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Blood in urine

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Eloise

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Hi all, I really need some help! So over the last year my 5/6 year old female Guinea pig has had health issues. She had huge cystic ovaries that we had to remove via a full spay. She recovered well but then got a UTI not long after. We treated this with antibiotics and metacam as usual. It went away, then another one came in February. Treated it the same and it went away. Fast forward to March/April and she started urinating blood again, along with being puffed up, hunched and squeaking from the pain. I took her to an exotic vet this time and paid for every test possible. She had an ultrasound, full body X-ray, even urine sample for kidney function and everything came back normal! No stones, no UTI, no kidney disease, no bladder sludge, literally nothing! She has had seriously invasive surgery with the ovarian cysts and one was very deformed so she has a fair amount of scar tissue which we assume is causing the discomfort. She’s been on a low maintenance dose of metacam to see how she goes but it’s not getting better. Has anyone here had a similar issue? I am completely at odds with what to do at this point. She is fine in herself, eating drinking wheeking for veggies etc, just looks uncomfortable when urinating and the blood which is on and off.

the vets don’t seem to know what’s wrong and neither do I 😢I just want to help her recover, money isn’t an issue for me I will do anything(and have done everything) I can possibly think of. Any help will be much appreciated.
Thank you ❤️
 
Sorry to hear about this. Could it be another UTI? My thoughts after the tests would be to throw antibiotics at it again and see as all other nasties have been ruled out.
What dose of metacam is she on? Is this permanent also? We had a bladder piggy on metacam normal dose for two years and it really helped her with her pain when weeing, she had bladder inflamation.

Where are you located?
 
Based in Essex. She’s on 1.4ml of metacam at the moment which is a regular dose. we tried halving the dosage but it didn’t do anything. I’m taking her to the vets again today so I could suggest trying antibiotics again or even cystease. Thank you for your help.
 
sport_billy said:
Sorry to hear about this. Could it be another UTI? My thoughts after the tests would be to throw antibiotics at it again and see as all other nasties have been ruled out.
What dose of metacam is she on? Is this permanent also? We had a bladder piggy on metacam normal dose for two years and it really helped her with her pain when weeing, she had bladder inflamation.

Where are you located?
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i posted a reply but forgot to say we are trialing the metacam for 4 weeks to see if it helps, at the moment we are on week 2, it helped for the first week but she’s gotten a bit worse just today which is why I came here to ask for any new suggestions. I also noticed that her vagina looks a bit swollen this morning so I’m definitely going to get her checked for stones again.
 
Eloise said:
Hi all, I really need some help! So over the last year my 5/6 year old female Guinea pig has had health issues. She had huge cystic ovaries that we had to remove via a full spay. She recovered well but then got a UTI not long after. We treated this with antibiotics and metacam as usual. It went away, then another one came in February. Treated it the same and it went away. Fast forward to March/April and she started urinating blood again, along with being puffed up, hunched and squeaking from the pain. I took her to an exotic vet this time and paid for every test possible. She had an ultrasound, full body X-ray, even urine sample for kidney function and everything came back normal! No stones, no UTI, no kidney disease, no bladder sludge, literally nothing! She has had seriously invasive surgery with the ovarian cysts and one was very deformed so she has a fair amount of scar tissue which we assume is causing the discomfort. She’s been on a low maintenance dose of metacam to see how she goes but it’s not getting better. Has anyone here had a similar issue? I am completely at odds with what to do at this point. She is fine in herself, eating drinking wheeking for veggies etc, just looks uncomfortable when urinating and the blood which is on and off.

the vets don’t seem to know what’s wrong and neither do I 😢I just want to help her recover, money isn’t an issue for me I will do anything(and have done everything) I can possibly think of. Any help will be much appreciated.
Thank you ❤
Click to expand...

Hi!

You may be dealing with a sterile interstitial cystitis (i.e. a non-bacterial recurring bladder infection). This is an issue that has become a lot more common over the last decade but is not well known outside vet circles seeing lots of piggies.

Treatment is similar to sterile feline cystitis (FSC). Because it doesn't react to antibiotics, it can only be managed but not healed until goes away on its own eventually (can be months, years or never). Since sterile IC seems to primarily affect the natural glucosamine coating of the urinary tract that prevents the corrosive urine from coming into contact with raw tissue, glucosamine is key to any treatment.

Milder cases will respond to oral medication like glucosamine-based cat bladder supplements (UK brand is Feliway cat cystease capsules for ease of dosage and syringing when mixed with water); for more severe cases where oral treatment is not enough, cartrofen injections have in recent research also proven successful for guinea pigs. However, cartrofen is still in the adhoc experimental phase and there is not yet an established recommended way of how to go about it yet in the UK.
The acute flares that happen every few weeks or months once you have got the initial issue under control profit from upping the long term metacam dosage to correspond with the greater need.
Please note that glucosamine is NOT a medication but is classed as a food supplement and that it takes a while for it to build up and become effective; it can take a few week to get it under control and get the treatment on the correct individual level that works for your piggy.

