• Discussions taking place within this forum are intended for the purpose of assisting you in discussing options with your vet. Any other use of advice given here is done so at your risk, is solely your responsibility and not that of this forum or its owner. Before posting it is your responsibility you abide by this Statement

Think Daisy Has A Bladder Stone :(

Status
Not open for further replies.
aimzer

aimzer

Adult Guinea Pig
Joined
Jul 22, 2011
Messages
1,354
Reaction score
1,007
Points
725
Location
Aberdeenshire, Scotland
Hi everyone.
When I picked Daisy up this morning she squealed when I out my hand under her bottom. I had a closer look and noticed her genital area was slightly red and quite swollen. She is behaving normally (eating and pooping) but I have noticed her squeaking when urinating and sometimes arching her back. I am so worried about her as she is 5 and a half years old. I have an appt booked at vet this afternoon.
I assume she will need an X-ray but not sure how she'd cope with sedation at her age :(
 
Hiya!

Unfortunately the only way to diagnose a stone is an x-ray. The vet might want to see if it's a UTI (Urinary Tract Infection) first and could give you some antibiotics.

My boar is 6 and a half and he had to be sedated a few months ago for an xray. He did fine, so hopefully your girl will be too.
 
aimzer said:
Hi everyone.
When I picked Daisy up this morning she squealed when I out my hand under her bottom. I had a closer look and noticed her genital area was slightly red and quite swollen. She is behaving normally (eating and pooping) but I have noticed her squeaking when urinating and sometimes arching her back. I am so worried about her as she is 5 and a half years old. I have an appt booked at vet this afternoon.
I assume she will need an X-ray but not sure how she'd cope with sedation at her age :(
Click to expand...

Hi! Her issue is either sitting with in the urinary tract or it is a womb infection. An x-ray should show which one.
It should be possible to do an x-ray with minimal sedation, just enough to position the guinea pig. They tend to freeze anyway.

In order to reassure you - one of my elderly sows has had a huge "silent" bladder stone removed and her frail, low weight cousin (?) needed a bladder stone op, followed by an emergency spay only a few months later when her womb went wrong. She required occasional bladder flushes due to her calcium absorption going wrong, but lived for another two years after her bladder problems started make themselves known - that is about 2 decades worth of life! ;)
 
Thank you for your replies.
I presume they will start antibiotics today and I'll ask for septrin (or sulfatrim I think is what they use there). I would just hate for me to out her for an X-ray and for something to happen to her. I am such a worrier. If it is a stone it looks like its right near the urethral opening. Could she pass it herself? (I know that would be very painful for her) Would it require surgery?
 
aimzer said:
Thank you for your replies.
I presume they will start antibiotics today and I'll ask for septrin (or sulfatrim I think is what they use there). I would just hate for me to out her for an X-ray and for something to happen to her. I am such a worrier. If it is a stone it looks like its right near the urethral opening. Could she pass it herself? (I know that would be very painful for her) Would it require surgery?
Click to expand...

If it is a urethral stone, depending on the size, your vet can either manipulate it out, or it may need a little incision and a stitch to get it out, but not a full op. ;)

She will need an antibiotic in any case, I would assume.

Piggies are sutrider than you think. My specialist vet is in another town and I have to go there by train. I have never lost a piggy on the transport - not even a freshly operated one!
Here are our tips:
Tips For Vet Visits
Tips For Post-operative Care
 
Wiebke said:
If it is a urethral stone, depending on the size, your vet can either manipulate it out, or it may need a little incision and a stitch to get it out, but not a full op. ;)

She will need an antibiotic in any case, I would assume.

Piggies are sutrider than you think. My specialist vet is in another town and I have to go there by train. I have never lost a piggy on the transport - not even a freshly operated one!
Here are our tips:
Tips For Vet Visits
Tips For Post-operative Care
Click to expand...
Ahh, that has put my mind at ease. Thanks Wiebke :)
Just patiently waiting for Daisy to give me a sample of urine then off we go!
 
aimzer said:
Ahh, that has put my mind at ease. Thanks Wiebke :)
Just patiently waiting for Daisy to give me a sample of urine then off we go!
Click to expand...

