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Bladder stones

mochalily2020

mochalily2020

Junior Guinea Pig
Joined
May 5, 2020
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Location
Montreal, Canada
Hey everyone, our lily has been straining to pee the last 3 days and turns out she has a stone. the stone is halfway through her urethra but the vet said to wait a little to see if she manages to pass it since she is still managing to pee. If she does not manage to do so she suggested operating.

She is currently on metacam twice a day but I was wondering if any of you have had any such experience and if your piglet managed to pass it by themselves?
 
Try shorewood urinary tablets. They are great and might help dissolve some of the stone.
 
rose.rogers said:
Try shorewood urinary tablets. They are great and might help dissolve some of the stone.
Click to expand...
Nothing can dissolve stones that have already formed.

@mochalily2020 how long did the vet say to wait? I know of one member who’s piggy passed a stone. But they didn’t know she had one. I think the majority have opted to go down the route of surgical removal.
 
mochalily2020 said:
Hey everyone, our lily has been straining to pee the last 3 days and turns out she has a stone. the stone is halfway through her urethra but the vet said to wait a little to see if she manages to pass it since she is still managing to pee. If she does not manage to do so she suggested operating.

She is currently on metacam twice a day but I was wondering if any of you have had any such experience and if your piglet managed to pass it by themselves?
Click to expand...


Hi!

If your sow is straining to pee, then the stone is large enough to get stuck and block the urethra completely; that is always a risk with waiting. In this case, you are dealing with a life or death emergency operation as soon as you notice her suddenly looking very off, being lethargic and stopping to eat/accepting any food.

Most stones in sows are eventually fetching up just before the exit. My Teggy had an usually large stone wedge itself in there in October. While it is often fairly easy with a smaller stone to manipulate it out or to get it out with smaller incision, hers turned out to be a rather tricky operation and it was touch and go for a few days whether she would be incontinent or not able to pee at all; she also needed extra feeding support. There were also worries about about bladder/urethral trauma from the damage the stone had done on its way down in view that this is about as large a stone that can possible pass down a female urethra. I have had larger stones removed from the bladder in years past, which was in some ways an easier operation. Teggy's stone was the first in 7 years and after adopting about 40 piggies since the last one.
These are the pictures from Teggy's operation. She has since then thankfully made a good recovery.
Teggy, urethral stone x-ray 2020.jpg Teggy, urethral stone 2020 size.jpg

In your case, it is very much a balance act between hoping that the stone will eventually fetch up in an easier to operate place near the end of the urethra and the risks the wait will bring with it. the stones that struggle to come down the urethra are not the ones that will come out on their own in my experience. Sadly, stones that pass naturally are usually too small to cause any problems. In the majority, this is a vain hope, as we have seen repeatedly on this forum over the years.
Emergency, Crisis and Bridging Care until a Vet Appointment
Tips For Post-operative Care
 
Siikibam said:
Nothing can dissolve stones that have already formed.

@mochalily2020 how long did the vet say to wait? I know of one member who’s piggy passed a stone. But they didn’t know she had one. I think the majority have opted to go down the route of surgical removal.
Click to expand...

She said to wait a week or so since Lily is still lively and eating and drinking normally she is a little reluctant to operate because Lily is turning 5 in 2 months so she thinks that it might be a bit of an intense procedure. We just moved to Canada so we don't know the vet here which makes it a little more stressful than when you are dealing with a vet you know for a while
 
Wiebke said:
Hi!

If your sow is straining to pee, then the stone is large enough to get stuck and block the urethra completely; that is always a risk with waiting. In this case, you are dealing with a life or death emergency operation as soon as you notice her suddenly looking very off, being lethargic and stopping to eat/accepting any food.

Most stones in sows are eventually fetching up just before the exit. My Teggy had an usually large stone wedge itself in there in October. While it is often fairly easy with a smaller stone to manipulate it out or to get it out with smaller incision, hers turned out to be a rather tricky operation and it was touch and go for a few days whether she would be incontinent or not able to pee at all; she also needed extra feeding support. There were also worries about about bladder/urethral trauma from the damage the stone had done on its way down in view that this is about as large a stone that can possible pass down a female urethra. I have had larger stones removed from the bladder in years past, which was in some ways an easier operation. Teggy's stone was the first in 7 years and after adopting about 40 piggies since the last one.
These are the pictures from Teggy's operation. She has since then thankfully made a good recovery.
View attachment 166358 View attachment 166356

In your case, it is very much a balance act between hoping that the stone will eventually fetch up in an easier to operate place near the end of the urethra and the risks the wait will bring with it. the stones that struggle to come down the urethra are not the ones that will come out on their own in my experience. Sadly, stones that pass naturally are usually too small to cause any problems. In the majority, this is a vain hope, as we have seen repeatedly on this forum over the years.
Emergency, Crisis and Bridging Care until a Vet Appointment
Tips For Post-operative Care
Click to expand...

Thank you for the photos it really helps to have a better understanding. I will upload an image of Lily's xray as well for your reference.

Currently I am monitoring her behaviour and holding her a few times a day to make sure she is still peeing but it is stressful because if suddenly she stops peeing then I don't know if perhaps this will make the surgery more risky rather than doing it now. The vet said that since it is in the middle of the urethra giving her some medication to encourage her peeing and anti inflammatory might help so I am giving her some medication twice a day.

12213_Lely_Tabbara_01-02-2021 14_12_54_1-4.webp
 
Wow, well done her. How big was it? What’s the plan now in terms of vet visits?
 
My Patsy passed a huge stone. She had swollen bits foba week before hand. I took her to the vet and she thought
it was a UTI.
IMG_20201115_194602.webpIMG_20201117_095425.webp
 
Siikibam said:
Wow, well done her. How big was it? What’s the plan now in terms of vet visits?
Click to expand...

It was quite small i didnt take a photo of it unfortunately! I was soo excited on the spot that I forgot but in the xray I posted you can see it wasnt too big.

I called the vet to let her know and she said there was no need to bring her back if everything seems normal again🙏
 
mochalily2020 said:
It was quite small i didnt take a photo of it unfortunately! I was soo excited on the spot that I forgot but in the xray I posted you can see it wasnt too big.

I called the vet to let her know and she said there was no need to bring her back if everything seems normal again🙏
Click to expand...
That’s wonderful news x
 
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