• Discussions taking place within this forum are intended for the purpose of assisting you in discussing options with your vet. Any other use of advice given here is done so at your risk, is solely your responsibility and not that of this forum or its owner. Before posting it is your responsibility you abide by this Statement

Grace Has A Bladder Stone :(

Status
Not open for further replies.
GPTV

GPTV

Rescue Buddy/Senior Guinea Pig
Forum Donator 2024/25
Joined
Oct 31, 2012
Messages
5,516
Reaction score
10,211
Points
1,900
Location
North Dorset, England
well i was putting the girls out in the run for lawn time this morning, Grace (about 5yrs old now) was last to go out which was unusual, but she's been last for two days now.

i did the whole check eyes, feet & bum routine as usual & grace had a very prominent bump/lump by her genital opening, i gave it a gentle prod & it seemed quite hard so i gently eased her opening a little & could see a yellow mass there.
expecting it to be a stone, i immediately rang the vets & got an appointment for 11.10 (lucky they were really busy & only two appointments left today!)
i decided i was confident enough in that it was a stone so expected her to stay in for X-rays/surgery - packed an emergency lunch pack for her. quick trip to the vets.

vet had a look at it & decided the best course of action was a conscious X-ray to see if it was a stone as she also expected & if she had any others that would cause problems.
if it could be broken down & removed with a whiff of gas she would try that, or if not anesthetic & possibly a small incision to try & ease it out/break it up.

i asked how long roughly it would take & the vet said shouldn't take too long as they were at the end of consultations. (i told her i had done a packed lunch for Grace -the vet at this stage realizes i'm completely bonkers :crazy:& asks me to bring it in to reception before i left anyway).

signed the consent form, give Grace a big hug, took in the packed lunch cornsilks, red peppers, nuggets & small(ish) bag of hay.

Just had a phone call from the vet & confirmed its definitely a big stone & she will operate on her now to remove it.:(
the vet was surprised she could still wee & that she must be weeing round it,saying it would cause problems or infections if left.

the vet is going to telephone again when Grace is coming round.

i'm now here on tenderhooks, thinking my poor little munchkin is not gonna know what has hit her & she's going to be very sore for a few days :(

I've had a very busy 2.5hrs & gone from calm to stressed in one foul swoop!
I think we need a few healing vibes coming her way. xx
 
So sorry she has a big stone and needs surgery. Really glad you caught it though and that she's getting the care she needs. Hopefully the surgery goes smoothly and she heals nice and quickly after.
I totally love the fact that you packed her a lunch bag for her trip to the vets!
 
wow! impressed, the veterinary nurse has just phoned back & said Grace is coming round & having a little to eat so she should be ready to collect around 2.30pm :yahoo:

the vet will talk it through with me & any follow up care.
Took me longer to drive home & write this post than her op took!

poor little baby going to need some mummy cuddles soon :wub:
 
Well I bet she'll feel a whole lot better without a large stone, poor girlie. Healing vibes to Grace.
 
Glad that all has gone well and that you could have her operated promptly.

Here are our post-op tips: Tips For Post-operative Care

Discuss with your vet glucosamine (vegan g. or glucosamine-based cystease/cystophan) and meds that may help with slowing down the build-up of a new stone.

Switch to filtered water as minerals can also contribute to the build-up of stones/urethral stones and keep to a low calcium diet. @helen105281
 
I am sure although wondering what hit her, nothing she feels now could have been as sore as that stone. Ouchy!

So glad you spotted it so that it could be tackled before it got worse. And I love that you made her a lunch to take with you, I'd say the vet thinks you are a caring owner who looks after their pets they way everyone should and that you are definitely not "bonkers".
 
Am so glad the op went ok. I would discuss diet with your vet too, I feed a low calcium diet so shout if you need any information. I feed the following twice a day:

Slither of spring greens
Slice of cucumber
Piece of celery
Piece of pepper (rotate the colours weekly)
Slither of spring greens
sprig of coriander
1 green bean

My Rose does have sludge in her bladder even on this diet but I suspect that is due to genetics plus the fact I think she scoffs everyone else's spring greens and doesn't eat the other veg.

I can also give you a link to the vegan glucosamine I use (just need to check the pot first when home).

I also try to feed grainless and low calcium pellets but the only ones they would eat have just been discontinued. Apparently Harringtons do not have calcium carbonate (I have been told). What pellets do you feed and how many?
 
Wiebke said:
Glad that all has gone well and that you could have her operated promptly.

Here are our post-op ti
ps: Tips For Post-operative Care

Discuss with your vet glucosamine (vegan g. or glucosamine-based cystease/cystophan) and meds that may help with slowing down the build-up of a new stone.

