Blood In Her Urine

[Dilly's Piggies]

I've been through so much rubbish lately, and to make it worse my poor baby girl Tizzie is still peeing blood, now worse than it was before.

We took her to an emergency vet last Sunday, cost us a hefty £211, they tested her urine under a microscope and found no crystals, however there was a large amount of blood. They couldn't feel any bladder stones by hand. They gave her an injection of metacam, baytril and zantac as she went off her food that day. They assumed bacterial cystitis.They told us to see our normal vet the next day to be given an oral course of 0.4ml baytril (0.2ml twice a day) and 1ml fibreplex (3 times a day), which cost another £40. She just finished her course on Saturday, she seemed to be doing a lot better whilst on the medication, I didn't hear her squeak whilst peeing and I didn't see any blood around the cage anymore, but then again maybe I just wasn't paying enough attention and missed it.

However just now I watched her pee, she did a little high pitched squeal and the blood is now bright red and in a larger quantity, whereas before it was just ever so slightly pink tinted, so whatever is going on here has got worse.

I'm taking her back to the vet today, it's only 5am so I can't make an appointment yet until 8am, I hope they will see her today and do an ultrasound or xray to see if she has bladder stones. I'm £250 lighter and she is still not out of pain, I feel like it's all my fault, the poor girl. I've done everything possible, I've even been filtering her water, feeding her a low calcium diet and bought her the best pellets available, even tried the Oxbow urinary support tablets, to no avail. I know it has only been 2 weeks since I made these changes but I really thought she was getting better and she would be okay, I thought I was doing it right.

Does anyone have any advice on what else I can do to promote her recovery? Also what should I be looking out for at the vets, what medication and dosage etc should she be given at this point? Anything I can do, I don't want to lose my baby.

 

[Deleted member 114675]

The key is getting the diagnosis so, you are right to take her back to the vet .

Is she on Metacam ?

 

[Guinea Slave]

Argh bladder issues are awful and very frustrating, and extremely painful for them. I feel for you.

In terms of long term care, I have had several with stones over the years and Guineas with repeat cystitis. The oldest had two,ops to remove stones and then had bladder issues for the remainder of her life as she was incontinent and subject to infection but she lived another 5 years. I gave her 15ml of water every morning and evening without fail every day. I put a tiny amount of tomatoe juice in to flavour it which she loved. The fluid ensured her bladder was effectively 'flushed' every day. She wasn't keen but got used to it and I swear it was the reason she lived that long (she was 7 when we lost her to a tumour in her stomach). My vet called her a miracle piggy (she also had a bad heart) but the flushing made a big difference.

I also gave her a supplement everyday, I think it was called Uriflow, let me find out. It was also to help,with bladder health. Like you they are all now on low calcium diets and filtered water.

I think irrespective of what the issue is i.e cystitis, bladder stones etc, if you have the time then giving them the extra fluid to keep the bladder healthy is really important.

I also have Cystease on hand as I have a piggy currently who sometimes has cystitis and I find using this to ease the issue also helps. Interestingly she only gets cystitis when she is in season, but again the routine described above helps when she has an episode.

I really hope she is ok and wish you the best of luck xx

 

[Poppy'sMum]

It could be bladder sludge or even early Pyometra @CavyConnoisseur whereabouts in Lincolnshire are you? I recommend you get her to Sarah Pellett at Animates, Thurlby if you can, you can find details in our vet locator at the top of the page.

 

[flowerfairy]

Now advice to add.

Your guinea pig is GORGEOUS.

 

[Wiebke]

Please have her checked again.

Bleeding is either connected to the urinary tract or to the reproductive system (womb/ovaries). Bloody urine usually points to the urinary tract. If in doubt, have a scan done, especially when it is a repeat.

Repeat cystitis/UTI without any signs of stones that is not reacting well to antibiotics is called interstitial cystitis (IC) and is currently only manageable, but not treatable. The good news is that it will eventually go away on its own after 1-3 years, but it is a diagnosis that is by necessecity arrived only by default after excluding all other factors. Urinary tract issues can unfortunately be very persistent.

Please let us know what your vet is finding, so we can help you with home support advice once you have got a diagnosis. I am sorry - these things have a way of happening on weekends, holidays and in the evenings...

 

[Flutterby]

Sending healing vibes, hope you get to the bottom of it. She is gorgeous.

 

[Laura0709]

Hello,

Had a similar thing, mine was making a recovery then went downhill. Turned out to be an abscess/growth but the vet couldn't work out if reproductive or urinary related.
Probably not much help but mine started as a UTI, didn't respond to Baytril, then not to Septrin either

 

[VickiA]

How did you get on at the vets?

 

[GPTV]

Oh bless she's beautiful

Just a thought my Ellie had reoccurring uti's. (they improved when on antibiotics &came back when the antibiotics were finished.)

Ellie had further investigations &it was found she had an ovarian cyst. Through a conscious ultrasound scan then treated with hormone injections.
Ellies bleeding at times was very heavy &looked like neat blood at times &more diluted others. Often when she just pooped she would bleed too

Might be worth asking for an ultrasound to rule out cysts. My vets are very reasonable &only charged for the consultation I think. It wasn't expensive if they did charge me though.
It just involved a tummy shave &the gel splodged on her with the scanner. It was fascinating to watch all the activity going on inside.

