IC - different treatments/experiences

DougalandDiego

DougalandDiego

Teenage Guinea Pig
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Hi everyone,

I hope it’s ok to start this thread on the chat section of the forum. My 18 month olds boar has been struggling with bladder problems the last couple of months and after some X-rays and scans we think we have narrowed it down to being interstitial cystitis.

The guinea pig specialist he usually sees in on holiday and he’s got an appointment with her next Monday to discuss the scans and get his second injection on cartrophen in the hope that it helps relieve some discomfort.

Ive been trying to do lots of research about IC and the different treatments etc. And thought it might be helpful to discuss different treatments/ideas?

Diego has been on 1 capsule daily of cystease for 3 weeks along with 0.2ml twice daily of dog metacam. The last two days we have increased it to two capsules of cystease daily and 0.3ml twice daily of dog metacam as he is having quite a bad flare up. He is 1.3kg but has dropped a little in the last few days (hoping this is down to being at the vets all day yesterday during his scans) but I’ve been giving top up feeds today so hope he picks up again.


He also got his first cartrophen injection just over a week ago and is due another on Monday. I’m really hoping this helps as the cystease and metacam doesn’t seem to stop the squeaky wees, although I’m hoping it will once he’s had it long enough!
 
If he's not a big drinker it's a good idea to wet his veg and feed leafy green veg, cucumbers, that sort of thing to keep his urine as weak as you can and his bladder flushed. You need to be careful not to feed so much wet veg you upset his tummy and give him soft poops. It's a bit of a trial and error game until you get the food right for your guinea pig. Different foods can spark a flare in different pigs. I found celery was bad for Spike, I've heard others say lettuce is a problem. My vet suggested feeding wet food spaced throughout the day rather than just once hence the clamour in our house for a slice of cucumber as soon as the fridge opens in the morning.

You are doing really well, keep us updated on what the exotic vet says on Monday. It will be interesting to see if she comes up with anything different.
 
Thank you! Yes luckily he’s always been a really good drinker so that’s lucky for us! I have been putting some filtered water in with their veg when I give it to them in the morning and just shaking the excess off to try and up his water intake too.

Yes the exotic vet (who is their usual vet) is great. She was really keen on the cartrophen injection as it apparently contains a lot of glucosamine. I know some members on the forum has said it’s helped to relieve some of the symptoms of IC so hoping after a few of them that might start to kick in too!
 
DougalandDiego said:
Hi everyone,

I hope it’s ok to start this thread on the chat section of the forum. My 18 month olds boar has been struggling with bladder problems the last couple of months and after some X-rays and scans we think we have narrowed it down to being interstitial cystitis.

The guinea pig specialist he usually sees in on holiday and he’s got an appointment with her next Monday to discuss the scans and get his second injection on cartrophen in the hope that it helps relieve some discomfort.

Ive been trying to do lots of research about IC and the different treatments etc. And thought it might be helpful to discuss different treatments/ideas?

Diego has been on 1 capsule daily of cystease for 3 weeks along with 0.2ml twice daily of dog metacam. The last two days we have increased it to two capsules of cystease daily and 0.3ml twice daily of dog metacam as he is having quite a bad flare up. He is 1.3kg but has dropped a little in the last few days (hoping this is down to being at the vets all day yesterday during his scans) but I’ve been giving top up feeds today so hope he picks up again.


He also got his first cartrophen injection just over a week ago and is due another on Monday. I’m really hoping this helps as the cystease and metacam doesn’t seem to stop the squeaky wees, although I’m hoping it will once he’s had it long enough!
Click to expand...
Glad the vet has ruled out stones x
 
I’d also be interested about whether people give their IC piggies forage? Feel really cruel if he can’t have anything different/treats but then also don’t want to cause him any unnecessary flare ups.

If so is there anything I should avoid or anything that wouldn’t be too harsh/calcium rich that would be good for an IC piggy? I don’t feed forage very often until I read a post this evening about some members giving it daily depending on what it was and thought it would be nice to introduce more if it was possible. ☺️
 
I give a small pinch of dried forage a couple of times a week in the winter as a treat as I can't pick fresh weeds so easily. It's difficult for me to single out my 2 'delicate' boars from the others so they all have to suffer only occasional treats! The favourites are dandelion and plantain but both are quite high in calcium which Rusty needs to have very little of because of his tendency to stones. Piggles parcels does a mix especially for piggies with bladder problems.
 
Lucy suffered with terrible IC, and it took us a long while to get fully under control.
The Metacam, and glucosamine are a fantastic start.
With Lucy we ended up cutting out all veg and started reintroducing one veg at a time for 10 days, and keeping an eye on what triggered her squeaky wees.
It was a long and slow process, but it did work in the end and she was able to eat quite a lot, and even the odd piece of forage too.
 
That’s a good idea @Swissgreys i didn’t think about cutting it all out and slowly introducing - it’s hard to know where to begin with what could be a trigger so think that’s worth trying. I will speak to the vet on Monday about that - thanks!
 
Red seems to be doing well thanks @DougalandDiego I didn't give him Metacam this morning and I've been in the room with him most of the time, not heard a squeak! Luckily his gut has not reacted to the abs so I've not had to syringe feed. He's the only guinea pig I've ever had that's not lost weight while taking anti biotics!
 
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