Please help cancer or kidney stones

[Edith4]

Hi I have a female guinea pig she is 4 and 1/2 she has not been drinking for a week now and has been passing blood in her urine. She has been to vets and they said she either has kidney stones or cancer and they wouldn’t be able to tell what one without a X-ray and scan. But they have sent me home for a week with pain killers to see how piggy goes. She still isn’t drinking after 3 days and is still passing blood in her urine also her girl parts are all crusty and oozing. Not very pleasant . She is still eating fine loves her vegtables every night and eating hay and little bit of nuggets. The vets have said a scan will be over £300 and if it’s cancer she will have to be put to sleep and if it’s kidney stones they could remove them costing up to £1000. I have to take her back in a week if no better and make a decision. I really don’t know what the best thing to do is. The vets couldn’t be clear on what one he thought it could be. Any help or advice would be great feel like I’m going round and round in circles and questioning the diognosis and why they would send her home for a week if there is no chance of her improving

 

[Lady Kelly]

wow what scan would they be doing. A straight forward xray should show if it is kidney stones or not and £300 sounds quite steep to me. My last bill for stone removal was around £1100 but that included the initial consult, xrays, two nights in hospital to build him up before surgery, the surgery itself which was complex because of the stones location, and then another 2-3 nights in hospital afterwards (which also coincided with the more expensive weekend rate), and finally (due to ongoing problems of either kidney failure or more stones forming) pts and cremation and this is my specialist who is more expensive than my normal vet.

 

[Wiebke]

Hi I have a female guinea pig she is 4 and 1/2 she has not been drinking for a week now and has been passing blood in her urine. She has been to vets and they said she either has kidney stones or cancer and they wouldn’t be able to tell what one without a X-ray and scan. But they have sent me home for a week with pain killers to see how piggy goes. She still isn’t drinking after 3 days and is still passing blood in her urine also her girl parts are all crusty and oozing. Not very pleasant . She is still eating fine loves her vegtables every night and eating hay and little bit of nuggets. The vets have said a scan will be over £300 and if it’s cancer she will have to be put to sleep and if it’s kidney stones they could remove them costing up to £1000. I have to take her back in a week if no better and make a decision. I really don’t know what the best thing to do is. The vets couldn’t be clear on what one he thought it could be. Any help or advice would be great feel like I’m going round and round in circles and questioning the diognosis and why they would send her home for a week if there is no chance of her improving

Hi!

Have you been using one of our recommended vets? Vet Locator

Here are tips on how to best care for piggies with mucky and sore genitalia: Looking after guinea pigs with limited or no mobility

Kidney stone ops in guinea pigs are very much at the cutting edge and so far I haven't seen many come off; just the very occasional ureter stone removal. You are always in your right to go for a second opinion.

I am very sorry not to have better news but you may want to take that into your considerations when making any decisions.

 

[Edith4]

Hi!

Have you been using one of our recommended vets? Vet Locator

Here are tips on how to best care for piggies with mucky and sore genitalia: Looking after guinea pigs with limited or no mobility

Kidney stone ops in guinea pigs are very much at the cutting edge and so far I haven't seen many come off; just the very occasional ureter stone removal. You are always in your right to go for a second opinion.

I am very sorry not to have better news but you may want to take that into your considerations when making any decisions.

I have only just joined this forum so didn’t know about vet locator, I have been using my local vets but will probably look up veg on the locator thank you.
the vet never told me to clean her genitalia area or to feed her any water, so not sure what will help her or make her feel worse.
So kidney stones operation in guinea pigs aren’t very successful ? I worry paying all that money then they turn around and say it’s not them it’s cancer and have to put her to sleep anyway. I know it’s always going to be a risk

 

[Edith4]

wow what scan would they be doing. A straight forward xray should show if it is kidney stones or not and £300 sounds quite steep to me. My last bill for stone removal was around £1100 but that included the initial consult, xrays, two nights in hospital to build him up before surgery, the surgery itself which was complex because of the stones location, and then another 2-3 nights in hospital afterwards (which also coincided with the more expensive weekend rate), and finally (due to ongoing problems of either kidney failure or more stones forming) pts and cremation and this is my specialist who is more expensive than my normal vet.

Vet wants to do an X-ray and a scan which comes to £360
So your guinea pig had stone removal op did it all go ok ? Did he show any symptoms prior ?

 

[Lady Kelly]

Vet wants to do an X-ray and a scan which comes to £360
So your guinea pig had stone removal op did it all go ok ? Did he show any symptoms prior ?

