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We still have blood in his urine

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GuineaGuy

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[follows on from this thread: http://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/...-has-put-on-250-grams-over-the-past-2-months]

Ok,

So we took him to the vets on Sunday Evening and they prescribed 0.63ml Baytrill twice daily as a first measure as it was likely a UTI. He had the last of what was prescribed this morning and we have just changed their bedding, he is still separate from his cagemates. Within minutes he is urinating blood, although where as before it was 'blotchy', it is now quite diluted but it is giving the effect that he is urinating everywhere!

Any ideas where to go from here. Are stones likely?

From reading on this forum among others it seems that he should have been on Baytrill for longer and maybe on a slightly lower does? He also had an anti infflamitry - Loxitrom 0.4ml once a day.

We are going to take him back to the vets this evening but we really would appreciate any input from anyone that can help.

He is eating and drinking normally.

Many Thanks
 
I think I missed a thread so to speak. Take care to look after his health. My guinea pig had cystitis with similar symptoms. He got over that but had recently had a problems (internally) which the vet couldn't diagnose. This was about 2 yrs after the cystitis - so if your guinea pig has any further symptoms even if it is runny eyes take him straight to the vets to be on the safe side.
 
Maybe your vet would like to try another antibiotic like septrin, which is more effective with urinary tract infections; it needs to be taken for longer. Septrin is an oral form of the bactrim mentioned (which is used in the US).

If you have recurring or persisting problems with UTI, it is always advisable to have an x-ray for bladder sludge or stones.
http://www.guinealynx.info/uti.html
 
Hi both,

Thanks for your replies. We have just got back from the vets - she was very helpful. As it was out of hours she wasnt our regular vet but we have seen her before and she seems to know her stuff.

We x rayed him and it confirmed that he had bladder stones. Where as before he was having 'spots' of blood, it now seems to be diluting into his urine and looks worse than it is which is why we were panicking. She examined his gums and said he hadn't lost a lot as they were the colour they should be.

He had a hot of metacam and nothing else was prescribed.

So it looks like we will have to operate on him, which we need to think about for as soon as possible.

How safe is the operation, is it fairly routine? Our regular vet will be performing the op who has successfully operated on our other piggie.

Sorry if these questions have been answered before, I've done a bit of research but we are still pretty anxious.

Thanks again.
 
Just go for it. Don't leave it too long go whilst you GP is still fairly strong. Your vet had found the problem and if the only solution is an op just do it. Your GP will thank you after
 
worried val of york said:
Just go for it. Don't leave it too long go whilst you GP is still fairly strong. Your vet had found the problem and if the only solution is an op just do it. Your GP will thank you after
Click to expand...

Thank you - that is good advice, we have decided to do it asap - it needs to be done and as you say chances of recovery will be better if he is strong going into the op.

We have him booked in for tomorrow and we are really nervous but we know it's the right thing to do for him.

Fingers crossed all will go well.
 
Fingers crossed for your little guy tomorrow and for a speedy recovery dont worry he will be fine :) my 2yr old boy Junior has had two bladder stone operations the first one he weighed 1060g and the second he was a very poorly little boy only weighing 780g but both times he bounced right back he now weighs 1410g hes a little porker :))
 
Glad to hear he was ok babydoll. Ours has lost 50grams since but he is still a good weight and he is eating and drinking as normal. We've cut down on his carrots though - in fact they have all had a carrot reduction. I had no idea of how fattening they are and that they can even cause diabetes.

I'll give an update tomorrow on how he is - it will be a long morning waiting for news.
 
Hope all goes well for your boy tomorrow. Make sure you get some pain killer like metacam for post operative care. Hoping everything will go okay for your little boy.
 
It's a good sign that he is still eating and drinking - good normal guinea pig behaviour.

It should be a routine procedure for the vet and you'll have him home to spoil again soon.

Thanks for the information about carrots, I do limit what I give mine any way but it is something for me to be careful about in future.
 
Well not entirely good news - he's awake after the op, but he has had some painkillers and it drowsy so the vet wanted to keep him in over night so he can administer some fluids.

Thats the good news! The bad news is that there were no bladder stones in there. There is something though which appears to be moving around and when we had the first x rays done it happened to be in the bladder area so appeared to be a stone.

So we still don't know what was causing the bleeding and now he is going to need a few weeks recovery. It could still be a UTI and maybe a different antibiotic would have been effective, in which case we've put our piggy through this for nothing or it could still be this mysterious object - at least we know its not stones!
 
I do hope everything goes well for your piggy. Just keep a close eye on him make sure he feeds and drinks and any signs of him refusing food take him to vet straight away.
 
Thank you - we'll be keeping a really close eye on him.

