• Discussions taking place within this forum are intended for the purpose of assisting you in discussing options with your vet. Any other use of advice given here is done so at your risk, is solely your responsibility and not that of this forum or its owner. Before posting it is your responsibility you abide by this Statement

Little Rodney

Status
Not open for further replies.
Well I for one am really pleased and relieved to hear what John has said.

Firstly - Rodney has no kidney problems or ureter stones....THAT IS A MASSIVE POSITIVE RESULT! YAY!!
OK - He has a bladder stone that will need an op provided he is up to it. If John is happy to do the GA/op and feels Rodney is up to it then that too is a really positive sign.So yes...The bladder stone op will be risky - as it is with any guinea - but John is very good with GA as he has proved with Rodney's recent diagnostic procedure. He's also made it clear that there are no contraindications (eg kidney stones etc) so I think Rodney is in the best of hands

Secondly- John has identified him as a "gritty guinea" i.e. he has crystals/salts embedding in the bladder linlng.Whilst the actual bladder stone needs to be removed by specific op..the grit might be able to be handled with an associated bladder flush and then managed by diet going forwards etc

FWIW - (you can mention this to John if you like) .......My 4.5yr old Carson piggie had a bladder flush for grit 30 odd months ago and I subsequently gave no leafy greens and controlled his diet properly, He has been fine urinary-wise ever since! He did have another Xray last monday because his urine was showing high protein. But there was no evidence of grit/stones etc on his recent Xray...so I am now confident that bladder flushes for grit are a very good thing and help prevent stone formation ln the longer term.

Sleep well tonight Nursey, safe in the knowledge that little Rodney is back and that he has a good treatment plan and outcome with one of the best piggie vets in the country.

Sounds like little Rodney will be here for many more piggie years to come.

Hugs x.
 
Last edited:
Ah thank you so much! What lovely positive messages. I am still understandably very worried about what's to come, and how he will recover from a surgery - but so glad that I can have it all done by one of the best pig vets there is. I hope he is here for years to come!

He did say that he was quieter than he would like under the anaesthetic (just gas) and that he slept quite deep which worries me, but he has had almost 2 months of misdiagnosis by my local vet which has not helped his current state of being run down. Quite fuming really.

A couple of questions - water. I am to give him lots of water but I know there is calcium in tap water. I don't have a water filter, should I buy him bottled water? Or will that have even more chemicals in it?

Also, he is now lacking vit c & this showed in X-ray which amazed me because they eat like kings & eat peppers daily along with a variety of other veg! But anyway, I had already bought him tablets, & he has just taken an oxbow vit c tablet which I mashed into some water, he liked it! And drank it no bother from a syringe. Is giving it to him this way good enough? He won't have anything on his food he won't eat things that have been tampered with. Also I noticed oxbow has some calcium in it!?

I looked at human tablets & they don't easily come as low as 50mg, I did manage to find a Tesco 80mg but really it is to be swallowed so I bought the oxbow altho I have both at home.

Will he get enough benefit from it being in water? Only 2 syringes worth of water not loads.

John recommended giving him flavoured water to help him get lots of fluid, apple or carrot or whatever he likes. I don't want to give him diabetes tho?

Yes he went through everything on his X-Ray & made a point if saying his kidneys are fine. He has some reaction in his ears, I've always thought he had ear issues as he had head tilt a couple of years back (my vet said it was probably a brain tumour - really never going back to them with a small animal!) but I opted to try anti b in case it was infection & he was fine. He also has a little minor teeth rumbling which he can't be too worried about or he would have filed today surely. So glad there were no tumours or anything, but wish this stone would vanish by itself!

Pebble said:
Well I for one am really pleased and relieved to hear what John has said.

Firstly - Rodney has no kidney problems or ureter stones....THAT IS A MASSIVE POSITIVE RESULT! YAY!
OK - He has a bladder stone that will need an op provided he is up to it. If John is happy to do the GA/op and feels Rodney is up to it then that too is a really positive sign.So yes...The bladder stone op will be risky - as it is with any guinea - but John is very good with GA as he has proved with Rodney's recent diagnostic procedure. He's also made it clear that there are no contraindications (eg kidney stones etc) so I think Rodney is in the best of hands

Secondly- John has identified him as a "gritty guinea" i.e. he has crystals/salts embedding in the bladder linlng.Whilst the actual bladder stone needs to be removed by specific op..the grit might be able to be handled with an associated bladder flush and then managed by diet going forwards etc

FWIW - (you can mention this to John if you like) .......My 4.5yr old Carson piggie had a bladder flush for grit 30 odd months ago and I subsequently gave no leafy greens and controlled his diet properly, He has been fine urinary-wise ever since! He did have another Xray last monday because his urine was showing high protein. But there was no evidence of grit/stones etc on his recent Xray...so I am now confident that bladder flushes for grit are a very good thing and help prevent stone formation ln the longer term.

Sleep well tonight Nursey, safe in the knowledge that little Rodney is back and that he has a good treatment plan and outcome with one of the best piggie vets in the country.

Sounds like little Rodney will be here for many more piggie years to come.

Hugs x.
Click to expand...
 
