• 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

UTI?

G

Guineagirl22

New Born Pup
Joined
Aug 9, 2019
Messages
4
Reaction score
0
Points
45
A few weeks ago, my guinea pig (female, 5 yo) kept getting wet on her bottom area and underneath on her belly. I took her straight to the vets and they prescribed baytril. She's had a few UTI's over the years and they usually take a while to clear up. This time the medication didn't really seem to help all that much, some days she'd be wet, others she'd be dry. The vet doesn't seem to think she has stones or cysts but obviously she'd need an x-ray to rule it out. I don't really want to put her through that unless it's necessary. And her UTIs have always cleared up in the past.
She was dry for a few days and I thought it had gone but the last couple of days I've noted she's getting wet but only on her belly. The vet I see is on holiday until Wednesday and is willing to try a different antibiotic but in the mean time I'm struggling to know what to do. She's eating, drinking and pooing fine. She's fine in herself. This morning I took her out and she was soaking wet underneath. They have plenty of hay, fresh veg, filtered water, urinary tract oxbow tablets. I clean them out daily, they're fleeced. I'm at a loss at what to do. Does this sound like a UTI? I've even tried cranberry juice as a preventative. Any thoughts or advice would be really appreciated. Thank you!
 
Guineagirl22 said:
A few weeks ago, my guinea pig (female, 5 yo) kept getting wet on her bottom area and underneath on her belly. I took her straight to the vets and they prescribed baytril. She's had a few UTI's over the years and they usually take a while to clear up. This time the medication didn't really seem to help all that much, some days she'd be wet, others she'd be dry. The vet doesn't seem to think she has stones or cysts but obviously she'd need an x-ray to rule it out. I don't really want to put her through that unless it's necessary. And her UTIs have always cleared up in the past.
She was dry for a few days and I thought it had gone but the last couple of days I've noted she's getting wet but only on her belly. The vet I see is on holiday until Wednesday and is willing to try a different antibiotic but in the mean time I'm struggling to know what to do. She's eating, drinking and pooing fine. She's fine in herself. This morning I took her out and she was soaking wet underneath. They have plenty of hay, fresh veg, filtered water, urinary tract oxbow tablets. I clean them out daily, they're fleeced. I'm at a loss at what to do. Does this sound like a UTI? I've even tried cranberry juice as a preventative. Any thoughts or advice would be really appreciated. Thank you!
Click to expand...

Hi!

Urinary tract problems tend to come with very similar symptoms, so vets usually work down the ladder of options:
- firstly, they will treat for a urinary tract infection or a bacterial cystitis, which both can be healed with a course of antibiotics (baytril or preferably sulfatrim/bactrin, which is not yet licensed in many countries).
- secondly, if that hasn't done the trick, the piggy is deteriorating during treatment or the problem returns, a scan or x-ray for bladder, kidney or urethral stones or sludge should be made. Please also ask your vet to check for problems with reproductive system in sows (pyometra, i.e. infection of the womb lining) at this stage.
- thirdly, once all other possible causes have been eliminated, what is left is a default diagnosis with sterile interstitial cystititis (IC) or a non-bacterial recurring bladder infection that doesn't react at all to or is only temporarily suppressed by antibiotics. Unfortunately since we do not know what is causing it, we cannot heal it and only treat the symptoms. IC has become a lot more common over the last decade but it is not yet well known with general vets.
Treatment is mainly with glucosamine; generally with cystease capsules (a food supplement for cats with bladder issues and NOT classed as a medication) and metacam, which is a painkiller as well as an anti-inflammatory (i.e. an analgesic). Very recent research seems to show that cartrofen injections (a glucosamine based arthritis medication for dogs) can be more efficient but we do not have any first-hand experience on here with it as this has not yet made its way from the Continent to the UK as far as I know.
Here is more information on IC: Links - Interstitial Cystitis - Guinea Lynx Records

I hope that this helps you?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top