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Healing Vibes for Poorly Hazel and a Request for Advice

YvonneBlue

YvonneBlue

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So this morning we found blood on one of the pee pads in Milo and Hazel's cage. We found this had come from Hazel as she had a little blood near her bottom. I called the vet straight away and they managed to see her at 10am. The vets is Ashleigh in Chorlton.

The vet found that Hazel's bladder is painful and a little hard (although she is definitely urinating) and also feels thickened. We have antibiotics and metacam and she is booked in for an x-ray and ultrasound on Tuesday. They said it is better to do tests now while she is in relative good health. If they find anything during the investigations, such as bladder sludge, they would hope to be able to deal with it there and then.

Can I just ask if this all sounds like the best way forward. I am a little worried about the anaesthesia as we don't know how old she is. I also don't want to feel rushed into making decisions because she is already anaesthatised.
 
VickiA said:
Poor Hazel. And poor you.
Are they sedating her to do the X-ray and ultrasound? My vets tend to do that consciously unless they can’t get good images at the time.
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They said they wanted to give her a light anesthetic. Mavis had an ultrasound done without any anesthesia but not an x-ray. I think the vet that did the ultrasound for Mavis has left the practice. I haven't seen this particular vet previously.
 
YvonneBlue said:
They said they wanted to give her a light anesthetic. Mavis had an ultrasound done without any anesthesia but not an x-ray. I think the vet that did the ultrasound for Mavis has left the practice. I haven't seen this particular vet previously.
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Ideally you position a piggy in a couple of different positions on an x-ray plate in order to locate a problem spacially in the body if the problem requires this; this will be helped by light sedation, especially if you have to move any limbs out of the way.

All the best!
 
Poor Hazel! I believe from talking to a few vets recently about conscious xrays and ultrasounds for Blodwen's breathing that they can only take a top view/side view xray without sedation, and that ultrasound scans can be very stressful and uncomfortable as they involve pressing on piggy quite hard. There are definitely limits to which organs can been seen clearly without sedation, certainly and clear "tummy shots" like the bladder are unlikely to be clear I think.
Always a worry considering sedation and anaesthesia but just in case it is a bladder stone probably worth the risk if her heart and lungs are healthy enough and the vet is experienced. Best of luck x
 
Poor Hazel :( I am sending her lots of healing vibes. My vet does ultrasounds consciously but sometimes uses a light sedation for X-rays although she did manage to do Ellen’s last X-ray consciously by using sand bags as she laid completely still.

All the best for Tuesday x
 
Poor Hazel and poor you, what a worrying time. I hope everything goes well for her on Tuesday, sending lots of healing vibes from us and the piggies x
 
Sending you hugs :hug: It is such a worry when you have a poorly piggy but I know you will do everythig you can for her.

Sending healing vibed to Hazel
 
When Ruby had issues with bladder sludge, she was lightly sedated for an x-ray which clearly showed the problem (otherwise an ultra sound was next).
Just to add my specialist vet has also done x-rays without sedation, but this was not an option with Ruby who nearly took her finger off!

We waited outside the x-ray room, and as soon as the vet had the diagnosis she came out and told us and asked to keep Ruby under for a little longer to do a bladder flush. We were given the choice to bring her round and think about it, but for us the clear diagnosis meant we didn't really feel we had a choice.

I am assuming your vet will let you know the result and recommended treatment before going ahead?
Good luck with it all - it sounds like you have a good vet who is taking a sensible approach and fingers crossed maybe the antibiotics and pain killers will do the job with no surgery required.
 
Thank you everyone for your advice and good wishes for Hazel. I feel a little less worried now and I will keep this thread updated. xx

At the moment you wouldn't believe she was poorly, which I hope is a good sign.
 
I would ask if the scans can be done under a whiff of gas rather than full GA perhaps? Sending love and vibes x
 
I have just left Hazel at the vets, even with 0.6ml of Metacam she is still in pain around her bladder, so they will do an ultrasound and x-ray this morning. They will call me later to tell me the results of these. If it is bladder sludge the vet said they could do a flush there and then (with my permission) which i am happy for them to do. However, i have said that if it is anything that requires surgery then i would prefer to wait until i have time to get prepared (unless of course it is immediately life threatening). I would want to know that i could take some time off work if necessary and have a hospital cage ready, etc.

I hate waiting to hear from the vet, just keeping my mind off it with work.
 
YvonneBlue said:
I have just left Hazel at the vets, even with 0.6ml of Metacam she is still in pain around her bladder, so they will do an ultrasound and x-ray this morning. They will call me later to tell me the results of these. If it is bladder sludge the vet said they could do a flush there and then (with my permission) which i am happy for them to do. However, i have said that if it is anything that requires surgery then i would prefer to wait until i have time to get prepared (unless of course it is immediately life threatening). I would want to know that i could take some time off work if necessary and have a hospital cage ready, etc.

