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Swollen Bottom And Some Blood

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Freddierabbitt

Freddierabbitt

Junior Guinea Pig
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Hi, we noticed that one of our pigs, Rosie aged 3 was squeaking differently when she was going to the toilet. When we picked her up, her lady bits are swollen, pink but not red, and there was a tiny bit of blood. We cleaned her bottom, and if her tummy is pressed gently she squeaks quietly ( nothing like the fuss when having nails clipped through!) She is eating as usual, but we just keep hearing her squeak, presumably when going to the toilet.

So, not sure whether she is just in season, constipated or could it be something else? I can pop her to the vets tomorrow, but if it is something normal then I thought that here was the place to find out!
 
Please have have her seen by a vet tomorrow; she has most likely got a urinary tract infection, but it can have other causes like a stone or a womb infection (pyometra). In any case, she will need an antibiotic, probiotics and ideally some painkiller, so please mention the two latter to your vet if he is not prescribing them.
http://www.guinealynx.info/uti.html
 
Wiebke said:
Please have have her seen by a vet tomorrow; she has most likely got a urinary tract infection, but it can have other causes like a stone or a womb infection (pyometra). In any case, she will need an antibiotic, probiotics and ideally some painkiller, so please mention the two latter to your vet if he is not prescribing them.
http://www.guinealynx.info/uti.html
Click to expand...
Thank you, it does sound as though this is what it could be. I'll take her asap tomorrow. Is there anything I can do in the meantime? She's on my lap on her fleece at the moment, it's not nice to see her in discomfort :no:
 
If you think that she has got UTI, make sure that she gets plenty of fluids and give her some mildly diuretic veg like dandelion, cucumber or lettuce to help flush the bacteria out. Don't overdo it, though, or you may end up with diarrhea!

The most effective antibiotic for urinary tract problems is septrin (UK)/bactrim (US). It should hopefully kick in within 2-3 days and the acute symptoms should go down. You will still have to give the full course as UTIs can be very persistent and make a comeback.

PS: With members from all over the world, we would be glad if you added your country, state (US/Aus) or country/general area (UK) to your details. It makes it easier for us to give you any specific advice straight away. click on your name on the top bar, then go to personal details/location.
 
Ah, thank you. I have been giving her some cucumber, which she loves. It's good that she is eating and grooming as usual. Thanks for your help.
 
Well, not good news. Rosie (on the left in my avatar) has visible stones in her urine, and after a scan a 1cm long one in her bladder. I have got antibiotics and pain killer which she has already had today with no problems. The vet, who was brilliant and has guineas herself, is going to analyse the stones to see what they are made of, as one type of material can be dissolved, but the other can't. I've been advised to give her iceberg lettuce which is watery and cucumber, which happily she loves and I put her medicine drops on a piece. I need to get her to drink more (any ideas welcomed, as she doesn't drink a great deal, compared to the other pig, that I often see drinking) and get some vitamin C liquid, and she is very low on it, in spite of what the vet said was a very good diet.

I have another appointment in a week to see if the big stone has reduced at all. I really don't want her to be in pain, so this week is crucial. Any other suggestions welcomed. :(
 
I am sorry; bladder stones are not great news.

You may be interested in the low calcium diet thread at the top of the food section, which has been researched for bladder/kidney piggies. I would also recommend to filter your water in order to lower your calcium; that can make quite a difference. The calcium content in pellets also needs to be taken into account.

Most stones are based on carbohydrates and not oxalates. Guinea pigs are prone to them due to their urine being naturally highly alcaline, some more so than others. Many bladder stone piggies are not good drinkers in my own experience; it is one of the contributing factors apart from a genetic disposition or an unbalanced diet.

You can syringe her water additonally. Use a half a 1ml syringe for each portion to prevent things from going down the wrong way by accident.

Raw beetroot is a good veg for bladder piggies; it neutralises calcium, but it may take some getting used to the taste for your piggy as well as you to purple poos and pink pees! About twice weekly; don't feed the leaves - they contains toxins when fed in large quantities.

As a consolation, bladder stone ops in sows are usually a pretty straight forward operation and tend to heal quickly without problems. I've been through a few of them over the years. I

f there is a genetic disposition or a problem with the calcium absorption you will probably have to fiddle around until you can get the diet bit right for your piggy's individual issues. Stones/crystals can come back (sametimes within weeks), but with regular monitoring, they should not get as bad again.
 
Thank for that, I have been given various syringes to dose with and give water.

My vet said that they are not good news, surgery would actually be £300......so I'm hoping for the 'right' kind of bladder stone material :(
 
Most vets would be happy to set up a payment plan for you. Wishing your little piggy luck x
 
Thank you Wiebke, for the link to the low calcium diet thread. I have cut out kale completely now, which the vet recommended. The girls have fallen on a large wetted Romaine lettuce leaf and are enjoying some coriander. I'm going to print off the diet and use it. I've also bought some vitamin C drops. Rosie is still squeaking when weeing, my OH is quite upset about it, well so am I of course, and we just phoned the vet. She said we should still give it a week to see if the stone has shrunk, and said to OH that 'it' (wee or stone?) we very alkaline, but her didn't ask what the implications of that were, for Rosie in the longer term. Does anyone know please?
 
