Still Worrying About Daisy... Uti? Stones?

[Pippy & Daisy]

Daisy's been on Baytril for about two weeks now after we'd taken her to the vet with her not eating and then noticed her seeming to be lifting up in pain. Since she's had a UTI before her vet was familiar with her symptoms. She'd also had an ultrasound last time to check for stones and she was all clear. We've had no problems since then, until tonight when I noticed she was kind of stretching back and forth a bit, if that makes sense, but I'm not sure if she was actually having discomfort or just trying to get comfortable as she had a little nap almost straight away. Then not long ago I noticed that she seemed to be lifting up a little bit again, but, again, I'm not sure if this was because she was trying to wee or just because she's a bit on edge with the fireworks and me breathing down her throat every two minutes making sure she's okay. Is it possible that her UTI is causing her a bit of pain again even though she's still on Baytril? I'm so worried she might have a stone now.

I'm going to give her some metacam in case she is in a bit of pain and will take her to the vets when I take Pippy on Saturday, unless she seems to be in pain in which case I'll of course take her earlier. My problem is that the regular vets are closed tomorrow because of New Years Day so if she's in pain I'll have to take her to the out of hours vet which I really don't want to do as I just don't think they're capable of taking care of her as well as her regular vet does. Will she be alright if I wait to take her on Friday or Saturday? If she's in a lot of pain I will take her to the out of hours vets, but I want to avoid this if possible.

She's eating and drinking fine and I'm going to take her out to try and get her to wee to make sure she can since it's difficult in the hutch to tell if it's her or Pippy who's weed. She hates weeing outside the hutch though so I don't know how successful I'll be getting her to do it even if she's completely fine :/ I haven't seen any blood and it's only this afternoon and tonight that I've even noticed anything which just happens to be when I've been feeling the most tense myself so I might just be imagining it all! Then to top it all off she got some hay up her nose and sneezed which just escalated my panic to new levels thinking there was something else wrong, haha.

I've got anxiety myself and I'm also ill at the moment so I already worry about every tiny little thing which makes this all really stressful, especially because of the holiday period when the vets aren't open every day. I'd love to be able to take them out for floor time tonight so I can watch her more closely but with all the fireworks I think they're much more comfortable in their hutch and I don't want to cause them unnecessary stress.

 

[Wiebke]

All the best! UTIs can be tenacious. There are also forms that resistent/not very responsive to anitibiotics (they are usually called cystitis or Interstitial cystitis and are more of an Inflammation of the bladder walls and not a bacterial urine infection). The latter is more likely if a piggy has had UTI issues before.

You can ask your vet to try septrin and/or a painkiller/anti-inflammatory like like metacam. if you are dealing with Interstitial cystitis, you will have to brace yourself to rather manage the condition in ist acute phases than be able to eradicate it.
If the symptoms are ongoing, you may also like to look into vegan/vegetarian glucosamine or a glucosamine based product like cysteaze or cystaid etc. This is not a medication but a bladder coating Food Supplement, which helps protect the walls of the urinary tract System when you are dealing with recurring, chronic or Stone/sludge issues.

 

[helen105281]

It is possible that it could be the UTI but you are right to get her checked out. Ask the vet about Septrin instead of Baytril if possible as it is more effective for UTIs. You might want to ask your vet about the possibility of Interstitial Cystitis too which is inflammation of the bladder and can be treated with Vegan Glucosamine.

 

[helen105281]

Think Wiebke must have been posting while I heated my lunch up and I didn't refresh the page when I got back, so have duplicated.

 

[Pippy & Daisy]

Thanks for all the help! I took her out and gave her some cucumber to speed up her bladder and eventually she did a big wee and had absolutely no pain or discomfort - and this was before her pain relief could have kicked in - so I'm SUPER relieved! I'll still take her when I take Pip and mention all of those things to the vet and get her a general check up but it's a relief to know I won't have to rush her to the out of hours vets

I'm definitely prepared to keep her medicated and managed for all the time it takes (even though it'll definitely mean cutting down on my own spending! haha) it's mostly just not knowing that stresses me out. But after she came out for some treats and she did a wee I've been so much more relaxed and have noticed she is too so I wonder if she wasn't just stressed because of me being stressed about them being stressed about the fireworks... What a vicious cycle that is! They've both had a lot to drink tonight so I'll keep an eye on that as well, but they've also had a huge pig out on hay and it's quite hot tonight so I won't let myself worry about that yet

Anyway, I'm happy knowing she's fine now and will have a chat to the vet when I'm there. Thank you for putting my mind at ease!

Hope you both have a happy new year

 

[Abi_nurse]

Glad she's feeling a bit better! : )

x

 

[Abi_nurse]

How's she doing?

x

 

[Pippy & Daisy]

Thanks for checking up on her @Abi_nurse! I haven't had a problem since, she's been absolutely fine. I'm actually wondering if her odd movements weren't to do with her being on heat, which hadn't occurred to me earlier but seems likely now as when I really thought about it I'm sure I've seen it before when she's been on heat. I think I just worry whenever I see her acting a bit strangely as she's already had two UTIs so I'm always overly cautious!

Thanks again for checking about her

 

[Pippy & Daisy]

I didn't end up taking Daisy to the vets when I took Pippy but I mentioned the things I'd been concerned about to the vet and he didn't seem too concerned but said I was welcome to take her back for another ultrasound to see if he'd missed anything. I'm thinking I might take her in the next couple of weeks, even just to ease my mind as I'm still worried about her. I think I'm only worrying because I don't want her to get sick, not because I actually think she is. She hasn't had any pain or discomfort, she's eating fine, weeing and pooing fine, everything. The one thing that I still can't figure out, though, is the way she stretches right out sometimes; I can't tell if she's uncomfortable or just having a stretch. She doesn't seem to be uncomfortable but I can't be 100% sure. It's like she kind of edges forwards on her tummy sometimes, and other times just stretches out where she is. She's not having any trouble walking so it's not that. I try to look at it objectively but that's not my strong suit so I always end up worrying to the max! It could even be that she's just really relaxed because I often see her do it if I've disturbed her nap, and sometimes I'll see her legs stretches right out behind her when she's fallen asleep again. Knowing me it's perfectly possible that I'm stressing while she's just having a good old nap!

All the information I can find about piggies stretching out says that it just means they're relaxed so I feel like I shouldn't have a reason to worry, but I always manage to find one. Does it sound like she really is just having a nice stretch? I'll be away for a night this weekend so I'll be calling constantly to check on them while I'm gone! Luckily they'll be in the safe hands of my mum, not sure I could bear to leave them with anyone else overnight lol