Gas And Bladder Stone Help

[PiggyPoppa]

Hey all we have been dealing with gas and a bladder stone with our girl Penny for a few months and really do not know what to do now. About two months ago we noticed red spots in her cage and after a trip to the vet and imaging they found a bladder stone. We did not opt for surgery as we had a bad experience with our boy, they could not find the stone, but they did give her an antibiotic as well as pain/anti inflammatory meds to get rid of any infection. Since that first visit we have been to several different vets and had imaging done each time, most of the time the gas is still very prevalent except for one time when it was almost all gone. We cut off all veggies for over a month but that did not seem to help. She has still been getting some pellets, Oxbow Adult Essentials Guinea Pig food, as well as an Oxbow vitamin C and digestive tablets daily but now we are thinking it may be time to cut these out of her diet. We have started doing palliative care for her issues which include a dose of Hydrochlorothiazide and Potassium Citrate every 12 hours and a dose of Metacam daily. We also have a massager we use on her belly and have started feeding Critical Care to try and get her weight up as she has lost about 100 grams in the past two months. We are also letting her out of the cage to move around but it looks difficult now as she is unsteady on her feet because her tummy is so puffy. Our main vet seems to think the gas issue is a result of the bladder stone however we are not certain and do not want to put her through surgery. We are really sad because we do not know how to help her. I have attached an image and a video for reference. If anyone has suggestions it is appreciated. Thanks in advance

 

[Erikac]

How old is she? Has she ever had surgery before?

 

[Erikac]

I’m in Florida too is she eating Timothy hay? One of my guinea pigs suffered from multiple bladder stones.

 

[Piggies&buns]

I’m sorry to hear this

A stone can (indirectly) cause gas in the gut: The discomfort from a stone is likely to cause them to not eat enough hay. Not eating enough hay causes the digestion to slow and gas to form and weight loss. The fact that your piggy has been losing weight indicates that her hay intake isn’t high enough (hence why you need to feed her critical care).

You don’t mention her being on any gut medications such as cisapride or emeprid for example. This may help but she needs to eat enough either on her own or by you syringe feeding her. Unfortunately it does lead back to the stone being present so the gas may not fully resolve.

What dose is her Metacam?
Is it cat or dog?
How many times a day does she get the Metacam?

 

[PiggyPoppa]

Oh cool great to meet a fellow Florida piggy parent. We think she is about five years old, not sure about previous surgery as we adopted her from Tampa Humane Society and records were limited.

She was on Metaclopramide for a few weeks about five weeks ago, but we are not really sure if it helped much. She gets Metacam once a day and .3ml dose. We have had the feeling her hay input has been low as she does not get excited as much when we put out fresh hay. She is still eating it but I think you are correct that she is not eating enough. We just do not know if we should do the surgery to remove the stone in hopes it will help the gas issues as well as remove the stone or keep doing palliative care. We are very worried because we are planning to go out of town for Christmas