UTI? Antibiotics

[Lovepigs]

Hi all, I’m after some advise. One of my girls went to the vets 5 days ago as she squeaking when going to the toilet. Our vet put her on pain relief, and I have been administering twice daily.
To give antibiotics the vet wanted to put my girl under gas and air, cray her(checking for stones) and take a urine sample direct from her bladder.
All quite a lot for an old girl.
We went with pain relief to see if whatever this is would pass on it’s on.
I’m not convinced it has and would like antibiotics for her, any advice on what I can get her? Without having to put her under to x ray etc. seems a lot of stress for her if I could just have antibiotics, is this normal for vets not to give out antibiotics?

Thanks in advance x

 

[Piggies&buns]

I’m sorry to hear this

Your vet sounds to be looking at all possible causes and wants to be thorough in getting to the bottom of the issue first time round rather than prescribing antibiotics for an issue that may not be bacterial (or not primarily bacterial). Antibiotic resistance is of course an issue these days.

Looking into whether her pain is caused by stones is a good thing to do due to the damage they can cause and the risk of them getting stuck in the urethra.
Antibiotics may be given upon diagnosis of a stone to help prevent infection or treat an infection caused by a stone damaging the bladder (bacterial cystitis) but if she has a stone then that stone is the main problem.
Similar applies to sludge - you would want to know whether that is the root of her pain.

They want the urine sample to see whether there is bacteria there.
If there is then she would be given antibiotics but faecal bacteria getting into the urinary tract is not as common in indoor piggies as sterile cystitis is.
Sterile cystitis is the more common infection in indoor piggies. As the issue is sterile (not bacterial) then antibiotics will not help. Antibiotics may temporarily suppress symptoms in some cases (and just not do anything at all in others) but because there is no bacteria the symptoms will return. A diagnosis of sterile cystitis is often made after multiple rounds of antibiotics fail (symptoms continuously return) and by ruling out stones. It’s managed (can’t be cured) with lifelong glucosamine and painkillers during flares

You can of course discuss with your vet if you would rather do a course of antibiotics but while being aware that there may be a different cause requiring different treatment that antibiotics may not resolve the root of.

I hope that makes sense

Wiebke's Guide to Pees and Stones