Pain whilst toileting but ONLY after being picked up..

[danuutka]

I have a bit of an odd case, and I’m wandering if any of you knowledgeable people might be able to help.

A couple of months ago, my guinea pig Koda went through a couple of days of sore weeing and pooing. She produced some blood for a couple of hours, and then it was gone. We took her to our exotics vet regardless, who couldn’t find any indication of stone/infection. As a precaution, she was put on Metacam and an antibiotic for around a week, just in case the tests had missed anything.

She then went through a period of absolutely SCREAMING whilst pooing, and then she started producing very soft stool with a loft of agonising shrieks. We immediately took her to the vet, who couldn’t see any evidence of bloat or anything, but did give us an anti-parasitic medication just in case she had parasites in her digestive tract. After a few days of no veg and supplementary probiotics and critical care, she was fine.

Now she seems to have very sporadic bouts of pain whilst weeing and pooing, but thankfully no blood. Whenever she gets this, we give her Metacam for a couple of days and she seems fine.

However over the past few days we noticed something weird... when she is in her cage, she pees and poos with absolutely no pain. I know this, because the girls cage is in my bedroom, so I observe them all day. However, as soon as you pick her up onto my bed, either for cuddles, or for a check over, she suddenly starts screaming whilst toileting. It’s almost like the act of picking her up and placing her on the bed set she off her pain...

Is this a thing, what could it mean?

Ever since we’ve got her, she has hated her stomach being touched. She absolutely flips out when you try pick her up and hold her, she wriggles the entire time. Even our most experience exotic vet couldn’t perform a thorough examination because she flipped out so much. Is this in some way linked? Have you ever heard of a pig being in pain whilst toiletingonly once they’ve been handled?!

 

[Siikibam]

It does sound very odd. But I think that needs looking at because it’s not normal behaviour. Most don’t like being touched on the tummy but hers seems a little odd in that she’s squeaking. Are you sure it’s when she toilets and not squeaking because she’s being picked up/touched?

 

[Wiebke]

I have a bit of an odd case, and I’m wandering if any of you knowledgeable people might be able to help.

A couple of months ago, my guinea pig Koda went through a couple of days of sore weeing and pooing. She produced some blood for a couple of hours, and then it was gone. We took her to our exotics vet regardless, who couldn’t find any indication of stone/infection. As a precaution, she was put on Metacam and an antibiotic for around a week, just in case the tests had missed anything.

She then went through a period of absolutely SCREAMING whilst pooing, and then she started producing very soft stool with a loft of agonising shrieks. We immediately took her to the vet, who couldn’t see any evidence of bloat or anything, but did give us an anti-parasitic medication just in case she had parasites in her digestive tract. After a few days of no veg and supplementary probiotics and critical care, she was fine.

Now she seems to have very sporadic bouts of pain whilst weeing and pooing, but thankfully no blood. Whenever she gets this, we give her Metacam for a couple of days and she seems fine.

However over the past few days we noticed something weird... when she is in her cage, she pees and poos with absolutely no pain. I know this, because the girls cage is in my bedroom, so I observe them all day. However, as soon as you pick her up onto my bed, either for cuddles, or for a check over, she suddenly starts screaming whilst toileting. It’s almost like the act of picking her up and placing her on the bed set she off her pain...

Is this a thing, what could it mean?

Ever since we’ve got her, she has hated her stomach being touched. She absolutely flips out when you try pick her up and hold her, she wriggles the entire time. Even our most experience exotic vet couldn’t perform a thorough examination because she flipped out so much. Is this in some way linked? Have you ever heard of a pig being in pain whilst toiletingonly once they’ve been handled?!

Has she ever had an x-ray to check for stones in the bladder or urethra?

 

[danuutka]

It does sound very odd. But I think that needs looking at because it’s not normal behaviour. Most don’t like being touched on the tummy but hers seems a little odd in that she’s squeaking. Are you sure it’s when she toilets and not squeaking because she’s being picked up/touched?

Yeah it’s when she toilets. Like we will put her on my bed, she’ll walk around happily, and then when she pees or poops she shrieks. Like I have her on puppy pads to view exactly what she does. Then as soon as we put her back in her cage, she makes no noise...

 

[danuutka]

Has she ever had an x-ray to check for stones in the bladder or urethra?

Not yet. The plan was to try her on other things first, because she would probably need to be sedated for an X-ray - she is absolutely crazy and does not sit still.

 

[Wiebke]

Not yet. The plan was to try her on other things first, because she would probably need to be sedated for an X-ray - she is absolutely crazy and does not sit still.

It is likely that you are pressing on the stone when picking her up so I would strongly recommend to book her in next week. Stones only get worse; they are not going away on their own, unfortunately.

 

[danuutka]

It is likely that you are pressing on the stone when picking her up so I would strongly recommend to book her in next week. Stones only get worse; they are not going away on their own, unfortunately.

Oh wow I didn’t think it could be a stone, because she doesn’t show any of the typical signs any other time. She’s still eating and drinking and acting as normal.

We have her cagemate booked in for Monday because she has been crying whilst weeing and pooing consistently for weeks (we have been to the vets already, and tried a longer course of antibiotics and pain relief), so we will see if we can mention Koda at that appointment too. Winnie has been producing some very thick sludge. They’re two girls I rescued back in December, so I don’t know much of their history or how they’re related (if they are), I just found it weird that they both have urinary issues but Nelli doesn’t.

If it’s is a stone, is there a chance of manipulating it out/letting it pass in a sow? Rather than surgery?

 

[Wiebke]

Oh wow I didn’t think it could be a stone, because she doesn’t show any of the typical signs any other time. She’s still eating and drinking and acting as normal.

We have her cagemate booked in for Monday because she has been crying whilst weeing and pooing consistently for weeks (we have been to the vets already, and tried a longer course of antibiotics and pain relief), so we will see if we can mention Koda at that appointment too. Winnie has been producing some very thick sludge. They’re two girls I rescued back in December, so I don’t know much of their history or how they’re related (if they are), I just found it weird that they both have urinary issues but Nelli doesn’t.

If it’s is a stone, is there a chance of manipulating it out/letting it pass in a sow? Rather than surgery?

Only if the stone has fetched up right at the tip of the urethra and even then it can require more than an quick cut as my Teggy has shown last October - she ended up with a very fiddly operation because the stone had firmly wedged into the urethra.

The good news is that a bladder stone op in sows is generally a pretty straight forward operation with a high rate of a problem-free recovery. Your other sow sounds like should could have a bladder wedged full of sludge.

All the best!

Not all piggies in a herd necessarily produce stones; I've seen that with my Tribe. Unless the diet is grossly overladen with calcium, there is usually more than one contributing factor in play. This goes for all urinary tract issues.