Bladder Pain 6 Year Old Female Pig

[Squashface]

Hi Everyone,

I’m looking for some advice for our 6 year old pig. In April this year she had a bladder stone removed and recovered very well after the surgery. Several months passed and she started making pained noises when urinating again. We took her back to the vet fully expecting that she had another bladder stone. Even the vet was surprised when he couldn’t find one. He decided it was most likely an infection.

He gave us Baytril and Metacam for 14 days, but this didn’t really improve her symptoms. My husband took her back in to the vet and he said that it might not be an infection, it might be that her bladder is very sensitive and potentially scarred after the bladder stone she had in April. He asked us to try cyst-ease and a higher dose of metacam for 2 weeks to see if things improve. He then said if that doesn’t work we could try Gabapentin.

My husband asked if it could be still an infection but we just didn’t use the right antibiotic. The vet said that could be the case. But he’d need to give her a general anaesthetic and take a urine sample directly from her bladder to test before giving her more antibiotics. He said urine samples taken externally are very inaccurate. When my husband told me this I thought it sounded really extreme. She’s 6 years old- surely it would be best to just try a different antibiotic and see if it helps. A general anaesthetic will be very stressful for her.

So we’re now several weeks down the line and tried the other options the vet suggested. She’s still makes pained noises sometimes whilst urinating. We’ve tried Gabapentin now too and it’s not resolved it. We rang up today and she’s booked in for Friday for a general anaesthetic to take the urine sample. But I don’t feel any happier about putting her through the stress of that.

Is the vet being extreme to suggest a GA for urine sample? Should we just ask for a different antibiotic to try first?! I feel it must be an infection otherwise she wouldn’t have been fine for months after the stone removal.

It’s not about the cost, we’re happy to pay whatever is needed to sort this out. But I feel very strongly that’s unfair to put her through unnecessary stress. She lost a lot of weight (150-200g) before the bladder stone removal. But her weight has gone back up and has been around 1kg since then.

Any advice or stories of others experience would be great.

Many thanks!

 

[Wiebke]

Hi

There is a condition we describe as a sterile interstitial cystitis that mainly seems to affect the glucosamine coating of the walls of the urinary tract. It has been becoming increasingly common over the last 15 years but it is hardly known outside vet circles that do not see lots of guinea pigs.

Mostly sterile IC is diagnosed by default after all problems with any other issues with the urinary tract have been excluded. It is characterised by showing the same symptoms (squeaking when peeing and pooing, often intensely red porphyrine-coloured pees and potentially some calcium pees at the onset of a flare. The bacterial count is usually very low.
Because it doesn't react to antibiotics or can only be temporarily suppressed in the milder forms, it cannot be healed. Treatment is mainly via oral glucosamine in milder cases and now more newly with cartrofen in injections in the stronger cases in combination with analgesics. In milder cases you can usually get down to an individually determined maintenance dosage which you then up to the maximum dosage in order to get on top of a flare as quickly as possible.
Links - Interstitial Cystitis - Guinea Lynx Records

Perhaps it is worth discussing the possibility of IC vs. longer term bladder trauma or infection in your case?
Another possibility are arthritis in the lower back bones radiating into the gut or large ovarian cysts pressing on the urinary tract of especially older sows.


As to GA in older piggies - a lot depends on how long your piggy is under; the shorter, the better.
I have had two 6 year old sows (one just a month short of her 7th birthday) needing lump-ectomies for burst cysts. One burst and infected one right next to the genitalia and one a very large one with a fleshy mantle and inclusion we had hoped would stay put; unfortunately, it put on a massive growth spurt and promptly burst while my piggy savvy vet was on their summer holiday so I had a couple of rather anxious weeks after the cyst started bleeding quite geavily when my local general vet tried to empty it due to the blood vessels in the fleshy inclusion...
But both sows made a full recovery and lived a fair number of months afterwards even if they were no longer healing up quite as quickly as much younger piggies.
Tips For Post-operative Care

I hope that this will help you?

 

[Squashface]

Thanks for coming back to me with so much information. That’s really helpful!

The vet did think it was sterile interstitial cystitis, and that was what the gabapentin was for. But it doesn’t seem to have made any real difference. He didn’t mention glucosamine unless it has another name when branded.

Luckily she hasn’t had any red urine that we’ve seen. She does struggle a bit to urinate/poo these days. The vet noticed she wasn’t quite as mobile. But the pain seems to only be during urination.

