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Bladder stones in urethra (older boar) operation vs pain management?

Hiitshannah

Hiitshannah

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My 5.5 year old pig Cashew was booked in for bladder stone surgery today, but I got a call from the vet saying she did an ultrasound and found that the stones (he has 5) are sitting in a nook between the urethra and bladder. She also saw a cyst on his kidney, and took a blood test while he was under sedation which we will get results for tomorrow.

If the results come back saying his kidney function is ok, we will have to choose between having this more risky operation done to remove the stones from his urethra, or long term pain management until he’s too bad to go on. I wondered if anyone had any experiences of either? Does anyone know what the risks would be for choosing pain management? The vet didn’t seem to think there was a risk of the stones getting lodged and actually said if anything they may go back into the bladder which confused me a bit.

At the minute, he’s really not been in much pain - has squeaked whilst urinating only 3 times, is eating, playing as normal, pooping is back to normal after a few days of bad poops, and blood in urine about 4 times total. You wouldn’t think anything was wrong with him unless you knew!
 
As far as I'm aware it's best not to leave stones in boars due to that bend/nook. But wait for someone with more experience to give you a full answer.
 
Claire W said:
I agree with @Siikibam that stones shouldn’t be left in the bend / nook of the urethra

Guinea pigs also hide their pain so he may be hiding how he really feels
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thank you. Honestly I’m a bit confused why she did the blood test instead of just going ahead with the trickier operation today as he was already sedated. It seems really odd to me if he needs the op done anyway, and now we’re just delaying things and putting him under more stress :(
 
Claire W said:
It does seem strange.

I would look at him having the surgery sooner rather than later if I’m honest
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thank you. We should get blood results tomorrow afternoon anyway so I suppose we will decide if it’s fair to go ahead with surgery or to let him go to sleep!
 
Hiitshannah said:
thank you. We should get blood results tomorrow afternoon anyway so I suppose we will decide if it’s fair to go ahead with surgery or to let him go to sleep!
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Fingers crossed. Whatever decision you make will be the right one and we’re all here to support you x
 
I should imagine the blood test was to check how well his kidneys are working, they won't want to put a piggy with failing kidneys through an operation . Bracken had his kidneys checked before his stone operation. He had stones in his bladder, urethra and one stuck in his penis. The vet flushed all the stones back to his bladder before removing them.
 
piggieminder said:
I should imagine the blood test was to check how well his kidneys are working, they won't want to put a piggy with failing kidneys through an operation . Bracken had his kidneys checked before his stone operation. He had stones in his bladder, urethra and one stuck in his penis. The vet flushed all the stones back to his bladder before removing them.
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How was his recovery from that? I think it’s the recovery I’m most worried about, at least if something went wrong during the operation he wouldn’t be aware of any pain!
 
Bracken recovered really quickly, was running around and eating the next day! Needed top up syringe feeds and pain meds for a week to help him regain the weight he had lost. We sadly lost him (PTS) 4 months later due to another stone that was lodged in his kidney and surgery was not an option. I have another boar Rusty who had a bladder stone removed last January. He was much slower at recovery and needed to spend 2 nights post op at the vets. He was slow to get his zest for life back but he is a much quieter character anyway. They all recover at different speeds, just make sure your vet gives you pain killer, cystease for his battered bladder, and he will probably also have antibiotics so I would be prepared with some probiotics. Be prepared to syringe feed after the operation.

Complete Syringe Feeding Guide

Lots of useful information in this thread for sick piggies. Illness, Emergencies, Vets & Home care Guides

It's really handy to have some small squares of vet bed to put in the beds/places they lie after the operation as it locks urine underneath and keeps the piggy dry. They do tend to wee a lot and not move around much the first few days post op.
I send Cashew lots of healing vibes.
 
piggieminder said:
Bracken recovered really quickly, was running around and eating the next day! Needed top up syringe feeds and pain meds for a week to help him regain the weight he had lost. We sadly lost him (PTS) 4 months later due to another stone that was lodged in his kidney and surgery was not an option. I have another boar Rusty who had a bladder stone removed last January. He was much slower at recovery and needed to spend 2 nights post op at the vets. He was slow to get his zest for life back but he is a much quieter character anyway. They all recover at different speeds, just make sure your vet gives you pain killer, cystease for his battered bladder, and he will probably also have antibiotics so I would be prepared with some probiotics. Be prepared to syringe feed after the operation.