I hate waiting to hear from the vet, just keeping my mind off it with work.
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Huge hugs to you xx
 
Think of you and little Hazel today, hope it’s nothing serious, it’s horrid waiting around for results x
 
Sadly not good news. Hazel has a 4mm bladder stone which needs removing. The vet would like to do this on Thursday/Friday this week while she is still in good health and also because she is in pain (even with the metacam). I asked about the success rate for this surgery and they were honest enough to tell me that 98% make it through the operation but 30 to 40% don't recover. However, they did say that generally the piggies that died were already weakened by weight loss or were much sicker than Hazel currently is.

I have no idea how this success rate compares with other vets, especially The Cat and Rabbit Clinic but i know that i need to make a decision soon before Hazel's condition deteriorates. I am very aware that she needs the operation and i don't want her to suffer but i am also very scared of losing her.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated, as would the experience of anyone who has a piggy that has had this surgery. 🙁
 
I’m so sorry that it isn’t better news. Poor Hazel, no wonder she is in pain.

I’ve not got direct experience of surgery of this nature. @Wiebke may have more information on success rates.

Thinking of you Yvonne x
 
Oh I’m sorry it’s not better news. I have no experience but sending lots of love to you.
I suppose it needs to come out and better whilst she is in over all good health for the best shot of recovery?
Much love. X
 
Sending you hugs at such a difficult time.
I have had boars operated on for stones. Both operations were successful but one boar was PTS later when he got another stone in his kidney which was inoperable. Particularly heart breaking as the day after the op he was bouncing around as if nothing had happened. Rusty had a stone removed last January, he took longer to recover but is still with us. He does suffer from sludgy urine from time to time but at the moment he is happy and we are able to manage the sludge before it causes too much of a problem. Rusty did need round the clock syringe feeding and pain meds for a few days. He had lost weight before the op but not a huge amount and was in otherwise good health. I hope this helps you a little bit, with an experienced vet a stone removal operation can give them a good chance of pain free life.
 
YvonneBlue said:
Sadly not good news. Hazel has a 4mm bladder stone which needs removing. The vet would like to do this on Thursday/Friday this week while she is still in good health and also because she is in pain (even with the metacam). I asked about the success rate for this surgery and they were honest enough to tell me that 98% make it through the operation but 30 to 40% don't recover. However, they did say that generally the piggies that died were already weakened by weight loss or were much sicker than Hazel currently is.

I have no idea how this success rate compares with other vets, especially The Cat and Rabbit Clinic but i know that i need to make a decision soon before Hazel's condition deteriorates. I am very aware that she needs the operation and i don't want her to suffer but i am also very scared of losing her.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated, as would the experience of anyone who has a piggy that has had this surgery. 🙁
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Hi!

Please operate as soon as possible - the sooner, the better your chances of a problem-free recovery. The changes with sows are overwhelmingly positive.

It is actually very rare that sows have post-op complications for a bladder stone op; in fact, recovery rates in bladder stone ops are some of the very best because being free from the immense pain of the stone banging against the bladder walls means that piggies usually pick up very quickly as soon as their body settles from the operation soreness.
Most of the complications and fatalities cited by your vet happen in boars where the stone has been washed into the longer urethra and has fetched up in the awkward inglenook that boars have, which makes for a longer and much more difficult operation and where the stone can cause a lot more damage if it lodges into the wall of the urethra. Sow urethras are much shorter and straight. Any urethral stones usually fetch up just before the opening and in most cases are comparatively easily manipulated out; sometimes with just a small cut.
Boars have the same high recovery rate as sows if their stones are still in the bladder - the problem for the recovery statistic are the male urethral stones and any urethral stones in both genders where stones block the flow of urine until backs up into the kidneys - again, that is much more common in boars compared to sows.

A 4mm stone is still on the medium side. I've had much bigger ones in sows of mine over the years - and all of them have made a full recovery. The only sow I ever lost had very unusual stones (an extremely scratchy irregular conglomerate of lots of tiny stones), which caused her to develop a cancerous polyp in her bladder in the year between her first and her second stone op. She died from bladder trauma because the damage was just too great. This was 14 years ago when there was still so very little information on stones and diet around. I have never seen another stone like hers in all my years on this forum; just to put this experience into perspective. :(

I would recommend that you order some feliway cat cystease capsules, dissolve the contents of one capsule in 2 ml of water and either give 1 ml of the solution twice daily or 2 ml once daily. Shake well before any use. The glucosamine will help the battered natural glucosamine coating of the walls of the urinary tract that prevents the corrosive urine from coming into contact with raw tissue to recover faster and increase the comfort in there.
Tips For Post-operative Care

All the best for Hazel!
 
