If Emma had something like that though, would it have showed up on the ultrasounds and would she still be so well in herself even after all this time? x
Not always, my piggy had an ultrasound that didn't indicate a problem either but once her womb was removed it was badly infected
i wouldn't be concerned about the metacam long term to be honest. mollie has been on 0.5ml twice a day since last may and she is staying on this dose. bladder inflammation is one of the hardest to control and can take months and months to control or bring down (which is why two lots of cover are usually given) - our vets don't consider mollie to be on a high dose, but an adequate one for this type of illness. it's highly unlikely that metacam causes any damage at all long term due to the fast metabolism and even if it did, it would take longer than they would probably be around for, for it to happen anyway. the vet was saying that even in already damaged kidneys, it has to be used more cautiously but can still be given. mollie can only have the metacam reduced if she can come off the cerenia first. i know people worry about metacam but i really think it's so important to have an adequate dose of it, even if that means long term. i hope that helps
mollie doesn't technically have IC as such, because although she has bladder inflammation, it's thought to be mainly caused by the excess calcium salts. but she does have generalised swelling aswell which was originally though to be just bladder, but turned out to be both bladder and reproductive area (the two are often linked and this is why the spay was needed)
so we don't follow the IC diet as such, although it's still low calcium. the vet said the best fresh foods for mollie are lettuces. she has these as the bulk of her fresh food and then smaller amounts of other low calcium veggies. but the vet said she would also be fine on just lettuces. she started off with no pellets whilst we tried to get symptoms under control, but now she is able to have very very small amounts of vitakraft pellets which seem to suit her well. alongside this she has a variety of hays and fresh grass when possible aswell. she does very well on this diet and has kept a fairly stable weight. this is alongside her diuretic aswell for the excess calcium salts. her body cannot deal with the calcium so she needs the diuretic for good.
mollie originally had blood in her urine however this completely stopped after her initial course of treatment (she was on even higher metacam then to bring the inflammation down as quickly as possible, and also marbocyl which is our vets preferred choice for treatment of uti's)
i would certainly ask about the cerenia as i think it's been excellent for mollie.
it does sound like emma has IC but you could also look into possible inflammation in the reproductive area aswell. sometimes ovarian cysts cause issues and act as an immunosuppressant which is why the piggy cannot deal with or clear bladder issues. it happened to be the case with both maisie and with mollie so definitely something to consider. depending on the piggy and particular circumstances, treatment could be the hcg injections or a spay. maisie had the injections and mollie the spay was needed.
you could perhaps look at higher metacam at least initially aswell just to really settle down any inflammation. i know our vets start higher to get the majority under control and then taper as required.
i hope this helps a bit. best of luck with emma x
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Thank you so much for your detailed reply as I didn't want to hijack your thread.
Emma has had ultrasounds for ovarian cysts already and she is thankfully free from them as that was a concern.
I mentioned to my vet how worried I was about the long term metacam use and she said I really shouldn't be but I worry about stuff so much.
My vet has explored every avenue which is why the IC diagnosis has been drawn but I have been worrying that something has been missed although after 5 months, I assume Emma would have got much worse if that was the case?
Apart from the blood in her urine and the squeaky wees, Emma is perfectly fine in herself and has thankfully maintained her weight.
I really do not want to put her through a spay unless it is absolutely necessary but now I'm worrying about reproductive problems that wasn't picked up on the ultrasounds
She worries me so much. xx
i think it's good we can all share our experiences on it. 
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@biscandmatt I think sobbing in the vets is common practice, I've even passed out and had a few near faints where I've had to sit down and allow the blood to flow again. It's very embarrassing but just how my bodies is made up, my flight response is to faint.
I'm glad Mollie is still doing well, I have Wilma also on a low calcium diet and like you hand feed Fred the things Wilma isn't allowed.
they seem used to my weird ways now though x
that's ok. don't worry about hijacking the thread at all, post whenever you want to
i'm only more relaxed about metacam these days because my rabbits both needed/need it long term and honestly, at the time, with things i'd read, i was really anxious about it and upset. but after hearing what the vet said about it and seeing how much it improved their lives, i finally relaxed about it. of course it isn't nice when they need long term meds. it's even better that emma is only needing a smaller dose aswell. so even if you did need to increase for a while and taper down, it's so so unlikely to have any negative affects
it sounds like your vet has been very thorough and if ultrasounds have ruled out ovarian cysts then i wouldn't worry about that side of things. they would have been able to pick up any swelling and inflammation and even tiny cysts on that, so unless symptoms suddenly increase and become more hormonal based aswell then i'd be happy that no treatment was needed like a spay etc.
it does sound like an IC case like your vet said, and if she is well within herself and a stable weight, i'd continue as you are for now.
i meant to say on my last post aswell - mollie and benjie have different diets now with fresh food because mollie is on all low calcium but benjie isn't. so i just hand feed them if he's having something she can't, and let them eat from their bowl if they are having all the same things. then they both get a couple of small pieces of vitakraft after mollie's meds morning and night, and the rest of the time they just have hays and in their bowl (so they don't feel like it's empty!) they have the galens garden pure timothy hay 'pellets'
i understand the worry though, totally. i'm a mess when it comes to the pets being ill. the vet has seen me cry way too many times, panic etc. oops. x
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@biscandmatt & @flintstones can I ask both of you what veg you can feed yours? I really want to make sure my new rescue girly has the best start in her new home
.. to be honest, the vet said she would be fine with just lettuces but that i could add in bits of other things aswell for variety if i wanted to, but he advised finding lower calcium leafy things which has been a challenge because most are medium-higher. the only one that isn't that i've found is the cauliflower leaves so far. he basically said that aslong as it's low calcium, she can have small bits of it alongside her lettuces
, but also because she must feel well within herself