With a stone piggy, you are into long term diet management - irrespective of the stone having come out. Your vet has probably thought rather of the ph : ca diet (which you also can find at the top of the food section), but it works only for a minority of cases and you need to get the balance exactly right; it certainly didn't work for my bladder piggies and made the problems worse for all those that were having cystitis issues.

Most members have made similar experiences and found that they have had better long term success with a low calcium diet; it seems to work better for piggies with carbohydrate based stones. Your vet was talking about the wee. However, many vets have found that the bladder stone dissolving meds and supplements tend to have rather limited success.

If you cannot dissolve the stone, it needs to come out - or it will eventually kill the piggy when the pain gets too big. Many vets will offer payment plans.
 
I have good news! Rosie (left in my avatar) went to the vet this morning and her scan showed a 25% decrease in the size of the stone over just a week! I'm so pleased. I've had her on the low calcium diet, and have been using Vitamin C drops, so thank you for all your advice here. She's not out of the woods completely of course, but hopefully this stone will keep on dissolving :nod:
 
Rosie is still with us! Two weeks on from my last post, and another vet visit and scan today, showed that the stone is dissolved to what she described as 'mush' now. Rosie is though, still squeaking when she wees, so it must be sore, poor little girl. I still have painkillers and antibiotics for her.

I am continuing, as I will for always now with the low calcium diet as it does seem to be working. I sprinkle Vitamin C drops on their food as she doesn't seem to drink. Thankfully she enjoys cucumber best which is watery and low calcium of course. I have tried them on all kinds of food on the low calcium/ high vitamin C list with varying degrees of success; I thought they would like canteloupe melon as the consistency is similar to cucumber but no, so thought I might try a honeydew as its a similar colour! Strawberries are ignored as are peppers. I'll try them on raw beetroot as suggested. Does anyone have any good ideas how to get them to eat new foods? What they do eat is good, but it would be great to get them eating some of the other things.
 
Thanks for the update!

Trying new foods is a matter of be patient and persist. Somethings they will just not do. Please do not feed too much fruit; not more than twice a week. Too muchor too often can cause lesions in lips and mouth which can become infected with bacteria or fungal. At this time of the year, it helps if she can eat plenty of fresh grass, but make sure that her guts are used to it first to prevent diarrhoea.

Could you get syringe water to Rosie? About 0,5ml in (half a small syringe) in one go to prevent thrings going down the wrong way. It may help with the pain when peeing.
 
Thanks for that Wiebke, they really aren't keen on fruit apart from the occasional grape, so I won't worry. They did go out yesterday for a while on the grass. I have been wetting their food too.
 
I'm sorry to say we lost little Rosie yesterday. She went downhill on Sunday and on Monday morning was hunched and appeared to be incontinent, though still eating. She just sat in one place all day. I looked at her first thing and made the decision to let her go, as she was clearly suffering and was in pain when weeing. My kind husband took her and the vet agreed that it was the kindest thing, we can only think that the dissolving stones had clogged up her tubes. We feel we gave it our best shot, but I couldn't let her suffer. I was a wreck yesterday.

Poppy sat with us yesterday evening, and is very quiet today, she sat with me again tonight, and suddenly called out loudly. She is normally such a quiet piggy, Rosie was the noisy girl. It was quite strange and I definitely think she is very sad. My friend has rescue piggies and I am going to get a new friend for Poppy as soon as I can, so I will be looking at the pages here for tips on introducing them as I don't want Poppy to be lonely.

Thank you for all your advice Wiebke x
 
so sorry you lost your girl. Sending you big hugs. You did everything you could
 
Poor girl, stones must be awful :( she had a good life with you. I am so sorry she had to leave you. Popcorn free Rosie x
 
Thank you all.

We also had a fright with Poppy this week, found some blood in her cage and on her face on Wednesday morning, I was so frightened. Managed to get an appointment with the vet, but only the next day. That evening I had her on her fleece on my lap, a bit more blood, and she arched her back, so I was so scared that she was now suffering from stones. She didn't squeak at all though, so didn't appear in pain.

I took her back to her hutch, and decided to clean her up before putting her in, so husband held her while I wiped with damp cotton wool. The blood was from her bottom, and there seemed to be something coming out, which was a clot. I carried on wiping gently and a long clot came out, it looked like a worm almost. I was utterly horrified, Poppy was completely unconcerned. We took a photo of it - don't worry I won't post it! Cleaned Poppy up and she seemed fine. There was no more blood. Next morning she was bright as a button, and ate and drank normally. I took her to the vet, with the photo on my phone. The vet was astounded as well and could only think it was a clot. I have antibiotics for her, but honestly she is like a different piggy, squeaking hello loudly, loving our company each evening and bounding around. So, I can only think she was glad to get rid of whatever it was.

On the downside, the vet said it could happen again, that it may be a sign of internal bleeding or a tumour, but she couldn't feel anything and Poppy seems quite normal, well, better than normal. So, fingers crossed that she stays that way. I couldn't bear to lose both my piggies. I have the option of a rescue pig friend for her, but on the advice of the vet, quite rightly, I'm waiting a couple of weeks to see what happens.
 
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