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Possible sterile cystitis ?

A

AngeH

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Hi All,

Hoping for some experience sharing from anyone who's had a piggy with (possibly?) IC or where stones/UTI appears not to be the issue.

Bert is 2 & adopted around 1yr old from a rescue with his brother (no medical history for either...). He started squealing when weeing a few weeks ago & had a soaked underbelly.

I have a good local independent vet who's helped many of my piggies over last 10yrs, but we're now at a bit of loss and suspects IC in absence of any other diagnosis.

Bert had a small amount of blood in urine at first appt so we tried antibiotic & painkillers, and various tests. It did not clear up. We've then done an xray/ultrasound suspecting stone or sludge but that was all clear.

He's not soaked anymore but is still squealing on/off. We've basically moved to a pain management mix & vet also recommended trying the glucosamine approach so have those capsules.

I've read Wiebkes Guide to Pee & Stones and trying everything I can find on this forum on the topic.

He's eating fine, tootling around as normal, clambering up for any veggies, happy to picked up & cuddled.

But he's clearly still in pain based on the on/off squeals. I feel like the worst parent because I don't know how to help him 😔.

He'll be back for a check up this week but I can only see ongoing pain management. Which is fine if he improves but I just feel so bad.

Has anyone had any experience of how long the glucosamine may take to help, if at all. Or any other ideas? He started the capsules a week ago.

Thank you
 
I’m sorry to hear this

It’s not a quick fix unfortunately: Glucosamine can take a few weeks to six weeks, to be fully effective.
Getting a right dose of Metacam to help with the pain also.

I hope things settle for him soon
 
Thanks so much for replying Piggies&buns, I'll continue with the glucosamine and hopefully get some more pain meds this week to help him.

I can only hope for some improvement over time & that he doesn't get too stressed out with it all. Poor little thing, breaks my heart hearing him squawking 😔
 
Is he on a good dosage of pain meds?
Glucosamine will help once it kicks in but in the meantime the pain meds need to do the work (and then pain meds as well during flares) .
It’s a long term condition so it’s about finding what works for him.
 
He's on loxicom 0.2ml a day (or is it 2ml never sure on these little syringes but basically to the no.2 marker on the syringe). Victor (vet) also mixed some stronger painkillers into it this time - previous pain meds were mixed with with antibiotics but this is just painkillers now.

I'm sure not what the stronger painkillers was called but I'll ask Victor this week. He said it's usually for post surgery pain relief.

Bert weighs approx 1000g / just under at the moment. Lost about 6% of bodyweight over last few weeks.
 
Is it cat or dog loxicom? Dog is three times stronger so can be a better option.

Without knowing what else was mixed in it’s obviously the tricky to know much about his pain management, However 0.2ml of cat version loxicom once a day is a low dose. Pain meds come in a sliding scale and are dependent upon clinical need as well as weight - you’ve got chronic management and then short term higher doses to deal with acute pain.
But if he is still in pain then definitely have a chat about pain management

Weight loss is considered weight loss once it hits 50g, and at that point you weight daily and prepare to step in with support feeding if weight loss continues over the coming day or two,

Weight and Weight Loss Explained: BMI, Weighing, Poos and Feeding Support Levels
 
Just checked and its dog. Thank you for the support and advice. I'll ask Victor if we can increase and/or give twice a day. He does seem to perk up for a while a few hours after having it. I've noticed quite a bit of dripping urine today with blood again, so going to try get him back in first thing tomorrow. The vets are pretty good giving the piggies quick appts knowing how soon they can go downhill
 
Hi Piggies&buns, just wanted to drop a quick update since you were so kind to respond.

The vet is happy for me to increase the dosage and twice per day, with a new mix of loxicom plus gabapentin this time. Picking up tomorrow. Fingers crossed this gives Bert a bit more pain relief whilst I hope for the glucosamine to build up.
 
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