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UTI or bladder stones or something more sinister.

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Sandy Pandy

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Hello.....I noticed last night my lady had blood in her wee. She wasn't squeaking but I already had Baytril in the house from a vet visit for my other lady on Friday so I gave her a dose. Rang the vets this morning at 8 and was in for 8.40........but the news wasn't quite what I was expecting. The vet said UTI's are usually caused by another problem, I.e. bladder stones. He also said he could feel something in her mamory glands (sorry if I've spelt that wrong).....Maybe stones...maybe a mass! He suggested putting her on Baytril 2 x 0.5mls till Monday and I have an appointment to see if there is any improvement. If not next step X-ray and depending on what that showed whether I wanted to do surgery or 'the other option'! She is bouncing around, eating everything....squeaking for green spaghetti.....so it's obviously not bothering her too much and it's not every time she wee's. This morning there was significantly less blood than last night........ Any advice would be most welcome. I am devasted.....cried so much this morning.......I can't think of the other option....I love her to bits
 
I certainly wouldn't think the worst just yet. I know of plenty of guinea pigs that suffered from UTI's that lived long and happy lives and never developed a bladder stone.
Unfortunately, bladder stones CAN be wrongly misdiagnosed as UTIs and non cavy savvy vets often keep handing out antibiotics believing it to be an infection when in fact it is a stone.

For the time being wait and see. It could be a UTI which will clear up with the Baytril. Another option would be Septrin, which is now preferred for UTIs. The presence of a UTI can only be confirmed with a urine sample (but as antibiotics have already started then this is not an option) As for the 'mass', only an x-ray/scan will confirm what this is.

I think there are far too many possibilities at the moment for you to be thinking of 'the other option'. How old is she? Is she a healthy weight?

Fingers crossed for your little lady x
 
Jerrybelly said:
I certainly wouldn't think the worst just yet. I know of plenty of guinea pigs that suffered from UTI's that lived long and happy lives and never developed a bladder stone.
Unfortunately, bladder stones CAN be wrongly misdiagnosed as UTIs and non cavy savvy vets often keep handing out antibiotics believing it to be an infection when in fact it is a stone.

For the time being wait and see. It could be a UTI which will clear up with the Baytril. Another option would be Septrin, which is now preferred for UTIs. The presence of a UTI can only be confirmed with a urine sample (but as antibiotics have already started then this is not an option) As for the 'mass', only an x-ray/scan will confirm what this is.

I think there are far too many possibilities at the moment for you to be thinking of 'the other option'. How old is she? Is she a healthy weight?

Fingers crossed for your little lady x
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Thank you..........she is about 3.5 years.......and overweight at 1.3kgs......but she's always been the healthy one of the 2 and has been that weight since I adopted them 1.5 years ago.

I am keeping positive.......she's in high spirits.

Thanks again for replying
 
Sandy Pandy said:
Thank you..........she is about 3.5 years.......and overweight at 1.3kgs......but she's always been the healthy one of the 2 and has been that weight since I adopted them 1.5 years ago.

I am keeping positive.......she's in high spirits.

Thanks again for replying
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She's a great weight, and a good age. I'm sure she'll have a fighting chance of dealing with whatever it is! Just keep an eye on her - monitor her weight daily, her food intake etc - and stay positive :) x
 
Sorry to here your little girl is poorly. It can be very distressing to see blood in urine.

There can be several causes, the most common is a UTI, this can be a bacterial infection and is not caused by bladder stones. Most commonly Antibiotics are given for a few days to see if the blood clears up, if it does it is most likely an infection. However it is recomended to get an x-ray done to rule out the chance of it being bladder stones if it does not clear up, or if your piggie begins to go downhill or can't pass urine.

The dose of baytril your vet has prescibed is very high, our piggies were on 0.35ml twice a day at one point and it upset ones tummy. So it would be a good idea to get some probiotic to give your piggie this will help the good gut flora in her tummy.
 
As has already been said UTIs are not always caused by stones, although a persistent one that doesn't clear up with antibiotics is worth having checked out with an x-ray. I would also be a little concerned about the baytil and just for info. the antibiotic of choice for UTIs is generally Septrin, which is far kinder to piggy tummies in addition to shifting stubborn infections. Good luck, hope you can get your little girl sorted.
 
Latest report is that she's only had 2 lots of Baytril and we had a tiny amount of blood in wee first thing this morning, (nothing like last night), but nothing since.....I presume this is a good sign?
 