The only reason why I thought it seemed more like an infection was because she went 5 months with no pain symptoms after her bladder stone was removed, so it seems strange that sterile interstitial cystitis would suddenly flare up. I’d have thought it would appear sooner after the op. Whereas an infection would be more sudden. But I’m not in anyway an expert!

 

[Wiebke]

Thanks for coming back to me with so much information. That’s really helpful!

The vet did think it was sterile interstitial cystitis, and that was what the gabapentin was for. But it doesn’t seem to have made any real difference. He didn’t mention glucosamine unless it has another name when branded.

Luckily she hasn’t had any red urine that we’ve seen. She does struggle a bit to urinate/poo these days. The vet noticed she wasn’t quite as mobile. But the pain seems to only be during urination.

The only reason why I thought it seemed more like an infection was because she went 5 months with no pain symptoms after her bladder stone was removed, so it seems strange that sterile interstitial cystitis would suddenly flare up. I’d have thought it would appear sooner after the op. Whereas an infection would be more sudden. But I’m not in anyway an expert!

Cystease is an oral glucosamine glucosamine product for cats - they are the other pet species prone to problems with the urinary tract and have a similar issue with the rise in a condition called FSC (feline sterile cystitis). Treatment in guinea pigs is pretty similar to that of FSC in cats.
It seems to particularly affect piggies and cats with a naturally very nervous disposition and is possibly connected to the current indiscriminate mass breeding of pets for sale.

Please note that cystease/glucosamine is not a quick fix. It takes several weeks to process and build up in the body. In my own experience with sterile IC piggies of mine, upping the metacam level during a flare has not been as effective as doubling the glucosamine shortly to get on top of a flare once the initial build-up has happened.
Gabapentin is newly used in piggy as a painkiller especially in connection with the spine (neurological issues but also arthritis) and also major chronic pain issues as an alternative to tramadol.

Your vet is already covering all the bases medically speaking but discussing cartrofen if there is no improvement on the cystease would be an option. I don't know how long you have been medicating on the regime.

All the best!

 

[Squashface]

Thank you again- all really helpful. She’s been on the cystease for about 6 weeks. I’m not sure of the actual amount in mg, but it’s half a capsule morning and evening. But it hasn’t really helped unfortunately.

We’ll speak again with the vet and see where we get.

 

[Wiebke]

Thank you again- all really helpful. She’s been on the cystease for about 6 weeks. I’m not sure of the actual amount in mg, but it’s half a capsule morning and evening. But it hasn’t really helped unfortunately.

We’ll speak again with the vet and see where we get.

I would consult with your vet whether a week on one capsule in the mornings and evenings might be worth trying but you should be starting to see results with a milder sterile IC now. Not if you are delaing with a stronger one or a different issue. Although I would expect that your vet would have picked up on an ovarian cyst as they seem to very competent and considered.

 

[Squashface]

They’ve given us some paracetamol to give her until Friday. They still want to go ahead with the GA to get a urine sample using a needle directly from her bladder. I’m not sure how happy I am about that as it seems like unnecessary risk and potential distress for. But they seem quite insistent it’s the best course of action.

I hope it is actually an infection because all the other treatments so far haven’t helped. Feels awful knowing she’s in pain!

If they don’t find signs on infection, I’ll definitely ask whether we can up the dosage on the capsules.

 

[Wheekallweek]

Urinary issues in guinea pigs are horrible, and quiet common it seems. I hope your piggy is feeling better soon

 

[Squashface]

Thank you. I just feel so sorry for her. On the upside, when she’s not weeing she seems very happy. Still squeaks VERY loudly when the fridge door opens!

 

[Wheekallweek]

Thank you. I just feel so sorry for her. On the upside, when she’s not weeing she seems very happy. Still squeaks VERY loudly when the fridge door opens!

Well that can only be a good thing!

 

[Squashface]

Update: turns out it was another bladder stone fortunately our vet was able to remove it without need for surgery. Just dread the fact she’ll most likely keep getting them!

For now she’s much happier at least.

 

[Josie_lg]

Update: turns out it was another bladder stone fortunately our vet was able to remove it without need for surgery. Just dread the fact she’ll most likely keep getting them!

For now she’s much happier at least.

I’m so sorry it was another stone. How did they miss it before ? Was it diagnosed by x rays? X

 

[Squashface]

I think it must have been hidden on the original x-ray. The vet managed to get a much clearer imagine this time.