Complete Syringe Feeding Guide

Lots of useful information in this thread for sick piggies. Illness, Emergencies, Vets & Home care Guides

It's really handy to have some small squares of vet bed to put in the beds/places they lie after the operation as it locks urine underneath and keeps the piggy dry. They do tend to wee a lot and not move around much the first few days post op.
I send Cashew lots of healing vibes.
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thank you for this! He’s already been taking cystease for a little while, and has been on sulfatrim for a week with a combo of pro-c probiotic and fibreplex, and we’ve been syringe feeding critical care to top him up and keep him strong whilst his appetite has been slightly lower.

Sorry to hear about Bracken :( it sounds like recovery was successful for both of your piggies, thanks for sharing your experience!

Cashew has been very subdued this evening after his sedation and blood test today, I’m yet to see any poop, so we’ve been syringe feeding every couple of hours and he’s had loxicom for pain relief and a small dose of cisapride to try to keep his gut moving well. Hopefully he will be a bit better tomorrow and ready for the potential upcoming surgery!
 
I just wanted to offer support, too. It’s always tricky with boars and stones. The stones have to be pushed back into the bladder and retrieved from there. It’s technically challenging for the vet, so it’s always best to check that the kidneys are working properly before attempting the surgery if it isn’t yet in an emergency situation. Everything crossed for you.
 
Thank you @VickiA and @Merab's Slave for the support! It means a lot <3 I’ll post an update as soon as we speak to the vet about his blood results! He seems a bit perkier today now the sedation has worn off, and is chirping when we stroke him now (and pooping as normal again) thank goodness so I still have hope!
 
All the best with the results. All fingers and paws crossed for you.
 
Quick update for anyone following this: our vet just called to say that the blood results are delayed in the lab and we won’t hear until Monday if an operation is an option for Cashew. He’s doing well today so for now I’ll be keeping him strong with top ups of critical care, pain relief and lots of love.
 
Another update: we’ve just been at the vets as Cashew’s breathing didn’t look quite right. We’ve been given baytril on top of the sulfatrim he’s already on, but she couldn’t hear any fluid in his lungs so this could potentially be a result of the anaesthetic. She also read through his notes and explained that the stones weren’t in the place I had thought, there are 4 in the bladder and one in the ureter, not the urethra, which makes more sense why the vet said that it could potentially move into the bladder. I think if he doesn’t go back to normal breathing very quickly we will have a tough decision to make on Monday.
 
Everything crossed that his breathing improves before Monday. Wishing you and Cashew all the very best ❤️
 
Hi everyone, just wanted to post another update, Cashew is doing really well today and his breathing is much better. He’s active and eating more than he has in ages so we don’t even need to syringe feed him at the moment. He’s maintained his weight throughout which is good.

Our vet called yesterday to say his kidney function is actually good, so we now have to choose between an incredibly risky operation which from my understanding most vets would consider inoperable - she explained that in fact 4 stones are in his ureter and one she was unsure if it was at the end of the ureter or in the bladder. I really don’t know if it’s fair to put him through such a tough operation, bearing in mind he’s already had respiratory issues following light anaesthesia, or if it’s better to keep him on pain management until his quality of life is affected. I think selfishly because he seems really happy right now, I’m hoping we can have more good weeks/months with him on pain meds, but the other part of me wants to try to save him for potentially much longer. It’s so tough.

The operation would cost £800, which was much less than I was expecting given the complexity and to be honest I feel grateful that we have the option of a vet who would even be willing to do it. I’ll update when I make a decision on how to move forward, which will be by the end of this week! I’ve also attached his x-ray for anyone who is interested!
 

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Is that kind of good news..? If they are in the ureter (the tube going from kidney to bladder) is there a chance they might all end up in the bladder? If that makes the removal simpler that might be an argument for postponing his op while he's happy... although you might also ask the vet that if they pass into the bladder what is the chance that they then pass into the urethra and possibly wedge there. I don't know the relative sizes of these little tubes. We've had stones in some pigs but ours have formed in the bladder as far as we could tell, and have always been a big problem so we didn't really have a choice about what to do.

I would have to say be guided by your vet - especially if they've seen other boars in a similar situation. Although it's unpredictable how any poorly piggy reacts to surgery you should at least be able to get a sense of how confident your vet is feeling about things based on their previous experiences. Sending love to Cashew x
 
Another update: we decided not to put Cashew through the risky operation and to monitor his quality of life. It was a tough decision but I don’t think it’s fair to put him through a really rough recovery, if he even made it through the op. He’s doing incredibly well now and you wouldn’t know anything is wrong with him!

He passed a clot of blood earlier this week (but didn’t squeak or seem bothered by this) so when I was speaking to the vet about Tramadol for in case he has a bad pain day, she suggested going for another scan in a week or so, and to continue syringing him extra water, as she thinks the clot could mean the stones have left the ureter! I’ll update in a week or two once we have taken him for this scan. There’s still hope for Cashew yet!
 
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