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Painful Urinary Tract Infection

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miaowbird

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Hello,
My 3.5 year old boar, Piggy Pig, seems to have a really bad UTI. He's in a lot of pain when he urinates, he tenses up and yelps really loudly :( :( :( there is also quite fresh looking blood in his urine. We've got him on Baytril and Metacam at the moment and its been going on for about 3-4weeks. His character hasn't really changed too much, he's still sprightly and he's eating (although a lot less than normal) and drinking too. (We've been putting Avipro Plus in his water which seem to have helped).

We're having a Xray on Wednesday for bladder stones. The thing that worried me was when the Vet told us that it could be a tumour which wouldn't show up on the Xray. The only way to find out if he had a tumour would be to operate which would obviously be very dangerous. He then went on to say that if Piggy is in a lot of pain we may want to think about having him put down :(

Obviously we don't want to do that if it is a UTI, but we would have no way of knowing whether it was that or a tumour.

So I wanted to ask, in your experience, how long do bad UTI's usually last? How long should we keep him on antibiotics in the hope that he'll get better?

Any help would be very, very much appreciated :(
 
Welcome to the forum, I am sorry to hear Piggy Pig is struggling with the UTI.

First step I would advise is the x-ray to check for stones. A tumour is possible but nothing like as common as stones and urinary tract infections.

If the x-ray is clear of stones, it's worth asking the vet if he will prescribe Septrin, which is an antibiotic much better suited to this specific problem in guinea pigs. Septrin is not licensed for guinea pigs, as Baytril is, but it's been used extensively on many pigs and is generally seen as the most effective treatment for cystitis/urinary tract infections.

Good job on the Avipro, Baytril can be a little harsh on their tummies and can lead to digestive upsets (diarrhoea, loss of appetite), so the probiotic tends to quell it a little bit.

What dose of Metacam is he on, and how often?
 
Hi Laura,

Thanks for your quick reply! We had him on Septrin for the first week but the vet wanted to swap to Baytril. Do you think I should ask to switch back to Septrin?

We're currently giving him 0.1ml of Metacam per day, but the Vet has given us the ok to give 0.1 in the morning, then another 0.1 in the evening. It really doesn't seem to be helping at all though, he's still in a lot of pain when he urinates :(
 
The Metacam dosing sounds good, 0.1ml twice daily is the ideal routine and dose for this pain med.

If the x-ray is clear, I would ask to switch back to Septrin again. Can you remember what dose was given? As much as 1ml of the paediatric suspension (0.5ml of the adult suspension) has been given twice daily for a good couple of weeks for really stubborn infections. There's also thought that often a longer course of Septrin is needed, as long as 3-4 weeks, so I do feel it's worth talking it through with the vet again. :)

Also - plenty of fluids. Ideally offer water in a syringe if he's not drinking well for himself. Water will help to flush out the bladder, and cranberry juice can help too if he will take it!
 
He was on 0.1ml of Septrin, I'm not sure which it was, but it smelt of aniseed.

Luckily he's drinking a lot of water, so we don't need to syringe it. I'm definitely going to ask to switch back to Septrin if there are no stones.

I'll let you know how things go after Wednesday. :)

Btw - I asked the vet to sand bag him during the Xray, I just hope he stays still!
 
Hi! I am very sorry about your boy's trouble. I have had a piggy myself who went through two bladder stone ops myself and have now got a piggy with interstitial cystitis, so I can feel for you!

I agree with Laura that a longer course with septrin is better than more baytril.

Try to give as much unsweetened cranberry juice/water - but only after you have excluded a stone. Flushing his bladder with a stone in there makes it even more painful. If the peeing is still so painful after weeks of treatment, chances of a stone are quite high. However, I found that my Minx was a changed piggy three days after her stone op as soon as the operation wounds were closing because of the absence of pain.

I wish you best of luck!
 
wow, two operations! Operating on a piggy must be like repairing a miniature watch, so tiny!

In a way I hope it is stones, because then he can have the operation (obviously I'll be a nervous wreck the WHOLE time!) but then hopefully it would be over and he would heal quickly. The other alternative is that the Xray doesn't show anything and we go on treating him for a UTI all the while thinking about tumours :( :( :(

He's such a lovely, chirpy pig, I just want him to be better.
 
Piggy had his xray on Wednesday and it turns out that he did have a stone :( it was about the size of a pe**** pois. The vet operated straight away and Piggy is now back home with us ^_____^ He's still in a bit of discomfort, but I'm sure that's to be expected after an operation on his bladder!

Thanks for all your help and encouragement! x

P.s - this is Piggy Pig ^___^

IMG_0734.webp
 
Thanks Wiebke, I printed out that post a couple of days ago and stuck it on my fridge. We were only giving them 2-3 different veg per day, mainly carrots, cucumber and romaine lettuce. we're definitely going to start mixing it up a bit!

He was passing a bit of blood last night, but I think its scar tissue etc from the op, he hasn't been doing it today. Luckily we have them in our living room, so we can keep a close eye on things.

This is the cage my boyfriend built, we had Vet Bed on there before, but we changed over to Inco pads after my sister recommended them, that's how we first noticed Piggy had blood in his urine :(
That is Pom Poko in the picture, our other guinea, unfortunately they have to live separately now :(
 

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Really glad Piggy Pig came through the op well and is on the right track now. He's certainly a stunner and Pom Poko is equally scrummy. Give them a cuddle from me! x
 
I found that a piggy will be immensely better as soon as wounds are starting heal because the pain from the stone has completely gone.

My Minx had two bladder stone ops 14 months apart.
 
Both Piggy Pig and Pom Poko are gorgeous. Sorry that Piggy Pig did have a stone, I am glad the surgery went well though and I hope he continues to improve.
 
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