Stone Composition
Calcium carbonate is the most common type of stone. Recent studies have shown that the composition of the majority (90%>) of urinary stones in guinea pigs is 100% calcium carbonate. A certain percentage also contain traces of calcium phosphate, oxalate or struvite (1). Pure calcium phosphate or struvite stones are extremely rare.
If calcium oxalate is detected, it may be attributed to a high oxalate diet.(2) It is not uncommon for a calcium carbonate stone to be misidentified.
Stone analysis may aid in developing prevention strategies. "A high pH value and high urinary calcium concentration are crucial for calcium carbonate crystallization in urine."(2) This would suggest an overall reduction in calcium intake may be helpful.
Source:
http://www.guinealynx.info/stones.html
Thanks Jo!
I've cut right back on all the higher calcium foods for them now and they're mainly on fresh grass with extra water soaked into it, cucumber and peppers. I'm going to have a good look at the calcium charts this week when I get a minute and see what else we might be able to add for variety.
So...the piggy saga continues...
Piglet had his vets appt yesterday with the exotics vet from the zoo. She had a long chat to me about him and we decided that he should have a CAT scan and full blood tests. (that was an eye-watering experience financially!) They did it at the hospital that day, and Piglet was sedated for the procedure. I picked him up a few hours later and he was eating already, a little groggy but otherwise fine. The vet gave me some info on the scan yesterday and then called me this afternoon with the full report - fast or what! He also had an injection of metacam and a
subcutaneous fluid injection.
Piglet had the most wonderful sleep last night - all relaxed and chilled out. He slept really deeply, then woke up and ate everything I put in front of him, then slept again and repeated the pattern. He was a bit unsteady on his feet but overall, I think he had a lovely time relaxing! He fell asleep in his fleecy sleeping bag on my mother in laws lap for a bit and looked so cute all cuddled up and fast asleep!
So we now know the entire ins and outs of this little piggy. He is 98% his normal self but as he's had such good tests, we know there are things under the surface that we need to address.:
The blood tests have shown that Piglet is still fighting an infection. His white cell count is 17, whereas a healthy piggy is around 3 - 9. He has been given a course of Seprin for the next couple of weeks to kill off the underlying infection so we don't get a repeat.
Unfortunately there are three small stones in his bladder - smaller than the one he has passed, but they are there. one of them is sitting in the tube that connects his right kidney to his bladder
The vet is doing a wait and see on this one at the moment, as the good news is that it is much closer to the bladder end than the kidney end. We are going back in two weeks for a check up and will see if he passes it into the bladder over this time. If not, then they will go in surgically and try to milk it into the bladder and then remove all three stones at once. He may pass these stones himself in the meantime though.
His kidney function is ok at the moment. The kidney tube with the stone in is dilated rather than blocked, so there is no swelling or damage to the kidney at the moment.
He has mild arthritis in his back! The vet thinks that this could be the source of the bladder issues as if he has been finding it uncomfortable to pee because of his back, this might be why we've been getting stones. We had an elderly cat up to the end of last year who had a back injury from years ago that turned into arthritis and then he had constant cystitis, so we've been here before! I can only guess that he may have been dropped or had a bad fall as a young pig, as he is only 3.5 now and we've had him since he was 1. Maybe something happened to him in his previous home? Or it could just be completely genetic. He's going on a diet though as he is a little on the tubby side
Lastly, the vet said that they only scanned his back half, but some of the lung showed up. They've seen a small node on the lung. We don't know what it is, but at the moment he has no issues with his lungs or breathing. The vet said it could be scarring from a prior lung infection, a growth or possibly a tumour. They need to rescan him after all his treatment, so she's going to check again then to see if it's changed or if there are any others. I'm not panicking about this yet, as he is showing no signs of lung issues and as we're talking about a CAT scan here, I'm pretty sure that any pig you go into this level of detail with is going to show some lumps and bumps that we would never have known about either until much later if ever at all.
So the treatment at the moment is as follows:
Metacam every morning for the foreseeable future to help with the arthritis and to see if it encourages him to pee more
Antibiotics daily for two weeks to really kill off the infection
A check up on the 31st to see if we need to do anything surgical (if so then they'll do on the day), and to see if his white cells are down
Lots of fresh hay, a decrease in pellets, add fresh grass soaked in water into the diet, keep to the cucumber and i am going to add some low calcium veggies in too
I'm also going to give syringing water a try - 10 - 20ml a day. He seems to be peeing better since he's been at the vets however, but if he'll take it then it can't hurt.
Jo - it looks as if your extra water for Patrick is helping as our vet has pretty much said that increasing fluid intake and getting exercise are the best things we can do. Maybe Patrick would like washed and soaked grass as well if he's not an outdoors pig already? Ours are indoor year round and haven't really had grass that much, so we're introducing it by slowly building it up, so as not to upset their stomachs.
What a mad couple of days! I feel better now though. Even though we've still got a bit ahead of us, at last we know what's happening now and what to do to help. the worst bit really was not knowing how to help him
! x