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Ongoing bladder problems

Cittycat

Cittycat

Junior Guinea Pig
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Plymouth, UK
This is quite a long story, but I'll try to keep it brief! One of my guinea pigs has been having bladder problems since around February. She was treated for a UTI that originally appeared to clear up, but in June the symptoms returned (blood in her urine and squeaking while urinating), and a large bladder stone was found to be stuck in her urethra. (I posted about this and had some wonderful support from the members here.)

Well, the problem of squeaking while urinating never really fully went away. She went into the vets for a whole heap of scans and tests in August, but they didn't reveal the source of the problem and my vet believes she's probably suffering from chronic inflammation of the bladder. He put her on metacam and frusol for a month, but we still didn't see a stop in the squeaking/blood in urine.

He then doubled her dose of frusol for two weeks, which has for the first time in ages solved the squeaking problem! She was drinking so much more than she normally does and that seemed to help her massively. Unfortunately, a urine sample relieved there is still a high level of blood in her urine and it's still much more concentrated than it should be. :( My vet isn't happy keeping her on the double dose of frusol for longer than two weeks so we're back to the original does of metacam and frusol for another month, and I'm so scared the squeaking and discomfort is going to come back - mainly because she just doesn't like to drink and that seems to be the source of her problems. :( Is there anything I can do to encourage her to drink more?

I should add she's on a low calcium diet, and has been since the stone was found in August, I wet her fresh food before she has it to encourage a little more water consumption, and I make sure she has floor time every day to keep her moving. There are two water bottles, plus a water bowl in my guinea pigs's cage too, so there's plenty of water to go around between the two of them! I've also tried offering a syringe of water, but she won't take it voluntarily and I don't know if it's dangerous to make her take it so I've never forced her to drink...
 
I’m sorry to hear about the ongoing problems with your girl. I don’t know much about UTI and inflamed bladder, but just wanted to offer support. how long has she been on the original dose of frusol & metacam?

I’ll tag @Wiebke for you. Piggy hugs to your girl ❣️
 
Thanks @Siikibam that's so kind of you, I do really appreciate the support! She's been back on the original dose of frusol and metacam for a couple of days.
 
Cittycat said:
This is quite a long story, but I'll try to keep it brief! One of my guinea pigs has been having bladder problems since around February. She was treated for a UTI that originally appeared to clear up, but in June the symptoms returned (blood in her urine and squeaking while urinating), and a large bladder stone was found to be stuck in her urethra. (I posted about this and had some wonderful support from the members here.)

Well, the problem of squeaking while urinating never really fully went away. She went into the vets for a whole heap of scans and tests in August, but they didn't reveal the source of the problem and my vet believes she's probably suffering from chronic inflammation of the bladder. He put her on metacam and frusol for a month, but we still didn't see a stop in the squeaking/blood in urine.

He then doubled her dose of frusol for two weeks, which has for the first time in ages solved the squeaking problem! She was drinking so much more than she normally does and that seemed to help her massively. Unfortunately, a urine sample relieved there is still a high level of blood in her urine and it's still much more concentrated than it should be. :( My vet isn't happy keeping her on the double dose of frusol for longer than two weeks so we're back to the original does of metacam and frusol for another month, and I'm so scared the squeaking and discomfort is going to come back - mainly because she just doesn't like to drink and that seems to be the source of her problems. :( Is there anything I can do to encourage her to drink more?

I should add she's on a low calcium diet, and has been since the stone was found in August, I wet her fresh food before she has it to encourage a little more water consumption, and I make sure she has floor time every day to keep her moving. There are two water bottles, plus a water bowl in my guinea pigs's cage too, so there's plenty of water to go around between the two of them! I've also tried offering a syringe of water, but she won't take it voluntarily and I don't know if it's dangerous to make her take it so I've never forced her to drink...
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Hi!

I am very sorry about your problems.

Please be aware that any diet changes take some time to come through; it depends on the nature of the problem. In your case, there is the possibility that you could be dealing with a combination of issues.

The majority of the calcium in a diet often doesn't come from veg but via hard water and too many pellets. Over 80% of the food intake should be hay; timothy is lowest in calcium. Please also be careful that you cannot cut out all calcium without causing major problems; there needs to be a certain balance.
You may find our diet tips for guinea pigs with bladder stones in the special diets chapter helpful in adjusting your diet; we have made good experiences with this diet over the years in a mostly hard water based country where any diets that only look at veg but not at all food groups in combination have usually caused more problems than they have solved.
Our long term members have been able to minimise the occurance of bladder stones massively: Long Term Balanced General And Special Needs Guinea Pig Diets

