Incontinent Piggie

[Goring Girl]

My piggie (female, 2 yrs) is on Septrin having completed 10 days on Baytril with little improvement. she has been wet and dribbling urine since 19 Dec and despite 2 or 3 baths a day plus Vaseline is getting scalded by her own urine. I am changing bedding twice a day but she is not improving. Still eating and drinking fine and moving about but now cries when picked up. What else can I do to help her? If these antibiotics are working when will I see an improvement?
Vet checked for diabetes and it was negative. Also did an ultrasound and no stones present.

Getting really worried about her.

 

[Wiebke]

My piggie (female, 2 yrs) is on Septrin having completed 10 days on Baytril with little improvement. she has been wet and dribbling urine since 19 Dec and despite 2 or 3 baths a day plus Vaseline is getting scalded by her own urine. I am changing bedding twice a day but she is not improving. Still eating and drinking fine and moving about but now cries when picked up. What else can I do to help her? If these antibiotics are working when will I see an improvement?
Vet checked for diabetes and it was negative. Also did an ultrasound and no stones present.

Getting really worried about her.

Hi! Septrin can take a while to work fully (3-4 weeks), but your girl can also have not a Urine infection (UTI), but a cystitis, i.e. an Inflammation of the bladder walls, which does not react much to antibiotics, These cases are becoming more frequent. If it is not going down or recurring, we talk about Interstitial cystitis (IC). Have you been given metacam, which is an anti-inflammatory/painkiller?

Did your vet check the womb for an infection? This can cause similar symptoms if the womb is fluid filled, but it would have shown up on an x-ray or ultrasound.

As things are not improving/deteriorating, you may want to talk to your vet again.

 

[Goring Girl]

Hi! Septrin can take a while to work fully (3-4 weeks), but your girl can also have not a Urine infection (UTI), but a cystitis, i.e. an Inflammation of the bladder walls, which does not react much to antibiotics, These cases are becoming more frequent. If it is not going down or recurring, we talk about Interstitial cystitis (IC). Have you been given metacam, which is an anti-inflammatory/painkiller?

Did your vet check the womb for an infection? This can cause similar symptoms if the womb is fluid filled, but it would have shown up on an x-ray or ultrasound.

As things are not improving/deteriorating, you may want to talk to your vet again.

 

[Goring Girl]

Thank you I didn't know about the Metacam and will ask about this tomorrow. I really don't know how much they saw with the ultrasound only that the walls of the bladder were thin ?

I will persist with the Septrin! They were talking about putting her to sleep on Saturday but I think she is worth fighting for.

 

[Wiebke]

Thank you I didn't know about the Metacam and will ask about this tomorrow. I really don't know how much they saw with the ultrasound only that the walls of the bladder were thin ?

I will persist with the Septrin! They were talking about putting her to sleep on Saturday but I think she is worth fighting for.

As Long as your girl is willing to eat, she still has the will to live and Quality of life. Have your vets checked the kidneys for signs of kidney failure? Have they tested for blood and protein in the pee (the latter is an indicator for an infection)?

If your vet is arriving at a diagnosis of IC, then there are a few more things you can do apart from the metacam, like diet and supporting the bladder with glucosamine.

I would recommend to monitor her weight daily at the same time, and if necessary topping her up with syringe feed.
Complete Syringe Feeding Guide

Guinea Lynx :: UTI

 

[Goring Girl]

As Long as your girl is willing to eat, she still has the will to live and Quality of life. Have your vets checked the kidneys for signs of kidney failure? Have they tested for blood and protein in the pee (the latter is an indicator for an infection)?

If your vet is arriving at a diagnosis of IC, then there are a few more things you can do apart from the metacam, like diet and supporting the bladder with glucosamine.

I would recommend to monitor her weight daily at the same time, and if necessary topping her up with syringe feed.
Complete Syringe Feeding Guide

Guinea Lynx :: UTI

 

[Goring Girl]

Brilliant have just put her to bed and she is tucking into her food at the moment. I monitor her weight weekly but will step this up to daily a she has lost about 100 g already. They did find blood in her pee, not sure about protein though. They checked for diabetes and this came back negative.
Will keep up my hopes all the time she is eating and moving about, she is certainly not ready to quit at the moment.
Really appreciate all your advice, thank you.

 

[Adelle]

Firstly I'd request a urine culture to rule out infection.

If she doesn't improve on the Septrin or even with the Metacam then it's unlikely to be a UTI and I'd request an X-ray. Stones can be located in the bladder (which they would've scanned) but also in the urethra and vulva which may not have been checked properly. This could explain her symptoms.

The bladder walls being described as "thin" basically means they aren't inflammed which makes interstitial cystitis unlikely.

Once infection, stones and inflammation have been completely ruled out, they could consider this being purely incontinence from a muscle or nerve issue. This Can be managed with medication such as propalin syrup.

 

[Goring Girl]

Wow you guys know so much. Thank you. Will keep in touch and let you know progress.

 

[Goring Girl]

All looking positive, back to the vets today for a check. Still blood in the urine but less than before, urine scalds receding but still there, still wet at the back and she is still very leaky. Continuing with Septrin plus (thanks to your suggestions) metacam and glucosamine capsules.
Vet is great and we reviewed your advice together on the internet during the consultation.
Off to the supermarket to buy some lower calcium fruit/vegetables to try and continue with the improvement in her health.
Thanks for your advice, it can feel lonely trying to care for a poor creature who is obviously unwell and not knowing if you are helping them or making it worse. Feels like we are making progress at last...

 

[Adelle]

All looking positive, back to the vets today for a check. Still blood in the urine but less than before, urine scalds receding but still there, still wet at the back and she is still very leaky. Continuing with Septrin plus (thanks to your suggestions) metacam and glucosamine capsules.
Vet is great and we reviewed your advice together on the internet during the consultation.
Off to the supermarket to buy some lower calcium fruit/vegetables to try and continue with the improvement in her health.
Thanks for your advice, it can feel lonely trying to care for a poor creature who is obviously unwell and not knowing if you are helping them or making it worse. Feels like we are making progress at last...

For the urine scalds, gently bathe her back end, dry fully but gently then trim the hair that's getting wet (even if she's a short hair) and apply some Vaseline to the skin as this will act like a barrier to stop the urine touching her. The hair holds the urine to the skin, if her incontinence is an ongoing issue it may be worth having the vet shave around her vulva at her next visit to lessen the urine holding on.

I'd definately get some vet bed for where she sleeps, I use it for all my pigs as a complete cage sized piece. I have an oldie with heart problems and arthritis that can sleep soundly in the one spot for 4 hours quite happily- she is never wet whatsoever (despite weeing every 20 mins due to her diuretics) and she's white , so I'd know if she got damp as it would stain :-)

 

[Goring Girl]

Piggie is happily sharing her new vetbed and looking so much healthier. Still wet at the back but less so and urine scalds are nearly gone. I am trying to move them onto a lower calcium diet so have switched the hay to timothy hay and taken away the spinach, celery and kale. Experimenting with alternative greens with some hits and some misses.
Urine is sometimes clear and other times almost creamy coloured so I guess the bladder problems are still present?

 

[Adelle]

You should find info on a low calcium veg diet here:
Recommendations For A Balanced General Guinea Pig Diet

Try Spring green as your green food.

The fact the urine is running clear sometimes is good as it means she's taken in a good amount of fluid and the bladder is being flushed. Syringe extra water or offer cucumber throughout the day to help flush the sediment from her bladder which should ease her symptoms x