• 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

Bladder stone surgery cost

Teema

Teema

Junior Guinea Pig
Joined
Oct 17, 2018
Messages
155
Reaction score
260
Points
345
Location
Ayrshire
Hi folks, we have been quoted an estimate of £1112 (not including x-ray) for bladder stone surgery. Is it worth looking around or is this normal? Our vet is really good so ideally would like to remain at this practice but cost unfortunately is a factor. We are based in Ayrshire if anyone knows any pig savvy vets.
Thankyou
 
I paid £3500 once, so I'd say you've got a bargain 😆
All joking aside, £1112 is rather high, but it depends what they're offering you for that price- are they going to keep your piggy in overnight for observation afterwards? Are they exotic vets?
I think I was quoted around £400 for a bladder stone surgery with Vets4Pets, but they weren't piggy specialists.

How poorly is your piggy at the moment? I suppose the biggest factor for you and your vets to consider is whether the operation needs to happen now, or whether you have time to look for cheaper ones.

I hope your piggy recovers well. 🥰
 
none of mine ever had bladder stone surgery but i never paid more than £450 for operations - and they were big ovary removal ones.. ask around but best to stick with your vet if they are piggy savvy..
 
I’ve paid £500 for bladder stone surgery.
And I think about £450 for an abscess to be lanced and stitched open.

I hope your piggy is okay. Good luck.
 
Compared to what I've paid in the past that's cheap! My vets used to charge £35 a minute for surgery so it would depend how long it took. I know their prices have gone up considerably now though. I was quoted £1100 for a scan recently and xrays have gone up from £200 to £500! I'm looking for a new vet!
 
Thanks so much everyone. 3.5k! God it could be worse I suppose in that case! It’s such a shame thay small pet insurance is so difficult to navigate while their wee operations and health conditions are so costly! It is not for overnight thankfully they are very keen on getting her home on the same day. The price for the actual surgery is around £500, then £200+ for anaesthesia, then another £125 for extended anaesthesia? And so on so on, Metacam, surgical waste, post op exams etc…
£1100 sounds a lot just for an x-ray and scan when for us the whole surgery is going to cost that. The x-ray she is getting prior to surgery is £130.
It’s so difficult, you don’t grudge it at all, I would sell the clothes off my back to make sure she was alright but it is just such a drain on our already tight finances. We have just gotten our other girl Penny over a URI which was in the region of £100, we (fiancée and me) have our MOTs for both our cars this month and I have just taken two weeks unpaid study leave from work for uni, couldn’t have came at a worse time!
Don’t grudge paying for the vet’s expertise but the price of the medicine is what really shocks me, tiny tiny amounts of meds and they are £30+ usually.
Fingers crossed it doesn’t go to a surgery, she’s just had such a hard wee start in life as a rescue and now this. Thanks so much everyone, think we will just need to bite the bullet and go for it, maybe worth asking at Vets4Pets first.

I do feel like she’s just struggling by, she’s not terribly unwell per se (still eating drinking totally normal) but you can definitely tell she’s in a lot of pain doing the toilet, wee soul. Metacam is helping, and on Baytril too for a week, vet booked her x-ray in one week and if they find the stone in the x-ray then the surgery will go ahead that day. If they don’t find a stone not sure where we go from there.
 
Vet fees have definitely gone up recently but when my late poppy had bladder stone surgery last November at the cat and rabbit clinic it came to £611 and that was including an antibiotic and then I paid some more to get additional tramadol as I'd ran out.
 
Thanks everyone.
Sort of off topic now but, we have seen a big improvement in her since she started the anti biotics and her Metacam, she’s even put weight on. I wonder if it is cysitis and not the stone? The vet said this was the other possibility. Any thoughts?
 
One plus point of vets for pets is that a lot of them do often see guinea pigs. I've just moved house and been ringing round the local vets to be told they have little or no experience with guinea pigs.
 
fluffysal said:
One plus point of vets for pets is that a lot of them do often see guinea pigs. I've just moved house and been ringing round the local vets to be told they have little or no experience with guinea pigs.
Click to expand...
And my Vets4Pets weren't afraid to refer me to a specialist exotics practice when it was needed either. :)
 
fluffysal said:
One plus point of vets for pets is that a lot of them do often see guinea pigs. I've just moved house and been ringing round the local vets to be told they have little or no experience with guinea pigs.
Click to expand...
At my local vets 4 pets,I've had rubbish advice and prescribing medication that's no good like baytril for diarrhea.One vet even accused me of overdosing poppy on metacam.Youre very lucky you have experienced vets at your branch.I dont think my branch sees guinea pigs very often.
 
