Passed A Huge Bladder Stone

[CavyCritters]

Hello I am new to this site and just wanted to share one of my guinea pig's incredible story.

Roxy is 7 years old and yesterday after cuddle time I noticed a massive bulge in her genitals. I immediately scooped her up and was shocked by what I saw - there was a rock hard lump the size of your thumbnail stuck in her ureter, some of it was protruding out.

To put a long story short, I spent 2 hours massaging it out of her (she was completely blocked so couldn't pass urine). she was in a lot of pain bless her, but I thankfully managed to get it out!

I have put the stone in a sample pot and am taking it to the vets tomorrow, along with piggy to make sure she's ok. Everything I have read suggests stones must be surgically removed...how did she manage to move it along that far?! Has anyone else had a guinea pig pass a BIG stone?

 

[Wiebke]

Yes, my Taffy did that last year; the vet was able to manipulate it out. Thankfully in her case, her deformed pelvis from too many back-to-back pregnancies that started too young helped in her case as the stone wasn't small. Her stone had quite obviously been growing for a good while without ever causing any obvious symptoms or signs like bleeding or cystitis.

It depends on where the stone sits and whether it is small enough to still pass the pelvis bones or not. Sows have a shorter and straighter urethra, so stones in the urethra have a much better chance of coming out without major problems, whereas for boars this can mean a very risky operation.

It is good that you are having her seen first thing tomorrow morning. She needs painkillers and an antibiotic.

Here are tips on what you may want to look out for in her diet to prevent a build-up of another stone of possible: http://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/threads/low-calcium-diet-for-bladder-piggies.105930/

 

[gizzy]

You are very lucky you spotted that, . I know it's common for them to pass small stones, but large ones that stopped them from Weeing! they come under the category of sudden death syndrome! the sow can't wee, and more often than not the keeper gets absolutely no warning , and the sow dies due to kidney failure! I have had quite a few of them over the years, in fact one bank holiday it cost me £380 to have one sow given a light anesthetic them plenty of lubricant for the vet to remove the stone , your sow must be truly incredible

NB for anybody else who has sows it is always good practice to feel round the Vulva area daily, get to know the feel, then if it does happen to you you'll know what course of action to take, was lucky being able to get it out a self, though I wouldn't recommend this as it could easily damage to the urethra

 

[gizzy]

Admin, do you want some photos of urethral stones for the above link?

 

[sport_billy]

Admin, do you want some photos of urethral stones for the above link?

Yes, that would be appreciated - thanks

 

[CavyCritters]

Thankfully she is still acting her normal self and there is no swelling or blood she has never been pregnant either, so must have been a shock to the system! Off to the vets now so will update later...thanks for the replies

 

[CavyCritters]

So the vet said the stone was bigger than what she'd seen come out of a dog! Prescribed antibiotics and probiotics in case of UTI and offered an xray for other stones, but realistically I don't think she'd survive surgery so we decided not to go down that route.

 

[MerryPip]

Yes, that would be appreciated - thanks

Ok you can have one of Struan's stone too if you want It's sat in a jar on the mantelpiece....

It's not huge but it had completely obstructedhis urethra and he was in so much pain trying to pee. I have never been more upset than watching him cry for hours before we could get him to the vet to get him operated on.... Glad your girl is doing well despite passing a huge stone herself. Well done her!

 

[Wiebke]

I am sorry for your poor girl!

Could your vet do a conscious x-ray so you know how things stand? Hopefully that is the only stone and hopefully, she is going to continue to recover fine from it.

I would recommend to put your girl on either cystease or just plain vegetarian glucosamine to help protect the walls of the urinary tract. Glucosamine is a food supplement and not a medication. It is widely used for bladder piggies.

 

[CavyCritters]

It is possible to do a conscious one, although I'm not sure what I would gain from it - if it came back positive then I would feel terrible knowing that she had them but not giving her surgery :/

Vet said usually they get multiple small stones or a single large one, so fingers crossed she won't have anymore. I will get some glucosamine

 

[MerryPip]

It might be worth having the x-ray anyway so you know what you are dealing with and if you are likely to run into more problems in the future.... Struan had one stone that was the main issue but also some 'gravel' evident on x-ray and sludge that would have caused him a problem in the future.

I have two boys now who have had/have bladder issues and I can recommend the glucosamine. Angus has one capsule of cystease every day and it's keeping him running pretty nicely. He gets an inflamed bladder but thankfully no stones! Struan had surgery for stones and should really be on glucosamine too but he's such a pest to give medication to, it's not easy to do regularly!

 

[gizzy]

Three photos one of a large stone, and one of a medium size stone, both removed by my vet, the third photo is a stone that a sow passed on my hand.