Guniea Pig UTI Support

[Tory93]

I'm sorry to hear she has a stone. I hope her surgery goes well.

We advise that piggies are ideally kept together post surgery - it helps them feel less stressed and puts less risk on their bond failing (medical separation can cause a breakdown in their bond).

Yes that is what Pumpkin had done. Pumpkin's stone was small but there was a risk of it blocking so I went ahead. It's hard to say how recovery is as it's so early. She only had it yesterday afternoon. But she's been eating overnight & ate breakfast. I keep trying to not hover. I have a piggy camera and can see she's not moved for a couple of hours but she does tend to do nothing at this time of the morning so hopefully just her usual self. Not being as active can make stones more likely, and Pumpkin prefers to laze around a lot in comparison to her sister.

My advice would be if you are able, get her in with a vet who is used to doing piggy surgery and bladder stone surgery. But it sounds urgent so know that can be hard.

Hope it goes well for your little one

Me again.. sorry! Can you tell I'm going out of my mind waiting for the call to say she's in recovery.

Just thinking about their cage set up. Was going to give it a thorough clean before she comes home, do I need to make any adjustments so that her wound doesn't open?

Their current set up is a cc cage with a memory foam mattress with a waterproof mattress protector over the top with a fleece cage liner on top. They have big boxes of hay either end that they tend to lay in and have a munch. They also have lots of fleece beds and curtains etc. I know hay is important for their diet but is it going to be to prickly for her wound? Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated. Thank you

 

[Tory93]

**UPDATE**

Our baby is in recovery, still very sleepy and her temp is a little low but she has been taking recovery food and has begun being a little vocal (has always been a sass pig) hopefully she continues to recover well and her temp comes back to normal.

Going to get her cage sorted out now, if anyone has any suggestions on how to make it the most comfortable it can be that would be great.

 

[Piggies&buns]

This guide will help you
Tips For Post-operative Care

Your cage sounds fine as is

 

[Piggies2023]

Me again.. sorry! Can you tell I'm going out of my mind waiting for the call to say she's in recovery.

Just thinking about their cage set up. Was going to give it a thorough clean before she comes home, do I need to make any adjustments so that her wound doesn't open?

Their current set up is a cc cage with a memory foam mattress with a waterproof mattress protector over the top with a fleece cage liner on top. They have big boxes of hay either end that they tend to lay in and have a munch. They also have lots of fleece beds and curtains etc. I know hay is important for their diet but is it going to be to prickly for her wound? Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated. Thank you

So sorry, I don't know why I'm not getting notifications unless I log in. So what I do is reduce the amount of hay in there to encourage her to sleep on bed etc rather than in the hay pile and because, I bin all the hay twice a day to help reduce infection chance until wound is closed. I also change fleece/bed daily or twice daily depending on where my pig has been sitting.

Hay wise I've put in less stalky hay mostly. But she is particularly keen on the stalky stuff so put in a small amount of it. They still have plenty to eat just not enough for hay tunnels.

 

[Piggies2023]

Poor little Pumpkin, I hope she continues to do well. Are you keeping her seperate from her sister whilst her wound recovers or have you kept them together?

I am the same as you and constantly lurk around when they are poorly. I may need to get myself a guniea cam.

My piggies stone is approx 1/2 a cm in diameter so pretty big I think we are at the point where action needs to be taken now. Our vet has blocked out the majority of the day to help her get better. He is pretty guniea savy and I trusted him implicitly with my rabbit when she had to keep going under (I don't trust anyone). I just hope she recovers well and it doesn't come back, we try so hard to keep these things from happening

Kept them together, it helps. It encourages them to eat etc. The moral support is good.

Guinea pig cam is very useful. They sense when we lurk and act differently so fun they act differently. Glad you have a fab vet

 

[Tory93]

So sorry, I don't know why I'm not getting notifications unless I log in. So what I do is reduce the amount of hay in there to encourage her to sleep on bed etc rather than in the hay pile and because, I bin all the hay twice a day to help reduce infection chance until wound is closed. I also change fleece/bed daily or twice daily depending on where my pig has been sitting.

Hay wise I've put in less stalky hay mostly. But she is particularly keen on the stalky stuff so put in a small amount of it. They still have plenty to eat just not enough for hay tunnels.

Didn't even think about changing the fleece beds, I've just stuck a load in the wash so I'll have plenty spare thank you!