That's the one I was at, I have no idea what the local one here is like. When I had to take Sir George for his UTI, the vet there definitely knew his way round a guinea pig and prescribed dog metacam without me asking. I will be checking out the nearby one next week.
 
fluffysal said:
That's the one I was at, I have no idea what the local one here is like. When I had to take Sir George for his UTI, the vet there definitely knew his way round a guinea pig and prescribed dog metacam without me asking. I will be checking out the nearby one next week.
Click to expand...
I hope they know their stuff 🙂
 
Hi everyone, just wanted to reply with a wee update.
Thank you so much for all your help, advice and suggestions.
Pipsqueak has been at the vet this morning and gone for x-ray and sedation, no obvious sign of bladder stone in the first two x-rays (they did these with her in a box to keep her still) then said they would need to sedate her to get an x-ray of her on her side - no sign of bladder stone showed in the first two x-rays, more likely to be sludge but the x-ray of her on her side may reveal a stone.
The vet said that sludge is more annoying to clear, and that if it was a bladder stone they should be able to, if it is small enough and in the urethra, they can go in and sort of manually remove it. We are just waiting for a phone call now to see what the next step is, sludge or stone.
I will say I was extremely happy with the expertise of our vet this morning, she is so clearly experienced with guinea pigs, she was so sweet with Pipsqueak and very reassuring (stating that she has done bladder stone removal in the urethra loads of times successfully!) and understood my concerns about high calcium foods and everything. I felt so reassured when we left, her name was Laura and she is at MBM Vets in Ayrshire if this is useful to anybody else. She even said she would try her best to get some of the price down for us.
 
Gem789 said:
At my local vets 4 pets,I've had rubbish advice and prescribing medication that's no good like baytril for diarrhea.One vet even accused me of overdosing poppy on metacam.Youre very lucky you have experienced vets at your branch.I dont think my branch sees guinea pigs very often.
Click to expand...
At least you are near the Cat and Rabbit, wish I was 😊
 
Teema said:
Hi everyone, just wanted to reply with a wee update.
Thank you so much for all your help, advice and suggestions.
Pipsqueak has been at the vet this morning and gone for x-ray and sedation, no obvious sign of bladder stone in the first two x-rays (they did these with her in a box to keep her still) then said they would need to sedate her to get an x-ray of her on her side - no sign of bladder stone showed in the first two x-rays, more likely to be sludge but the x-ray of her on her side may reveal a stone.
The vet said that sludge is more annoying to clear, and that if it was a bladder stone they should be able to, if it is small enough and in the urethra, they can go in and sort of manually remove it. We are just waiting for a phone call now to see what the next step is, sludge or stone.
I will say I was extremely happy with the expertise of our vet this morning, she is so clearly experienced with guinea pigs, she was so sweet with Pipsqueak and very reassuring (stating that she has done bladder stone removal in the urethra loads of times successfully!) and understood my concerns about high calcium foods and everything. I felt so reassured when we left, her name was Laura and she is at MBM Vets in Ayrshire if this is useful to anybody else. She even said she would try her best to get some of the price down for us.
Click to expand...
That sounds really reassuring. Can you send @Bosshog a message with Laura’s details so we could add it to our recommended vet list. It’s always good to find a decent vet that you feel confident with
 
It’s always so reassuring when you feel comfortable with a vet.

Hope everything goes well 🤞
 
Bill & Ted said:
That sounds really reassuring. Can you send @Bosshog a message with Laura’s details so we could add it to our recommended vet list. It’s always good to find a decent vet that you feel confident with
Click to expand...


Hi Bill&Ted, I tried to send Bosshogg a message but it won’t allow me. They are free to message me and I can forward on the details or if there is someone else I can send details to? Would be great to have this vet added to the list in Scotland
 
Teema said:
Hi Bill&Ted, I tried to send Bosshogg a message but it won’t allow me. They are free to message me and I can forward on the details or if there is someone else I can send details to? Would be great to have this vet added to the list in Scotland
Click to expand...

As a relatively new member with a low post count, you don’t have access to messages.

@BossHogg has now been tagged so will see this post when he is next on and can message you about adding the vet to the list
 
Hi again folks!
Thanks so much. BossHogg sent me a message so have passed over our vet details.
Pipsqueak is now home, recovering really well. The vet was just fantastic honestly, she took four x-rays and only charged us for one, the original estimate of £1112 came down to £565! (This was including the weeks worth of Baytril and Metacam, £79, Pip had been on for the past week prior to surgery today). She had to get sedated for the x-ray, received Ketamine, Metacam, Baytril and the vet found there was actually no stones but it was a long process of flushing all the sludge and gunk out of the bladder with some bits really ‘chunky’ and ‘gritty’, she said there really was a lot in there. She said if we feel we need to go ahead and give her the Metacam twice a day, she’s eating, drinking and although a bit wobbly and spaced out after the ket, all good! The vet took me through the back to look at the x-rays, was really cool if you’re interested in that sort of thing, her paws looked enormous in the x-ray lol!
I cannot believe how well it all went, she was so well looked after as were we, we managed to get a payment plan in place and the receptionist was great too. They even said post-op exam will be free of charge.
Thanks so much everybody, the vet did warn that this can be recurring, any thoughts on how to prevent this? We only offer a small amount of pellets (Burgess), timothy hay from Haybox Club, and only very occasionally kale and spinach (I think the kale was the issue and the vet agreed, she seemed to have been fed it a lot at the rescue and before we got her).
Thanks again folks, here is the happy (off her paws on ket!) patient.
 

