Help with bladder crystals please !

[The Potteries Guinea Pig Rescue]

Hi there

My poorly boar; darcey, is passing blood in his urine
he doesnt seem to be in pain or discomfort when weeing but there is definatly blood coming out.
We've been told that he could have crystals in his bladder which could turn into stones !

If anybody knows of any remedies or medication which could help break up these crystals please could you get in touch as i cant have my baby boy pooly anymore :0

thankyou x

 

[Wiebke]

Firstly - has Darcy had an x-ray? He won't need a general anaesthetic for that; immobilising him with a sandbag will do at the vets. If piggies feel trapped, they freeze.

If his x-ray shows bladder stones, he needs an operation. If he has crystals, your vet (if he is experienced) may try to flush out his bladder. Due to the longer urethra, this is more difficult with boar sthan sows.

Darcy can do with pain relief and antibiotics to counter the bladder infection/irritation. However, if he has stones, you cannot ignore them, as they will become excruciatingly painful and won't go away!

http://www.guinealynx.info/stones.html

 

[alcesterpigs]

A pig is easily immobilised by wrapping him in a towel and then placing him on a soft surface. The length of the urethra in a boar is not a problem as such. It is the path that the urethra follows that is the underlying problem. There is a "kink" in the urethra which makes it difficult for stones to be passed from the bladder to the outside world.

 

[Laura-CCC4]

I am sorry to hear Darcey is not well.

A good fluid intake can help flush out the bladder. As said above, diagnosing/ruling out stones by xray would be an important first step. The treatment depends on the specific, diagnosed problem.