Switch to filtered water as minerals can also contribute to the build-up of stones/urethral stones and keep to a low calcium diet. @helen105281
Click to expand...

when i collected Grace it was one of the nurses that went through the bits & pieces with me, she said that the vet had recommended a lower vit C diet as this can also make them more susceptible to stones.... surely its just lower calcium diet needed or am i confused?

i have never ever seen her drink from a bowl or bottle, i'm guessing thats why i'm not surprised she has had a stone. i live in a very hard water area.


helen105281 said:
Am so glad the op went ok. I would discuss diet with your vet too, I feed a low calcium diet so shout if you need any information. I feed the following twice a day:

Slither of spring greens
Slice of cucumber
Piece of celery
Piece of pepper (rotate the colours weekly)
Slither of spring greens
sprig of coriander
1 green bean

My Rose does have sludge in her bladder even on this diet but I suspect that is due to genetics plus the fact I think she scoffs everyone else's spring greens and doesn't eat the other veg.

I can also give you a link to the vegan glucosamine I use (just need to check the pot first when home).

I also try to feed grainless and low calcium pellets but the only ones they would eat have just been discontinued. Apparently Harringtons do not have calcium carbonate (I have been told). What pellets do you feed and how many?
Click to expand...

mine usually have an assortment of veg all according whats about or on offer, usually peppers assorted colours, cucumber, coriander, broccoli, sweetcorn, cornsilks, babycorn, cauliflower, carrots, carrot tops, pointed cabbage, celery & runner beans (green beans?) very rarely i treat them to a bag of kale or rocket (as in once every 6months max).

they also get apple, pear, melon, grapes, stawberries occasionally, plus the usual grass time, including dandelions, milkthistle, plantain, groundsel, yarrow, etc.
unlimited hay & hardly any nuggets - about 1 to 1.5 bowls a day of science selective nuggets shared between the three of them (i think when i weighed it it was 50g a bowlful so 50-75g'ish)

the link to the glucosamine would be great thankyou.

the nurse said that the stone was just under 5mm sort of size, they chipped away at the edge bits & managed to break it up enough to push it out of the opening, they didnt need to make an incision after all, but she would probably be bruised for a few days :(

i have 0.75ml of baytril to give twice daily, 2kg dog weight loxicom for a 1100g'ish grace (she's lost a bit of weight since the two younger ones came on the scene) thats once daily, i asked if i could split it & she suggested not really advisable. and she had a loxicom injection for the first 24hrs.

she's scoffing like a trooper & hates baytril (oh what fun we shall have!), looking a little spaced out still but much improved on earlier!

the nurse said she was adorable & very vocal, they could tell she was handled lots as she enjoyed cuddles, she said she would just relax & not run off like the ones down the end of the garden that only came out of the hutch when the kids could be bothered & it was nice to see she had a varied diet.
sound like she was the prize patient :luv: & she looks glam too, i asked them to cut her nails while sedated (normally she's a right cow, stroppy mare, divapig for nail trims)


her packed lunch was huge compared to how long she stayed in
 
GPTV said:
when i collected Grace it was one of the nurses that went through the bits & pieces with me, she said that the vet had recommended a lower vit C diet as this can also make them more susceptible to stones.... surely its just lower calcium diet needed or am i confused?

i have never ever seen her drink from a bowl or bottle, i'm guessing thats why i'm not surprised she has had a stone. i live in a very hard water area.




mine usually have an assortment of veg all according whats about or on offer, usually peppers assorted colours, cucumber, coriander, broccoli, sweetcorn, cornsilks, babycorn, cauliflower, carrots, carrot tops, pointed cabbage, celery & runner beans (green beans?) very rarely i treat them to a bag of kale or rocket (as in once every 6months max).

they also get apple, pear, melon, grapes, stawberries occasionally, plus the usual grass time, including dandelions, milkthistle, plantain, groundsel, yarrow, etc.
unlimited hay & hardly any nuggets - about 1 to 1.5 bowls a day of science selective nuggets shared between the three of them (i think when i weighed it it was 50g a bowlful so 50-75g'ish)

the link to the glucosamine would be great thankyou.

the nurse said that the stone was just under 5mm sort of size, they chipped away at the edge bits & managed to break it up enough to push it out of the opening, they didnt need to make an incision after all, but she would probably be bruised for a few days :(

i have 0.75ml of baytril to give twice daily, 2kg dog weight loxicom for a 1100g'ish grace (she's lost a bit of weight since the two younger ones came on the scene) thats once daily, i asked if i could split it & she suggested not really advisable. and she had a loxicom injection for the first 24hrs.

she's scoffing like a trooper & hates baytril (oh what fun we shall have!), looking a little spaced out still but much improved on earlier!

the nurse said she was adorable & very vocal, they could tell she was handled lots as she enjoyed cuddles, she said she would just relax & not run off like the ones down the end of the garden that only came out of the hutch when the kids could be bothered & it was nice to see she had a varied diet.
sound like she was the prize patient :luv: & she looks glam too, i asked them to cut her nails while sedated (normally she's a right cow, stroppy mare, divapig for nail trims)


her packed lunch was huge compared to how long she stayed in
Click to expand...
Am away at a family do but will find the link when I get home tonight if that's OK.
 
