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frequent urine infections

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ninjapig28

ninjapig28

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I have a boar called sam who had an abscess removed last year and since then he has had recurring utis. I'm back at the vet tomorrow and will probably get more baytril but I'm totally at a loss as to why these infections keep happening. Some times are worse than others but before his operation he was perfectly fine. Metacam helps a lot with the pain but does any one have any idea why these infections keep happening? He's had x rays which showed nothing and ive changed his bedding to fleece which also didnt help. He gets vit c and cranberry extract every day. Any help would be appreciated.
 
Hi and welcome to the forum from us in OZ :)
Gosh sorry to hear about little Sam :(
I've never had a piggie with UTI so have nothing to add........
I do know a few of the other girls on here have used other drugs apart from Baytril which have helped.
If you can say what area you're from maybe somebody can help with advising a piggie savvy vet who could help you.
Wishing you all the best xxxxxxxxxx
 
I think Septrin is the preferred antibiotic. Someone correct me, if that is wrong.

Is it a long haired piggie? Keeping it trimmed can help...but of course if it is not long haired then ignore that!

Apart from the cranberrys, I don't know....hopefully someone can give you more help than I can offer you.
 
Thanks all.

I'll see what other anti biotics are recommended before i go in but the woman i'm seeing is very good. I have other guinea pigs and have ever had any problems like this before, i just wish i knew what was causing it so i could do something about it. I've ordered some pearl barley so hopefully that will help too.
 
My 3 girls all got a UTI over 2 years ago and have become carriers of it ever since - it rears its head every now and then, but is resistant to antibiotics (many were tried against it).

One thing I've found helpful is boosting their immune systems - they all get Oxbow vitamin C tablets daily. This I've found to be better than other vitamin C, as it's in a different form. Luckily they take it voluntarily these days.

Depending on the bacteria you are dealing with, cranberry might not be helpful. It only works against E Coli, by preventing it from sticking to the bladder walls, from what I've read. It doesn't appear to do anything for any other bacteria.

PM me if you want any more information - piggy UTIs have been a big part of my life for over 2 years now! inbreeding :)
 
You might try and see whether 0.5 ml pediatric septrin helps a bit better. Because of it's banana flavour, it goes down very well, and is not as hard on the guts as baytril. I had Llewelyn and now Nerys coming down with cystitis this spring, and bossed the septrin through at my vets. Llewelyn is finally clear, and I'm keeping my fingers crossed for Nerys at the moment.

I'm feeding them with slices of red pepper for vitamin C daily, as all of them will eat it.
 
you wont believe this but hes fine now, no blood..nothing. its very strange. ill see what the vet says but i need to know whats going on. with utis can the symptoms come and go so quickly?
 
With both of my sows the symptoms were intermittent. One of my girls had three UTIs with bloody urine; even she did not show evidence of blood in the urine every time she peed, sometimes she would pee and the urine would be clear, but she would exhibit the symptoms again another time she peed.

My other sow never had signs of blood in the urine, but frequently squeaked when peeing and pooping. She did not do this all the time; she could go a few weeks between bouts and then go back to squeaking again, sometimes it would be every few days. She had this for two years, a course of Baytril and Septrin made no difference, nor did anti-inflammatories. Her problem was solved earlier this year with the change in diet, when I corrected the Calcium: Phosphorus ratio. It has been four months since I altered the veggie diet and not a problem; normally she would have had a couple of bouts of squeaking by this time.

Make sure the vet takes a urine sample anyway; there can be blood in the urine and it doesn't show. A short course of Septrin and Rimadyl/Metacam may still be needed.
 
Well the vet couldn't find a thing wrong with him, even the urine came up negative. Its very strange. I'll keep trying different things to prevent another attack.
 
"Her problem was solved earlier this year with the change in diet, when I corrected the Calcium: Phosphorus ratio."

ccc4 I ment to ask what foods do you give her now? Ive been on g.lynx to
check the ratio but it would be nice to know what others do
 
CCC4 has worked out useable menues on the base of the guinealynx recommendations in her sticky thread at the top of the food section about calcium:phosphor - it's really worth working your way throguh it!)

I'm still working on introducing some of the foods to my piggies for a balanced diet, but we're slowly getting there.
 
