Piggy Squeaking When Urinating, Vet Is Baffled!

[Castiel182]

Hi there guys,
I'm posting here to see if anyone has had a similar problem and to get some advice!

About 2 weeks ago my boar of 1 1/2 years, Cass starting squeaking in pain, I pulled up a chair and observed for a few hours and it seemed to be happening when he was pooping, he was off his food and generally not himself, so I took him to my local vets (animal trust in Bolton) she gave him a quick glance over before giving him a shot of painkiller and prescribing critical care.
For a few days he was fine, no squeaking and he was taking the CC via syringe. But then it started happening again, I checked him for impaction and cleaned the anal sacs but found nothing. So again he went to the vets, this time she advised lactulose, twice a day. This didn't seem to help AT ALL. He was still in pain and straining to go to the toilet.
After 4 days we took him back again, we saw a different vet who thoroughly checked him over, she looked at his poop and said it was completely fine and it didn't make sense why he was in pain, so we brought him home.
Only when i was syringing him water I noticed that he was actually squeaking in pain while weeing, but upon looking at the puddle, there was no sludge, no blood, nothing. We took him back to the vets again and she prescribed him a painkiller and told us to see if it passed because she was baffled as he seems completely healthy.

I'm getting really concerned as even though he is now eating and drinking, he still seems in pain when weeing.
Should I go back to the vets again and suggest it could be a UTI?

My piggy was the runt of the litter and has had a few health problems, he also doesn't appear to produce eye milk and he has had 2 cysts on his throat.

I'm really worried about him as i fear we're wasting time by the vet diagnosing him wrongly and we'll lose him!

Any advice will be appreciated as I'm losing sleep over it.

Thank you.

 

[Wiebke]

Hi there guys,
I'm posting here to see if anyone has had a similar problem and to get some advice!

About 2 weeks ago my boar of 1 1/2 years, Cass starting squeaking in pain, I pulled up a chair and observed for a few hours and it seemed to be happening when he was pooping, he was off his food and generally not himself, so I took him to my local vets (animal trust in Bolton) she gave him a quick glance over before giving him a shot of painkiller and prescribing critical care.
For a few days he was fine, no squeaking and he was taking the CC via syringe. But then it started happening again, I checked him for impaction and cleaned the anal sacs but found nothing. So again he went to the vets, this time she advised lactulose, twice a day. This didn't seem to help AT ALL. He was still in pain and straining to go to the toilet.
After 4 days we took him back again, we saw a different vet who thoroughly checked him over, she looked at his poop and said it was completely fine and it didn't make sense why he was in pain, so we brought him home.
Only when i was syringing him water I noticed that he was actually squeaking in pain while weeing, but upon looking at the puddle, there was no sludge, no blood, nothing. We took him back to the vets again and she prescribed him a painkiller and told us to see if it passed because she was baffled as he seems completely healthy.

I'm getting really concerned as even though he is now eating and drinking, he still seems in pain when weeing.
Should I go back to the vets again and suggest it could be a UTI?

My piggy was the runt of the litter and has had a few health problems, he also doesn't appear to produce eye milk and he has had 2 cysts on his throat.

I'm really worried about him as i fear we're wasting time by the vet diagnosing him wrongly and we'll lose him!

Any advice will be appreciated as I'm losing sleep over it.

Thank you.

He needs to be seen by a competent vet if possible by tomorrow, and ideally have an x-ray or scan to check for bladder or urethral stones. Something is clearly very amiss, but guessing won't get you any further. Has his urine been tested for blood and protein levels by your vet? The vast majority of pain when pooing and peeing is down to urinary tract issues.
Here is our recommended UK vets locator: Guinea Pig Vet Locator

Until you have a diagnosis and he is better, you need to switch to weighing daily at the same time in the feeding cycle (i.e. before or after his dinner) and to step in with syringe feed top up to keep up his weight. Also make sure that you syringe plenty of water.
Complete Syringe Feeding Guide

 

[biscandmatt]

definitely go back again, but to a different vet this time. the vet locator above may help you find a competent vet. i would have thought a uti would have been the very first thing considered with his symptoms.

you're not far from one of the best vets around here - ashleigh vets in whalley range manchester. it would be well worth travelling to them as they're very well known for being excellent, and are the main vets for referrals taken over the wider area. so you would be in very excellent hands. aidan is the best recommended vet there

 

[MerryPip]

Definitely worth seeing another vet, preferably one with a good record of treating guinea pigs, remember although common pets, in veterinary terms they count as exotics....

