Bladder stone surgery found no stone?!

[Lizzierb94]

My boy piggie Dudley started showing signs of discomfort when appearing to urinate, and on Thursday there was blood in his urine. I rush him to the vet who said they couldn't feel anything in his bladder as it was inflamed. They prescribed metacam and baytril and asked to see him again on Saturday.
They confirmed on Saturday that he has a large bladder stone which needed urgent surgery. That was booked in for today but when they opened up his bladder, there was no stone. They said they had flushed the bladder for 10 minutes and checked but didn't see any stones. The xray also didn't show anything there. There was a lightness in the xray in the abdominal area but they couldn't feel anything. Does anyone have any advise or experience of anything like this? I'm worried they have missed something or that it is something else causing the pain and blood and I don't want it to go unnoticed. He will be checked again in 2 days but I am worried incase there's something life threatening going on. Any help would be appreciated!

 

[Wiebke]

My boy piggie Dudley started showing signs of discomfort when appearing to urinate, and on Thursday there was blood in his urine. I rush him to the vet who said they couldn't feel anything in his bladder as it was inflamed. They prescribed metacam and baytril and asked to see him again on Saturday.
They confirmed on Saturday that he has a large bladder stone which needed urgent surgery. That was booked in for today but when they opened up his bladder, there was no stone. There said they had flushed it out and the xray didn't show anything there. There was a lightness in the xray in the abdominal area but they couldn't feel anything. Does anyone have any advise or experience of anything like this? I'm worried they have missed something or that it is something else causing the pain and blood and I don't want it to go unnoticed. He will be checked again in 2 days but I am worried incase there's something life threatening going on. Any help would be appreciated!

Hi!

White blips can turn up on an x-ray - my Terfel was scheduled for a bladder stone up 9 years ago on the base of an x-ray my local vet took when he presented with droplets of what looked like clear blood. He had another x-ray just pre-op with an already shaven belly and under sedation but it showed nothing. All he had was a urinary tract infection which was cured with a full course of septrin (now replaced by sulfatrim, which is licensed for guinea pigs in the UK; in other countries it is better known as bactrim).

Since another x-ray was taken in to make sure that no stone had fetched up at the exit of her urethra, you need not worry that it is a stone. You are most likely either dealing with urine infection (UTI), or a bacterial or sterile (i.e. non-bacterial) cystitis. Problems in the urinary tract present with very similar symptoms so it is often a process of elimination.

 

[Lizzierb94]

Thank you. That is reassuring. The vet was sure there was a large stone but is it possible that it was inflammation they were feeling?