He lost weight beforehand. Would rush to eat but stop pretty quickly likely because of the pain. The op went really well and he started to make a full recovery. His weight picked up etc but after a few weeks he went downhill again and on examination it was his other kidney that was swollen this time. We knew he wouldn't make it through a second surgery so went for the kindest option of putting him to sleep.

Yes there will always be a risk with stone removal surgery but that risk can be minimised by having a good cavy knowledgeable vet. As Wiebke says it really does depend on the stones location and size but there are other factors in as well such as whether the stone has caused a blockage which can cause a back up in the kidneys which in turn can lead to kidney failure.

I'm not too sure why your vets are wanting to do x-ray and scan unless it's because they feel it's best to do both while piggy is sedated. Usually vets want to start with the most likely result and start by confirming or ruling that out first. I would only expect them to scan if the x-ray didn't show anything.

I will add that my usual vets are very good with small animals but they couldn't see any stones on an x-ray when the specialist could see them approximately 1 -1.5 weeks later. Yes they could have grown enough to be more easily seen in that time but I believe that's more down to the specialist having more extensive experience

 

[Wiebke]

I have only just joined this forum so didn’t know about vet locator, I have been using my local vets but will probably look up veg on the locator thank you.
the vet never told me to clean her genitalia area or to feed her any water, so not sure what will help her or make her feel worse.
So kidney stones operation in guinea pigs aren’t very successful ? I worry paying all that money then they turn around and say it’s not them it’s cancer and have to put her to sleep anyway. I know it’s always going to be a risk

Any good vet will take you through a risk assessment if you ask them politely for their honest opinion so you can make an informed decision as to whether you want to go through with it or not. I certainly ask my own vets (both the local general vet and the piggy savvy further afield), and it definitely plays a role in whether I want opt for a make or break operation or decide to leave be and letting the piggy in question make the journey to the Rainbow Bridge.

Please weigh her daily at the same time and step in with feeding support as needed: Emergency, Crisis and Bridging Care until a Vet Appointment

PS: Our recommended vets list is of course not complete as we rely on feedback from our members; considering that there are well over 800 vet clinics in the UK - and since we are an entirely volunteer run operation in our own free time, it is not something we can tackle and keep up to date for every place!
The locator is there to help you find another vet in your area (so there is a member recommendation) if you are not happy with your own or as a help when starting out with piggies. Piggies savvy vets are also not equally distributed around the country.

 

[Free Ranger]

@Edith4 I have just seen your post. You didn't mention antibiotics? I have had a few pigs with these symptoms over the years and we always get antibiotics with painkillers on the first vet visit because peeing blood can be stones or a bacterial infection. There is one antibiotic, Baytril, that is licenced for pigs (although there are others that are used too) so good old Baytril is regularly prescribed. My last sow with UTI had quite a few weeks of antibiotic (not baytril this time), the infection went then returned two weeks later, and she was back on for another 3 weeks to sort it. I was very down but the vet said this was quite normal for some particularly stubborn UTIs. I was also told to gently rinse her girl-bits (warm water in a syringe while she was held on a thick towel) dab dry and apply Sudocrem to protect which is a babies nappy cream (so we had that in). She had ulcerated because of the constant leaking of urine.

If pigs get a stone it can make them more likely to get a UTI, but if they have a UTI it doesn't mean they have a stone.
Perhaps I have missed the post where you mentioned antibiotics? If I hadn't been offered them for a pig with these symptoms I might be looking for a second opinion. And how much painkiller did you get prescribed? Presumably metacam (loxicom) but what is the strength, what volume and how many times a day?
My sow had a stone but she'd had no symptoms until she suddenly passed it out of the blue (then got UTI on the back of that). Stones can form in the bladder and in the urethra, not just the kidneys - did they mention this? Or were they quite specific saying kidney stones. A previous sow had a monster stuck in her urethra that the vet actually fished out with forceps which wasn't nice but was much better than surgery. This was identified with an x-ray: my vet tries to do x-ray by swaddling them firmly in a towel rather than with general anaesthetic which is safer for piggy. They will always say that if they are too wriggly they might have to do plan B but so far we've been OK.

Whatever stage you are at I hope you're doing OK.