Poor little Grace, sending her lots of recovery vibes and you a hug x
 
:clap:thankyou everybody :) well wishes all appreciated, she was first at the door this morning for her breakfast... awwww back to usual :wub:
my mum gave her, her baytril this morning as i was an early start & didn't fancy the stress of it all, that time of the morning... i have that to come later! :oops:
i just need to go cornsilk scrumping for her treat nom noms for after the dreaded baytril (&so much of it too!:vom:)

@helen105281 no worries no rush for it as the vet said there were no other stones visible , so i wont start anything different until after her current round of meds are finished, in all the years i've had guineas this is the first ever stone problem i've had, one i think was probably a sludge candidate but never formally diagnosed.
but i have never seen her drink, even the not great drinkers have always been seen drinking, but not her. think this probably contributed to it. but i do always try & wash most food so that its still wet enough to hydrate them well.

my little trooper about to get a cuddle anyway :love:
:luv:
 
We usually make a mix up in water and keep in the fridge. I can ask Ross for the ratios. Not bought it recently though so maybe check back in a few days. You could even try Cystease first or buy another brand of veggie Glucosamine. This one was recommended to me though due to low calcium levels I think. I previously used Nature's Best but they changed the ingredients.
 
helen105281 said:
We usually make a mix up in water and keep in the fridge. I can ask Ross for the ratios. Not bought it recently though so maybe check back in a few days. You could even try Cystease first or buy another brand of veggie Glucosamine. This one was recommended to me though due to low calcium levels I think. I previously used Nature's Best but they changed the ingredients.
Click to expand...

ok thankyou, gives me a starting point to research though :tu:
hmm i find i dont have a lot of luck with water mixes, may just try the paste version like i did with Ellie & make up the water amount by washing their food & shaking off less than i do.
 
If she isnt a big drinker try to syringe feed some extra water daily and give extra cucumber - filter the water and use cystease as the others have suggested - Bumble is on preventative meds to help stop stones forming as he has had 4 ops for stones - 2 of them only 10 days apart - he is on 0.4ml moduretic daily and 0.1ml potassium citrate twice daily - he is also on 2 pillules a day of Nelsons calcorea carbonica - a homeopathic medicine that my vet Rachel Mowbray has used on a baby tortoise that produced 3 lots of stones in quick succession - it didnt make any more after going on that.
 
TAN said:
If she isnt a big drinker try to syringe feed some extra water daily and give extra cucumber - filter the water and use cystease as the others have suggested - Bumble is on preventative meds to help stop stones forming as he has had 4 ops for stones - 2 of them only 10 days apart - he is on 0.4ml moduretic daily and 0.1ml potassium citrate twice daily - he is also on 2 pillules a day of Nelsons calcorea carbonica - a homeopathic medicine that my vet Rachel Mowbray has used on a baby tortoise that produced 3 lots of stones in quick succession - it didnt make any more after going on that.
Click to expand...

:tu:crumbs thankyou, thats lots of helpful info too ....:hmm: hmm not sure i like the sound of all this syringing though ... she's soooo cute but a proper cowbag that gets majorly stressed with syringing anything, Ellie was similar but not as bad.
if its of a watery consistency i might be able to get my carrot top &celery method to work, but not if they dont like the meds.

are any of them in capsules that can be opened into powder form & sprinkled on food or are they all best dissolved? i know the water is needed to flush the system through, thats why i have always tried to give them wet veg when possible.

how were the pillules given to the tortoise?
 
The cystese comes in capsule form that I bite the top off and empty the contents into their water bottle - I add a little cranberry juice as well to hide the taste of the capsule - the pillules are tiny hard round things - I have to crush them on the back of the spoon with my hand over it as they shatter and splinter off everywhere, I then mix them in with a bit of metacam and suck it up in a syringe as Bumble loves a bit of metacam - you could always try syringing a bit of cranberry juice mixed with water to see if she will take that - once they realise its not nasty meds they can be quite eager to take it - all of Bumbles extra meds - the moduretic and the the potassium citrate he likes the taste of and can also be mixed in with some neat ribena if needed..
 
Does bumble like cranberry juice? Which sort do u use? One of my previous pigs had the no added sugar neat cranberry juice &wasn't overly keen on it (I thought it was foul to be fair when I tried it lol!)
Is it just normal bottled neat ribena cordial-not sugar free or any other variation?
Might try that first, I love ribena too!
Ok thanks I'll have a look properly next week I've got a couple of days off.... Not much free time this week as cramming in the hrs in preparation for nx week :(
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top