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Stones. What Happens Now

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Perfectpets11

Perfectpets11

Teenage Guinea Pig
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Hi, as some of you know my guinea pig Chico has stones. He is 2 1/2. He has been on potassium citrate which his bladder reacted to and made him bleed and loose weight so we took him off it. Tonight we went to the era and he said that he has a 50/50 chance in surgery. This is probably due to him being so light. He is 800g but he gets lighter and suddenly puts it back on. He hasn't been much over 800g. I think his highest weight recently was 820g just after I have syringe fed him. We had some baytril left over from last time so I decided to put him on that again. It's been helping I think. I'm ill at the moment so I don't want to really be around him so I'm getting my mum to give him it. Basically what I'm asking is what now? Should I try and build his weight up to 900g if I can and really try at that. If I do that should i keep him on the baytril? I just don't want to dive in with surgery and for him not to make it? I don't know what to do. Any advice? @Claire W @Wiebke
 
Oh I am sorry to hear this. If Chico is suffering and in pain, you may have no choice but to go through with surgery but if I was you, I would have an honest discussion with your vet before making any firm decisions. I don't think there is any harm with giving him the baytril.

I hope somebody else will be along soon to advise you too but I guess only you can make the decision.

Plain dry porridge oats and raw corn on the cob / baby corn is good for weight gain.

N.B Wiebke is away from the forum right now due to personal reasons
 
Claire W said:
Oh I am sorry to hear this. If Chico is suffering and in pain, you may have no choice but to go through with surgery but if I was you, I would have an honest discussion with your vet before making any firm decisions. I don't think there is any harm with giving him the baytril.

I hope somebody else will be along soon to advise you too but I guess only you can make the decision.

Plain dry porridge oats and raw corn on the cob / baby corn is good for weight gain.

N.B Wiebke is away from the forum right now due to personal reasons
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Thanks you for your reply @Claire W .
At the moment I don't think he is in a lot of pain. Very occasionally he will lightly squeak but recently that hasn't been the case. I have tried the porridge oats and he didn't want any. He has never really enjoyed corn either. Any other advice? x
 
Sorry I didn't know about wiebke. I have just read her thread now. Hopefully her husband recovers soon x @Claire W
 
When my boy Junior had bladder stone surgery for the 2nd time he only weighed 780g and he bounced back afterwards,
it did take him about 2 weeks to fully recover then his weight started going back up after about 6-8 weeks his weight was
a healthy 1410g x
 
so do you guys think I should ahead with it? The vet was 50/50 about doing it however had removed a bag of stones from one jack Russell. The amount was crazy! @flintstones @babydoll
 
Sorry to hear you have some tough decisions to make.
You may have covered this is another thread but is he on metacam? Also did the vet say where the stones were? Has the vet done guinea pig ops as well as dogs and cats? I have a much older piggie who had surgery in April and that went really well in terms of recovery - he had a large single stone in the middle of the bladder.
Your piggie is still pretty young and as you have seen from other posts, other piggies at about his weight have got through the surgery fine - if you have concerns about the recovery, why not ring the vet up for a further chat?
 
Thank you. What I wanted to ask was did your pigs loose the weight due to the stones? I don't think anything else is wrong with him but I was just wondering about his weight. So do you all think I should go ahead with it? How much do things like this cost? Don't worry the cost won't put me off the surgery at all! I was just wondering. No, I decided to put him back on baytril for extra help. However we actaully have some loxicom which the vet have is for my dogs eye (she has conjunctivitis), should I give him that? If so how much? When we got him x rayed he to us that he had 3 small stones in his bladder. Do you think it should All go to plan? I'm trying to think this all through now before the winter when it's cold. what are the chances the stones will reoccur? Are the chances of loosing him high in the surgery? Yes the vet said he had performed the surgery multiple times of pigs with success. x @lauraboara
 
If the stones are in the bladder then the chances of success are good, especially if the vet has done the op lots of times before. He should already be on some pain relief from the vet, either Metacam (Meloxidyl) or Tramodol or even both, as his pain response will be to lose interest in food hence weight loss. Please get some pain relief from your vet today if possible as it must be quite uncomfortable for him otherwise, don't give him anything before you speak to your vet unless you are familiar with dosages & piggies x
 
Poppy'sMum said:
If the stones are in the bladder then the chances of success are good, especially if the vet has done the op lots of times before. He should already be on some pain relief from the vet, either Metacam (Meloxidyl) or Tramodol or even both, as his pain response will be to lose interest in food hence weight loss. Please get some pain relief from your vet today if possible as it must be quite uncomfortable for him otherwise, don't give him anything before you speak to your vet unless you are familiar with dosages & piggies x
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I didn't really explain myself very well before. He has already been on baytril and loxicom within the last month. We stopped him after his allowed days and he started to go back down hill. He was on 0.2ml of baytril once a day. The vet told us that if he went back down hill we have to put him back on the medicine. So I put him back on after an on the phone talk to the vet about it. I was just wondering whether the loxicom would help or not as we ran out of that and it's the same my dog is on. I thought loxicom was a pain relief? Of course I would be talking to my vet about this first but I was just wondering, sorry if this is confusing x
 
Agree with what poppys mum said re pain relief - his lower weight is because he is not eating enough - even if you see him eating he is probably not spending enough time eating hay because of pain. They don't always squeak with pain - it can be very well hidden.