More information on sterile interstitial cystitis: Links - Interstitial Cystitis - Guinea Lynx Records

Some diet recommendations (see special chapter special diets); please note that guinea pigs with sterile IC can react with a flare to new or seasonal foods, like a lawn trip. Long Term Balanced General And Special Needs Guinea Pig Diets
Stress can also sometimes cause another flare as IC piggies seem to be very often piggies with a a high stress level as their default setting from when they experienced these levels as an embryo in their stressed-out mother's womb. This last is just an observation but it certainly applies to all my own IC piggies, current or past.
 
Wiebke said:
Hi!

You may be dealing with a sterile interstitial cystitis (i.e. a non-bacterial recurring bladder infection). This is an issue that has become a lot more common over the last decade but is not well known outside vet circles seeing lots of piggies.

Treatment is similar to sterile feline cystitis (FSC). Because it doesn't react to antibiotics, it can only be managed but not healed until goes away on its own eventually (can be months, years or never). Since sterile IC seems to primarily affect the natural glucosamine coating of the urinary tract that prevents the corrosive urine from coming into contact with raw tissue, glucosamine is key to any treatment.

Milder cases will respond to oral medication like glucosamine-based cat bladder supplements (UK brand is Feliway cat cystease capsules for ease of dosage and syringing when mixed with water); for more severe cases where oral treatment is not enough, cartrofen injections have in recent research also proven successful for guinea pigs. However, cartrofen is still in the adhoc experimental phase and there is not yet an established recommended way of how to go about it yet in the UK.
The acute flares that happen every few weeks or months once you have got the initial issue under control profit from upping the long term metacam dosage to correspond with the greater need.
Please note that glucosamine is NOT a medication but is classed as a food supplement and that it takes a while for it to build up and become effective; it can take a few week to get it under control and get the treatment on the correct individual level that works for your piggy.

More information on sterile interstitial cystitis: Links - Interstitial Cystitis - Guinea Lynx Records

Some diet recommendations (see special chapter special diets); please note that guinea pigs with sterile IC can react with a flare to new or seasonal foods, like a lawn trip. Long Term Balanced General And Special Needs Guinea Pig Diets
Stress can also sometimes cause another flare as IC piggies seem to be very often piggies with a a high stress level as their default setting from when they experienced these levels as an embryo in their stressed-out mother's womb. This last is just an observation but it certainly applies to all my own IC piggies, current or past.
Click to expand...
Oh my goodness this is so unbelievably helpful! Thank you so much ❤️ I’m off to the vets in 30 mins so I will show them this and discuss treatment options. Fingers crossed some cystease and upping the metacam dosage will do the trick 🤞🏽🤞🏽
 
Just a thought,just ensure you have dog metacam, as it it is three times the strenght of cat metacam.guinea pigs tolerate metacam very well,need higher doses due to having a fast metabolism.Good luck at the vets.
 
eileen said:
Just a thought,just ensure you have dog metacam, as it it is three times the strenght of cat metacam.guinea pigs tolerate metacam very well,need higher doses due to having a fast metabolism.Good luck at the vets.
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Yeah don’t worry it’s dog metacam x
 
Hello all! Thank you for all of your help 🥰 thankfully my vet squeezed me in today and agreed that after ruling all the nasties out it must be cystitis so we have gone ahead with the cystease as suggested and a full dosage of metacam (dog metacam) daily. We also took another urine sample which I have had sent off to the labs for checking by microbiology just in case there is any bacteria or crystals present. We will get the results in the next week or so, I will keep you all updated.
Thank you so so much for all of your help ❤️❤️
 
Just to say when we have metacam for anything we have always been prescribed X ml every 12 hours rather than once a day. Our doses have varied according to the piggy (although I'm not sure we've ever had as much as 1.4ml of dog in one go!) but it has always been a morning and evening thing.

We've had a UTI in the past which took nearly 3 weeks of antibiotic to shift and then symptoms came back 2 weeks later and we had to have a second course the same! I was gutted but the vet didn't seem at all surprised. Symptoms always improved dramatically after 2 or 3 days but the rest of the course was still needed to clear things and prevent it returning. We've not had SIC (which seems to come in flare-ups according to the piggy owners on here) but we have had UTIs which have always needed meds to get over, they've never 'got better 'on their own.

Good luck x
 
Free Ranger said:
Just to say when we have metacam for anything we have always been prescribed X ml every 12 hours rather than once a day. Our doses have varied according to the piggy (although I'm not sure we've ever had as much as 1.4ml of dog in one go!) but it has always been a morning and evening thing.

We've had a UTI in the past which took nearly 3 weeks of antibiotic to shift and then symptoms came back 2 weeks later and we had to have a second course the same! I was gutted but the vet didn't seem at all surprised. Symptoms always improved dramatically after 2 or 3 days but the rest of the course was still needed to clear things and prevent it returning. We've not had SIC (which seems to come in flare-ups according to the piggy owners on here) but we have had UTIs which have always needed meds to get over, they've never 'got better 'on their own.

