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Should The Uti Symptoms Have Improved By Now?

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Trish B

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My 14 month old male guinea pig Mandril was diagnosed with a UTI on Dec 31st and was prescribed 0.6mls paediatric septrin twice daily, 0.3 dog metacam twice daily and half a capsule of cystease once daily.He is half way through his second course of septrin and still squeaking when weeing although his appetite and behaviour are quite as normal. I have booked him in for a consultation with Anne O'Meara on Wednesday for potential X rays and her assessment as to what may be going on (if anything apart from a stubborn UTI). I have been seeing my local vet up to now.

I just wanted to know whether this sounds very normal for a UTI? My late guinea pig Chive died recently due to neurological problems affecting his ability to void his bladder and it was horrible so I'm a bit paranoid about all this. Any views would be very welcome
 
He's 1.3kg and is 12 days into his courses of septrin. He has been squeak-free for 24 hours now-am keeping my fingers crossed!

Thanks for replying
 
It's possible he just has a very stubborn UTI, I would however still take him on Wednesday. Anne can do a Urine test to see of blood is present in the urine, if so you can then have him Xrayed. It will certainly put your mind at ease to know what you are dealing with and if stones are present.
 
It's possible he just has a very stubborn UTI, I would however still take him on Wednesday. Anne can do a Urine test to see of blood is present in the urine, if so you can then have him Xrayed. It will certainly put your mind at ease to know what you are dealing with and if stones are present.
 
There was no blood present in his first sample, just excess protein. However It would be a good idea to see Anne tomorrow as arranged and then we could see what she suggests. Many thanks for the advice.
he has always been on a low calcium diet but I suppose that doesn't rule out stones..
 
I have just spoken to Anne and she suggests leaving things for now. I will finish the antibiotics on day 14 and tail off the metacam. It's going to be very cold overnight so a lengthy car trip might not be the best thing if Mandril is on the mend anyway. After last time I just didn't want to take any chances but I have total faith in anne's assessment.
Thank you again
 
Anne is very good - Certainly, I would follow her advice.

However, if my knowledge, and mathematics are correct, the Septrin dose is low - If Mandril's infection has not cleared, this may be something to address/discuss.

Please keep us updated.
 
Anne confirmed that the dose of septrin was fine and it does seem that Mandril is on the mend now. However I won't get complacent and will be on alert for the dreaded wee-squeak syndrome!
 
Fingers crossed that is Mandril sorted out now then! My Jemima once had a stubborn UTI and had to have an extended prescription of antibiotics but it did go eventually and didn't return. If he does go downhill with any of his symptoms or new symptoms its well worth getting him to Anne for the once over to make sure it is a UTI and not an underlying condition
 
Oh yes, I will! I've already lost a pig due to an underlying condition which was neurological and caused severe bladder problems
 
Oh bless you, last time I had trouble with a UTI that wouldn't go it turned out Bumble had severe arthritis in the bottom of her spine and the start of kidney failure which was all a shock as she was still very active and despite not squeaking when she wee'd she was in enough pain to not go properly and just leaked frequently.

I really am sending healing wheeks for Mandril and hope that he is all better now
 
Thank you Lady Kelly. So sorry that your Bumble also had severe problems.
Mandril hasn't squeaked today and am now down to 0.1ml dog metacam twice daily.. Finished septrin yesterday as advised by Anne. No meds in a couple of days and fingers crossed, all being well!
 
Mandril started squeaking again 6 days after stopping the 2nd course of septrin. A urine sample showed a lot of calcium carbonate crystals in his wee but no blood. He was put on baytril + probiotics and the local vet advised me to have X rays done. (Anne is away this week). I persuaded them that they would be able to X Ray without anaesthesia and I'm pleased to say that no stones were found. It's either a stubborn UTI or interstitial cystitis. I've not found cystease to be of any help.
He's going for a check up on Monday and then I'll see whether Anne can take over if it's a long term problem
 
What dose of Cystease were you giving? was it 125mg a day? or less? I was advised the try vegan glucosamine (one of the ingredients in Cystease) but at a higher dose of 250mg a day so that may be something to run past Anne. It does help my Amy who has IC.
 
I was just about to recommend glucosamine too, it helped my bladder pig Tango a lot. Pearl Barley water is also highly recommended for easing the symptoms of cystitis but I've not personally tried that myself.

The swithc to baytril might help if you do have a particularly stubborn infection going on but its worth looking into the glucosamine/other options too.
 
Thanks for the info. I was giving half a capsule of cystease daily-sorry, I don't know what that amounts to in mg. I'll certainly ask about the vegan glucosamine.
The baytril seems to have really helped-strangely the septrin did little to stop the squeaking. I know that septrin is the antibiotic of choice for UTIs and I had to struggle to get my local vet to prescribe it as he advised baytril. They haven't done a urine culture yet so I don't even know if it's an infection or IC but that will be the next step I expect. At least stones have been ruled out. I might get Anne to do the culture if she is available
 
I think that would be 62.5mg a day so even trying a full capsule may help.
 
It would be good if it was "just" a stubborn UTI as I know IC is such a chronic problem. Has it been proved that IC can be stress-related or is it random? The vets seem to think that it is only in cats when it is stress-related.
 
I have not heard of it being stress related but that doesn't mean it isn't the case. Amy's IC is controlled with Glucosamine and diet and I know for her at least diet is a trigger.
 
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