Good evening Wiebke. I thought I would give you an update on Iris...
I took her to my other vet (once the snow had cleared) which is 60-70 miles away in Reading but they are much more Cavy savvy than my normal vets. Iris had an x-ray which showed no signs of a stone. Her Baytril was increased to 0.45mls twice a day for ten days (the vet agreed with me than 5 days was not enough!) and was also prescribed a pain killer. Her antibiotics finished on Thursday and I have not noticed any more blood around her genitals (touch wood!). However, on Wednesday I had to take my boar to Reading as he too was passing blood and raising his back end when pooing. Once again an x-ray ruled out stones and the vet was a bit baffled as to why they are both experiencing the same symptoms - she thinks it could be stress related? Wallace was not prescribed any antibiotics or painkillers but they both are now on Catease for 2 weeks. Is it common for two pigs to encounter these symptoms at the same time. I know UTIs can be caused by sitting in wet bedding but I wash their fleece and replace their hay every other day - is this not enough or am I doing something else wrong? I will try filtering their water as we do live in a hard water area and my vet did suggest this. Any other thoughts please? I am at my wits end feeling guilty, stressed and upset - my pets are my world and I would never do anything to make them poorly but I just can't seem to get anything right but rehoming them would break my heart.
Hi! Poor you!
UTIs are generally caused by faecal bacteria getting into the urinary tract. Sudden swings in temperature and too early lawn trips can help as triggers.
I have noticed with piggies of mine and some other forum members that the infection can occasionally be transmitted to others (but never all in a group), mostly likely when they scent mark and drag their bottoms along the floor - and that is simply behaviour that you cannot stop or prevent.
Take a deep breath. Your new vets sound very competent. No stones is always good news; it means that whatever they have got may be a pain in the neck, but you are not going to face potential ops or anything.
I would recommend to wash any bedding at 60 C and to change it more frequently (daily or every second day - I know that that is a pain!) That is what I have done in your situation, and it has usually done the trick with keeping it from spreading.
I would also recommend to make sure that temperatures are as stable as possible where your piggies are.
Please don't be upset; if you wish to, give your piggies a booster course of extra vitamin C for 2-3 weeks to strengthen their immune system. In hard water areas it is always best to filter the water and check your pellet brand/amount that you feed before you consider your veg.
Here are our diet tips for guinea pigs with chronic urinary tract issues:
Long Term Balanced General And Special Needs Guinea Pig Diet
If the infection persists or returns, then you and your vets may be looking at interstitial cystitis (IC), an inflammation of the bladder walls, which has become a lot more common over the course of the last decade and which currently can only manage but not heal (it will eventually go away on its own). At the moment, IC is a default diagnosis after all other issues, like stones or UTI have been excluded.
Your vets have already excluded the stone/sludge angle and are addressing the cystitis angle with the metacam, which is not only a painkiller, but also an anti-inflammatory, so they are well ahead in the game.
PS: If you want to link me into a thread in which you are posting an update, you tag me by typing @ immediately followed by my username; then click on the list that appears.
I am always glad if I am not swamped with too many alerts by forum members in sections where I have set my own automatic alerts (which means I might miss some important ones) but I do not always get alerts from threads that are ongoing.