Shes home now, a lot more sleepy than I thought she would be. She's in her blanket but she's sort of just puffed up staring into the corner. I know it's early days and we have only just got her home, but was your experience like your first few hours/night after Pumpkins surgery? I'm normally pretty good at syringe feeding food but the thought of doing it this time is terrifying because I don't want to touch her wound site on her tummy.

 

[Piggies2023]

Didn't even think about changing the fleece beds, I've just stuck a load in the wash so I'll have plenty spare thank you!

Shes home now, a lot more sleepy than I thought she would be. She's in her blanket but she's sort of just puffed up staring into the corner. I know it's early days and we have only just got her home, but was your experience like your first few hours/night after Pumpkins surgery? I'm normally pretty good at syringe feeding food but the thought of doing it this time is terrifying because I don't want to touch her wound site on her tummy.

Pumpkin improved after her evening metacam. Have they given you a good dose of metacam to give? Sounds like pain.

I very much dislike picking up after surgery. I have a tunnel bed from Amazon, herd her in if she's not in already and then gently tip her out. Only had her out once to check her wound but that is how I pick up my pigs generally. Nancy comes out twice a day for medication too & hates being picked up so it works for us.

 

[Wiebke]

Didn't even think about changing the fleece beds, I've just stuck a load in the wash so I'll have plenty spare thank you!

Shes home now, a lot more sleepy than I thought she would be. She's in her blanket but she's sort of just puffed up staring into the corner. I know it's early days and we have only just got her home, but was your experience like your first few hours/night after Pumpkins surgery? I'm normally pretty good at syringe feeding food but the thought of doing it this time is terrifying because I don't want to touch her wound site on her tummy.

Hi

Just give her time to come out of it; it can sometimes take several hours or a day depending on how rough their recovery is.

You can find several ways on how to syringe feed piggies without touching their bellies in our syringe feeding guide: All About Syringe Feeding and Medicating Guinea Pigs with Videos and Pictures

Here are tips for looking after piggies with redced mobility, which can include post-op piggies: Looking After Guinea Pigs With Limited or No Mobility

Our post-op and emergency care guides, just in case - you do not want to have to frantically search around when in a panic:
Tips For Post-operative Care
Emergency and Crisis Care as well as Bridging Care until a Vet Appointment

I hope that your girl will have come round more and will be more with it (if sore) again by tomorrow. All the best.

 

[Tory93]

Pumpkin improved after her evening metacam. Have they given you a good dose of metacam to give? Sounds like pain.

I very much dislike picking up after surgery. I have a tunnel bed from Amazon, herd her in if she's not in already and then gently tip her out. Only had her out once to check her wound but that is how I pick up my pigs generally. Nancy comes out twice a day for medication too & hates being picked up so it works for us.

I have a 0.45ml of dog metacam twice a day but was told not to start this until the morning, I can however give her a dose of bupe if I feel I'm desperate. She's already very sleepy so I don't know if I want to go down the bupe route yet.

If i ever can't get the pigs out I pop their snuggle sack on and scoop them up but shes not interested in her snuggle sack at the moment.

She has just eaten a small bowl of fresh Timothy grass that I grow in a container in the garden (it was a GU pudding size bowl) and she ate 3 of the fluffy bits from the Timothy hay. I'm going to leave her until 10pm and then try and pick her up for some recovery food (I'm dreading it )

 

[Tory93]

Hi

Just give her time to come out of it; it can sometimes take several hours or a day depending on how rough their recovery is.

You can find several ways on how to syringe feed piggies without touching their bellies in our syringe feeding guide: All About Syringe Feeding and Medicating Guinea Pigs with Videos and Pictures

Here are tips for looking after piggies with redced mobility, which can include post-op piggies: Looking After Guinea Pigs With Limited or No Mobility

Our post-op and emergency care guides, just in case - you do not want to have to frantically search around when in a panic:
Tips For Post-operative Care
Emergency and Crisis Care as well as Bridging Care until a Vet Appointment

I hope that your girl will have come round more and will be more with it (if sore) again by tomorrow. All the best.

Thank you.

In my head I know she won't be running around but in my heart I'm like oh my god she's not moving panic.

She has just eaten a GU Pudding size bowl of fresh grass so that's good! And 3 fluffy bits (I don't know what they are called) from her Timothy hay. Also managed to get her to eat 4 small squares of chard which I dipped in probiotic water.