Good luck x
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She’s had two courses of antibiotics one in December lasting till January and one from mid feb to mid March so we have ruled out infection at this point. My vet always prescribes for a minimum of 2 weeks but we’ve always given for about a month. She has no temperature or any other symptoms of infection either. We think it’s very likely to be cystitis after a vet trip today. We have sent off another urine sample to microbiology to check for bacteria and if there is another infection there than treat that accordingly. I typed that reply in my lunch break and didn’t realise my mistake it was meant to say 0.14ml not 1.4🙈🤭 and I do split this in half AM and PM as I know piggies have fast metabolism. It’s all under control for now though, as long as her urine sample comes back all clear we know for definite that it’s cystitis and not other bacterial infection.
 
I did wonder at the dose - but I forget so much stuff these days I assumed it was me! I think we've had 0.24ml of dog twice a day in the past for a 1.1 kilo pig (oh gosh, how heavy was she now?) Great if it's working... and it tastes nice to boot ☺
In a current thread about this type of cystitis a couple of owners have mentioned that the painful pees seem worse in the evening, which might be another thing to look out for if you have a flare-up... although I hope you don't!
 
Free Ranger said:
I did wonder at the dose - but I forget so much stuff these days I assumed it was me! I think we've had 0.24ml of dog twice a day in the past for a 1.1 kilo pig (oh gosh, how heavy was she now?) Great if it's working... and it tastes nice to boot ☺
In a current thread about this type of cystitis a couple of owners have mentioned that the painful pees seem worse in the evening, which might be another thing to look out for if you have a flare-up... although I hope you don't!
Click to expand...
After bugseys surgery and all her illness and old age etc she’s down to about 750g but she is a tiny piggy and the heaviest she’s ever been is 920g. She has maintained this weight for a long time now and eats well so she just has to have a smaller dosage since she’s so diddy. She definitely does get it worse in the evening around 5/6pm which is interesting! I'm
Hoping now we have some cystease in her after a couple weeks she’ll begin to settle down and feel better. I will of course keep you guys updated. Thank you so much again for all of your help 😁
 
OH MY GOD!

After every test in the book (literally every single one... mostly done twice!) we FINALLY found out what was wrong with Bugsey! Last night I got a call from the vets after we decided to send off a urine sample to be cultured for bacteria. Well blow me because it came back with Corynebacterium Renale! This is usually very common in sheep and cows but not so much in little piggies 😱. The lab tested it against different antibiotics and found that it had become desensitised to the regular dosage of Bayatril so every time we popped her on a new course it only kept it at bay and never got rid of the infection 😢😢. This time round she has a very strong dosage that the lab have tested on the culture and it proved to work. She’s on this for 3 weeks and then we are going to send off another urine sample to be cultured to make sure ALL of the bacteria is gone this time around.

Here’s a big lesson to all... if all else is ruled out the microbiologists are you best friends! ❤️
 
Wow - in a way it's good news as you stand a chance of getting rid of the painful pees once and for all!

We've had Baytril in low doses for over a week and high doses for 5 days but never for 3 whole weeks - you might look into getting a probiotic in to support her gut. I'm not an expert with these (mine had no problems with Baytril) but we did get some Fibreplex for the girl who was on Abs for weeks on end. I think you give it at a separate time to the antibiotic (like at least an hour later) but there'll be more information via the green bar links at the top. Hope it sorts her out, brave girl 💕
 
Free Ranger said:
Wow - in a way it's good news as you stand a chance of getting rid of the painful pees once and for all!

We've had Baytril in low doses for over a week and high doses for 5 days but never for 3 whole weeks - you might look into getting a probiotic in to support her gut. I'm not an expert with these (mine had no problems with Baytril) but we did get some Fibreplex for the girl who was on Abs for weeks on end. I think you give it at a separate time to the antibiotic (like at least an hour later) but there'll be more information via the green bar links at the top. Hope it sorts her out, brave girl 💕
Click to expand...
Thank you! Don’t worry I always have fibreplex on hand and also probiotic, the antibiotics are definitely starting to get to work (on day 2 now) but she’s lost weight from all the stress so we’re focusing on beefing her up with extra treats, hay and veggies. Fingers crossed she pulls through from this one 🤞🏽❤️
 
Hi I’m interested to hear if your piggy is fully recovered? I’ve had similar with mine although no apparent pain. I also paid for the wee to be tested, but then the vet said afterwards it was a waste of time because the antibiotics she was on would’ve killed any bacteria! Did you have to stop the antibiotics for so long before the test? If so how many days please?
Hope your piggy is on the mend. What a great vet to diagnose. Sadly my nearest exotics is well over an hour away and my local vets only seem to know about cows and sheep!
 
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