Guinea Pig showing discomfort when peeing and pooing

[Diana85]

Hi,
I was hoping someone could give me advice on this situation. I have a female Guinea Pig who has for the past few weeks shown discomfort ie: making noise when she passes urine and poo, not all the time but a fair enough times a day. I took her to the vet where they did a urine analysis, where no sign of bacterial cystitis was found so no UTI, but that her pee did show some calcium carbonate crystals which apparently can be significant as they can cause irritation to the lining of the urinary tract and also form stones which can lead to straining and sometimes blockages. Further imaging I was told (xray or ultrasound) would be useful to rule these out depending on how she responded to treatment, which was 0.4ml of cat metacam twice a day. I then when to the vet again to have my Guinea Pig x-ray. I was told that she emptied out her bladder as they were trying to get it done so although it was more difficult to check for stones that they in fact found none, and an ultrasound probe was also used to properly check (she was not shaved which I'm thinking can they ultrasound her without shaving her?). She completed her metacam treatment which was for 7 days and although she has not lost any weight and seems her usual self I can still see he discomfort when peeing/pooing sometimes and hear her too.
Can anyone maybe give me some advice as to why that might be? the vet seemed at a loss as to why she was doing this when no stones were found and told me to change her diet (I feed her grain free pellets, low calcium veg and Timothy Hay). Please Help!

 

[Diana85]

sorry wrong spelling on title meant to say *pooing* and not posing

 

[Swissgreys]

Welcome to the Forum, although sorry that your guinea pig is not well.

I have updated the thread title for you.

Has your vet considered recurring (i.e.interstitial) sterile cystitis (IC), which cannot be healed with an antibiotic but is best managed with a combination of metacam (for pain relief) and glucosamine to support the coating of the bladder walls. Many members here use We recommend cystease, a glucosamine based bladder supplement for cats.

Here are our diet recommendations for piggies with sterile IC: Long Term Balanced General And Special Needs Guinea Pig Diets
however it does sound like your diet is already very good.

I have an IC piggy myself, and have found that only offering filtered water (I use a Brita jug) does seem to help a little, in addition to following the dietary guidelines above.
She gets one Cystease tablet a day (mixed with water and syringe fed) and I am very careful with her diet in general.

 

[Wiebke]

Hi,
I was hoping someone could give me advice on this situation. I have a female Guinea Pig who has for the past few weeks shown discomfort ie: making noise when she passes urine and poo, not all the time but a fair enough times a day. I took her to the vet where they did a urine analysis, where no sign of bacterial cystitis was found so no UTI, but that her pee did show some calcium carbonate crystals which apparently can be significant as they can cause irritation to the lining of the urinary tract and also form stones which can lead to straining and sometimes blockages. Further imaging I was told (xray or ultrasound) would be useful to rule these out depending on how she responded to treatment, which was 0.4ml of cat metacam twice a day. I then when to the vet again to have my Guinea Pig x-ray. I was told that she emptied out her bladder as they were trying to get it done so although it was more difficult to check for stones that they in fact found none, and an ultrasound probe was also used to properly check (she was not shaved which I'm thinking can they ultrasound her without shaving her?). She completed her metacam treatment which was for 7 days and although she has not lost any weight and seems her usual self I can still see he discomfort when peeing/pooing sometimes and hear her too.
Can anyone maybe give me some advice as to why that might be? the vet seemed at a loss as to why she was doing this when no stones were found and told me to change her diet (I feed her grain free pellets, low calcium veg and Timothy Hay). Please Help!

Hi and welcome!

The next step would be indeed an x-ray to check for the presence of stones or sludge in the bladder. If that comes up clean, then your vet may consider a sterile interstitial cystitis, i.e. a non-bacterial recurring bladder infection which cannot be cured, only managed until it eventually goes away on its own. Sterile IC can usually only be diagnosed by default after you have excluded any potential issues in the urinary and reproductive tract that can cause the same symptoms. It has become a lot more common over the last decade, especially in indoors guinea pigs but it still widely unknown in general and exotics vets that don't see lots of guinea pigs.

Key for its treatment is glucosamine in order to support the natural glucosamine coating of the bladder walls (and indeed the whole urinary tract) in combination with an analgesic (i.e. anti-inflammatory cum painkiller) like metacam. We recommend to use a glucosamine based cat food supplement like cystease (UK brand); cats are the other species prone to urinary tract problems that also suffers from sterile IC.
You dissolve the contents of one capsule in 2-4 ml of water, shake well before use and syringe half of it every 12 hours. The metacam can be upped during the occasional acute flare-ups. It can take a few weeks to get on top of the acute symptoms.

Additionally we recommend to cut out any grain (pellets), sugary root veg, if needed additional veg like lettuce or fresh grass if you piggy is sensitive to it. For the exact diet details, please see our general diet recommendation and then look at the tweaks to it in our special diets chapter. Long Term Balanced General And Special Needs Guinea Pig Diets

We strongly recommend to use glucosamine for any ongoing urinary tract problems as it helps ease the discomfort in the beleaguered bladder wall. Glucosamine is classed as a food supplement and not a medication; it is widely available online but you may want to discuss its use with your vet.

 

[Diana85]

Welcome to the Forum, although sorry that your guinea pig is not well.

I have updated the thread title for you.

Has your vet considered recurring (i.e.interstitial) sterile cystitis (IC), which cannot be healed with an antibiotic but is best managed with a combination of metacam (for pain relief) and glucosamine to support the coating of the bladder walls. Many members here use We recommend cystease, a glucosamine based bladder supplement for cats.