Going to leave her for until 10pm and then try and pick her up for some actual recovery food and water.

Appreciate you sending me those links, thank you! I will make a cup of tea and have a thorough read through. I'm used to helping rabbits after dentals, not piggies after abdominal surgery so ive got to try to do the usual recovery in a more delicate way.

 

[Piggies2023]

I have a 0.45ml of dog metacam twice a day but was told not to start this until the morning, I can however give her a dose of bupe if I feel I'm desperate. She's already very sleepy so I don't know if I want to go down the bupe route yet.

If i ever can't get the pigs out I pop their snuggle sack on and scoop them up but shes not interested in her snuggle sack at the moment.

She has just eaten a small bowl of fresh Timothy grass that I grow in a container in the garden (it was a GU pudding size bowl) and she ate 3 of the fluffy bits from the Timothy hay. I'm going to leave her until 10pm and then try and pick her up for some recovery food (I'm dreading it )

I herd them in if they don't want to come out just putting my hands where they would run to and they are like fine I will get in .

That's a good dose of metacam for the morning, hopefully that will help. I can understand why you are holding off on the bupe.

 

[Tory93]

I herd them in if they don't want to come out just putting my hands where they would run to and they are like fine I will get in .

That's a good dose of metacam for the morning, hopefully that will help. I can understand why you are holding off on the bupe.

herding them in. Such a cute vision.

I managed to carefully pick her up and got a little bit of recovery food in her, probably 1 maybe 2ml at a push (used the supreme science syringe) and about 2ml of probiotic water. Gave her a small pile of grass whilst she was on my lap too which she has gobbled down.

Still not much on the movement front but hopefully that will come with time. I did notice that she isn't squinting her eyes anymore which she kept doing all of last night so I'm hoping that's a sign that she's not in too much pain, perhaps just a bit sleepy still from the anesthesia.

Got my bed set up on the floor next to their cage and have a few alarms scheduled for during the night to check on her, and do some feeds.

We have a follow up appointment tomorrow at 9:30.

Is it just me or are nights always the scariest when you have a poorly baby.

Fingers crossed for an improvement in the morning .

Thank you again for all your responses, I feel like nobody in the real world understands piggies .

Hope Pumpkin is continuing to recover well x

 

[Piggies2023]

herding them in. Such a cute vision.

I managed to carefully pick her up and got a little bit of recovery food in her, probably 1 maybe 2ml at a push (used the supreme science syringe) and about 2ml of probiotic water. Gave her a small pile of grass whilst she was on my lap too which she has gobbled down.

Still not much on the movement front but hopefully that will come with time. I did notice that she isn't squinting her eyes anymore which she kept doing all of last night so I'm hoping that's a sign that she's not in too much pain, perhaps just a bit sleepy still from the anesthesia.

Got my bed set up on the floor next to their cage and have a few alarms scheduled for during the night to check on her, and do some feeds.

We have a follow up appointment tomorrow at 9:30.

Is it just me or are nights always the scariest when you have a poorly baby.

Fingers crossed for an improvement in the morning .

Thank you again for all your responses, I feel like nobody in the real world understands piggies .

Hope Pumpkin is continuing to recover well x

herding them in. Such a cute vision.

I managed to carefully pick her up and got a little bit of recovery food in her, probably 1 maybe 2ml at a push (used the supreme science syringe) and about 2ml of probiotic water. Gave her a small pile of grass whilst she was on my lap too which she has gobbled down.

Still not much on the movement front but hopefully that will come with time. I did notice that she isn't squinting her eyes anymore which she kept doing all of last night so I'm hoping that's a sign that she's not in too much pain, perhaps just a bit sleepy still from the anesthesia.

Got my bed set up on the floor next to their cage and have a few alarms scheduled for during the night to check on her, and do some feeds.

We have a follow up appointment tomorrow at 9:30.

Is it just me or are nights always the scariest when you have a poorly baby.

Fingers crossed for an improvement in the morning .

Thank you again for all your responses, I feel like nobody in the real world understands piggies .

Hope Pumpkin is continuing to recover well x

I find nights and weekends the most scary because my vet is not in. Metacam in the morning will hopefully help too.

Pumpkin is acting pretty normal which I'm very happy about. Got a check up on Tuesday morning as that's when my vets open again.

 

[Piggies2023]

How is your little one this morning?

