GI Stasis/UTI

[princesspiggies]

A week ago one of my pig's cinnamon had major bloat, so I took her to the ER right away. She wouldn't eat veggies, pellets, or hay and wasn't drinking any water. She was diagnosed with partial GI stasis. They also found some fluid in her uterus, and uterer after some x-rays (GDV was ruled out, as the x-rays were sent out to a specialist to confirm as well as stones). She was hospitalized for the night for supportive care. She had blood work done that was all normal except elevated white blood cells, so the vet wasn't sure what exactly was going on, but figured there was an infection. She's been on baytril 2x a day for 10 days, and now she is eating on her own (we did critical care until she started eating normally again), and she's back to her spunky self! (and her poops are awesome!) She is also getting benebac.

However, here's the issue. She's been peeing blood. Tiny spots, and we called the vet and she said it could be a UTI and that's where the bleeding is from. But she's better, AND is getting antibiotics, so why would she still be peeing a bit of blood? It's a small amount, and its not her poop, its in her urine. Does anyone have any ideas whats going on? or experiences like this?

Please help if possible! Thank you

 

[princesspiggies]

Reply

A week ago one of my pig's cinnamon had major bloat, so I took her to the ER right away. She wouldn't eat veggies, pellets, or hay and wasn't drinking any water. She was diagnosed with partial GI stasis. They also found some fluid in her uterus, and uterer after some x-rays (GDV was ruled out, as the x-rays were sent out to a specialist to confirm as well as stones). She was hospitalized for the night for supportive care. She had blood work done that was all normal except elevated white blood cells, so the vet wasn't sure what exactly was going on, but figured there was an infection. She's been on baytril 2x a day for 10 days, and now she is eating on her own (we did critical care until she started eating normally again), and she's back to her spunky self! (and her poops are awesome!) She is also getting benebac.

However, here's the issue. She's been peeing blood. Tiny spots, and we called the vet and she said it could be a UTI and that's where the bleeding is from. But she's better, AND is getting antibiotics, so why would she still be peeing a bit of blood? It's a small amount, and its not her poop, its in her urine. Does anyone have any ideas whats going on? or experiences like this?

Please help if possible! Thank you

The blood is a bright red/red color. It is never dark brown or maroonish. I know about plant pigments in the urine, so maybe that is it? Not sure.

 

[Piggies&buns]

I’m sorry to hear this.
If it never dries dark brown then it possibly isn’t blood - blood does dry brown. Porphyrins dan be intensely coloured but are not blood. It’s common for a UTI or cystitis. I know she is on antibiotics but it doesn’t mean it is the right one or that the issue is even bacterial (sterile cystitis for example, wont respond to antibiotics)
She ought to be seen by the vet again to find out what is going on as we can only make guesses.

Make sure you keep up with the weight checks - daily while there are health concerns. While it’s good her poops look good, they aren’t an accurate indicator of real time information given the 1-2 day delay in poop output.
The daily weight checks are the only way to know accurate hay intake.

 

[princesspiggies]

I’m sorry to hear this.
If it never dries dark brown then it possibly isn’t blood - blood does dry brown. Porphyrins dan be intensely coloured but are not blood. It’s common for a UTI or cystitis. I know she is on antibiotics but it doesn’t mean it is the right one or that the issue is even bacterial (sterile cystitis for example, wont respond to antibiotics)
She ought to be seen by the vet again to find out what is going on as we can only make guesses.

Make sure you keep up with the weight checks - daily while there are health concerns. While it’s good her poops look good, they aren’t an accurate indicator of real time information given the 1-2 day delay in poop output.
The daily weight checks are the only way to know accurate hay intake.

We have been checking her weight every day and it’s stable! We’re making sure she isn’t losing any

How would IC be diagnosed? All of her symptoms subsided with the antibiotics, but what question do I ask the vet about IC?

 

[Piggies&buns]

IC is only diagnosed by ruling everything else out. If she doesn’t have a confirmed UTI, bladder stones or any other condition affecting the urinary tract then IC can be diagnosed.
As IC is not bacterial or doesn’t respond to antibiotics. It may be suppressed but symptoms will return.

Your vet will need to rule out all other issues first

 

[princesspiggies]

IC is only diagnosed by ruling everything else out. If she doesn’t have a confirmed UTI, bladder stones or any other condition affecting the urinary tract then IC can be diagnosed.
As IC is not bacterial or doesn’t respond to antibiotics. It may be suppressed but symptoms will return.

Your vet will need to rule out all other issues first

Oh okay thank you so much for explaining! I will follow up with her vet this week

 

[Wiebke]

Oh okay thank you so much for explaining! I will follow up with her vet this week

Sterile (i.e. non-bacterial) cystitis is a bladder infection in guinea pigs that is characterised by a much lower (only very rarely zero) bacterial count in the urine than you would expect but with all the other infectious markers like protein and some blood in the urine. It also comes with flare ups every few weeks.
A normal urine infection (UTI) is caused by the overgrowth of faecal bacteria in the urinary tract. Because the tiny scent gland is located right in front of the genitalia most piggies pick up some faecal bacteria in the urinary tract when they regularly scent mark.

The milder forms of sterile cystitis (better kown under its old name interstitial cystitis, i.e. recurring bladder infection or IC) can be temporarily suppressed by an antibiotic but symptoms will recur once it has worn off; the stronger forms of sterile IC won't react to an antibiotic.
Sterile IC cannot be cured, only managed; treatment follows roughly that of FSC, feline sterile cystitis, with oral glucosamine and metacam in milder cases and cartrophen in stronger ones.
Sterile IC seems to especially affect the natural insulating glucosamine layer of the walls of the urinary tract which prevents highly corrosive urine from coming into very painful direct contact with raw tissue. The metacam is not just a painkller but also works on the inflammation in the walls. Glucosamine will take a few weeks to build up in the system.

Sterile cystitis is a relatively new illness that mainly affects guinea pigs with a naturally nervous disposition (the same as in cats) and is now with the shift to more indoors and protected piggy keeping the most common form of urinary tract infection but it is not widely known outside vet circles that see guinea pigs regularly. Like with cats, it is thought to be a results of commercial mass breeding where embryos experience their mother's high stress levels in the womb as their normal default setting. Other guinea pigs can usually fend it off without developing symptoms so you won't get a big outbreak. It is more usually diagnosed by default after all other possible issues in the urinar and reproductive tract have been excluded.

Links - Interstitial Cystitis - Guinea Lynx Records