Drinking is an instinctive act. Like with humans, guinea pigs will only ever drink as much as they need - and that varies individually massively. They only thing you can do (but you have to be careful about it) is to offer your piggy water by syringe once a day, as much as they will drink willingly from the syringe in one session in order to create one larger bladder flushing pee. NEVER force any water down! The more veg you are feeding, the less your piggies will drink. Not overfeeding fresh veg will encourage them to drink more, but please don't expect them to empty a bottle in a day!
Dehydrating your piggy artificially with frusol is not what is usually prescribes by vets - that one is a new one to me!
All About Drinking And Bottles

The irritation from bladder stones can cause cystitits (bladder infection and inflammation). There is also something called sterile interstitial cystitis (IC or sterile IC), which translates as a non-bacterial (and therefore not reacting to antibiotics) recurring bladder infection. It is has become a lot more common over the last decade especially in indoors guinea pigs but is not yet well known with general vets or exotics without much guinea pig experience. Diagnosing sterile IC can be difficult and usually happens by eliminating all other urinary tract problems (bacterial urine and bladder infection, bladder stones and sludge). Only if problems persist/continue to flare up will it usually be considered, as it cannot be healed and only treated until it goes away on its own - usually some years down the line.

Thankfully our bladder stone diet tips also apply to sterile IC (some foods like lettuce or fresh grass can act as trigger foods for IC piggies - this varies individually).
The same goes for support of the natural glucosamine coating of the beleaguered and inflamed bladder walls with glucosamine based bladder supplements, like cystease or comparable cat food supplements (who are the other species suffering from sterile IC). Glucosamine seems to be key for treatment of IC and other types of bladder inflammation, but it is also strongly recommended for any bladder stone piggies.
Very new research has shown that in severe cases monthly cartrofen injections have helped. Cartrofen is a glucosamine based arthritis medication for dogs. So far, we haven't got any first-hand experience with this kind of treatment on here, as I am not aware that it is being used that way in the UK yet.
 
Hi @Wiebke thanks so much for your detailed reply!

I switched to filtered water and Supreme Selective Naturals grain free pellets back when my guinea's bladder stone was first found, as well as doing my best to follow the special urinary tract/bladder stone diet recommended here. I will try cutting lettuce out of her diet though, as that is something I'd missed. It's one her favourite foods though so won't go down too well!

Is cystease something it would be safe for me to try her on at home? I've seen you mention it before, and see it's available on to buy online. It feels like it's what she needs, but I always go blank in the vet's office and forget to mention it (although I'm kind of wondering if a second vet opinion is needed too - I really don't like that you've never heard of frusol being prescribed for this type of problem before)!
 
Cittycat said:
Hi @Wiebke thanks so much for your detailed reply!

I switched to filtered water and Supreme Selective Naturals grain free pellets back when my guinea's bladder stone was first found, as well as doing my best to follow the special urinary tract/bladder stone diet recommended here. I will try cutting lettuce out of her diet though, as that is something I'd missed. It's one her favourite foods though so won't go down too well!

Is cystease something it would be safe for me to try her on at home? I've seen you mention it before, and see it's available on to buy online. It feels like it's what she needs, but I always go blank in the vet's office and forget to mention it (although I'm kind of wondering if a second vet opinion is needed too - I really don't like that you've never heard of frusol being prescribed for this type of problem before)!
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Yes, it is safe to do at home as it is not a medication but classed as a food supplement, in the same category as probiotics. It helps with easing the discomfort in the walls of the urinary tract and can support the healing process of the inflammation issues.

See whether those extra measures help although - as stated above - it is a gradual and not an instant process and may take several weeks.
You are doing all you can and all the right things! ;)
 
Wiebke said:
Yes, it is safe to do at home as it is not a medication but classed as a food supplement, in the same category as probiotics. It helps with easing the discomfort in the walls of the urinary tract and can support the healing process of the inflammation issues.

See whether those extra measures help although - as stated above - it is a gradual and not an instant process and may take several weeks.
You are doing all you can and all the right things! ;)
Click to expand...

Thanks so much @Wiebke - I'm definitely going to give it a try! Is half a tablet mixed in 2-4 ml water still the recommended dose?

Thanks also for the reassurance that I'm doing the right things for her - it's been so hard to see her making such small improvements when it feels like we've tried so many things to help her!
 
Cittycat said:
Thanks so much @Wiebke - I'm definitely going to give it a try! Is half a tablet mixed in 2-4 ml water still the recommended dose?

Thanks also for the reassurance that I'm doing the right things for her - it's been so hard to see her making such small improvements when it feels like we've tried so many things to help her!
Click to expand...

We recommend a capsule of cystease dissolved in 2 ml of water; 1 ml every 12 hours.
 
I hope your piggie improves with these extra measures.you have been given wonderful advise.i found this all very interesting,i have attennas for anything medical related.sending you a hug.x
 
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