I mentioned my 3 and their long standing UTI issues earlier. Well, something that I didn't say is that one of them is much worse than the others, but sometimes squeaks when she pees and sometimes doesn't. Basically, I try to keep it under control as best I can, and she's now on Metacam long term, but I believe that when a pig gets lots of UTIs or a particularly bad one, their bladder can become overly sensitive and inflamed, and therefore painful without infection. That's what I think has happened with Cassie after all this time, although I can't prove it without having a pointless bacteria test done.

Cassie always drinks a lot, so that does help - the more dilute the urine, the less it seems to irritate.
 
I'm with you pelicano, i think its the same situation with sam. It comes and goes and pumping him full of drugs doesn't work. I'll take him to the vet if need be but i'll def check out the menus as i think that will help, metacam does wonders for him.

I think the operation he had either gave him something or done something to him which is shame. A poor woman had her pig put down while i was in, it was fitting constantly so i told her to get a vet right away, very sad.
 
Well he'll ill again, vets tomorrow.... He loves the baby calpol though lol
 
Wishing you the best - my Nerys is still at it as well; it comes and goes, but hasn't gone away completely for a few weeks.
 
Could you give us any tips on her diet please, would love to know what you are giving her, may be of some help to others.
CCC4 said:
With both of my sows the symptoms were intermittent. One of my girls had three UTIs with bloody urine; even she did not show evidence of blood in the urine every time she peed, sometimes she would pee and the urine would be clear, but she would exhibit the symptoms again another time she peed.

My other sow never had signs of blood in the urine, but frequently squeaked when peeing and pooping. She did not do this all the time; she could go a few weeks between bouts and then go back to squeaking again, sometimes it would be every few days. She had this for two years, a course of Baytril and Septrin made no difference, nor did anti-inflammatories. Her problem was solved earlier this year with the change in diet, when I corrected the Calcium: Phosphorus ratio. It has been four months since I altered the veggie diet and not a problem; normally she would have had a couple of bouts of squeaking by this time.

Make sure the vet takes a urine sample anyway; there can be blood in the urine and it doesn't show. A short course of Septrin and Rimadyl/Metacam may still be needed.
Click to expand...
 
In the case of chronic inflammatory cystitis a long course of Metacam or preferably Rimadyl will be needed.
Don't forget the usual simple treatment of cranberry juice.
 
The vet wouldn't give me metacam, he said it wasnt safe for guinea pigs. I'm not a happy bunny, i wont go back to him. Can i buy it online?
 
It's prescription only - and I've used it for guineas, obviously at a much reduced dose. What a shame - you could get a second opinion? What did he suggest instead as a painkiller, anything?

Sophie
x
 
The guy was usless, he said..and i quote... theres nothing really that you can do thats safe for small animals. That was all he was willing to say.
If i want pain killers i need to keep dragging him into the vet, i was very very very angry. One of the other vets gave me it before. I still have calpol there so that will tide me over until i get a better vet.
 
Is there any where i can buy pain medication my self whille I'm waiting for another appointment? I refuse to drag him in for injections (the clueless vet said i was to take him in every few days for injections for the pain) when he clearly can be given them orally.
 
I am sorry; I think apart from Calpol you have go through a vet.

Here is a link to a list of medications for guinea pigs from the guinealynx medical website. Meloxicam, metacam and rimadyl are painkillers/anti-inflammatory medications. http://www.guinealynx.info/medications.html
It might be useful to come armed with a printout to your vets whenever you need to; mine have eventually relented if I specifically ask for it.

Here is a website that sells vet supplies: http://www.vetuk.co.uk
I don't know whether that is of any use to you?
 
The only non-prescription pain relievers are human ones - infant Calpol or Children's Nurofen. Dose for an adult pig is 0.2ml up to twice daily. Metacam (meloxicam) and Rimadyl (carprofen) are the two commonly-prescribed painkillers.

I'm sorry the vet was so useless. He shouldn't be seeing small animals if he believes nothing is safe for them! The only drug licensed for use in guinea pigs is Baytril, I guess he took that to mean that nothing else can be safe for them. Totally clueless!
 
As I said earlier ask for Rimadyl it is the better drug for this problem.
 
Sams a lot better today, hes his usual cheeky self. I will check who i see next time and take a print out of all the info with me. I refuse to see that guy again.
 
Finished his anti biotics and they have taken the edge of it but he still gets flare ups. theres still sludge as well no matter what i try...i think I'm goingto go mad!
 
Sludge? Has he been x-rayed for bladder stones or was a culture done on his urine to find out what's causing the infection?
 
Hes been x rayed and nothing came up, they didn't take a culture no but i'm seeing another vet as my last was pretty crap
 
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