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UTI advice

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kerrym1980

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Hello and thank you in advance.

I noticed that my piggie (male, entire, just over 2 years old) wasn't his usual self on Monday eve. I checked urination and sure enough it was pinky in colour. Took him to the vets first thing Tuesday. They're running socially-distanced appointments so they took him in for examination whilst I stayed outside. Vet couldn't feel any stones and gave me Baytril to administer orally twice a day (0.1ml diluted in water up to 0.5ml), and requested that I bring him back in a week for review. He's very challenging to get the antibiotic into, nonetheless I am trying.

He's still eating and drinking, but today is much quieter, spending more time in a corner hunched up and what he's passing is much redder. I know I need to wait for the antibiotic to kick in, but I'm feeling a bit powerless, especially as he's crying every 15 minutes. Thanks to personal experience of kidney stones and the accompanying UTI's I have a fair idea how he feels which makes me feel worse and more worried, and I'd be grateful for advice on at what point I need to go back to the vet and whether there's anything I can do to ease his discomfort.

Thanks, Kerry
 
Have you been given any painkillers to give to him? Being hunched is a sign of pain.
Be prepared to step in with syringe feeding if he stops eating. Antibiotics can upset their tummies after a few days of being on it and can stop them from eating. Ensure you switch to weighing him daily while he is unwell so you can monitor that he really is eating enough hay.
 
I second the above - sounds like he needs some pain killers too.
Is he also on a probiotic to help with his stomach while on antibiotics.
UTI's can take a few days to get under control so it is important you weigh him daily to keep an eye on how much he is eating and be prepared to syringe feed of necessary.

I hope he starts to feel better soon.
 
Metacam! Hopefully they will dispense it over the phone. If he'a fluffy it could also be some tummy upset from the abx.

Good luck. One of my piggies deals with this quite frequently. They always give pain meds with it.
 
Thanks all. I've just walked in after being out for an hour and got the customary greeting (i.e. running up to me demanding food).

Wasn't given pain meds (and I should have asked - I'll know next time but it was freezing cold and snowing so I was more worried about not falling over whilst carrying them) but I'll phone and ask for some - I thought I had some metacam but alas not. Haven't got a probiotic either but I can get RodeVit C tomorrow. I'll start weighing daily.

He's still eating and drinking but I'm keeping a close eye on it. His friend, who is usually bossy and argumentative, is leaving him alone and sitting with him in turn, which is equally a relief and quite nice.

Thanks again.
 
Hopefully the antibiotics will kick in and you can get him some metacam soon. Weigh daily at the same time just to be sure that he’s not losing weight. You can’t judge by eye how much hay he’s eating.
 
Thanks. I managed to get metacam earlier and he's had some of his own piggie volition; he'll get the rest of the dose this evening when I give him the baytril and weigh him.

He's still crying regularly but has moved around a lot more this afternoon and is still eating (hay, veg, pig food) and drinking. I'm moving hay to wherever he decides to sit (they have free range of a room and sleep in their house overnight) and he's definitely interested. The room looks like a stable though!
 
Update: piggie has been having Baytril twice daily for 6 days at the end of today, however symptoms persist with little change - he's still crying everytime he goes to the toilet and it's still bloody. He's having 0.1ml metacam once daily (am) and probiotics in his water. He hasn't lost weight and is still eating and drinking.

I'm going to get a review appointment for Monday or Tuesday, where I expect they're going to want to x-ray, which is fine by me. Is it too early to enquire about a change of antibiotics? Anything else I should be asking?

Thanks
 
I would also ask about giving the antibiotics twice daily. They have a fast metabolism. The squeaking definitely needs investigating. I would book it for Monday as your boy is clearly in pain when toileting.
 
kerrym1980 said:
Update: piggie has been having Baytril twice daily for 6 days at the end of today, however symptoms persist with little change - he's still crying everytime he goes to the toilet and it's still bloody. He's having 0.1ml metacam once daily (am) and probiotics in his water. He hasn't lost weight and is still eating and drinking.

I'm going to get a review appointment for Monday or Tuesday, where I expect they're going to want to x-ray, which is fine by me. Is it too early to enquire about a change of antibiotics? Anything else I should be asking?

Thanks
Click to expand...

It may be that he needs a different antibiotic, a longer course etc, so yes I would ask At your appointment.

Is he on cat metacam? That amount is metacam a day is very low. He sounds as if he is still in pain. They need their pain meds twice a day in any event as they metabolise them within 12 hours.
 
Thank you both.

He's already having antibiotics twice daily and Metacam once daily at the dosage specified by the vet. HOWEVER, the metacam I've been given is for cats and G pigs, and the label printed by the vet specifying the dosage I am to give states Metacam Dog. Not helpful.

The dosage instructions for the cat metacam are confusing. Can anyone advise what dosage I should be giving? He's 1.09kg.
 
kerrym1980 said:
Thank you both.

