Ruby - lots of questions r.e. cystitis, ovarian cysts

[Pantalaimon]

I thought it might be a good idea to just create one thing for Ruby rather than continually asking questions and creating loads of posts.

Ruby is booked in for a spay on Friday. I have been having difficulties getting the cyst ease to work and since the rescue said it was just a precaution, I thought it wouldn’t be too much of an issue. I was very wrong, she is now squeaking in pain, and peeing droplets of blood. I feel really bad but still can’t get the cyst ease to mix!

I have tried mixing it with water or water and pure apple juice but it won’t mix and then just ends up coating the edges of the container and will not mix in with the liquid. How on earth does anyone get this stuff to work?

My concern is that she now won’t be able to have the spay on Friday because of this problem. I’m also confused as the rescue said it was a precaution, they never actually said she had cystitis. Is it possible that prolonged use of cyst ease as a precaution could actually increase the risk of cystitis?

I am also struggling to get any syringe feed into her. The 1ml syringes just do not suck up the critical care, even after chopping the end off. I ordered catheter tip syringes (the same shape as recovery syringes) but the company are proving to be fairly rubbish and not communicating or delivering. I am panicking somewhat and feeling like I shouldn’t have taken on the responsibility of a pig with ongoing health issues.

 

[weepweeps]

I’m sorry Ruby is unwell. I haven’t got any experience of these issues. Sorry. Just bumping your post back to the top.

What syringe food are you using? I’ve only used this one and it’s been fine in a 1ml syringe.

 

[Piggies&buns]

Cystease is a glucosamine supplement. It helps to boost the bladder’s glucosamine layer which protects it from the corrosive effects of urine.
It isn’t going to cause cystitis.

Have you tried mixing it with slightly warm water so that it can start to dissolve?
I have also seen others feed it sprinkled on a slice of cucumber for example. The issue is that piggies have huge amounts of taste buds so tricking them into eating something is much harder if they don’t like the taste.

Are you actually feeding critical care or are you using a mushed pellet mix?
Pellet mix is known to be tricky to get up the syringe but I’ve not had trouble with proper critical care before

 

[piggieminder]

When I was using Cystease I put the powder and water in an old (well washed) medicine bottle screwed the lid on tight and gave in a really good shake. Measure the water with a syringe, I was doing 2ml water to a capsule I think. Extra mixture can be stored in the fridge.

 

[Pantalaimon]

I’m sorry Ruby is unwell. I haven’t got any experience of these issues. Sorry. Just bumping your post back to the top.

What syringe food are you using? I’ve only used this one and it’s been fine in a 1ml syringe.

View attachment 259697

That’s the one I’m using and it just won’t go up the syringe properly! It is taking about 20 minutes to get 4ml into her. Not even half a tablespoon from the measure in the bag.

 

[Pantalaimon]

Cystease is a glucosamine supplement. It helps to boost the bladder’s glucosamine layer which protects it from the corrosive effects of urine.
It isn’t going to cause cystitis.

Have you tried mixing it with slightly warm water so that it can start to dissolve?
I have also seen others feed it sprinkled on a slice of cucumber for example. The issue is that piggies have huge amounts of taste buds so tricking them into eating something is much harder if they don’t like the taste.

Are you actually feeding critical care or are you using a mushed pellet mix?
Pellet mix is known to be tricky to get up the syringe but I’ve not had trouble with proper critical care before

Good to hear it couldn’t have been caused by overusing the cystease. I was just wondering whether long term use of it could have made her reliant on it when she didn’t actually need it previously. It is slightly frustrating though as it does mean that I have been somewhat mislead by the rescue. She is not just a pig with ovarian cysts, but also has long-term cystitis. I have no problem with caring for her and dealing with this but it would have made life a lot less stressful if I had just been told in the first place.

I might try using slightly warmed water, I was concerned that it might affect the substance but I suppose that as long as I don’t take it over guinea pig body temperature then it should be fine.

She loves it with a bit of apple juice (pure fruit) but is a bit funny about how she eats her veg so I doubt she would take it on food.

I am using critical care (the actual oxbow stuff). I might try to go to Vets4Pets today and see if I can buy a recovery syringe.

Sorry about the slightly panicked posts, I’m slightly stressed about doing the right thing for her and very frustrated that the rescue didn’t give me the full story.

 

[Piggies&buns]

Good to hear it couldn’t have been caused by overusing the cystease. I was just wondering whether long term use of it could have made her reliant on it when she didn’t actually need it previously. It is slightly frustrating though as it does mean that I have been somewhat mislead by the rescue. She is not just a pig with ovarian cysts, but also has long-term cystitis. I have no problem with caring for her and dealing with this but it would have made life a lot less stressful if I had just been told in the first place.

