I have a friend who just discovered that one of her guinea pigs has bladder stones. He is going to have to have surgery, but as it's not guaranteed that he will make it out. Does anyone know what the success rate for a surgery like this is? She's not sure what to do, but of course, doesn't want him to be in constant pain. Any help is greatly appreciated!
Hi! Bladder stone surgery with boars depends on two factors:
a) a good vet for a good recovery
b) the location of the stone. If it is still in the bladder, then it is a pretty straight forward operation with a very good recovery rate; bladder operations tend to heal quite straight forward.
If the stone is located in the urethra, then it very much depends. Unlike sows, boars have got a longer urethra with a kind of awkward inglenook where a passing stone can easily get stuck and can be very dififcult to remove, epsecially when they become embedded in the wall of the urethra.
The bad news is that stones don't go away on their own and that from a certain size onward it is too risky to hope for a chance they can be passed safely, so the only way to get rid of them is by operating. It is very much a "between a rock and a hard place" scenario with the only alternative being eventual pts as stones are extremely painful.
That said, noticeably more boars survive a bladder stone op than not (even multiple bladder ops!), so in my experience it is always worth opting for the op rather than not.
Here are our post-op care and syring feeding tips:
Tips For Post-operative Care
Complete Syringe Feeding Guide
If your friend wants to join the forum, we can give her ongoing support during the op/post-op period and tips on long term diet and care for a bladder piggy to minimise the risks of him developing another one as much as possible.