Healing vibes &hope she recovers well soon xx

 

[3Tyger]

Bless her, she is absolutely gorgeous!

I'm so sorry you're going through such a difficult time, you're clearly doing everything you possibly can to help your baby. I have had a similar experience to this and i was frantic with worry!

I think the only thing else you can do really is push the vet to do an ultrasound & x-ray so that you can get the diagnosis confirmed a.s.a.p and then take it from there.

I really hope you get answers soon and that a speedy recovery is on the way.

Get well soon Tizzie,

Big hugs to you both

 

[Dilly's Piggies]

Thank you so much for everyone's kind replies, really lifts me up to have some support from others that understand the stress and worry when our beloved piggies get poorly, as my non-piggy friends and family think I'm silly for worrying about Tizzie so much "It's just a guinea pig"... I tell them where to stick their opinions, my piggies are just as much family as my human family!

I could not get Tizzie in the vets today, there were fully booked, I do have her in tomorrow morning at 10:10am in an emergency slot, so I'm happy she will get seen very soon, I really want some answers and treatment for my girl. She has now become incontinent, she can't control her bladder poor baby. Good news is there has been no visible blood since yesterday and she's peeing like a hosepipe, so atleast everything is still working, but I know and you know that it's still there and she still has a problem regardless, blood seems to be on and off.

I will update again tomorrow after we get home from the vets to let you all know what the news is, thank you again for the support!

 

[3Tyger]

No problem, and best of luck for tomorrow

And yes, the "it's just a guinea pig" comments are very wearing...

Never mind what they say, WE know that Tizzie is a superhero without a cape!

 

[Dilly's Piggies]

Just got back, Tizzie has now been prescribed Sulfatrim (trimethoprim and sulfamethoxazole) 0.25ml twice daily, Loxicom (Metacam) 0.2ml once daily and the usual fibreplex 1ml twice daily. He was originally going to prescribe baytril, but after reading all the information I decided to ask about Septrin, and he decided to give that a try instead to see if it will work any better than the baytril did.

She is booked in for an ultrasound next Friday so as of yet we still have no definite diagnosis unfortunately, we're still treating for bacterial cystitis.

Does this all sound okay to you guys? Just wanted to check before I give her the medication...

 

[3Tyger]

I would give her the medicine the vet says she needs, i'm glad to see she has some painkiller there as well as the antibiotics.

Next Friday seems a bit of a long wait for an ultrasound or x-ray though to be honest, couldn't they do it sooner than that?

I would put a bit more pressure on them for a diagnosis, as Tizzie will then get more effective treatment and may be able to start healing faster. And i think it may also put your mind at more peace too if you get answers about what is happening. I think its worse when you don't know.

I really hope Tizzie starts getting better soon. Lots of hugs & best wishes

 

[Dilly's Piggies]

I would give her the medicine the vet says she needs, i'm glad to see she has some painkiller there as well as the antibiotics.

Next Friday seems a bit of a long wait for an ultrasound or x-ray though to be honest, couldn't they do it sooner than that?

I would put a bit more pressure on them for a diagnosis, as Tizzie will then get more effective treatment and may be able to start healing faster. And i think it may also put your mind at more peace too if you get answers about what is happening. I think its worse when you don't know.

I really hope Tizzie starts getting better soon. Lots of hugs & best wishes

I was hoping they would do it that day, but they said they couldn't because she was in an emergency slot, they were fully booked and pushed for time, they offered the 1st December for her scan but I'm away that day so I couldn't take it, so I had to take the 2nd instead. She is on her medication now and seems to be doing well, not seen any blood but she can still squeak sometimes whilst peeing or pooping, but it's not every time at least. Her appetite is still fantastic, she was even being a crazy pig and playing with her babies at floor time, whereas before she would only move a little but sit in one spot mainly, so she's definitely better. But this is what happened when she was on baytril last week, she did great whilst on them, but then when they stopped it came right back again. Her baytril course was only prescribed for 4 days though (I managed to squeeze 6 days out of the meds they provided so I kept giving until it was all gone) but her Sulfatrim (Bactrim) is prescribed for 7 days, and it's a huge bottle so at least I have enough to keep giving if it doesn't clear after the 7 days. She is doing fine currently so I think she will cope well until Friday, she has been through so much in her little life and despite the discomfort of a UTI she is still a happy little piggy, that fiery ginger spirit of hers is what gets her through I believe! I don't think she is in much pain now, especially since she has painkillers, she wasn't prescribed those last time which was odd but okay! I'm still keeping a close eye, her meds are on a schedule and her diet is still being strictly controlled incase of bladder stones. She really is a trooper! <3

 

[3Tyger]

Glad to hear your little trooper is responding well to her medication & i wish her a very speedy recovery. I'll be thinking of her on Friday and hoping the vet appointment goes well and she continues to get better. Best of luck, i know its really stressful when a piggie isn't well