Your vet should be able to express a fesh sample at the clinic, which will give far more accurate readings. Guinea pig urine starts changing after about half an hour. We no longer recommend taking urine samples.
 
I just had to leave here there! Vet says it's a large stone and needs to take it out. I really wasn't expecting that. He says he'll use gas to knock her out. Hell try and go up through the urethra and break it up and flush it out. If not be will have to make an incision. I was in tears leaving her there!
 
aimzer said:
I just had to leave here there! Vet says it's a large stone and needs to take it out. I really wasn't expecting that. He says he'll use gas to knock her out. Hell try and go up through the urethra and break it up and flush it out. If not be will have to make an incision. I was in tears leaving her there!
Click to expand...
Bless you, it is a worry.I was the same when I had to leave my Sam at the vets for a possible stone removal.She is at the best place she could be though xx
 
aimzer said:
I just had to leave here there! Vet says it's a large stone and needs to take it out. I really wasn't expecting that. He says he'll use gas to knock her out. Hell try and go up through the urethra and break it up and flush it out. If not be will have to make an incision. I was in tears leaving her there!
Click to expand...

BIG HUGS

Large stones never come as happy news, yet sows can have them for quite a long time without them causing any problems. Other stones can develop very quickly, even large ones.

Try to concentrate on sending Daisy positive vibes for the op and the recovery period.

Bladder ops in sows are usually fairly straight forward and tend to heal well. The relief from the stone is instant, and once the initial discomfort from the operation scars has passed after the first 2-3 days, they will feel a lot better in themselves.

Make a list for all the post-op care stuff you want to get (syringe feed/syringes/probiotics etc) and that you want to ask at the vets when you pick her up, if you know that you are going to be emotional. Ask your vet when you pick up Daisy how soon she can have painkillers again (they are part of the operation cocktail, so she won't need any meds immediately after). Generally, asking for a gut motility drug to help stimulate the appetite post-op is not a bad thing.
Tips For Post-operative Care

Low Calcium Diet For Bladder Piggies
@helen105281 can give you further tips for a balanced long term low calcium diet.

You also want to give some form of glucosamine in order to support the natural glucosamine coating of the currently inflamed bladder walls. Either vegan/vegetarian glucosamine or a glucosamine-based cat food supplement like cystease or cystophan should do the trick. It is a food supplement, not a medication.
 
Thanks everyone. I have picked her up! All went well, I am so relieved! She is tucking in to hay and greens. You honestly wouldn't think she had just been through surgery! I have been given metacam which I have to start tomorrow and they are going to give me antibiotics tomorrow for cover.
I have critical care and probiotic here ready to go if need be.
I will separate her from Maple tonight so no can keep a closer eye on her.

I will upload a pic of the stone in due coarse!
 
aimzer said:
Thanks everyone. I have picked her up! All went well, I am so relieved! She is tucking in to hay and greens. You honestly wouldn't think she had just been through surgery! I have been given metacam which I have to start tomorrow and they are going to give me antibiotics tomorrow for cover.
I have critical care and probiotic here ready to go if need be.
I will separate her from Maple tonight so no can keep a closer eye on her.

I will upload a pic of the stone in due coarse!
Click to expand...

If she and Maple are getting on well, leave them together. Companions are usually very good with a freshly operated companion and it is a lot less stressful for both.

The good thing about a bladder op is that the big pain is gone as soon as the stone is out. Please contact your vets asap in case there is any sudden major bleeding in the next few days. ;)

All the best for a smooth recovery! make sure that you check once during the night.
 
Wiebke said:
If she and Maple are getting on well, leave them together. Companions are usually very good with a freshly operated companion and it is a lot less stressful for both.

The good thing about a bladder op is that the big pain is gone as soon as the stone is out. Please contact your vets asap in case there is any sudden major bleeding in the next few days. ;)

All the best for a smooth recovery! make sure that you check once during the night.
Click to expand...
Thanks so much for your advice. Will check multiple time throughout the night.
 
aimzer said:
Thanks so much for your advice. Will check multiple time throughout the night.
Click to expand...

