Specialist Female G Pig Cystic Ovaries, Urinary Tract Infection - Post Spay

[Bridget]

Hi

My 2.5 year old female guinea pig showed signes of cysts on her ovaries and as a result was spayed about 5 weeks ago, after the op the vet did confirm that she had cysts, she was put on bayril after the op for a couple of weeks to help stop her stitches from becoming infected. She was eating fine after the op and everything went back to normal quite quickly but over last weekend she stopped eating and started passing blood in her urine. She was taken to the vet on Monday and diagnosed with a uti, she started baytril again on Monday but had not shown any sign of improvement by yesterday afternoon. I read on the forum that sentrin is a more popular choice of antibiotic for uti's with g pigs so I contacted the vet and she started on sentrin last night. I have been shringe feeding her with fibreplex but today she has had diorehha, I took her back to the vet and she responded to pain when her bladder was felt, the vet has suggested that we try her on both baytril and sentrin along with metacam. She is alert and responds to the noise of plastic bags in anticipation of food but then won't eat it. She also still purrs when she is being handled. Has anybody else had a similar issue after surgery or with a uti? I am not sure how long to give her until I need to consider putting her to sleep.

Thanks

Bridget

 

[Maisy and Poppy]

Cannot offer any advice but I hope she gets better soon.
Sending healing wheeks. All fingers and paws are firmly crossed fro the best.
Emily
XOXO

 

[Poppy'sMum]

Did she have a full hysterectomy or just ovaries removed? Baytril can cause upset tummies, so I think it was probably that causing the upset tummy. Septrin is a better one for UTI's but also Marbocyl is good, for some reason it doesn't upset my piggy's sensitive tummy. Do you know what dose of Metacam she is one & is it the cat or dog one? The vet can also prescribe Tramodol in addition to the Metacam for pain relief.

 

[pig in the city]

I have experienced similar problems in piggies post operatively. Sometimes it is an infection but more often its a sterile cystitis. The best way to treat this is by adequate doses of metacam. Two lots of antibiotics sounds a bit extreme and likely to be the cause of her loss of appetite and diarrhea. Syringe feed her critical care and lots of fluids to flush out her bladder. Chat to the vet about analysing a urine sample but antibiotics are likely to have killed any bugs, but it might show up crystals. Good luck, please don't give up, this is all correctable!

 

[Wiebke]

Hi!

Please continue to hand feed. https://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/threads/complete-hand-feeding-guide.115359/

I must admit that I am a bit worried about giving both septrin and baytril together. I would also second using an anti-inflammatory/painkillr like metacam. As @pig in the city says, it is all connected with the spay.

I am tagging our medications specialist for you: @Pebble

We have got a recommended piggy savvy vet locator on the top bar: https://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/pages/guinea-pig-vet-locator/

 

[Abi_nurse]

Yes, using metacam would be a good idea but needs to be used with caution if she is having diarrhoea.

I would ask the vet if they removed the uterus as well as ovaries. This is not a particuarly normal thing to have happen post op but not impossible. Septrin is a much better drug to UTI's than Baytril. Not sure why your vet was so keen on Baytil post op! Is your vet a piggy savvy vet or exotics vet? If you are concerned and your vet does not know where to go I would suggest a second opinion with an exotics vet. Or perhaps a scan of the bladder to rule out stones etc.

If she is not making improvements then you need to find out why.

Not too much help but hope you get her sorted.

x

 

[Lady Kelly]

Please do not consider PTS at this point, if it is just an infection then she should be able to recover from it fairly well. I had a guinea pig spayed at 3.5 years due to cysts but have been lucky as she didn't have anything like this straight after. It's good that your vet has taken the recommendation of the antibiotic well and there are a few things that can be done. You haven't mentioned any pain relief. Usually metacam(cat version)/loxicom(dog version) is prescribed. She's had major surgery so isn't going to be feeling right and a UTI on top of it is going to hurt like hell so would definitely recommend a form of pain relief (I recently had surgery which involved lasering my womb so I now understand how long it can be painful for!). You could also look to get a probiotic to syringe a bit around an hour after the antibiotic to help her gut, baytril tends to be harsher on the piggies guts and can have the effect of looser poops etc.

Pebble will be able to give better advice but if there isn't an improvement shortly I would perhaps suggest a scan to check for things like abscesses which can be a post op complication or bladder stones which she might not be able to pass by herself.

Lastly, healing wheeks to your little girl and I hope she is feeling a bit better soon

 

[Bridget]

Thank you for all your support, she ate some celery and cucumber last night and has helped herself to some water over night. Following your advice I will continue with the metacam (the one for dogs) and the septrin and leave the baytril. I started giving her a recovery pack yesterday and this seems to have boosted her appetite from nothing to being slightly interested in eating. I will keep you posted.

Thanks again

Bridget

 

[Wiebke]

Thank you for all your support, she ate some celery and cucumber last night and has helped herself to some water over night. Following your advice I will continue with the metacam (the one for dogs) and the septrin and leave the baytril. I started giving her a recovery pack yesterday and this seems to have boosted her appetite from nothing to being slightly interested in eating. I will keep you posted.

Thanks again

Bridget

Please weigh her daily at the same time in the feeding cycle to monitor her food intake and keep topping her up with hand feed.
https://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/threads/complete-hand-feeding-guide.115359/

 

[biscandmatt]

ashleigh vets are the best in manchester so if you don't already, then i would highly recommend going there. i have been given two antibiotics at the same time before although not those two so can't comment on those particularly. it really depends on the situation. i highly highly recommend aidan at ashleigh vets, but both the other two exotics vets are excellent aswell. i just really love aidan he's a lovely person and an amazing vet

 

[Bridget]

Hi

She was doing really well eating until this afternoon when she has had really bad diarreah for about half an hour. She bounced back about half an hour ago and had a big drink ate a couple of leaves and has gone back to bed not looking very happy. I had been given her a recovery pack and fibreplex but this seems to have gone straight through her, does anybody have any recommendations as to what else I can shringe feed her? Or is Keolin safe for g pigs to stop it going straight through her?

Thanks

Bridget

 

[Elwickcavies]

The best thing to do if there is diahorrea is to stop fresh veg altogether and stick to recovery and hay. Also a probiotic like biolapis (from the vet) or Pro-C (from Pets @ Home) will help the digestion to cope. Septrin doesn't have as bad an effect as Baytril. Don't give her any anti-diahorrea meds as they can stop things moving altogether which is very bad news for a piggy. Make sure she is getting plenty of fluids, either in her recovery food or separately - it may be worth adding a rehydration powder like Dioralyte.