 

[Tory93]

I find nights and weekends the most scary because my vet is not in. Metacam in the morning will hopefully help too.

Pumpkin is acting pretty normal which I'm very happy about. Got a check up on Tuesday morning as that's when my vets open again.

Aww I'm so glad she is acting pretty normal x

 

[Tory93]

How is your little one this morning?

Shes doing quite well considering thank you.

Had her first dose of metacam post surgery at 7am and a vet check in appt at 9:50. Vet was really pleased with how she was doing all things considering.

She did 4 squishy poops during the night. From 4:30am - 9am she did 12 better looking but still not right poops.

Since then she has done quite a few more, they're slightly soft and some of them are conjoined but I'm just glad she is passing something.

She was still pretty sleepy this morning but I got her out at 12pm for a feed, antibiotics etc and she ran off her blanket and up me for a cuddle, she has also given me some kisses. When I put her back she was more active (I had converted a large cardboard box into a house with a memory foam bottom, fleece & blankets and cut holes in the front and side for her to get in and out of it and she was running out one door and going back in the other and she did it about 4 or 5 times so that was good) I have also just spotted her at her water bottle so she has ventured out for that too.

I'm syringe feeding every 3 hours (even throughout the night) she is being syringe fed water and I'm also intermittently cutting fresh grass which she seems to be
enjoying. She hasn't wanted any hay or veg, although she did massacre most of a green bean.

I'm changing her mats and blankets every 5hrs or so, constantly got piggie washing going and have ordered some extra vet bed.

Things are looking up from yesterday so fingers crossed she continues to improve . The vet gave us the stone he removed and its HUGE (think I have attached a photo).

Hope Pumpkin is still doing well?

 

[CTWC]

Fantastic news

 

[Tory93]

**Little Update**

Our little girl continues to be recovering pretty well. She's been eating bowls of fresh grass throughout the day, not much interest in hay, but I'm sure we will get there. She drank from her water bottle herself for the first time this afternoon and has done it 1 more time since.

I made her veggie dinner at 5pm and she ate a whole green bean and I hand fed her some chard, wasn't interested in anything else. Then about 30 mins ago I watched her root around in her veggie bowl find some celery and run for cover with it so that was amazing to see.

Been syringe feeding recovery food and water every 3 hours.

Keeping up with the pain relief and antibiotics.

Her bedding is changed either every 5 hours or when needed if wet (whichever comes first).

Her poops also continue to improve In shape/consistency and also quantity - still not 100% but its only been about 30hrs so I'm not complaining.

Shes just had a recovery food feed and a small bowl of graas and is now curled up in her bed ready for some sleep.

Let's hope tomorrow brings even more improvememt

 

[Piggies2023]

**Little Update**

Our little girl continues to be recovering pretty well. She's been eating bowls of fresh grass throughout the day, not much interest in hay, but I'm sure we will get there. She drank from her water bottle herself for the first time this afternoon and has done it 1 more time since.

I made her veggie dinner at 5pm and she ate a whole green bean and I hand fed her some chard, wasn't interested in anything else. Then about 30 mins ago I watched her root around in her veggie bowl find some celery and run for cover with it so that was amazing to see.

Been syringe feeding recovery food and water every 3 hours.

Keeping up with the pain relief and antibiotics.

Her bedding is changed either every 5 hours or when needed if wet (whichever comes first).

Her poops also continue to improve In shape/consistency and also quantity - still not 100% but its only been about 30hrs so I'm not complaining.

Shes just had a recovery food feed and a small bowl of graas and is now curled up in her bed ready for some sleep.

Let's hope tomorrow brings even more improvememt

Aw I'm glad she is starting to do better. Antibiotics can sometimes effect appetite too.

Pumpkin is doing okay. She isn't on antibiotics so keeping an eye for infection. She seemed very happy this morning though. Haven't checked her wound today as I've had go to walk in centre as now I'm sick but gave meds and breakfast and she seemed well.

 

[Tory93]

Aw I'm glad she is starting to do better. Antibiotics can sometimes effect appetite too.

Pumpkin is doing okay. She isn't on antibiotics so keeping an eye for infection. She seemed very happy this morning though. Haven't checked her wound today as I've had go to walk in centre as now I'm sick but gave meds and breakfast and she seemed well.

Oh no, sorry you are now poorly - bloody typical! Hope you feel better soon! Glad Pumpkin is still doing okay x