Too much info to comment tonigtht - I need to eat, syringe feed sick piggies and t some point go to bed.
Can you respond to my PM please ref tel call as you raise some very interesting issues re ears
x
 
For the last week the boys have only had lettuce along with other bits, cucumber carrot celery peppers etc. leaf wise only lettuce as I was suspicious of bladder stones, this really annoys them... A change in diet is gonna go down like a lead balloon! Haha
 
Last edited:
I wouldn't say well, he has a lot of pain, but he has an expert looking out for him now so I can only hope he can fix my handsome boy xx
 
He is worse today. He is crying literally every minute. I have rang John and he has asked me to increase his loxicom which I have done, and to text him at 12 to see how he is I think I will have to take him back today ;(
 
Aw bless. Is it today the bloods come back? I really hope the loxicam helps. He may need tramadol or something else x
 
DO NOT FEED LETTUCE!

I have a very similar story to yours and the culprit was lettuce. Even though the stone analysis might result in a warning of brassicas….it is lettuce that is the problem.

When we first got guineas we had endless bladder stone problems and we thought it was due to being in a hard water area. Though we lost one to this problem, eventually her cage mate was in the same situation as yours and she had to have the stone removed. It was almost the same size as her bladder! The operation was fine and she lived to a ripe old age! But only because we completely changed the diet: since those times we were told never ever to feed lettuce to guineas, even though they love it, and hey presto we have never had a bladder problem since with many more guineas since then. We live in the same hard water area.

Spring greens are good! Pak Choi is a good alternative to lettuce.

Also..yes to filtering water. It helps.
Also, yes to lots and lots of water to flush the sludge out of the bladder, but if there is a big stone in there you should think about the operation very soon.

Hope that helps. Stones are horrible and they have to be dealt with quickly if the guinea is crying when passing.
 
Rodney isn't even that keen on lettuce!

He is definitely in more pain today. It's horrible. He is definitely pooing but I find it really hard on fleece to tell if he can wee ok. His willy looks wetish so I think he is but painfully.

He was out eating hay this morning & was excited for breakfast but wasn't in the mood for his vit c syringe which he loved yesterday.

Why do things always happen over the weekend!

Pinki said:
DO NOT FEED LETTUCE!

I have a very similar story to yours and the culprit was lettuce. Even though the stone analysis might result in a warning of brassicas….it is lettuce that is the problem.

When we first got guineas we had endless bladder stone problems and we thought it was due to being in a hard water area. Though we lost one to this problem, eventually her cage mate was in the same situation as yours and she had to have the stone removed. It was almost the same size as her bladder! The operation was fine and she lived to a ripe old age! But only because we completely changed the diet: since those times we were told never ever to feed lettuce to guineas, even though they love it, and hey presto we have never had a bladder problem since with many more guineas since then. We live in the same hard water area.

Spring greens are good! Pak Choi is a good alternative to lettuce.

Also..yes to filtering water. It helps.
Also, yes to lots and lots of water to flush the sludge out of the bladder, but if there is a big stone in there you should think about the operation very soon.

Hope that helps. Stones are horrible and they have to be dealt with quickly if the guinea is crying when passing.
Click to expand...
 
Really have no idea what I am meant to feed them! Seems they can't have anything !
 
spring greens....cucumber...greenbeans and a few springs of coriander....thats what I think Helen feeds her piggies because of calcium if I am.not mistaken?
really hope Rodney is feeling better soon. X
 
Totally agree…also tomatoes, whole corn (especially the silk! lots of that in the greengrocer right now!) and Russell Rabbit Carrot and Leek dry food was recommended to us when there are bladder issues and we have used it for nearly 7 years now as the main dry food. Apparently there is no colour additive in this particular one.
But that stone will not go away now….this is for the future once you have dealt with it. Good luck! Do not despair, it can be fixed :)

Also basil…mmmm
 
Also the squeaking when peeing or pooing…..this can go on for a some time before it's an emergency so you should be all right for the weekend. It's important to check stuff is actually coming out …if not then it is an emergency. In that scenario people have used vibrators on the belly to move the blockage, but an operation is vital. Like I say, squeaking is not necessarily an emergency but an alarm call.
 
Well I am waiting for the vet to decide when is best to operate this is the thing, we were waiting on bloods today. He is so much worse, I'm going to have to take him back but he won't get his op on a weekend will he!
 
I can see poo coming out so I kno he can poo, but I find it hard to tell if he can wee?!
 
OK I think you should be fine. Just get him booked in for an operation to remove the stone asap. There is a 24/7 vet in Bristol who are specialists in small animals if you feel the need to do something today or you could speak to Vedra from the Cambridge Cavy Trust….she will tell you exactly what to do. I can PM her number if you like?
 
I don't feel I should jump to another vet, I've just paid a bomb to be referred to this one not that I care.

He has now gone quiet & hasn't cried for a few mins.

Now I don't know if this is because the pain relief has kicked in or he is dying or something!
 
I've put a plain white hand towel in the bedroom so I can hopefully tell easier if he can wee.

He just came out & grabbed a bit of pepper which he is now eating....
 
There is nothing wrong with getting a second opinion, and the CCT always give another view. If your vet is not available all advice is useful!
 
jenniferanneharris said:
spring greens....cucumber...greenbeans and a few springs of coriander....thats what I think Helen feeds her piggies because of calcium if I am.not mistaken?
really hope Rodney is feeling better soon. X
Click to expand...

Yes all in very small amounts. Plus celery, pepper and occasional dill.

They also have these pellets, they have just changed the recipe so they are much smaller and softer now so more pigs may be tempted to eat them. Mine all cleared their bowls overnight. They literally have a few each a day though.

http://www.zooplus.co.uk/shop/small_pets/food/guinea_pig/bunny/195679
 
Last edited:
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top