Hi,
Nellie started crying when passing urine last night. She had been doing this about a month ago and tested positive for a UTI, which cleared with antibiotics. Later in the evening she passed a stone - it is around 1.5 mm in diameter. She isn't showing any obvious signs of distress when passing urine, but is slightly quieter than normal. Does anyone have any advice on appropriate after care? I would rather avoid a course of antibiotics if possible due to the other problems they can cause, but absolutely don't want to put her at any risk if she ought to be having some.
Hi!
Please have her vet checked; she will need an antibiotic to prevent a potential infection and to see whether there are more stones or sludge.
Keep in mind when doing any online research or reading threads on here that you never get to see or hear the vast majority of cases that go perfectly alright because they are not worth posting about, while many people are only too happy posting loud warnings (often adding up 2 and 2 and coming out with 125) when a comparatively small percentage of cases is going wrong.
This especially in the case of antibiotics when the underlying problem often gets overlooked and people only focus on the most visible aspect or are not aware of the need of adequate support care. I shudder to think how many piggies die needlessly because their owners think that antibiotics will kill them and don't have them seen in time to get healed. Do you really think that antibiotics would be still prescribed if they were really as bad as they are made out to be?
The same goes for this section - it is specifically there for people with health issues and is not quite representative of normality. We get a fair insight over the course of a year as to how common the various problems roughly are, but we are more often contacted than representative only when things have already gone wrong quite a bit already or when their are complications.
I have for instance in all the years never had a case of baytril wiping out any piggy of mine... and this mirrors the experience of many long term forum members! I did have a couple of piggies guts' wiped out from a very strong last ditch antibiotic in a make or break situation as they were not fit for an operation; in both cases the eye could be saved and the piggies lived a good normal life span, so it was well worth pushing through it.
You can support your guinea pigs during a course of antibiotics with probotics and 'poo soup' from a healthy companion to help bolster the guts. The latter if made really freshly is actually much more effective than the first as you can really transfer live healthy microbiome this way even if it is a bit cross. It mimics natural behaviour. Details and product advice in the link below.
If there is really a bad reaction with loss of appetite as can happen occasionally, then you step in with syringe feeding to get your piggy through the rough spot. We are here to support you with practical advice if there really are issues and you need to step in.
Probiotics, Recovery Foods And Vitamin C: Overview With Product Links
Please review your diet; not just your veg but the food and water intake. More calcium is often coming from unfiltered water or alfalfa based pellets than from calcium rich veg. Pellets and veg are seen as the mainstay of the diet instead of a daily treat to supplement hay, which should make over 80% of the daily food intake. The UK is as a country very prone to bladder stone problems because the largest part is a hard water area.
This guide here has an illustrated general diet with further tips for guinea pigs with urinary tract issues to prevent/minimise the reoccurrence of stones in the long term. You may find this helpful to make any necessary dietary adjustments:
Long Term Balanced General And Special Needs Guinea Pig Diets
We also strongly recommend to support the natural glucosamine coating of the bladder walls with a glucosamine based cat bladder food supplement (it is not classed as a medication) like UK brand cystease. This helps to ease the discomfort and supports the healing process - but it does nothing towards any infection. Comparable products in other countries are generally widely availabe online.
I hope that this help you?