I can't believe we have put him through this for nothing. I am really worried about him and I hope he is snuggling down and having a good rest. I can't wait to see him again in the morning but I am really worried right now. I hope he is strong enough to recover. I wish we had've tried another antibiotic first but the X ray was so clear in what it showed.
 
Things can be very frustrating. Terfel was already under when he had a second pre-op x-ray which showed a clear bladder where on the first examination x-ray he had quite a large blob right where the bladder was - so he was lucky enough to escape with a shaved belly and a diagnosis of UTI for the blood drops in the cage.

Hopefully, you can get on top of what he has, and hopefully, it is just a persistent UTI/cystitis.
 
He didn't make it - the vet found him passed away this morning.

I'm so distraught I feel like we sentenced our healthy pig to death - it must have been a horrible last few hours for him.
 
Oh no - I'm so very sorry, this is as awful as it gets :(
Sadly, all surgery carries a risk and you're feeling worse because it was elective surgery and you thought it was best for your baby.
A lot of vets use ultra sound scans rather than x-rays to get a better image and sounds as though your Vet was doing her best too.
I'm stuck for words and can totally understand your pain, frustration and anger and many of us on here have lost piggies so please don't feel that you are alone - we're here to help.
Again, I'm so sorry and sending hugs :( :(
 
I am so sorry to read this. Please do not blame yourself you went on the advice of the vet who is a professional and decided to operate which is the only thing that can be done for Bladder Stones, so given the diagnosis given you made the only call you could for your piggie. I am really sorry my heart goes out to you. We are all here for you.

RIP Little one
x
 
Oh what a horrible shock, I'm so sorry. Night night little man.
 
I am so sorry to hear the sad news. I have recently lost a guinea pig and I had the choice to operate on him or put him to sleep. I chose the latter and I am still questioning if it was the right thing to do. I don't suppose I will ever really know. At my request I asked my vet to send off for laboratory tests - the vet hasn't got back to me yet. The only thing that has helped me cope with everything is my 2 remaining (healthy and bouncy) guinea pigs. I do know if they have any problems I will check this website and go to vets if I am worried. I was so angry when I lost my guinea pig because I questioned everything I had done and then what the vet had done. But I am now beginning to accept that everything happens for a reason and he was really ill. Again I am so sorry for you are having to go through now.
 
Thank you all for the kind words. It's so hard losing something you love so much. We lost another piggie and our dog earlier this year both to ill health but we feel responsible for his death this time.

I wish we had've tried some different antibiotics first but the Xray seemed conclusive. We should have had a second xray before the op - there was one taken after when no stones were found, which showed this object had moved.

I really hope he didn't suffer, I hope the painkillers subdued him, I feel terrible that it happened in the middle of the night at the vets. I hope he knew just how much we loved him.

I had him cremated this afternoon - I sat in the most beautiful spot by a canal but I have never felt so sad.

We have lots of pictures of him which we have been looking through this evening which has helped in someways. He was just about to turn 4 - we were there the day he was born, we rescued his mum and dad from a tiny hutch full of rabbits. He had a great 4 years but we were looking forward to a few more with him.

He had 2 cagemates, one of whom is his brother - will he know he's gone? He was acting a bit odd this morning. I did tell him what had happened but I know that he couldn't have understood me. He does seem a bit better this evening

I read about your Alex Val, I was really sorry to read it and see the outcome. I expect he'll bump into our little one, and I hope they can rest in peace along with all the other piggies.
 
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His brother will be missing him as will his other friend. Piggies grieve just like us but they are resilient and get on with their lives. Make sure they are both eating and get them lots of attention like I am sure you are doing.

I am so sorry again, I would have made the same choices as you, please don't be hard on yourself. If you would like to you can post a memorial to your boy in the rainbow bridge section of the forum.
 
You have got me tearful again. I collected Alex's ashes this week. I am going to decide where to lay him to rest. I will be moving and will be taking Alex and my last 2 dogs ashes with me so I know exactly where they will be. It helps with the loss. Alex's cagemate doesn't seem to be showing any signs of pining. But I have been able to put him outside in the sunshine in a run with tunnels. He loves this. He is next door to a run with my 6 year oldSpike (I got him last year when his owner couldn't look after him any more) who doesn't give a jot about Sergei next door. I am not sure if Spike is a girl or boy so I am taking him to the vet's next week to get him checked over and his nails clipped at the same time. If he is a boy I will try a highly supervised introduction in the same run as Sergei. Believe me I am still upset about Alex and I know you will be devasted about your loss. But I know this sounds really twee but I do believe that animals have feelings and a soul and I hope to meet all my pets when I pass over the Rainbow Bridge. I don't know how the dogs and 1 cat and 4 guinea pigs will get on though. One thing I have discovered is how fragile small animals lives are. You can do the best you can but something unknown and unseen can end it all.

Just remember the good times and that you did the best you thought.
 
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