Possible UTI or bladder stone - really worried

[-Drezella-]

Hi everyone,

I’m really concerned. A few days ago my little Hugo (the cream guinea pig) started squeaking whilst weeing, and I noticed slightly darker urine than usual and suspended possible traces of blood. So I immediately started him on 0.1 ml/cc of syringe once per day of Baytril antibiotics that I had left over from my last vets trip. The symptoms seemed to be gone, apart from this evening when he literally started squeaking about 20 mins ago, and has had two wees, and passed blood. So I’ve given and extra 1.5 of a syringe this evening (so a total of 2.5 for today) to see if it’ll shift it. But the blood looks raw and I’m worried. I’m going to see if I can take him to the vets tomorrow, but I need some advice.

I’ve been feeding them on spring greens, peppers, green beans, celery, 2 small chunks of apple, cucumber and the occasional Cavolo Nero(when I buy it in). Is this ok or oils this likely cause problems?

I keep the cage very clean and dry as much as possible, so he can’t have got it through bad hygiene.

Super worried about my baby, please advice on care.

My beautiful baby boy.


A wee from earlier

Penultimate wee

The latest wee

 

[-Drezella-]

@Wiebke can you advise?

 

[Wiebke]

@Wiebke can you advise?

Hi!

Please take a deep breath - it is not your bad hygiene!

But please have him vet checked tomorrow for either a urinary tract infection, a bacterial or sterile cystitis (sterile interstitial cystitis is not reactive to antibiotics) or a potential bladder stone or sludge.

Please be aware that cavolo nero is a variety of kale and that spring greens are also a somewhat calcium rich relative of kale (not quite as high as kale which is why a little daily can be safely fed), so your diet is overall pretty high in calcium but rather low in leafy watery low nutrient veg to help flush it all out; like cucumber, plain lettuce (cos/romaine/butterhead, gem varieties, round lettuce etc).

 

[-Drezella-]

Ok thanks for the info, I’ll swap out the Cavolo Nero for a lettuce variety instead. Can pellets effect their calcium levels too? I’ve got them on Science Selective at the moment. I wanted to get the grain free ones but couldn’t find any stockists at the time.

Yes don’t worry I’ll be booking him in at the vets first thing tomorrow.

I guess I just panicked because I’ve never had a piggy pass actual blood before, only traces of blood. He’s had a couple more wees and passed blood each time. I’ve given him 0.15 ml of Metacam for dogs to ease the pain (half the recommended dose of what Paddy had as an adult, as Hugo is only 7-8 months old.)

 

[Wiebke]

Ok thanks for the info, I’ll swap out the Cavolo Nero for a lettuce variety instead. Can pellets effect their calcium levels too? I’ve got them on Science Selective at the moment. I wanted to get the grain free ones but couldn’t find any stockists at the time.

Yes don’t worry I’ll be booking him in at the vets first thing tomorrow.

I guess I just panicked because I’ve never had a piggy pass actual blood before, only traces of blood. He’s had a couple more wees and passed blood each time. I’ve given him 0.15 ml of Metacam for dogs to ease the pain (half the recommended dose of what Paddy had as an adult, as Hugo is only 7-8 months old.)

Any pellets (even low calcium ones) still contain more calcium than the veg highest in calcium, kale and spinach. That is why we strongly recommend to feed only 1 tablespoon per piggy per day.
You should not cut out any calcium from the diet as that is as harmful for long term health as having the wrong balance and overfeeding on calcium.
While the US is mostly a soft water country and the UK is mostly a hard water country (and that is another major calcium source that is regularly overlooked), we have to be more careful about translating any veg recommendations directly and look at the diet as a whole and not just at veg, which is making about 15% of the daily food intake.

 

[-Drezella-]

So I took Hugo to the vets on Wednesday and he prescribed 0.6 ml Septrim antibiotics once per day for him and said for me to give him 0.3 ml of Metacam for dogs twice daily. I have been doing that, but his urine is still spotting with blood. Is this normal? If it’s an infection how long does it take before the antibiotics would kick in?

The vet said that if he doesn’t improve after the week long course then he’d most likely need an x-ray to check for stones. I don’t have a spare £200-300 to cover this cost plus further treatment, so as you can imagine I’m extremely stressed and embarrassed about this and potentially having to do some fundraising to help pay for it, as my financial situation is bad at the moment with being between jobs. If Guinea pigs have bladder stones what happens, do they just pass them naturally, or are they likely to need surgery. I’m just trying to prepare myself.

@Wiebke