 

[Edith4]

We didn’t get prescribed antibiotics only loxicom. 0.15ml. She is due to go back today in a few hours to make a decision. She is still bleeding when weeing and in pain when she does. She is also grinding her teeth so clearly in pain. The vets have said it’s likely it’s cancer as quite a big lump on her side but also stated it could be kidney stones. They have said it’s going to be £800-£1000 to operate if it is. Feel like they haven’t given me much information, don’t know how risky the procedure is etc. So today it looks like I have the decision to pay £360 for a X-ray and scan or put her to sleep. If after X-ray it’s cancer she will be put to sleep anyway and if kidney stones depending where they are if they can operate and pay up to £1000. Also heard stories that they come back. So confused by it all

 

[Lady Kelly]

I would write down all your questions ready for the vet. Get answers to everything that is going through your mind such as what are the risks and how likely do they feel surgery will be successful. You will then at least feel that you are making an informed decision. It's never easy looking at these options but if you are making the decision with the piggies best interests in mind then it will never be the wrong decision

 

[Edith4]

Aw thank you, I will make sure i ask every question then I know I’m doing the right thing. Thank you for your reply

 

[Swissgreys]

Just wanted to offer my support.
Writing down questions is a good idea and I would question why they haven't tried antibiotics in the first instance to deal with underlying infection.
I would also ask how many guinea pigs they see weekly/monthly and how often they have performed the operation.

 

[Claire W]

I’m sorry for the predicament you are in I too am surprised that your vet hasn’t tried antibiotics for a possible uti and have jumped straight in with thinking it’s stones (can the vet feel any?) or cancer.
I would personally go ahead with the scan and X-ray to see what you are dealing with before making any decisions but it could be something as simple of a uti which will clear up with a course of antibiotics

 

[Edith4]

Just wanted to offer my support.
Writing down questions is a good idea and I would question why they haven't tried antibiotics in the first instance to deal with underlying infection.
I would also ask how many guinea pigs they see weekly/monthly and how often they have performed the operation.

Thank you we are going in 15mins so I will ask them these questions and ask about a uti and antibiotics

 

[Edith4]

I’m sorry for the predicament you are in I too am surprised that your vet hasn’t tried antibiotics for a possible uti and have jumped straight in with thinking it’s stones (can the vet feel any?) or cancer.
I would personally go ahead with the scan and X-ray to see what you are dealing with before making any decisions but it could be something as simple of a uti which will clear up with a course of antibiotics

Thank you we are going in 15mins so I will ask them about possibly being a uti and antibiotics

 

[Claire W]

Thank you we are going in 15mins so I will ask them about possibly being a uti and antibiotics

All the best x

 

[Wiebke]

All the best!

 

[Edith4]

We said good bye to our beautiful girl biscuit today, the vet said it was the kindest thing to do she was in a lot of pain and the vet said it was probably a tumour. We had five fabulous years with her she will be sadly missed x xx
Thank you all for your help at this difficult time x

 

[Claire W]

I’m so sorry that you have lost your precious girl If it helps, I had to help my Ellen to cross the rainbow bridge last year. She was being treated for a uti or IC flare but she lost a lot of weight, stopped eating and was in obvious pain. The vet could feel something on her kidney either a stone of tumour so we said goodbye

Sleep tight Biscuit xx

 

[Free Ranger]

I'm so sorry for your loss. It is the hardest decision to make, but she is without pain now and at peace. Fly free, little girl

 

[Wiebke]

I am very sorry; but you have made the right decision. We can thankfully make the most loving and at the same most heart-breaking gift to our beloved pets. Take consolation that you have not failed Biscuit and that you have given her a very happy normal life span. We can sadly never choose when and what from our beloved ones die past taking good care of them.

If you are struggling, please read the sensitive and practical support guides below. They will help you with what you can do Biscuit's mate now in the coming days; help you understand more about various strong emotions and the inevitable soul searching that characterise the onset of your own grieving process (plus resources for further support for yourself and your family).
Looking After a Bereaved Guinea Pig
Human Bereavement: Grieving, Coping and Support Links for Guinea Pig Owners and Their Children

 

[Bill & Ted]

So sorry you had to say goodbye to Biscuit, sending you hugs, it was the right decision if she was in pain x
Sleep tight little Biscuit

 

[Wiebke]

We said good bye to our beautiful girl biscuit today, the vet said it was the kindest thing to do she was in a lot of pain and the vet said it was probably a tumour. We had five fabulous years with her she will be sadly missed x xx
Thank you all for your help at this difficult time x

HUGS

Saying goodbye is never easy and never gets any less painful as each bond is unique.

Be kind to yourself and give yourself time to grieve and to process it all.