Bladder Stones

[Guineapigsforlife]

Hello All,
I just want to share my experience with my beautiful Guinea pig who had 2 bladder stones. I took her to vet to do a check since she was acting a bit off and they did an X ray which showed no stones. Two months later, I had to follow up and did another X ray, this is where they found two stones. It all happened so quick. The doctor gave me the option for Surgery or to have her in pain meds for a long time. I thought surgery would be the best for her because I saw her deteriorate due to the stones, I couldn’t see her in pain anymore, she was good one day and the next she was hiding. She wasn’t drinking water and eating much. I scheduled the surgery and everything went well, she was eating after but, then she suddenly stop eating that night. I think it was probably because the anesthesia was wearing off. It hurts me so much to have her gone through that pain. I thought I made the right choice. This has been hurting me so much. I have been crying for 5 days in a row looking at her pictures and videos. She will always be in my heart, I missed her so much. I didn’t know this was going to be so painful like it is now. I become so emotional when it comes to her, who knew a Guinea pig would occupy such a big place in my heart. My entire house feels empty without her. I miss her everyday. I blame myself for putting her through that pain after surgery and at the end she didn’t make it through. I was constantly calling to get updates and to make sure she was given fluids and food as well as her medicine. She lasted three days onboarded and they called me in the morning to let me know she passed away. When she was onboarded she was left alone for 10 hours at night and that worried me so much because guinea pigs are social butterflies and being alone in an incubator had me waking up every single night thinking about how she was spending her night alone. One of the hardest things to hear was that she passed away, I bursted in tears It’s my fault for choosing surgery, I keep blaming myself. All I wanted was for her to feel better and it didn’t happen. I don’t know how to get rid of this pain She will be forever missed

 

[Claire W]

Aw I am very sorry that your piggy didn’t make it Please don’t blame yourself, the one and only option for bladder stones is surgery to remove them and if you hadn’t of gone ahead with the surgery and left her, she would have been in great pain and you wouldn’t have wanted that for her.

You made absolutely the right decision for her but sadly, any operation comes with risks and she just wasn’t strong enough but she’s free from pain now

(((Hugs))) x

 

[weepweeps]

I’m so sorry your piggy didn’t make it after bladder stone surgery. I have been in exactly the same position as you and I made the decision to opt for surgery too. My Percy didn’t recover well from the anaesthetic and passed away after about 4 days. He was only 2.5 years old and a very healthy piggy. Please don’t blame yourself. There’s no other cure for bladder stones than removal as I feel long term pain meds are not really an option. You gave her a chance at a pain free life and unfortunately she didn’t make it.

All we can do is love them while we have them with us. In time you will be able to remember all the happy times you shared. Take care.

 

[Wiebke]

Hello All,
I just want to share my experience with my beautiful Guinea pig who had 2 bladder stones. I took her to vet to do a check since she was acting a bit off and they did an X ray which showed no stones. Two months later, I had to follow up and did another X ray, this is where they found two stones. It all happened so quick. The doctor gave me the option for Surgery or to have her in pain meds for a long time. I thought surgery would be the best for her because I saw her deteriorate due to the stones, I couldn’t see her in pain anymore, she was good one day and the next she was hiding. She wasn’t drinking water and eating much. I scheduled the surgery and everything went well, she was eating after but, then she suddenly stop eating that night. I think it was probably because the anesthesia was wearing off. It hurts me so much to have her gone through that pain. I thought I made the right choice. This has been hurting me so much. I have been crying for 5 days in a row looking at her pictures and videos. She will always be in my heart, I missed her so much. I didn’t know this was going to be so painful like it is now. I become so emotional when it comes to her, who knew a Guinea pig would occupy such a big place in my heart. My entire house feels empty without her. I miss her everyday. I blame myself for putting her through that pain after surgery and at the end she didn’t make it through. I was constantly calling to get updates and to make sure she was given fluids and food as well as her medicine. She lasted three days onboarded and they called me in the morning to let me know she passed away. When she was onboarded she was left alone for 10 hours at night and that worried me so much because guinea pigs are social butterflies and being alone in an incubator had me waking up every single night thinking about how she was spending her night alone. One of the hardest things to hear was that she passed away, I bursted in tears It’s my fault for choosing surgery, I keep blaming myself. All I wanted was for her to feel better and it didn’t happen. I don’t know how to get rid of this pain She will be forever missed

BIG HUGS

I am very sorry. You have made absolutely the right choice. Bladder stones don't go away on their own. They only get worse until the pain and discomfort becomes so massive that a piggy will go into a quick decline and die in agony. Unfortunately, stones can grow extremely quickly to quite a size when something in the complex calcium absorption process goes wrong. It usually takes several factors for stones to form, from a genetic disposition, something in the body going wrong. But apart from diet (which is not necessarily easy to get right) there is very little we can do about the formation or prevention thereof.

You have bought her a chance at a happy and healthy life - that is always all you can do. The outcome is not in your control.
Even if she had come through it, you could not have been guaranteed a happy outcome. One of my piggies had to pts/euthanasia for bladder trauma due to too much damage from the stone (it was an extremely scratchy one; a conglomerate of several smaller stones) about two weeks after her second bladder op. I have lost others during recovery. Yet I have also had several more successful bladder ops after that unlucky one even though it was not easy to opt for it again.

Please try take consolation in that she is free of the overwhelming pain that comes with a bladder stone.

It is a normal part of the onset of the grieving process that experience strong feelings of guilt and failure or intense soul searching even in the best of circumstances. It gets a lot worse after a failed operation in a younger piggy as I know myself. The feelings of guilt are in fact NOT an expression of you having failed your girl in any way ( you haven't) but an expression of how deeply and how strongly you care and love. Please try to see it like that. You haven't done anything wrong; it was just cosmic bad luck that it hasn't worked out.

Please be kind with yourself and seek pet bereavement support.
Here are practical tips and more information about thre grieving process as well as where to look for and find help as we don't know which country you are in: Human Bereavement: Grieving, Processing and Support Links for Guinea Pig Owners and Their Children