If Daisy is fine in herself and is eating OK on her own, once or twice will do - unless you yourself cannot sleep, of course!
 
Glad the op went well and she is eating.
I feed a low calcium diet which consists of mostly grainless pellets, plenty of different types of hay and the following veg twice a day:

1 green bean
1 piece of cucumber
1 piece of pepper
1 piece of celery
a sprig of coriander
1 slither of spring greens.
 
helen105281 said:
Glad the op went well and she is eating.
I feed a low calcium diet which consists of mostly grainless pellets, plenty of different types of hay and the following veg twice a day:

1 green bean
1 piece of cucumber
1 piece of pepper
1 piece of celery
a sprig of coriander
1 slither of spring greens.
Click to expand...

Thanks Helen. I switched them to JR farm pellets a while back when my other girl had a suspected UTI and possible sludge. They get no high calcium veg. I will have to give that diet a go. Although the vet suggested upping the leafy greens slightly to encourage more fluid intake. I always wet my veg prior to feeding.
Do you perhaps know if the calcium in endive lettuce is high or low?
 
I also feed them Ings hay from hay for pets. Would Timothy better as I read Timothy hay has the least amount of calcium?
 
Am not too sure. I was always told not to feed lettuce by the person who originally recommended this to me. Hopefully someone else will know. Great she is on JR farms.
 
My Deedee just had an operation last week to remove bladder stones.

Her problem started last April, turned out she had too much sludge and was having a hard time passing pee. She would always hunch and squeak a bit everytime she peed. The vet had to flush it all out, plus drain the ovarian cyst she has. They can't spay her because she has an enlarge heart and fluid around it. It's too risky having her in the operation for a long time. But her problem became a recurring UTI so we really had to monitor her and change her diet. No more cabbage and spinach for all the piggies. But last week, she did turn for the worse and collapsed because of so much pain. We didn't realised the problem was now bladder stones. She was in the operating table for 30 mins. But there is one bladder stone left after the operation. They xray her after they stitched her up and saw the one left. They decided to not open her up again because her heart rate went below what it supposed to be towards the end of the operation. So she may need to go under another operation in the future.

At the moment, it's been a week after the operation and she's doing really great. She's eating and back to normal. Although the way she pee is still the same, hunching but not squeaking. I think her bladder is still recovering or it might have become her habit to pee like that.
 
I assume it would be normal for her to still squeak a little bit when peeing. I imagine it's very tender down there. She doesn't do it everytime she pees though. I also noticed a couple of pees from overnight are quite gritty and white. Would this be the remaining sludge coming out?

Thanks
 
Last edited:
The metacam I got from the vet says 10drops once a day. How on earth am I supposed to measure that? It's the 3my cat suspension. I'm sure the last time I used it I gave her 1ml twice a day. Anyone know the dose?
 
I gave Deedee 0.3ml metacam 2x a day. We were prescribed metacam used for the dogs though because it is stronger. She's down to 0.2 ml 2x a day now.
 
I always dose in ml so am not too sure, and I have dog metacam too. For that I dose at 0.2ml and I know the cat dose is higher. Was it the same vet told you to give 1ml last time?
 
helen105281 said:
I always dose in ml so am not too sure, and I have dog metacam too. For that I dose at 0.2ml and I know the cat dose is higher. Was it the same vet told you to give 1ml last time?
Click to expand...

It was a different vet the last time. I have looked at older threads on here and have found that 0.1ml twice daily or 0.2ml once daily is sufficient :)
 
That seems low for a cat Metacam dose. That sounds more like the dog Metacam dose.
 
Maybe call your vet and ask if they can give you the dose in ml?
 
The label with the metacam states there is 0.017mg per drop. They have said for me to give 10 drops so this equals 0.17mg per day.
The dose of the metacam is 0.5mg/ml. 0.1ml = 0.05mg.

Therefore to give 0.17mg I would need to give 0.34ml

Just calculating out loud there:xd:
I am going back to the vet for a check up and pick up the antibiotics today so will clear it up then.
 
Last edited:
I think that's the best thing. I am a bit useless with maths (worrying that I work in pensions).
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top