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Fishy-smelling urine - does it need antibiotics?

HollysKingdom

HollysKingdom

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Minx could do with some advice please. She has been doing stinky fishy-smelling pees and being bad-tempered with the other two - fighting with Bandit and chasing Lili out of the cage. We assumed UTI, so yesterday Minx visited the vet with a pee sample.

The vet checked her over and couldn’t find anything wrong. Urinalysis of the pee sample showed a few bacteria (the sample wasn’t sterile) and traces of blood. She suggested it could be interstitial cystitis like Bandit’s. So, we agreed to try giving Metacam for a couple of days and if she doesn’t improve, I can phone and request some antibiotics.

Today, the cage doesn’t smell as bad (🤢 I know) and Minx seems more comfortable but still bad-tempered. I need to decide whether to phone tomorrow and ask for antibiotics, or maybe wait until Monday. My feeling is that there must be bacteria involved because her pee smelt so bad. In all the piggy bladder problems we’ve suffered over the years none of them has smelt fishy like this. I’d appreciate advice from someone who has encountered it.

More info -

- we’ve seen no blood or porphyrin on the fleece
- I assume there were no crystals in the pee sample because the vet said she would check for them
- haven’t seen her straining or heard squeaking
- the metacam is 0.2 ml cat loxicom every 12 hours
- Minx is already getting sufficient glucosamine because we feed piggy parcels urinary support pellets
 
Poor Minx, UTI type things are horrible. I hope she is better soon. Glad that she is more comfortable ❤️🙏
 
Minx seems better this morning, and says thanks for your kind wishes ❤️ The fishy smell seems to have gone and its business as usual right now. She did have an argument with Bandit earlier, but then my son realised he hadn’t given her the metacam dose last night.

I’m gonna hold off asking the vet for antibiotics today and see how we do over the weekend. I don’t want to give her drugs she doesn’t need, but the fishy smell was worrying. Also, its taken most of this year to get Bandit’s IC under control - she is doing well now.

Wait and see time again …
 
I wish Minx all the best. Please be aware that in sows the infection could also come from the womb (pyometra), which is eminently curable in early stages but deadly in later ones. See a vet promptly if the fishy smell comes back.
 
Wiebke said:
I wish Minx all the best. Please be aware that in sows the infection could also come from the womb (pyometra), which is eminently curable in early stages but deadly in later ones. See a vet promptly if the fishy smell comes back.
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Thank you 🤗 Minx has improved more this evening. Yikes! She’ll definitely be visiting the vet again if we notice that, thank you.
 
HollysKingdom said:
Thank you 🤗 Minx has improved more this evening. Yikes! She’ll definitely be visiting the vet again if we notice that, thank you.
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I had that with my own Cariad who had bladder stone/sludge issues but then developed a grossly distended fluid-filled womb with a cancerous lump and needed an emergency spay just half a year after her bladder stone op - at just 700g. Thankfully, she sailed through her spaying operation and lived for another year to 5 years of age.

When I had her seen I was worried she had more sludge and another bladder infection, so the diagnosis did come as something of a shock. But it can happen, even in well-kept piggies.
 
Wiebke said:
I had that with my own Cariad who had bladder stone/sludge issues but then developed a grossly distended fluid-filled womb with a cancerous lump and needed an emergency spay just half a year after her bladder stone op - at just 700g. Thankfully, she sailed through her spaying operation and lived for another year to 5 years of age.

When I had her seen I was worried she had more sludge and another bladder infection, so the diagnosis did come as something of a shock. But it can happen, even in well-kept piggies.
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That must have been tough for you and Cariad then. Piggies do like to make sure that we keep learning new stuff, don’t they?
 
HollysKingdom said:
That must have been tough for you and Cariad then. Piggies do like to make sure that we keep learning new stuff, don’t they?
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Oh, yes. I am still learning lots of new things all the time. The more we push the horizon back, the wider it gets... and the more weird and wonderful stuff turns up.

Cariad had her bladder stone (which had suddenly come up in a matter of weeks) parallel to my sitting up with dying mother-in-law in Wales during her last nights and her bladder stone op right in the middle of us organising her funeral... But I did manage somehow and all piggies survived. :)

Tiny Cariad (Welsh for 'Darling') happily tucking into grass the day after her spaying op with Bryn Oscar (the name deaf) as her paw-holding companion.
IMG_5922_edited-1-1.webp

Anyway, I sincerely hope that you have an easier ride with your own Minx.
 
Fishy smell returned overnight 😥 Contacted the vet (I did ask about pyometra and they said it would be the same antibiotic). Minx now has a weeks worth of co-trimoxazole to enjoy. Fortunately, she seemed to like the banana-ish taste of the first dose. 🤞 for her please.
 
Oh, that's a pity. Could there be a tumor causing it, I wonder? I hope the antibiotics sort it out 🙏
 
HollysKingdom said:
Fishy smell returned overnight 😥 Contacted the vet (I did ask about pyometra and they said it would be the same antibiotic). Minx now has a weeks worth of co-trimoxazole to enjoy. Fortunately, she seemed to like the banana-ish taste of the first dose. 🤞 for her please.
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Wishing her all the best.
 
A little update from Minx

IMG_20251212_193608614_MP_Original.webp

Whatever the infection was, the antibiotics seem to have tackled it. She is so much better and has a spring in her step again. So much so, that I’m wondering if this had been going on longer than we realised 🙁 Anyway, she will have the last dose this evening and, fingers crossed, its sorted.

Love from Not-so-Stinky Minx x
 
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