Wiebke said:
Hi!

Please operate as soon as possible - the sooner, the better your chances of a problem-free recovery. The changes with sows are overwhelmingly positive.

It is actually very rare that sows have post-op complications for a bladder stone op; in fact, recovery rates in bladder stone ops are some of the very best because being free from the immense pain of the stone banging against the bladder walls means that piggies usually pick up very quickly as soon as their body settles from the operation soreness.
Most of the complications and fatalities cited by your vet happen in boars where the stone has been washed into the longer urethra and has fetched up in the awkward inglenook that boars have, which makes for a longer and much more difficult operation and where the stone can cause a lot more damage if it lodges into the wall of the urethra. Sow urethras are much shorter and straight. Any urethral stones usually fetch up just before the opening and in most cases be comparatively easily manipulated out.
Boars have the same high recovery rate as sows if their stones are still in the bladder - the problem for the recovery statistic are the male urethral stones.

A 4mm stone is still on the medium side. I've had much bigger ones in sows of mine over the years - and all of them have made a full recovery. The only sow I ever lost had very unusual stones (an extremely scratchy irregular conglomerate of lots of tiny stones), which caused her to develop a cancerous polyp in her bladder in the year between her first and her second stone op. She died from bladder trauma because the damage was just too great. This was 14 years ago when there was still so very little information on stones and diet around. I have never seen another stone like hers in all my years on this forum; just to put this experience into perspective. :(

I would recommend that you order some feliway cat cystease capsules, dissolve the contents of one capsule in 2 ml of water and either give 1 ml of the solution twice daily or 2 ml once daily. Shake well before any use. The glucosamine will help the battered natural glucosamine coating of the walls of the urinary tract that prevents the corrosive urine from coming into contact with raw tissue to recover faster and increase the comfort in there.
Tips For Post-operative Care

All the best for Hazel!
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Thanks so much @Wiebke, i will go ahead and book her in for the operation at the end of the week. The vet said they will keep her in overnight to check on her recovery. So if she has her op on Thursday or Friday i will then be available over the weekend to care for her if she needs syringe feeding. We have cystease already as Mavis has IC, so we get a monthly delivery from Amazon. We already feed a low calcium diet to our piggies but as she has only been with us for just over a year i guess the damage was already done before she came to us.

I will keep this thread updated with her progress.
 
Aw, so sorry for your sad news Yvonne, it’s so sad x
I can only say from my experience that both Bill and Ted made great recoveries after ops with Simon. He is a great piggie surgeon as well as his amazing dentistry skills
Wishing you and Hazel all the luck whatever you decided x
I’d PM furryfriends TEAS as she is constantly back and forth and knows Simon capabilities very well x
Simon and Kim are away on Easter holiday soon I have heard but don’t know the dates (for a fortnight?)
Her phone number is on the TEAS website x
 
YvonneBlue said:
Sadly not good news. Hazel has a 4mm bladder stone which needs removing. The vet would like to do this on Thursday/Friday this week while she is still in good health and also because she is in pain (even with the metacam). I asked about the success rate for this surgery and they were honest enough to tell me that 98% make it through the operation but 30 to 40% don't recover. However, they did say that generally the piggies that died were already weakened by weight loss or were much sicker than Hazel currently is.

I have no idea how this success rate compares with other vets, especially The Cat and Rabbit Clinic but i know that i need to make a decision soon before Hazel's condition deteriorates. I am very aware that she needs the operation and i don't want her to suffer but i am also very scared of losing her.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated, as would the experience of anyone who has a piggy that has had this surgery. 🙁
Click to expand...
I've looked after a number of guinea pigs post op, who have had bladder stones removed at The Cat and Rabbit Care Clinic and all have done very well. However, Simon and Kim are on annual leave from this Friday until 12th April
 
furryfriends (TEAS) said:
I've looked after a number of guinea pigs post op, who have had bladder stones removed at The Cat and Rabbit Care Clinic and all have done very well. However, Simon and Kim are on annual leave from this Friday until 12th April
Click to expand...
Hi Debbie

Thanks for responding. I am not sure that Hazel can wait that long as she is still in pain even with 0.6ml of metacam (she only weighs 900g). I just don't want to end up with her so sick that she is at even more risk from the surgery. I guess that i will have to put my trust in our vet at Ashleigh. They have successfully neutered two of our boys and seem to be generally well thought of on the forum.
 
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