I might try using slightly warmed water, I was concerned that it might affect the substance but I suppose that as long as I don’t take it over guinea pig body temperature then it should be fine.

She loves it with a bit of apple juice (pure fruit) but is a bit funny about how she eats her veg so I doubt she would take it on food.

I am using critical care (the actual oxbow stuff). I might try to go to Vets4Pets today and see if I can buy a recovery syringe.

Try the suggestion above - shaking the cystease with some water in a small, clean bottle first - I wouldn't want warm water to damage the substance either.

Are you making it too thick maybe?

 

[piggieminder]

I found with stirring a lot of the powder just floated on the top, a good shake makes it all wet. I used to mix it some time before I needed to use it so it had time to dissolve.

 

[Pantalaimon]

Try the suggestion above - shaking the cystease with some water in a small, clean bottle first - I wouldn't want warm water to damage the substance either.

Are you making it too thick maybe?

My concern is that by making it more runny she will be having to take on a whole lot more volume. She drinks a lot anyway.

Thankfully I have just been to Vets4Pets and they were amazing and gave me a recovery syringe for free!

 

[Pantalaimon]

Ruby had her surgery on Friday and all went well. A little panic when we got her home because she started bleeding but after sending pictures to the vet to have a look it was decided that all was ok.

She is quite bulgy on one side, like very VERY bulgy. But it doesn’t seem to hurt her to touch it. She had both cystic ovaries removed from an incision on her left side so I suppose they would have had to do some manoeuvring to get to the cyst on her right ovary.

The problem I’m having is that she won’t eat or move. She just sits in her hay tray, she does eat her hay but won’t leave the hay tray. She has had the same pellets in her bowl since Friday evening. She won’t eat her veg either.

I have been giving her 15ml of critical care twice a day. I have to really force her to eat it. She will eat lettuce when hand fed it. Last night I put her on the floor beside my other guinea pig (Pat) to make sure she could walk, and she ran around making chatty noises to him and hoovering up the hay on the floor. She was coming to me really enthusiastically to eat pieces of lettuce, she ate one pellet when I put her bowl on the floor.

When back in the cage, she ate some hay, wouldn’t touch any pellets, was really enthusiastic for her veg but then only ate the lettuce!

Really not sure what more I can do for her. She doesn’t seem to be in a great deal of pain because she is really lively and enthusiastic about everything else, except for food.

 

[Pantalaimon]

The bulge on Friday. I think it has gone down a little since then.

 

[Pantalaimon]

Here it is today. Not as big as Friday but still a weird shape.

 

[Piggies&buns]

Is she on painkillers?
Are you weighing her daily?

 

[Merab]

Humans don’t recover instantly after surgery and neither do piggies.
We just want them to be better immediately.
If things are going well she’ll recover but if you’re concerned at all check with the vet.

When Phoebe was spayed she spent the first day after looking and behaving as if she’d had a hard night on the town

Hope Ruby does recover soon- she’s in excellent hands with you.

 

[Pantalaimon]

Is she on painkillers?
Are you weighing her daily?

She is on 0.37ml metacam and 0.18ml calpol twice a day. I try to remember to weigh her but often forget as I’m half asleep due to the time. She gets weighed most days.

She did weigh around 860g before her surgery (before feeding, she was up to 920g after feeding). I have just weighed her and she is only 820g, and that is after a little bit of sweet potato (I finally managed to get her to eat something other than lettuce!).
She has had ovarian cysts for a long time now (not sure how long as I’ve only had her for two weeks) and was just skin, bones and a big bellyful of cysts.

 

[Pantalaimon]

Humans don’t recover instantly after surgery and neither do piggies.
We just want them to be better immediately.
If things are going well she’ll recover but if you’re concerned at all check with the vet.

When Phoebe was spayed she spent the first day after looking and behaving as if she’d had a hard night on the town

Hope Ruby does recover soon- she’s in excellent hands with you.

It just scares me a little as my previous sow who was spayed for cysts was wanting to break out of her tiny little recovery cage (she had to have restricted movement due to where the incision was) within 24 hours!

 

[Pantalaimon]

As you can see, she seems quite lively and alert, not at all like she’s massively uncomfortable. She just doesn’t want anything other than lettuce.

 

[Merab]

Phoebe did break through the divider that I had created to keep her separate while her wound healed !

Worrying is a perfectly normal reaction in a caring owner.
She’s beautiful

 

[Pantalaimon]

Phoebe did break through the divider that I had created to keep her separate while her wound healed !

Worrying is a perfectly normal reaction in a caring owner.
She’s beautiful

That must have taken quite some determination!

I will tell Ruby that she is being admired over the internet. I think she would probably just say “ok, can you stop shoving this gross green stuff into my mouth”. She does not like the critical care.

