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Bladder stone

Dorota Kasiak

Dorota Kasiak

Junior Guinea Pig
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Our two sows needed a vet appointment yesterday and the day before. We noticed Popi was squealing when urinating and with past experience we guessed that is was a bladder stone. The vet confirmed this yesterday but the cost of surgery is too expensive at our usual vet. She suggested some charities but lo and behold, there are no donations and staff shortages (all others didn't respond).

The stone is located in the bladder so removal won't be as simple compared to last time where it was already on the way out but we know that it can potentially block the urethra. We have been feeding her parsley water as recomended by our previous vet which is meant to dissolve the stone little by little but do we continue feeding her? Will it affect the antibiotics? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
 
Sorry to hear this, poor piggy..
The only way to deal with a stone is surgery sadly. Could the vet work out a payment plan for you? Are they on pain meds?
 
Both my girls (other one might have an infection) are currently on antibiotics (which the hate with passion) and pain killers (which they love). A charity did tell us they can help with the payment which is great news.
 
As of now, we are giving Popi the parsley water but hopefully won't interfere with the medication. Both are happily munching so everyone seems alright.
 
May I ask how parsley water is made? As far as I know parsley is quite high in calcium so I don’t know that feeding parsley water is advisable. Unless there’s a minimum amount in there. Then again I’ve not heard of it. I’ll tag @Wiebke @VickiA
 
The vet advised shredding up parsley root and putting it in boiled water until it cools down. It does seem to work because after giving it for two/three days Popi didn't seem in discomfort and helps my other piggie (Ziuta) from developing sludge which she is prone to developing sludge and stones (she had one in September).
 
The vet said it should dissolve excess calcium and recommended we change the diet (which we did). The vet we got the last time we went didn't know if it was a good idea but advised to keep her hydrated so we are with parsley water (we are also getting cranberry juice as it supposedly helps)
 
I’m afraid I’ve never heard of giving parsley water to a piggy. What country are you in @Dorota Kasiak ?
some vets here do use potassium citrate which is meant to help dissolve stones but only very slowly, so really only help with very small stones or crystal formations.
 
Thanks for that. In all my years on the forum I’ve never heard of a UK vet recommending parsley water for a piggy.
 
It is made of parsley root which to my understanding has different amounts of calcium than the leaves
 
I’ve still not heard of this for guinea pigs. I would doubt its ability to help with a bladder stone, but I’m not a vet.
 
We aren't entirely sure how it works either, we didn't find any information about it on the internet. It does seem strange
 
We went just with his suggestion. We don't expect it to get rid of the stone but the vet claimed that it has an ingredient (which we forgot the name of) that dissolves small pieces of calcium. We did this treatment with my other piggie who already had a stone removed (she had an ultrasound recently which revealed no sludge or stones). Now we are giving it to the other one to see if it helps.
 
Please don’t leave it too long though. You don’t want her blocked. Good luck with your choice.
 
I know. I don't know when the appointment will be but hopefully soon. The stone is in the bladder and I'm worried that removing it will be difficult.
 
I just wanted to know the risks of having the stone removed from inside the bladder rather than the urethra. Popi is 3 years old, the stone is around the same size as the stone Ziuta had in September (around 1cm) and hates being handled. A couple of days ago was the first vet appointment where we specifically focused on her. She is very active (in fact, she is running around happily right now as I type) whereas Ziuta was lethargic when she had her stone. What are the risks? Should I worry?
 
Little piggie is happily munching right now so I'm pleased with that.
 

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Sharing hay with Ziuta :)

Just wanted to ask if risks with anaesthetic with piggies. After Ziuta's operation she wouldn't move a lot and it got to the point where we had to wash her because she would pee underneath herself which was stressful. I don't want it to happen with Popi
 

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I think the risk is there regardless, but you can’t know how a piggy will react. You just have to weigh up the benefit of surgery vs other slower treatments which may/may not lead to recovery. Good luck.
 
I think we will definitely go with surgery, don't want her to get blocked
 
Good news! Surgery maybe happening Monday, vet told us the biggest risk is anaesthetic but everything should go well. I forgot to mention that last time we had problems with stones the piggie had local anaesthetic and the stone was removed by the vet without cutting (it was fairly close to the exit). Maybe being awake added additional stress which may have caused her to act like this?
 
We are deciding because we are scared of something going wrong with the anaesthetic.
The vet is the same guy who recommended parsley water which I'm pleased with (he's my favorite out of the vets we visited, all others were overly rough).
 
My aunt gave us £50 to help which will help. I will try to give updates but nothing much so far. Popi is just happily looking for something to get her teeth around and popcorning 😄
 
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