Sandy Pandy said:
Latest report is that she's only had 2 lots of Baytril and we had a tiny amount of blood in wee first thing this morning, (nothing like last night), but nothing since.....I presume this is a good sign?
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It is certainly steps in the right direction! How is she doing today?
 
Well still no blood......she was so happy in herself last night, but she's never good in a morning....but she ate some of her brekkie and retired to bed........but as I said that's what she does every morning. I am at work now but I have left the grandparents in charge and will ring for a progress report....lol. Thank you for checking.....this forum is so lovely and reassuring when you are worried about your piggies. Xx
 
Sandy Pandy said:
Well still no blood......she was so happy in herself last night, but she's never good in a morning....but she ate some of her brekkie and retired to bed........but as I said that's what she does every morning. I am at work now but I have left the grandparents in charge and will ring for a progress report....lol. Thank you for checking.....this forum is so lovely and reassuring when you are worried about your piggies. Xx
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It's wonderful to hear that she seemed happy last night. Please keep us updated, there is nothing worse that a sick piggy and we love to hear when they are all better again (which I really hope she will be soon) :) x
 
She is having a ball.....lots of attention, no squealing and NO blood! Eating, drinking, wee and pooping all normal. I suppose we just have the problem of the 'mass' which has not changed...I think we'll be having an X-ray on Monday to see what the situation is.
 
All paws crossed here for your girl for her X-ray :)p
Cannot recommend a better exotic vet than Hannah Bould at Taylor & Marshall, Shifnal, Shrops.
Without her expertise, our golden oldie girl would not be here :rose
 
I am right there with you! One of my pigs has blood in her urine (I can't tell which yet.) My older girl, Linney, had a UTI treated with Baytril in September, but we were also warned of potential underlying problems. If she is the one peeing blood again, we will be x-raying her and looking for some underlying problems. I do know that the last time she perked up visibly on Baytril within a day or two. She took it for 2 weeks and then was blood-free for three months. We'll see what tomorrow brings- I'll update once I'm back from the vet in the morning and I'll look for your update as well!
 
Freela said:
I am right there with you! One of my pigs has blood in her urine (I can't tell which yet.) My older girl, Linney, had a UTI treated with Baytril in September, but we were also warned of potential underlying problems. If she is the one peeing blood again, we will be x-raying her and looking for some underlying problems. I do know that the last time she perked up visibly on Baytril within a day or two. She took it for 2 weeks and then was blood-free for three months. We'll see what tomorrow brings- I'll update once I'm back from the vet in the morning and I'll look for your update as well!
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Oh good luck at the vets.......they are a worry aren't they? I am sure I saw some pinky coloured wee last night so fingers crossed it was my imagination! There was nothing this morning. I am back at the vets on Monday to see how it's going......the fact that she's normal in every other way keeps my hopes up. Please let me know how you get on.......good to have support in these times :)
 
I was off to the vet with my two pigs today- surprisingly, it was not Linney with the previous UTI history who was sick this time, it was little sis Sundae instead. She is home on two weeks of Baytril now. The fact that I couldn't tell which pig was sick was somewhat comforting- with Linney's last UTI, I could definitely tell that she was ill by her behaviour! Since it's her first infection, we opted to do a urine culture and treat with Baytril. If she relapses once the meds are gone, we will be doing x-rays and more testing. Since I couldn't tell which pig was passing blood, I had to take in urine samples from both pigs in separate bottles and both pigs because I didn't know who needed the exam! The vet did offer to try to x-ray both of them together on the same plate if x-rays were required! And on the bright side, they also tested both for diabetes (since they both go through tons of water) and both came up clean. How is your little one doing today?
 
Freela said:
I was off to the vet with my two pigs today- surprisingly, it was not Linney with the previous UTI history who was sick this time, it was little sis Sundae instead. She is home on two weeks of Baytril now. The fact that I couldn't tell which pig was sick was somewhat comforting- with Linney's last UTI, I could definitely tell that she was ill by her behaviour! Since it's her first infection, we opted to do a urine culture and treat with Baytril. If she relapses once the meds are gone, we will be doing x-rays and more testing. Since I couldn't tell which pig was passing blood, I had to take in urine samples from both pigs in separate bottles and both pigs because I didn't know who needed the exam! The vet did offer to try to x-ray both of them together on the same plate if x-rays were required! And on the bright side, they also tested both for diabetes (since they both go through tons of water) and both came up clean. How is your little one doing today?
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Hope Sundae is ok and the Baytril does the trick.....fingers crossed. My lady is ok.....still eating and everything and no blood but she seems to be making a noise before she wee's not when she actually wee's. Its not a squeal....it's like the noise she does when she's rumblestrutting!
 
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