If they rule out bladder or urethral stones with an X-ray it might also be what is known as Interstitial Cystitis which is inflammation of the bladder walls but without infection so there isn't much to see e.g. no blood in urine and no infection on dip testing but bladder walls can appear thickened on ultrasound scanning. Treatment is mainly preventing irritation to the bladder so making sure of good hydration, diet is low calcium, using a glucosamine product like cystease or vegan glucosamine capsules which help protect the bladder walls and anti-inflammatory meds when/if required to manage pain and inflammation e.g. Metacam.

IC is commonly known in cats and can be a result of stress and there is some feeling that there is a similar condition in guinea pigs. It can also be that once they have been sore for a while they can 'learn' to cry while peeing. Like little kids, if the expect something to hurt because it did the last 10 times, even though it doesn't hurt this time, they might still cry because they expect it to. This can take a while to break out of but always make sure that your piggy isn't actually suffering so look for other indicators of pain on urinating too like hunched posture, fur fluffing up, closing eyes etc.

Hope you get a good result for him

 

[Castiel182]

Hi there, just a long overdue update!
Castiel was given Metacam to ease the pain and due to being unable to get an appointment anywhere over the holidays, he is finally booked in for his x-rays on Friday.

His behavious has gone down hill, he now only sits under the shelf in the cage, fluffed up and not moving much (except when he hears the hay bag rustling) he's being syringed water and critical care as he is rarely eating or drinking.

I'm hoping the x-rays give us some closure or at least an idea because every waking moment I'm dreading losing him, he's normally such a playful, friendly piggie, full of life and it breaks my heart to see him like this!

I will update when I get the x-ray results!

Thank you for all your replies

 

[Freela]

It sounds as though he's in pain... my guess would be bladder stones or UTI (or a combination of both.) Are you taking him to a different vet? The fact that the practice you were seeing was baffled by this is a red flag for not being familiar with guinea pigs or their health issues, because bladder issues are fairly common in guinea pigs and these symptoms are very typical for this kind of problem. The fact that the vets couldn't identify them signals to me that they have pretty limited guinea pig knowledge and experience! Good luck with the x-ray- sending get well vibes to him.

 

[biscandmatt]

best of luck for the xray. hope you managed to find a different vet

 

[Castiel182]

Hi guys,
It is a different vet we took him to, they have a vet there that specializes in exotic animals

I am just really worried that he wil have to go in for surgery, he's such a tiny pig and really weak at the moment and I fear he won't make it, i've been reading stories of people's piggies who have had this procedure and they haven't survived it.

Has anyone got any positive stories about their pigs having this procedure?

 

[biscandmatt]

Hi guys,
It is a different vet we took him to, they have a vet there that specializes in exotic animals

I am just really worried that he wil have to go in for surgery, he's such a tiny pig and really weak at the moment and I fear he won't make it, i've been reading stories of people's piggies who have had this procedure and they haven't survived it.

Has anyone got any positive stories about their pigs having this procedure?

glad you have found a new vet. there are risks with everything of course, but piggies can be so strong, even when you don't expect it. so with a competent vet and proper treatment, you have done everything you can. there are plenty of piggies who do get through these ops aswell surgery may not even be needed yet so focus on the xrays for now. i know it's hard to stop your mind racing when they are ill though. best of luck x

 

[Castiel182]

Good news!
Castiel's x-rays came back fully clear, upon examination the vet discovered a pretty extreme infection on the base of his willy!

He's been prescribed antibiotics, 0.8ml a day and he's due to go back for a check up next week.

I'm so relived that it's not anything that would involve surgery.
Thank you everyone for your well wishes, here's hoping his infection clears up quickly

 

[Yvo@21]

Hoping your lil piggy is getting better, but just watch him on the antibotics, if he refuses to eat or drink, drools when given the antibotic it's signs that he intolerant to it, the drooling is cos your piggy is feeling sick, they can't be sick so they drool ,if this happens go back to the vet & get it changed, as some Guinea pigs are intolerant to certain safe Guinea pig antibotics...
Hoping your lil piggy makes a full recovery & I was soooo happy it wasn't them nasty bladder stones!

 

[Dindypig]

Ask your vet to show you how to inspect Cass's willy. We inspect all our boars so that we can prempt any problems like smegma build-up or hair etc wrapped around the base. Boars can get pretty manky at times.

 

[Castiel182]

I will do
She said it was too painful for him to be checked normally so they actually had to sedate him so he could be checked.
He has perked up a little bit and is moving around a lot more than he was, he actually managed to munch some celery after he had his medicine.

I shall keep updating you guys till he's back at full health

He says thank you everyone for all your advice!

 

[Jerrybelly]

Oh, poor little man! Well done on persevering with the vet, and I'm pleased to hear that he now has a proper diagnosis. Hopefully he'll be back to his usual self soon, now that he has some antibiotics. Please keep us updated.

 

[biscandmatt]

aw he's so beautiful

so glad you have found the cause and i hope he feels lots better soon