Something tells me Pearl Barley is a hit?

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flintstones

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I've been quite deflated by the fact Patrick seems to hate me but I think he's had a change of heart!

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ehns4O9hj0M[/ame]

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BJ3ketXNgVU[/ame]

Don't know how I got that idea though! rolleyes
 
Clever Patrick! x)x)
I loove the disgruntled wife pig look of 'where's mine mummy?' (is it Pebbles? In my defence, I need more pigtures of your pairs then I could check ;))

x
 
Clever Patrick! x)x)
I loove the disgruntled wife pig look of 'where's mine mummy?' (is it Pebbles? In my defence, I need more pigtures of your pairs then I could check ;))

x

She did get some - she just had to wait until he got fed up, sometimes I give some to her, to encourage Patrick to take some.. .

:))
 
Thats so sweet. Mimsi loved Pear Barley as well and used to pull the syring out of my hand to get more!
 
Is there a reason for feeding him that?

Yes he has interstitial Cystitis, which is chronic inflammation of the bladder wall. He urinates blood daily and cries when he urinates. This encourages him to drink more and soothes his bladder - well that's the aim.

He's also on steroids and Cystease.
 
Ah ok, my rocky sometimes squeaks when he wees but not all the time and I've not seen blood in it, I give him watered down unsweetened cranberry juice as a treat and he loves it and funnily enough I've not heard him squeak as often. just read in piggy potions about giving it neat. Vet has checked him many times and says that if he had uti he would squeak bad and more often and I'd see blood. So have I helped him then by spoiling him with cranberry juice then?
 
Ah ok, my rocky sometimes squeaks when he wees but not all the time and I've not seen blood in it, I give him watered down unsweetened cranberry juice as a treat and he loves it and funnily enough I've not heard him squeak as often. just read in piggy potions about giving it neat. Vet has checked him many times and says that if he had uti he would squeak bad and more often and I'd see blood. So have I helped him then by spoiling him with cranberry juice then?

Patrick 'used' to have visible blood, I test him routinely with dipsticks, his blood is almost always off the scale it's not visible to the naked eye. If he had an infection (protein, nitrates, and leucocytes I think it is) without looking at ny sticks I'm not sure would be present, not a lot of protein though. I got told specific gravity has to be spun down to get the dilution not sure if this is true or not, I just concentrate on blood and infection.

My vet has done cultures as well and the sample has been sterile. Patrick problems started with crystal formation in the bladder wall.

Your vet should be looking to rule out infection though urine analysis. If you look at Patricks crystal formation thread, he demonstrates his squeaking well urinating plenty of times.
 
Wow, he certainly loves that. Great videos, I love the way they dangle out.


Do you just boil the water in with pearl barley and tip the pearl barley away, then wait for it to go cold?
 
Wow, he certainly loves that. Great videos, I love the way they dangle out.


Do you just boil the water in with pearl barley and tip the pearl barley away, then wait for it to go cold?

Yes Boil the pearl Barley for 45 minutes adding water when needed, drain the liquid into a bowl and then leave to cool, although I do feed it warm - he seems to prefer it warm, gobbles it down! :))

Funny thing is they always just dangle, they never attempt to jump out. Although I don't trust Patrick as he did manage to fall into Fred's cage about a year ago wasn't good, he managed to fall down a gap (between the door and base) he must have pushed it, this was before I invested in Bull dog clips, which are fabulous - especially when you use excess amounts!
 
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Just watched it again, I can't believe how quick he drinks it!
 
PATRICK you little darling! xx>>>xx>>>xx>>>

Oh Joanne he's simply slurping it up big time isn't he! All paws crossed this helps him :)
sweet Pebbles you never get left out girlie :))
 
Patrick 'used' to have visible blood, I test him routinely with dipsticks, his blood is almost always off the scale it's not visible to the naked eye. If he had an infection (protein, nitrates, and leucocytes I think it is) without looking at ny sticks I'm not sure would be present, not a lot of protein though. I got told specific gravity has to be spun down to get the dilution not sure if this is true or not, I just concentrate on blood and infection.

SG on dipsticks aren't reliable really. You can use a refractometer to measure SG and it doesn't need to be spun down, well at least with cats and dogs they dont..
 
SG on dipsticks aren't reliable really. You can use a refractometer to measure SG and it doesn't need to be spun down, well at least with cats and dogs they dont..

Thanks for this knew there was a reason why I never took SG into account.

Patrick has had another 40 mls this morning voluntary - (took a whole 10 minutes.). I'm going to invest in a little mouse bottle will fill that up for him to have well I'm at work. Was thinking I should only offer it in the morning so it's seen as a 'treat' and he doesn't get bored.

Any ways Patrick has most definitely had his bladder flushed - his urine is basically water he's had so much fluids, he even provided a urine sample for the vet which was lovely of him LOL.
 
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