He's already having antibiotics twice daily and Metacam once daily at the dosage specified by the vet. HOWEVER, the metacam I've been given is for cats and G pigs, and the label printed by the vet specifying the dosage I am to give states Metacam Dog. Not helpful.

The dosage instructions for the cat metacam are confusing. Can anyone advise what dosage I should be giving? He's 1.09kg.
Click to expand...

That isn’t helpful! Dog metacam is 3 times stronger than cat/guinea pig metacam!
We can’t tell you what dose as we aren’t vets, but we can say that piggies can take their doses quite a bit higher and definitely to be given twice a day, particularly if he is still showing signs of pain. Experienced and exotic vets will know this.
 
Thanks.

I'll increase to 0.2ml twice a day and see how he responds to that, then I've room to increase a little more and still be well under the max dosage suggested. I'm tempted to look for another vet with more exotics knowledge but I have no idea where there'll be one and no transport at the moment to get there anyway. This is almost worse than dealing with unwell horses, but significantly less painful on the bank balance!
 
I checked! Nearest to me is a 100 mile round trip; if I had my car I wouldn't hesitate but it's not doable by public transport unfortunately.
 
Update 2: Took piggie to the vets first thing this morning. He had an x-ray and they found a bladder stone. Further examination whilst he was asleep indicated that there's a second one, and the two are rubbing together. They agree that he'll be in significant discomfort - I already know this obviously.

He's booked in for surgery at some point later on today. I know anaesthetic in pigs carries much higher risk, but how much higher is much higher?
 
There is a risk with any surgery but having a vet experienced with surgery in small animals really does go towards reducing the risk. I know it’s easier said than done (I’ve had all three of my rabbits have surgery since September (two elective spays and one urgent surgery for a tumour)) but do try not to worry, keep yourself busy. I hope all goes well.
 
Good news! Piglet (Dougal) came through surgery and I'm collecting him and his friend (Ted) at 4pm. The suspected stone was in fact something in his gut, but they found lots of little stones in his bladder. They've flushed it through and flushed his urethra too to ensure everything is out. He'll be getting 0.3ml metacam twice daily and a new antibio (I'll find out when I collect). I was also offered glucosamine (sp?) which I said yes to. He's been having Pro-C since Wednesday and I'll be following the post-op care guide here and the special dietary guidance. I know we're not out of the woods yet but it's a start.

Thanks for lessening my panic and giving me confidence in the right course of action. And for having a forum full of such great info. It's very, very appreciated.
 
I thought I'd post another update on my pig Dougal's post-surgery progress as I've found it really helpful to read other threads documenting bladder surgery. This'll be quite long but if it helps someone else that's great.

