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Rusty's Not Well

piggieminder

piggieminder

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I knew he wasn't well, despite getting the all clear at the vets yesterday. I'm opening a health thread rather than posting in the general one now as I think we may need some extra help.
I thought I'd heard Rusty squeaky wee but wasn't absolutely sure it was him squeaking. He dropped 70gm in 6 days and has now dropped some more. He is eating for himself but not enough. I've just seen him squeaky wee, he lifted his bottom and strained leaving a pink puddle behind him. I've spoken to the vet who has okayed Metacam for tonight and in the morning, he is being seen by the senior exotic vet tomorrow morning. I've also given him some cystease. His urine smells a little odd, difficult to expalin the smell but it's a bit different. I'm hoping it's a urinary infection rather than a stone.
 
Oh poor Rusty. Syringe feeds and hopefully tomorrow you can get him some medication.
Let us know how you get on in the morning
 
So sorry to hear this after he got the all clear from the vet, sometimes I think we can pick up on our piggies being a bit off quicker than the vet can if they dont see them regularly and dont know what they are looking for :(
A funny smell does perhaps suggest an infection, hope the senior exotic vet can be more help now Rusty has clearly identified it as a urinary problem x
 
Oh no, sorry to hear he’s still not right, hope this vet trip will be better to diagnose his problem poor lad. Get well soon Rusty and hope it goes well xx
 
I'm sitting here doing the long wait for the phone call. Rusty's having an xray, bloods and urine test to try and work out what's going on. The other Pigglington's know something's wrong it's so quiet here today. :(
 
Sending hugs! The waiting for the vet to phone is the worst, especially when the other piggies know there's something wrong :(
Paws crossed its a simple UTI and he'll be fixed up with a course of antibiotics x
 
Definitely horrible waiting for the phone calls! I’m always a state waiting with mine!
Really hope all comes back ok and you’re not waiting too long to hear back from them xx
 
It's a stone, I can't believe this. He's coming home later we will have to book surgery for next week. I've got no where to go on adjusting the diet the vet's been through it with me. I've said we'll try surgery once like we did with Bracken. This is the 5th guinea pig with stones she's seen this week, this is a very hard water area but I double filter my water.
 
I’m so sorry @piggieminder ☹️Really hope he’s ok when he’s home after today and the surgery goes well. So gutted for you and him. I live in a really hard water area too, I give bottled water but Rupert still had more after his emergency surgery with the big one.
Hope you’re ok xx
 
piggieminder said:
It's a stone, I can't believe this. He's coming home later we will have to book surgery for next week. I've got no where to go on adjusting the diet the vet's been through it with me. I've said we'll try surgery once like we did with Bracken. This is the 5th guinea pig with stones she's seen this week, this is a very hard water area but I double filter my water.
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I have never had a piggy with a stone, despite living in a hardwater area and never filtering water. However, I do feed a very wet diet. In the summer months, the guinea pigs spend all day in the runs, eating grass, plus lots of leafy salad leaves and veg and during winter months, I pick grass for them and also feed a lot more salad/veg than most people. I am not sure if you've seen the thread I made about feeding the piggies at TEAS. I have also included a lot of info regarding recent veterinary thoughts about bladder issues and stones.
Feeding the guinea pigs at TEAS
 
I do the same sort of diet @furryfriends (TEAS) it's what the vets here recommend. I'm devastated for poor Rusty, I can't believe I'm here again. It's only a year since we lost Bracken to recurring stones. The vets just told me it's absolutely nothing I'm doing but I feel like I must be getting something wrong. They have a tablespoon at most of pellets, none of the ones I use are more than .7 calcium, Rusty eats hardly any anyway. The biggest part of their diet after hay is grass, there's hardly a day I don't pick it. The biggest stress in the piggies lives is vet visits, mine too!
 
piggieminder said:
I do the same sort of diet @furryfriends (TEAS) it's what the vets here recommend. I'm devastated for poor Rusty, I can't believe I'm here again. It's only a year since we lost Bracken to recurring stones. The vets just told me it's absolutely nothing I'm doing but I feel like I must be getting something wrong. They have a tablespoon at most of pellets, none of the ones I use are more than .7 calcium, Rusty eats hardly any anyway. The biggest part of their diet after hay is grass, there's hardly a day I don't pick it. The biggest stress in the piggies lives is vet visits, mine too!
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I think, sadly, it must be something to do with their breeding, as it clearly isn't anything you are doing wrong. Most of our piggies eat more porridge oats than nuggets too. Not sure if there is any relevance there, but just thought I would mention it. I know Simon has also prescribed a diuretic called Bendroflumethiazide and has found this be useful in preventing the re-occurrence of bladder stones, in piggies who have had previous ones.
 
Definitely think to do with breeding too. Debbie @furryfriends (TEAS) ,quite a few years ago now you met my Rupert at the vets (when i was in with Jess and the chins), the all white boy (my avatar) from RGPW.
He was one of the babies from the huge dumping they had on their doorstep, lots and lots of inbred piggies that had a terrible background and lots more babies. Mostly white with red/black eyes. He’s the only piggy I’ve had with stones and I really think because of that!
 
I genuinely believe it’s due to their genetics @piggieminder and although we can take steps to help with prevention, we just can’t prevent them all. You do everything and more for those piggies so please don’t start doubting yourself. Hugs to you all x
 
The vet told me all the piggies she sees with stones are the ones with caring owners who are doing the right things and it seems so unfair. I wonder if either we've got it wrong or the others with stones wouldn't go to a vet anyway!
 
piggieminder said:
The vet told me all the piggies she sees with stones are the ones with caring owners who are doing the right things and it seems so unfair. I wonder if either we've got it wrong or the others with stones wouldn't go to a vet anyway!
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Apparently, exotic specialist, John Chitty, has said that you rarely, if ever, see bladder stones in guinea pigs who are kept outdoors!
 
Are there any actual statistics or research on this? I'm fascinated by it. Is it more common in certain breeds, or more often in one sex or another? Is it an older age thing?
There may still be a diet connection if it is said that outdoor guinea pigs suffer less, certainly mine get bucket loads of anything and everything green, including many things that are not "approved" of, and I would not be happy with them only eating dried forage. Though I have had to change the way I keep mine now, and I'm beginning to worry , the more I read on here, that bringing them in and feeding less green may mean I'm going to start experiencing these issues. I wasn't worried until I started reading the forum , I thought guinea pigs were incredibly healthy long lived animals and now I'm panicking I've just been incredible lucky over the years!
 
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