Attachments

  • IMG_7167.webp
    IMG_7167.webp
    17 KB · Views: 2
Sending best wishes for her recovery.

Diet is a main factor.
Plenty of hay, plenty of fluid to keep the bladder flushing through. Veggies can help this if she isn’t a big drinker , cucumber etc.
Filtering drinking water would also be recommended.
Make sure, as I’m sure you are, to keep strictly to one tablespoon of pellets (or less even - I only feed less than a tablespoon and only feed pellets 2-3 times a week. I feed more veg than the recommended one cup and I feed lots of grass).
 
I'm so glad the vets have done such a good job for you. :)
I hope her recovery goes well, and remember that in terms of reoccurrence, sometimes with all the diet adjustments in the world some piggies are just genetically predisposed to them. Don't beat yourself up if they still come back despite your best efforts. Xx
 
Teema said:
Hi Bill&Ted, I tried to send Bosshogg a message but it won’t allow me. They are free to message me and I can forward on the details or if there is someone else I can send details to? Would be great to have this vet added to the list in Scotland
Click to expand...
Ok I see that’s been done. That’s great news that everything has gone so well x
 
Thanks everybody!
Piggies and Buns, thankyou, I took your advice on an earlier post and have cut back considerably on pellets (the girls are not loving me for this!). I’ll be honest I think we do tend to feed a bit more veg than the recommended amount (I cannot ignore the screams for food lol, but it is always things like celery, pepper, romaine if they are having extra). I think the problem really stemmed from the amount of kale Pip was getting at the SSPCA/previous owner. She also arrived to us in a very small cage which makes me wonder if she wasn’t all that active which I know can make sludge worse.
Up here in Scotland we tend to have very very soft water, our tap water is brilliant, we don’t even get limescale up here it’s great! Wonder if any other piggie owners living here have found a difference in filtering the water? Personally I have never ever had to in all the years I’ve owned pigs, I have never had any experience with bladder stones though. I am wondering if this time it has been mostly her diet prior to her arriving in our care (especially if she had high calcium pellets and was being fed a lot of kale, which is what the vet seemed to think too).
Thanks kindly everybody, Pipsqueak is up and about drinking, eating her hay and veg, her sister Picnic is being a pest though won’t leave her alone to get peace, she’s super sleepy lol, Picnic must have missed her this morning.
 
If you have a piggy with bladder issues it's advised to filter water even if you live in a soft water area. There are other minerals in the water than can contribute towards bladder issues as well as calcium.

Sending your piggy healing vibes.
 
Thanks everybody, I think we will go ahead and buy a water filter, can’t do any harm I suppose! Do you think a branded one such as Brita is best or would an off brand Amazon or supermarket own be okay? Sorry this is obviously just something I have never looked into or purchased because we are in Scotland, really not a clue!?
Also, I’m really scared Pipsqueak has taken a bit of a downturn this evening. As I mentioned this afternoon, after the procedure all was fine. She slept most of this afternoon. Sat her in my lap this evening and could feel her trembling (this kept happening when she was trying to do the toilet before) and the smell is still quite strong from her poo. Her poo also looked a bit watery? Not diarrhoea like or runny, more just like, wet/shiny? She is still eating her hay, had a few pellets and some romaine and coriander. She is so, so tired but I’m just a bit worried, she seems off. Is this normal after this type of procedure and medicine? She was sort of hunched, sat still in an awkward place in the cage she doesn’t normally sit in, seemed quite skittish too which really isn’t like her? I’ve given her her metacam and her Baytril too (she normally responds really well to these). Should we syringe feed water? Don’t want to go onto critical care just yet as she definitely is eating her veg and hay. What behaviour would I expect to see after this procedure? Is it just a come down from the ketamine and stress of the day? Would we still see her straining a little to do the toilet given that she may be uncomfortable after the catheter?
 
Tips For Post-operative Care

Linked thread above in case you haven't seen it.

I am not a Health Expert but everyone is probably in bed now!
In my experience they do 'go off' as you are seeing when the anaesthetic and strong painkillers from surgery wear off. The next day is often the worst. She is bound to be uncomfortable poor thing. Hopefully if there is any UTI she is on the right ABs to fight it. If you are worried speak to the vet.
I hope you can manage to get some sleep tonight it's always worrying when they have surgery.

I think most people here use Britta filters and jugs. I used to use those or Wilko but have now gone over to a Phlox subscription.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top