Surgery was on Monday afternoon, we're now Wednesday eve so it's been just over 2 days. He's been given the following meds:
  • Co-Trimoxadole antibiotic (smells like banana) - 0.7ml once a day
  • Metacam (cat/G Pig, smells like a beehive)- 0.3ml once a day with the caveat that it can be increased if he needs more. I'm giving 0.35ml twice a day.
  • Nutracyst Glucosamine - one capsule with powder opened into 2ml water. I'm administering the full 2ml on an eve, at his pace.
  • Also giving Pro-C - 1 scoop in 200ml water, replaced daily
  • I've also purchased a water filter and been weaning them off pellet feed for the last week.
Brief overview: both piggies came to me from Pets at Home aged around 7 months, having been there for months due to ringworm treatment. They were pretty much completely unhandled and it has taken a long time to get to the point where they'll let me stroke their heads. They're now just over 2 years old. Being willingly caught is out of the question but they're very friendly otherwise and have worked out that if they stand on my feet for long enough, eventually I'll give them food. Anyway, back to this week.
  • Mon pm: very quiet and a bit shell-shocked for the first few hours of being home. Nibbled some hay but very little appetite so I spent a lot of time just sitting with him, offering hay and Little Gem lettuce which was about all he would willingly eat. A little bit more awake in the evening but looked very uncomfortable, hunched and sore. Felt awful having to catch him to give medication and some mushed up pellets in place of food, but used the wrap-in-a-towel method and was fine. He did a couple of wee's which looked like pure blood and left me really concerned, but unsurprising after such surgery. His friend (Ted aka Big Pig - he's massive) was really good and spent a lot of time sat with him, but they do tend to bicker so he went in the house overnight and Dougal (aka Ginge - he's bright orange) stayed in his favourite cardboard box house - they have the run of a room and usually go in their house of an eve. Looked really terrible for rest of night; I woke up a couple of times to check he was still around but really expected the worst.
  • Tue am: if looks could kill I wouldn't be typing this. Had 3.5ml cat metacam first thing. A bit brighter, quite happy to eat the green parts of little gem lettuce (stalks are for idiots apparently) and some hay, but it really takes me constant attempts through they day and a lot of fresh hay to get him interested. He'd done a few little poo's and urine was almost normal colour. Lots of teeth chattering and a general stay-away-from-me attitude with his friend but I was reluctant to totally separate so I did a bit of refereeing and generally they were fine.
  • Tue pm: Around 2pm he looked awful and in discomfort so I offered a further 2.5ml metacam which he licked off the syringe (hooray, I've had to catch him until now). Looked quite a bit better within an hour and took a bit of celery, which he likes, and some grass. At 8pmish he had his antibiotics, a further 0.6ml metacam and glucosamine. He'd lost 34g so had some warm mushed up pellets which he was pretty ok with being syringe fed. Again spent the night in his box whilst his friend went in their house. I checked him through the night a couple of times and was a bit happier.
  • Wed am: Much brighter. Happy to lick his metacam (0.3ml) from the syringe which saved having to catch him. Wee is now a normal colour but the washer is working overtime making the towels white again. Quite a few little poo's overnight. Very selective about which parts of the hay he'll eat but happy to be offered grass. Little gem lettuce is current favourite and I've been using it to encourage him to eat, whilst mindful of giving too much. Let his friend out and Dougal was very aggressive, all teeth chattering, hair on end and posturing; totally lost interest in food. Decided to separate them but before I knew it they both ended up in their house and had a fight. A bit of pulled hair was the only injury, but I decided to keep them apart for a while so he could calm down, stop being stressed and focus on food. This worked and we had a much better few hours. I decided to cut out the middle man (woman) and give him free access to the hay. Looked a little subdued towards midday so I offered a further 0.2ml metacam.
  • Wed pm: Much brighter, wee is still normal and poo's definitely on the increase. Went out and got some give-me-food squeaks when I came back an hour later which was nice to hear. Spent the afternoon munching on hay and grass, and trotting around the room. There really is a significant difference to how he looked a day ago and his grazing is much more like normal. Risked letting his friend back out in this evening and spent a couple of hours being referee, sat on the floor with them using a dustpan as a shield; consequently I'm covered in hay from head to toe. I set them up with two boxes and a pile of hay inbetween, and this seems to have worked as they've spent the last couple of hours sat within a foot of each other quite happily. Having to come up with increasingly elaborate methods of catching him as he's wised up to the old box-in-a-corner routine, but he's pretty good to give medication to now and it helps that the antibiotic doesn't taste foul (looking at you, Baytril).
So all in all it's looking better. A couple of things I've noted are that his eyes are a bit weepy on a morning but go back to normal through the day; he's also been squeaking a bit when pooing today; it's not surprising given major surgery and all but I have a review appointment with the vet on Friday so will discuss then, or tomorrow if any worse.

I'll try and update again when it's been a bit longer.
 

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What a lovely boy and I'm so pleased it's all improving post-op. Thanks also for the detailed post because it's so useful for anyone else facing the same situation, looking at their poor pig and wondering if they'll ever feel any better 💕

I find a child's little fishing net useful to catch speedy pigs - you can plop it on top of them from a distance and they don't panic so much because they can see through it. The three I had last year knew what it meant when the net came out and with a bit of verbal encouragement could be rounded up into their house for the night without actually having to net anyone. I felt like a peculiar sort of shepherd though!
 
11 days post op and things ain't looking ideal. He's been squeaky when pooing but the vet though this would be down to the discomfort of recovering from invasive surgery and asked me to monitor. We had a few days more of being off his food so I was given some emeprid which helped, and he's now eating as normal and gaining weight back. I also see him drinking regularly which is a relief as syringing anything he doesn't want/like is like trying to thread a needle whilst trampolining.

Yesterday though the squeaking when toileting became noticably louder and, sure enough, there's bright red blood in his wee. I've been using white towels as bedding so am confident this wasn't the case until now. Subsequent wee's are pink or murky brown.

Phoned the vet this morning and have been given a further two weeks co-trimoxazole (I think this is aka sulfatrim?) and metacam. She advised that blood at this stage post-op (11 days) isn't great and means he may have formed another stone, at which point we'd have to carefully consider options, but that she'd also been doing some research and thinks there may be a couple of things we can try before it spells doom.

Any of you knowledgeable people have any suggestions for what else this might be other than a new stone? I keep reading about interstitial cystitis and sludge but I'm not sure what is more likely at this point in his case. Can they really form a stone in less than 2 weeks? He's been on filtered water and no pellets since the issue was first diagnosed and he's having glucosamine daily, though it's a struggle to get the full 2ml into him, even split into two doses. He was subdued and inactive for the first week but has been running about as normal for the last 5 days between squeaky wees and is generally up to mischief as usual. It's so frustrating!

I'm finding this really stressful on top of myriad other stressors I've got going on. I do often ask myself whether it's worth having pets when it brings heartbreak quite so often!
 
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