Stubborn UTI

[rudent]

Hi there, first post so sorry if anything is formatted badly. I've had guinea pigs for over 10 years but never had this problem with another pig.

My female (neutered) guinea pig Moppet has had an extremely stubborn UTI for almost 3 months at this point. She's been on baytril for almost the entire duration, which failed to show any improvement. The last two weeks she was on septrin (not sure on the dosage as they were tablets -- I gave her half a tablet once daily), which did seem to clear it up but absolutely decimated her gut flora & she is now getting bloated after eating fresh veggies every night. She's on probiotics & the occasional dose of emeprid to hopefully sort that out (& I'm becoming a bit of a pro at massaging her tummy). The issue is that today, I recognised the same smell that indicated the UTI when it first appeared, so now I'm terrified that it's going to come back in full force with some form of antibiotic resistance. The main problem is that I don't really want to put her back on septrin until her gut settles down. Any advice? I'm worried (not sure how factual this is) that if she's not on antibiotics, the infection might spread to her blood & cause septicemia. Is this something that could happen?

I don't know how relevant this is but she also can't (and has never been able to) empty her bladder by herself -- I "assist" her three times a day. She can do small wees by herself but never fully empties -- this is likely why the UTI appeared in the first place.

Thanks in advance for any advice!

 

[DMS260820]

Just bumping this thread to top of list.

 

[Siikibam]

@Wiebke @VickiA @PigglePuggle @Piggies&buns

 

[VickiA]

Is / was the vet aware of the urinary retention issue? Has she had a scan to identify the cause? has a urine sample been sent for sensitivity and culture? Those would be my first recommendations to discuss with the vet.

 

[rudent]

Is / was the vet aware of the urinary retention issue? Has she had a scan to identify the cause? has a urine sample been sent for sensitivity and culture? Those would be my first recommendations to discuss with the vet.

Yes, sorry, I should have added detail about the vet visits. The vet is the one who told me to help her to empty her bladder regularly. We sent off a sample after the first course of baytril and I believe it came back as staphylococcus & a lot of sludge -- the lab said it should be sensitive to all antibiotics which is why the vet put her back on baytril for quite a long duration. Scan-wise she's had an x-ray which just showed swelling in the bladder and confirmed no stones.