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Bladder issues

Wheekallweek

Wheekallweek

Adult Guinea Pig
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Larry has been back to the vets today as he is still squeaking when pooping, even though he has been on the top dose of metacam, as well as Cystease and Oxbow joint support tablets.

His bladder at the last appointment was very sore and inflamed with a lining 2cm thick!

This time his bladder has not improved and is rock hard.

The vet has prescribed him Diazepam (1/4 tablet tonight and can have up to 1/2 a tab after that) to try to relax him a bit. She has also given him Gabapentin to give as well if he shows no improvement on the Diazepam by Sunday afternoon. He can carry on with his metacam. Ive also got hold of some Oxbow urinary tablets for him too.

Does anyone have any ideas? The vets have been brilliant. He is also registered with Simon and Kim due to his diabetes and they also removed his eye a couple of years back. Maybe they would have another idea if this doesn't work?

A biopsy from his bladder can be taken to see if it is cancerous however he would have to be anaesthetised for this, and if it was, they can't do anything.

I'm so worried about him 😓
 
I’m so sorry your boy is unwell. I have no experience but wanted to offer support anyway. Got everything crossed for you. Healing wheeks.
 
I'm so sorry Larry, I've no experience with thickened bladders - just with standard stones and UTIs. I do know the oxbow urinary support tablets only have 45mg glucosamine whereas the joint support have 90mg so it's good you have cystease too. This post will likely be no help at all!

George's recent giant urethral stone experience led us to some speculation about whether the recent heatwave has triggered problems in pigs as that was certainly when he started with his vague 'something wrong but I don't know what' symptoms. Vet likened piggy bladders to the sort of Crystal Garden you might grow in school chemistry classes. There has to be a certain concentration of salts to crystallise out, and there has to be some sort of point to start it off - maybe bacteria from a UTI, a bit of scar issue, something else we don't know what. As pigs got more dehydrated than usual in the heatwave - maybe just a little - that increased the concentration of urine to a point where salts began to crystallise out and trouble started up, or in George's case turned what might have been a bit of a blockage that he could pee round easily into a massive stony corker. When I said they surely couldn't form so fast vet said growth could be exponential, a bit like "rolling a snowball down a hill". Not encouraging really, but we all battle on for our piggies.

Is he squeaking when peeing too or just when pooping. Do they think the inflamed bladder is somehow pressing against the bowel and so he strains and hurts the bladder? And has he been x-rayed recently? Do they think that lining will stay like that or does is break down and have to be passed?

I'm not sure I'd go in for the biopsy myself. My reasoning would be - apart from the inherent risk of the whole procedure - that if it is cancer they can't do anything anyway and if it isn't it could make things rather worse for him. I think I'd be making my decisions based on his symptoms rather than the cause... I mean if they said yes, it was cancer but this super-duper drug can alleviate his pain while he's still with us you wouldn't say 'don't bother - it'll just be pts because he's got cancer' you'd say 'lets do it!' So helping with his pain is the priority.
 
@Free Ranger thank you for your reply!

Yes he is a poor little fellow. He seems a little better today so that's good. He's had all sorts of health issues in the past I guess he's just not 100% quite right bless him 😊

He's had an ultrasound to look at his bladder and it's just very weird! There's literally this tiny hole in the middle which is the open space in his bladder. He pees with no problem however, you're right in that the vet thinks the passing of poo past his sore bladder is what's causing him pain. He's also arthritic which doesn't help.

She said he's not dehydrated but gave him some subcut fluids anyway and siad to syringe him plenty of water as his urine was showing some crystals. Luckily he's a super good boy!

They never mentioned what may happen to the bladder lining. I think they're hoping it will slowly return to normal but I'm not sure.

Yes I agree no biopsy for Larry. He's diabetic so they're loathe to put him under GA.

Hopefully the meds will help him enough that he can carry on as normal. Apart from this he's doing OK!

Thanks again for taking the time to reply!
 

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Poor Larry, sending him healing vibes :hug:
I hope the Diazepam helps to relax his bladder
 
It's not working, I thought it was last night but it's not. Kim can't fit him in today, she going to call me this afternoon.
I can hear him crying every minute or so. His meds were upped to max (3 x daily diazepam and gabapentin, 2 x daily metacam 1.5mg)
I was close to having him put to sleep at the vets yesterday. Our normal vet is brilliant but thinks there is nothing left to do. He did a big wee and ate some Lettuce on the table so I bought him home.
I don't know what to do. Am I putting off the inevitable? Do I wait to speak to Kim? He is crying and it breaks my heart 💔
 
Wheekallweek said:
It's not working, I thought it was last night but it's not. Kim can't fit him in today, she going to call me this afternoon.
I can hear him crying every minute or so. His meds were upped to max (3 x daily diazepam and gabapentin, 2 x daily metacam 1.5mg)
I was close to having him put to sleep at the vets yesterday. Our normal vet is brilliant but thinks there is nothing left to do. He did a big wee and ate some Lettuce on the table so I bought him home.
I don't know what to do. Am I putting off the inevitable? Do I wait to speak to Kim? He is crying and it breaks my heart 💔
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Hey, I'm not very knowledgeable with this issue but I just saw your recent post and wanted to ask how your sweet piggie is and if you got to speak to Kim? I hope you are okay too, it sounds really worrying.
 
So sorry that you had to make this sad decision for Larry, it's never easy but is done from a place of love and care for your boy.

Popcorn free across the rainbow bridge handsome boy. ❤️ 🌈
 
Thank you everyone for your kind words, he had been reunited with his best friend Eric at least ❤️
 
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