Yes loxicom is a pain reliever and anti inflammatory which is what you want for a sore inflammed bladder.

Regarding costs, again your vet can advise. It is quite variable between vets. The vets receptionist should be able to answer that or will take away the query to answer it.
 
lauraboara said:
Agree with what poppys mum said re pain relief - his lower weight is because he is not eating enough - even if you see him eating he is probably not spending enough time eating hay because of pain. They don't always squeak with pain - it can be very well hidden.

Yes loxicom is a pain reliever and anti inflammatory which is what you want for a sore inflammed bladder.

Regarding costs, again your vet can advise. It is quite variable between vets. The vets receptionist should be able to answer that or will take away the query to answer it.
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Yes, he nibbles hay but doesn't like eat it if you know what I mean. When we get him out to give him his meds, we will give him some Veg. However he seems to take a piece and chew it up but drop the pieces. As soon as he's done this a few times he's looking for something else. I've been syringe feeding him pellets and water which he has actually really been enjoying. He takes it himself. I also make sure he gets some water too.
His medicine was mixed last time so he was on baytril/loxicom once a day with 0.3ml. Now the medicines aren't mixed, how much is a good amount of loxicom? He is on 0.2ml of baytril once a day. How much loxicom? I will be talking to my vet again. Thank you for your help.
 
Yep - what she said! I am itching to give you a dose because I think your piggie will benefit but we really cant on a forum. please give your vet a quick ring and they will ask his weight and work out the dose they advise - it really shouldn't take long. Hope it works for you.
 
Poppy'sMum said:
I would ring your vet & ask them about the Loxicom, they should be able to advise the dosage for you x
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Okay thank you. How soon would u take him in for surgery? Or should I try n get some weight on him? X
 
I think you have some questions to answer first eg on the cost and your queries on recovery but when you have done the research I think I agree with flintstones post above - the longer you wait, the more weight he is likely to lose and he will be less strong for surgery. you will have an uphill battle to put weight on if he has three stones inside causing pain. But it has to be your decision in conjunction with your vet I am afraid. All the very best and hope you get the painkiller sorted in the meantime. All of us who have bladder pigs know that it is a grim time.
 
Lauraboara is right, you need to get a vet appointment really, discuss the op, get his pain relief sorted then start giving him extra feeds to get him ready for it. The sooner the better whilst he has the strength to recover. Guinea pigs hide pain very well so although he might appear to be eating & acting normally the impact of 3 bladder stones must be huge on his little body. Flintstones said how much weight her boy gained afterwards. Please also bear in mind that the longer you leave it, the more discomfort he will be in & also if your vet takes a holiday etc at the wrong time it could delay it, so you really need to get all the information & a date asap x
 
Poppy'sMum said:
Lauraboara is right, you need to get a vet appointment really, discuss the op, get his pain relief sorted then start giving him extra feeds to get him ready for it. The sooner the better whilst he has the strength to recover. Guinea pigs hide pain very well so although he might appear to be eating & acting normally the impact of 3 bladder stones must be huge on his little body. Flintstones said how much weight her boy gained afterwards. Please also bear in mind that the longer you leave it, the more discomfort he will be in & also if your vet takes a holiday etc at the wrong time it could delay it, so you really need to get all the information & a date asap x
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Don't worry I will be calling the vets today to book an appointment and to get the dosage amount for loxicom. Thank you both for your advice @lauraboara @Poppy'sMum
 
Poppy'sMum said:
You're welcome :) Recovery care is vital, he will need syringe feeding etc afterwards & a few syringe feeds before will boost him up a bit x
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Oh I know all about syringe feeding, it's all I've done in the last 2 months Lol! He will be given supreme science recovery again which is something he has been on before x
 
Can I just ask where in the UK you are?

Your mentioned the vet had operated on a dog for kidney stones? What is his experience with bladder operations in guinea pig's? Please do ask him as this can effect your pig's outcome.

As others have mentioned your pig's likely low because of pain. I'm glad to see your going to call the vet to discuss your options.
 
He told us that he has operated on many guinea pigs before. I suppose we have to trust the vet. I will pm you where I a mx
 
flintstones said:
That's good news he does have experience. I would definitely recommend having the stone removed.

How big is tour little one's stone?
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The vet said he has three very small stones at the moment. X
 
Yes get your little one seen to asap my boy had lost so much weight due to the stone causing him a lot of pain

jack010-2.webp

The smaller stone was the 1st he had and the bigger one was his 2nd, the vet says she's never seen one that big before
in a guinea pig it was the same size as his bladder practically.
 
I don't know what to do anymore. I need help. Either I don't get it done or I do. The reasons putting me off are, he may not make it through the surgery, the after care may fail, the might reoccur. However I want my boy to live. I want him to have a good and healthy life. He's too young. What do I do? Thank you @babydoll x
 
I keep getting all upset and worked up over it because I don't know what to do. Our bet didn't seem keen on doing the surgery which is why I'd go to someone recommended by the forum in my area. I just don't know what to do. x
 
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