Here are our diet recommendations for piggies with sterile IC: Long Term Balanced General And Special Needs Guinea Pig Diets
however it does sound like your diet is already very good.

I have an IC piggy myself, and have found that only offering filtered water (I use a Brita jug) does seem to help a little, in addition to following the dietary guidelines above.
She gets one Cystease tablet a day (mixed with water and syringe fed) and I am very careful with her diet in general.

Hi, and thank you for your help in changing the title and reply,
I will go back to my vet and ask that he please prescribe the pain relief and will also order the cystease for my girl. I will also follow the recommenced diet.
I have to be honest and say that having been to two vets here in London they have not really been of much help in diagnosing her condition, and this is the first time I have heard of sterile cystitis, so will also ask him about it and see what he says.
One more question, and that is when she was on Metacam she was still in discomfort, so I'm guessing the pain never fully went away, so do you think the advised dosage of 0.4ml twice a day was enough? or shall I ask the vet to increase it?

 

[Diana85]

Hi and welcome!

The next step would be indeed an x-ray to check for the presence of stones or sludge in the bladder. If that comes up clean, then your vet may consider a sterile interstitial cystitis, i.e. a non-bacterial recurring bladder infection which cannot be cured, only managed until it eventually goes away on its own. Sterile IC can usually only be diagnosed by default after you have excluded any potential issues in the urinary and reproductive tract that can cause the same symptoms. It has become a lot more common over the last decade, especially in indoors guinea pigs but it still widely unknown in general and exotics vets that don't see lots of guinea pigs.

Key for its treatment is glucosamine in order to support the natural glucosamine coating of the bladder walls (and indeed the whole urinary tract) in combination with an analgesic (i.e. anti-inflammatory cum painkiller) like metacam. We recommend to use a glucosamine based cat food supplement like cystease (UK brand); cats are the other species prone to urinary tract problems that also suffers from sterile IC.
You dissolve the contents of one capsule in 2-4 ml of water, shake well before use and syringe half of it every 12 hours. The metacam can be upped during the occasional acute flare-ups. It can take a few weeks to get on top of the acute symptoms.

Additionally we recommend to cut out any grain (pellets), sugary root veg, if needed additional veg like lettuce or fresh grass if you piggy is sensitive to it. For the exact diet details, please see our general diet recommendation and then look at the tweaks to it in our special diets chapter. Long Term Balanced General And Special Needs Guinea Pig Diets

We strongly recommend to use glucosamine for any ongoing urinary tract problems as it helps ease the discomfort in the beleaguered bladder wall. Glucosamine is classed as a food supplement and not a medication; it is widely available online but you may want to discuss its use with your vet.

Hello and thank you for your reply,
Since both X-ray and urine analysis ruled out stones and UTI, then like you mentioned sterile IC might be the cause of the problem. I will give my girl the advised cystease and metacam, and hopefully in the next few days/weeks it will clear up. I will also follow the recommended diet as posted on the forum to hopefully make sure it does not occur again. It really does break my heart when I see her in pain, and I have been so worried and just lost as to what to do next.

 

[DMS260820]

Hello and thank you for your reply,
Since both X-ray and urine analysis ruled out stones and UTI, then like you mentioned sterile IC might be the cause of the problem. I will give my girl the advised cystease and metacam, and hopefully in the next few days/weeks it will clear up. I will also follow the recommended diet as posted on the forum to hopefully make sure it does not occur again. It really does break my heart when I see her in pain, and I have been so worried and just lost as to what to do next.

My sow has I. C and using cytease for 2 months solid, everyday, has got her back to normal. She used to lay in discomfort, couldn't get comfy, would squeal when urinating but only a sometimes, and would just be grumpy around her cage mate. Now she is a new pig again. Oh and the blood in urine, I Havnt see since I started the cystease .

I found avoiding kale helped also

 

[Diana85]

My sow has I. C and using cytease for 2 months solid, everyday, has got her back to normal. She used to lay in discomfort, couldn't get comfy, would squeal when urinating but only a sometimes, and would just be grumpy around her cage mate. Now she is a new pig again. Oh and the blood in urine, I Havnt see since I started the cystease .

I found avoiding kale helped also

Hi,
and thank you for that, it is comforting to know that cystease helps and that there are clear results. I will be very diligent and give it to her everyday.

 

[Swissgreys]

Hi, and thank you for your help in changing the title and reply,
I will go back to my vet and ask that he please prescribe the pain relief and will also order the cystease for my girl. I will also follow the recommenced diet.
I have to be honest and say that having been to two vets here in London they have not really been of much help in diagnosing her condition, and this is the first time I have heard of sterile cystitis, so will also ask him about it and see what he says.
One more question, and that is when she was on Metacam she was still in discomfort, so I'm guessing the pain never fully went away, so do you think the advised dosage of 0.4ml twice a day was enough? or shall I ask the vet to increase it?

It isn't something a lot of vets have come across to be honest.
We see an excellent guinea pig specialist, and although she had vaguely heard about it, I was the one that mentioned it, and she had to go away and look it up. Now of course she is fully on board and still follows up with me just becasue she is genuinely interested in learning more about the condition and it's management.
For us the key (once Lucy was comfortable) was working out her trigger foods.
We removed all veggies for a week and then slowly introduced them back one at a time to see if there were any obvious triggers.
I now have a list of foods to avoid, but I think this is different for every guinea pig and just takes time and patience to decipher.