Dash_and_Ozzie_the_floofs
Junior Guinea Pig
Hi,
One of our guinea pigs, Ozzie (3.5 y.o longhaired sow) has been having urinary issues since like November. She also smells bad quite a lot of the time (since last week she's had 2 baths I think, We know she shouldn't be bathed that often but the smell is terrible). Her pee is thick and white. She is now the lowest weight she has been since she was less than a year old in 2023. She is now 988g, before any of this happened she was around 1100g+ I will put a timeline of events below:
November 2025: Our other guinea pig, Dash, got gut stasis/a blockage and would not eat. She kept trying to eat the wood shavings though, so we got some fleece mats (they weren't the proper ones though). With this came the start of Ozzie's problems. She smelled a lot, but we put this down to the pee soaking through the pee pad things.
Somewhere around December 2025: Dash had recovered (and stopped eating woodshavings) so we could put the woodshavings back. We thought that this would get rid of the smell, but Ozzie still smelled.
February 2026: Ozzie started squeaking when she peed, as well as the smell. We got her to the vet and she was diagnosed with a UTI. She had antibiotics and rheumocam. This stopped the smell and squeaking for a while but the smell came back quite quickly.
March: She went to the vet again, she got the same things again. At this appointment she peed and it was apparently like yogurt and smelled terrible. We booked her an ultrasound.
Later in March: She had her ultrasound. This revealed bladder sludge. She was given rheumocam and potassium citrate to try and get rid of the sludge. She is still on these.
She has been on and off smelling since then.
A few days ago: we picked her up and she peed, but it was only like a dribble/droplets and really thick and white. She also seems to be holding her pee, as every time we've picked her up she has either had a full bladder or peed on my husband.
We went to the vet and she got a stronger rheumocam prescription. This is now the strongest she can have. The vet said that if it doesn't clear up within two weeks, she will need an x-ray, and if it shows anything she might need surgery. (I'm not sure whether that is what the vet said or what my husband thinks will happen though).
So far not much has changed, she is still extremely smelly. I am very concerned as I have heard the outcomes for guinea pig surgery is not great. Is this true?
We've heard surgery is very expensive, and we've been quoted a lot of money for an x-ray (over £400 possibly) we are not sure if we have enough money for this.
My 15 year old daughter is autistic and has sensory issues. Her smell is causing worsening of them. This is stopping her interact with them as much at the moment (we are instead), which is sad because guinea pigs are her special interest.
She is on rheumocam, potassium citrate, and oxbow urinary support tablets. She has filtered water. She also has oxbow vitamin c tablets.
We are worried that she is in pain and we don't know. We don't want anything bad to happen to her. Is there anything we can do to help her (other than bathe her a lot)? Also, has anyone had any similar issues?
I was going to add photos for the guinea pig tax but I can't seem to see how to do it
One of our guinea pigs, Ozzie (3.5 y.o longhaired sow) has been having urinary issues since like November. She also smells bad quite a lot of the time (since last week she's had 2 baths I think, We know she shouldn't be bathed that often but the smell is terrible). Her pee is thick and white. She is now the lowest weight she has been since she was less than a year old in 2023. She is now 988g, before any of this happened she was around 1100g+ I will put a timeline of events below:
November 2025: Our other guinea pig, Dash, got gut stasis/a blockage and would not eat. She kept trying to eat the wood shavings though, so we got some fleece mats (they weren't the proper ones though). With this came the start of Ozzie's problems. She smelled a lot, but we put this down to the pee soaking through the pee pad things.
Somewhere around December 2025: Dash had recovered (and stopped eating woodshavings) so we could put the woodshavings back. We thought that this would get rid of the smell, but Ozzie still smelled.
February 2026: Ozzie started squeaking when she peed, as well as the smell. We got her to the vet and she was diagnosed with a UTI. She had antibiotics and rheumocam. This stopped the smell and squeaking for a while but the smell came back quite quickly.
March: She went to the vet again, she got the same things again. At this appointment she peed and it was apparently like yogurt and smelled terrible. We booked her an ultrasound.
Later in March: She had her ultrasound. This revealed bladder sludge. She was given rheumocam and potassium citrate to try and get rid of the sludge. She is still on these.
She has been on and off smelling since then.
A few days ago: we picked her up and she peed, but it was only like a dribble/droplets and really thick and white. She also seems to be holding her pee, as every time we've picked her up she has either had a full bladder or peed on my husband.
We went to the vet and she got a stronger rheumocam prescription. This is now the strongest she can have. The vet said that if it doesn't clear up within two weeks, she will need an x-ray, and if it shows anything she might need surgery. (I'm not sure whether that is what the vet said or what my husband thinks will happen though).
So far not much has changed, she is still extremely smelly. I am very concerned as I have heard the outcomes for guinea pig surgery is not great. Is this true?
We've heard surgery is very expensive, and we've been quoted a lot of money for an x-ray (over £400 possibly) we are not sure if we have enough money for this.
My 15 year old daughter is autistic and has sensory issues. Her smell is causing worsening of them. This is stopping her interact with them as much at the moment (we are instead), which is sad because guinea pigs are her special interest.
She is on rheumocam, potassium citrate, and oxbow urinary support tablets. She has filtered water. She also has oxbow vitamin c tablets.
We are worried that she is in pain and we don't know. We don't want anything bad to happen to her. Is there anything we can do to help her (other than bathe her a lot)? Also, has anyone had any similar issues?
I was going to add photos for the guinea pig tax but I can't seem to see how to do it