 

[weepweeps]

I’m pleased Ruby is feeling a bit better.

 

[Bill & Ted]

Ruby looks like she has turned a corner and well on the way to recovery. Does she like a little grass or some herbs? I would not worry too much about the veggies, as long as she is eating hay then that’s 85% of her diet. Keep weighing at the same time and record her daily weight, this will help you decide how much CC you need to offer, while encouraging her to eat

 

[Merab]

Maybe a dish of grated sweet potato or carrot mixed with raw oats will also help encourage her to eat.
I used to add a small bit of mashed banana into the critical care - that went down very well

 

[Pantalaimon]

I’m pleased to hear that it seems she’s not doing anything overly abnormal.

I wonder whether her reaction has been a bit exaggerated as she was going into the surgery from an already weakened state.

I’ve just opened a new box of hay and I bought a blend of the normal meadow hay I buy and some Timothy. I have never smelt hay so good, so hopefully she feels the same way!

 

[Pantalaimon]

I’ve just gone to clean Ruby’s cage and found the pee pad in her bed soaked in blood. It doesn’t look like much in the picture but it is completely red underneath the fluffy fibres. It has also dried rigid, which urine does not normally do. I’m thinking that because it is not bright red and in a layer it is not from her wound but actually from her bladder.

She’s on one cystease tablet daily. I give it all in one go with her evening feed/medication. I’m not sure what more I can do. She’s definitely in a lot of pain when she urinates, but it seems to only be when urinating.

She has a post-op check tomorrow but it’s with a nurse rather than the vet. When taking her in the nurse who took note of her medications had no idea what cystease was and had no idea of cystitis in guinea pigs so I don’t think it would be much help to ask.

 

[Pantalaimon]

And now it appears that Ruby has taken it upon herself to do a little bit of DIY surgery. Talk about stressful!

Luckily it appears to be all scabbed over.

 

[piggieminder]

I'm sorry you are having all this stress with Ruby.
Sending Ruby healing vibes.

 

[weepweeps]

Good luck at the post op appointment.

 

[Pantalaimon]

Is there a maximum dose of cystease that a guinea pig can have? She’s currently on 1 capsule daily, but I’m wondering whether that could be put up to twice daily. This morning I have found that she is absolutely soaked in urine underneath and all up her back.

I have not dealt with a pig with cystitis before so I’m not sure what I’m doing wrong. I understand it is irritated by stress and certain foods. She currently gets a small handful (just a clump in my palm) of science selective pellets, meadow hay, her medicines, 1-2ml pure apple juice, bell pepper, romaine lettuce, cucumber, coriander, mange tout. Is there anything here that sounds like it could be causing a flare-up?

 

[Piggies&buns]

Is there a maximum dose of cystease that a guinea pig can have? She’s currently on 1 capsule daily, but I’m wondering whether that could be put up to twice daily. This morning I have found that she is absolutely soaked in urine underneath and all up her back.

I have not dealt with a pig with cystitis before so I’m not sure what I’m doing wrong. I understand it is irritated by stress and certain foods. She currently gets a small handful (just a clump in my palm) of science selective pellets, meadow hay, her medicines, 1-2ml pure apple juice, bell pepper, romaine lettuce, cucumber, coriander, mange tout. Is there anything here that sounds like it could be causing a flare-up?

You have to find the level if cystease which works for a maintenance dose but it can go up during a flare.
I would actually measure pellets out properly - no more than one tablespoon per day. Or is far too easy to overfeed then without properly measuring them. You could even cut them down further to give yourself more leeway with veg eg my piggies get about 5 pellets each and even then they only get them twice a week. I therefore have more leeway to feed a bit of kale etc eat.
It seems to be more changes to the diet rather than the diet itself which irritates but you do need to be very carful with calcium (ie pellets and drinking water).
I’d not give mange tout daily.

 

[Pantalaimon]

You have to find the level if cystease which works for a maintenance dose but it can go up during a flare.
I would actually measure pellets out properly - no more than one tablespoon per day. Or is far too easy to overfeed then without properly measuring them. You could even cut them down further to give yourself more leeway with veg eg my piggies get about 5 pellets each and even then they only get them twice a week. I therefore have more leeway to feed a bit of kale etc eat.
It seems to be more changes to the diet rather than the diet itself which irritates but you do need to be very carful with calcium (ie pellets and drinking water).
I’d not give mange tout daily.

Ok thank you. I will stop with the mange tout.

I don’t give much more than a tablespoon of pellets each time, I just measure it with my hand. I have been cautious with suddenly reducing the quantity of pellets as at the rescue they just had a big bin of different types mixed together (whatever had been donated) and they got a decent scoop.

I will increase her cystease then if that is ok to do.