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Bladder care

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Kazza34

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Had my youngest boar to the vet today. He's 9 months old and last couple of days I noticed tiny blood spots in his cage. Examined him but couldn't find anything. I lost a pig last year after a long battle with bladder stones so need to move fast on this. I've to hand a sample in and give him loxicom for now. I asked the vet about bladder support and he reckoned that's a good idea but not sure what to buy. My other pig had been on cystofan prescribed by vet. Can anyone on here advise me on what's best to buy? All I'm finding are capsules and I'm used to liquid that I can just syringe feed. Thank you in advance.
 
I am sorry to hear that your boy is spotting blood. Hopefully it's just a uti that a course of antibiotics will clear up. Firstly, what diet are you feeding? Is their veg high in calcium? How many pellets are you feeding? Guinea pigs should only be fed a tablespoon of pellets each per day. Are you filtering their drinking water? Tap water is very high in calcium if you are living in a hard water area.

You may find the following diet guide useful Long Term Balanced General And Special Needs Guinea Pig Diets
 
Hi, they are on grain free nuggets, timothy hay only and I'm very careful what veg they get. I lost my little Kovu last year. He was diagnosed with bladder stones in 2019, had surgery and recovered well. He was on medication and a very strict diet but unfortunately it happened again and I had to have him put to sleep in June last year. I dont live in an area with hard water. Hoping and praying it's just stress or a uti. Urine sample going in tomorrow.
 
I'm sorry that you lost a piggy to bladder stones. I lost my first piggy to bladder problems and have had a further two who suffered from interstitial cystitis . Fingers crossed for a uti that clears up quickly. I'm afraid I have no advise on any further bladder support other than following our diet guide
 
Kazza34 said:
Had my youngest boar to the vet today. He's 9 months old and last couple of days I noticed tiny blood spots in his cage. Examined him but couldn't find anything. I lost a pig last year after a long battle with bladder stones so need to move fast on this. I've to hand a sample in and give him loxicom for now. I asked the vet about bladder support and he reckoned that's a good idea but not sure what to buy. My other pig had been on cystofan prescribed by vet. Can anyone on here advise me on what's best to buy? All I'm finding are capsules and I'm used to liquid that I can just syringe feed. Thank you in advance.
Click to expand...

Hi!

Please check our diet tips in order to minimise the risk of bladder stones. More calcium comes into the diet by water (please filter) and pellets but you cannot just cut out any calcium in the diet because too little can also contribute to problems. there is a kind of soft spot that depends on your local conditions as well as your diet, especially how much pellets (including no added calcium pellets you are feeding - even the latter still contain more calcium weight per weight than even the veg highest in calcium).
You can find our diet recommendations in the relevant chaper for special diets: Long Term Balanced General And Special Needs Guinea Pig Diets

We recommend using capsules. Mix the contents of 1 capsule with 2 ml of water (a small medicine bottle is handly for shaking after mixing and before any use) and either give the 2 ml at once every 24 hours or 1 ml every 12 hours.

However, any diet changes as well as any glucosamine take several weeks to kick in fully as the nutrient absorption process is complex and takes time to percolate through the body.

Please see your vet for an x-ray/scan to see whether it is stones or the start of a urinary tract infection or a bacterial or sterile cystitis - the symptoms for all urinary tract problems are very similar.
 
Kazza34 said:
Hi, they are on grain free nuggets, timothy hay only and I'm very careful what veg they get. I lost my little Kovu last year. He was diagnosed with bladder stones in 2019, had surgery and recovered well. He was on medication and a very strict diet but unfortunately it happened again and I had to have him put to sleep in June last year. I dont live in an area with hard water. Hoping and praying it's just stress or a uti. Urine sample going in tomorrow.
Click to expand...

Please reduce your pellets to just 1 tablespoon per piggy per day and still filter your water (minerals can also add to the formation of stones together with factors out of your control (natural drinking - often stone piggies are not good natural drinkers; a genetic disposition or something essential in the complex calcium absorption process going wrong).

On of our modding team has done some research and worked out that even pellets with no added calcium still contain more calcium that kale weight per weight.

The problem with a low calcium diet is that there is a kind of sweet spot between too much and too little calcium but as local conditions differ and so do personal diets, there is not one solution fits all cases. If your boy is not a good drinker, you may want to up the amount of lettuce and/or cucumber you feed to encourage more large pees to help flush out the bladder better.
 
I can definitely up his cucumber, he loves the stuff. I've bought a water filter jug so will use that. They only get a small handful of nuggets once a day as that was advised by vet. I'm also going to start syringe feeding him extra water for now.
 
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