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Sooty - bloody urine again...

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hallie2985

hallie2985

Junior Guinea Pig
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Darling Sooty, my 'old lady' is my problem pig. A few years ago, I first noticed nasty sludge in her urine, and took her to my then vet, who did an ultrasound and bladder flush, plus microscopy of her urine. No stones, but there were crystals in her urine. I was advised to put her on a low calcium diet and filter her water, which I dutifully did.

More recently, she has been having intermittent episodes of haematuria. We have been to our new, more cavy savvy vet, who gave her antibiotics and metacam to see if that helped. It seemed to, and she has not had an episode for a while. Then, last night, the dreaded blood was back.

I wonder if she has interstitial cystitis? She doesn't have any of the classic UTI symptoms, and the blood is intermittent. Yesterday it was frank, and sludgy, but today her urine is back to normal. Surely if she had a stone the irritation would be consistent and the problem would not wax and wane?

I have booked her in to see the vet again, as obviously we need to get on top of this, but I am worried that he will advise an x-ray. My vet does not do x-rays without GA, and as she is 4 1/2 I am worried about her being put under. If there are stones, then fair enough, they can whip them out at the same time, but I am just not convinced.

She does not always have pain whilst urinating, and is generally well; she still comes out for food and drinks well. She loves her cuddles. She doesn't play with the other pigs during floor time, but she never has done (well, she did when Sweep was still alive, but since Sweepie died, Soots seems to regard floor time as a great disaster).

I'm at a loss as to what the best thing for her is. I don't want to be making a decision on the spot tomorrow with regard to x-rays and so forth, and would be really grateful for your thoughts...

Thanks,
Hayley
 
Please dont give her a GA for the sake of it. An xray can be done without one if they are just looking for stones, so please ask your vet not to. She should just sit on an xray plate and allow the vet to take the picture. Loads of my piggies are able to just do this, they just sit there. If there worried about her moving, tell them they can put her in a piggie bag or a carboard box on top of the xray table.

Has your vet had a palpate (feel) of her bladder? Sometimes you are able to feel any stones and usually the piggie will let you know if you can.

She may well have interstisal cystitis, cant tell. Has your new vet looked at a urine sample? This will be able to tell a lot too.

Have you spoke to flinstones? Shes the expert on bladder issues, i'll point her towards this post and see if she can give you some advice.

x.
 
Hi There,

Funnily enough I have 2 bladder pigs just now. I can only advise on my experiences with Patrick he had intermittent blood, he has been given regular ultrasounds and X-rays for sometime now. On the ultrasound we where able to see the bladder wall was clearly inflamed, ultrasounds are easily done without GA and every time Patrick was ultra-sounded I held him. His problems first began in May 2011, where are we now?

His bladder issues are still ongoing - they began with 'minute' crystals, Patrick now passes blood daily however we have his pain under control. In the beginning antibiotics would stop the blood but that is no longer the case.

I am able to syringe all his crystals out but sadly he does have 3 stones and as he is still manufacturing crystals the vet believes we are better off finding a way to dissolve the stones rather than removing them, as he said the problems with stones is once you remove them they tend to return 6 weeks later. I must also STRESS Patrick's stones are not big enough to cause a blockage and he is regularly Xrayed to check the size and position of the stones. I syringe him Barley water 40 - 60 ml's a day - he loves it.

I must also advise Patrick never had stones despite his passing of blood it wasn't until December that the stones where found in his bladder 8 months after the first occasion of blood, I believe these where caused by a build up of crystals, even a pig diagnosed with IC should be Xrayed routinely you would be amazed how many IC pigs die of a stone in there tubes the blood is dismissed as IC so you can never really take your eye off the ball.

You do however have the advantage as your pig is female, so stones pose as less of a risk as they can pass bigger stones than boys.

I would ask for an Xray without GA - if this cannot be done an ultrasound is the next best option and will also show stones along with if or not the bladder wall is inflamed.
 
Well, she had an x-ray. They used gas to sedate her, so I wouldn't call it a GA per se, but I had to sign a consent, so who knows... Anyway, she has three small stones, one in her urethra and two in her bladder. At present, we are hoping she may pass them and treating her symptomatically.

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The plan is metacam at times of discomfort and lots of hydration, and we'll keep monitoring her.

It's not the best news, but neither was it unexpected. I'm pleased my vet didn't recommend surgery - he felt that the size of the stones and the fact that they don't particularly bother her made the risk unjustified at this stage, especially as guinea pigs do not respond to bladder surgery as well as other animals. We haven't ruled it out for the future, but at present it's not in her best interests.

Thanks for your help and advice - it was much appreciated.
 
So sorry you are both having to go through this at the moment. I had a bladder sludge/stone piggy who had numerous small stones during her lifetime and we found that by increasing her fluid intake, water via syringe and wet veggies we could help to keep her comfortable. In the almost 7 years I had Smudge my vet never had to operate although she did have to manipulate a few small stones out from time to time - sometimes fully conscious, other times Smudge needed a little whiff of gas just to make her more comfortable. She also had the odd bladder flush which made a huge difference to her quality of life. When she was poorly we administered Metacam and she various courses of Septrin and laterly Zithromax for infection.

Not sure where abouts in Kent you are based, but I can highly recommend Nicola at Putlands Vets in Paddock Wood (West Kent).

Good luck, I hope Sooty manages to pass her stones.
 
Sooty improved, but the haematuria has flared up again. She's back on metacam bd. Her urine is quite sludgy, so I wonder if she's passing a stone.

I haven't been stringing her fluids as the vet was worried about potential aspiration. I am going to try diluted juice from a bottle for a one on one feed to see if she likes that.

I had thought that Soots was a big drinker, but it seems Bumble was as since Bumble died on Saturday, the water consumption has dropped significantly. I am now focusing on more hydration and painkillers to keep her comfortable.

I wish I could do more - this is the most discomfort she's ever had, and I hate that she's in pain...
 
oh mannnnn, 3 stones? poor sooty, sending her some soothing but healing vibes, really hope she comes through all this.

I love seeing piggies from the inside, its just amazing.

x
 
My Patrick had similar problems, he had 3 stones in December in the bladder , his bladder is now clear well it was at his last Xray, I've never seen him so well despite his poor health previously.

The one CRUCIAL medication for Patrick is Tramadol he functions perfectly fine, you do need to be careful as it can slow the gut down. Me and Patrick have had no negative effects in my eye's it's his life saver. It's also better long term than metacam I believe.

Patrick is also on Potassium Citrate - before giving this drug you must check the kidneys, my vet did this by taking 3 urine samples over 3 days and checking the specific gravity. This is the only medication we have been given to dissolve the stones, if or not they have dissolved the stones or been perhaps he passed them.

When Patrick had the stones he would take 60 - 80ml's additional fluids from a syringe, 3 days before we went to the vet for his routine Xray which showed he was stone free he stopped taking his fluids and hasn't took them since. I often wonder if he knew he needed the additional fluids.

I do hope your little one gets well soon. x
 
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