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Guinea pig had bladder op today and vets keep delaying when I can pick her up and I’m getting worried :(

PoppyPickle

PoppyPickle

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As the title says, my female piggy Poppy (3.5 years old) had a stone removed today at 2pm, initially they said I could pick her up at 5:30pm, but they called and said she was awake but not moving / eating so they were not happy to discharge. They said she would need another 2 hours.

2 hours later they are now syringe feeding her and not happy to discharge, they said that if they don’t call me before half 10 tonight assume they are keeping her over night and they will call in the morning. (They are a 24 hour hospital and will monitor her and feed her free of charge which I thought was really good of them).

I can’t help but worry, I’m not sure why I’m posting really as I know she’s in good hands but I guess I’m wondering if anyone has any experience or can offer any reassurance?

Thanks 🙏
 
Hi poppys mom! I’ve recently become a Guinea pig mom and I know how much we love them. It sounds like they’re are being vigilant and just making sure she’s okay before sending her home. We can all be a bit rough after general anesthetic. Sometimes they need a bit longer to come round! I know it’s scary. But I’m sure she will be okay. I’ve been doing a lot of research about operations. And it said that some pigs can take a while to come round fully. Wishing you all the best x
 
HUGS

The wait during an operation/post recovery is always the worst and the most worrying bit is your helplessness. You are so not in control and your mind is playing all the worst case scenarios.

Please concentrate on sending her gentle green healing energy. It is both a mindfulness but it helps you to transform the seething fears into something supportive and constructive that you can do.

My fingers are very firmly crossed for your girl and you.
 
PS: I have little a trick whenever I feel overwhelmed by my fears. I stare the very worst case in face and bear it for a short while. Then I tell myself: This is the worst. I have been able to face it. Anything else can only be better and I can cope with it all.

Never try to bottle up your fears. Give them their space and acknowledge their presence so you can then turn away and see all the other things with a greater freedom and a lighter heart and with the confidence that whatever happens you have the strength to bear it and deal with it.
 
Wiebke said:
PS: I have little trick whenever I feel overwhelmed by my fears. I stare the very worst case in face and bear it for a short while. Then I tell myself: This is the worst. I have been able to face it. Anything else can only be better and I can cope with it all.

Never try to bottle up your fears. Give them their space and acknowledge their presence so you can then turn away and see all the other things with a greater freedom and a lighter heart and with the confidence that whatever happens you have the strength to bear it and deal with it.
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Great advice, Thank you 🙏
 
It's better that she's still there if she's needing extra post op care instead of being sent home too soon. Hope she picks up enough to come home tonight.
 
Sending you hugs and healing vibes to Poppy. Waiting for the post op phone call is a horrible worrying time.
This happened to me with Rusty when he had a stone removed from his bladder. They kept him overnight as he was slow to come round and his temperature was too low. He came home the next morning, needed syringe feeding for a few days and made a good recovery. They charged me an extra £95 for the overnight stay!
 
piggieminder said:
Sending you hugs and healing vibes to Poppy. Waiting for the post op phone call is a horrible worrying time.
This happened to me with Rusty when he had a stone removed from his bladder. They kept him overnight as he was slow to come round and his temperature was too low. He came home the next morning, needed syringe feeding for a few days and made a good recovery. They charged me an extra £95 for the overnight stay!
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That’s really encouraging thank you. Glad Rusty got better :). And 95 jeez, I’m amazed they said they would keep her in for free, very greatful for that. 🙏
 
Update!

She ended up staying the night and I managed to get some sleep. This morning I got the call to come get her and she’s doing really well, eating pooping and weeing. I’ve modified the cage so she can be next to Rosie but separate for now based on the vet’s recommendation and Rosie is over joyed to see her as much as we are. She’s been trying to groom her through the bars and is popcorning ❤️

Poppy seems to be doing really well, eating hay etc.
IMG_5566.webp

And Rosie here looking longingly through the barrier bless her.

IMG_5568.webp
 
Thought I’d give an update here on Poppy.

She responded well to the operation (after a rough couple of days) and had a very happy few weeks with Rosie. We transitioned her to a low calcium diet (it wasnt too many tweaks really, filtered her water, switched pellets, cut out parsley, rest of what we fed and the amount is fine).

But this last week we saw blood in her urine again, she has been the vets and they did a scan and found a stone again. ☹️

Vet has prescribed antibiotics and metacam, and basically said she how she goes, they don’t recommend operating on her again.

I feel at a loss, she doesn’t seem in any pain, no wincing/squeaking yet, just some blood in her urine for now. She is so active and happy, eating etc.

Vet pretty much said if she takes a turn for the worse it would be best to put her down.

I’m not sure if there is anything else I can do for her to at least make her have the most comfortable time?

Is there a possibility she would pass it? Or is that false hope?

Thanks 🙏
 
I’m so sorry to hear that.

It takes several weeks for diet changes to make any difference and often if they get another stone quickly it’s due to genetic predisposition; And a genetic issue usually means they will continue to get stones.

A stone in a sow can pass if it is small enough - the vet is obviously best place to give you an idea of the likelihood in her particular case.
 
PoppyPickle said:
Thought I’d give an update here on Poppy.

She responded well to the operation (after a rough couple of days) and had a very happy few weeks with Rosie. We transitioned her to a low calcium diet (it wasnt too many tweaks really, filtered her water, switched pellets, cut out parsley, rest of what we fed and the amount is fine).

But this last week we saw blood in her urine again, she has been the vets and they did a scan and found a stone again. ☹️

Vet has prescribed antibiotics and metacam, and basically said she how she goes, they don’t recommend operating on her again.

I feel at a loss, she doesn’t seem in any pain, no wincing/squeaking yet, just some blood in her urine for now. She is so active and happy, eating etc.

Vet pretty much said if she takes a turn for the worse it would be best to put her down.

I’m not sure if there is anything else I can do for her to at least make her have the most comfortable time?

Is there a possibility she would pass it? Or is that false hope?

Thanks 🙏
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Hi

I am very sorry. The calcium absorption process is pretty complex and quite a lot can go wrong. Usually you need more than one contributing factor - a genetic disposition, something going suddenly wrong, not being a good natural drinker (not much you can do about that; over-hydration can kill) and a dietary imbalance. But diet with filtered/bottled low calcium water and reduced pellets is pretty much our only way to try to and prevent the build-up of stones. If something has flipped with the absorption process, then another stone can build up rather quickly again. :(

Please don't count on her passing the stone; it depends on the size and the strength of pees. A urethral stone that descends down to the muscular ring that regulates urination is a little bit easier to get out and can - if still small enough - sometimes be manipulated out. A large stone can however pose a risk when it blocks the urine flow. The latter is less common in sows with their a little wider and straighter urethra compares to boars but is not unheard of.

However, you can give her extra glucosamine to replenish the natural glucosamine coating of walls of the urinary tract which gets scratched with every pee. It takes a few weeks to build up but helps with the bladder walls and the comfort and may reduce the bleeding a bit.

We recommend using Feliway cat bladder capsules for comparative ease of application. Mix the pwodery contents of each capsule with 2 ml of water until absorbed. You can either give 1 ml twice daily or 2 ml every 24 hours. Keep in th fridge and shake before use again. Glucosamine is not classed as a medication but as a food supplement so it is not prescribed by vets. The capsules are widely available online or likely from a pet shop, too.
In your case, you can start with giving one capsule roughly every 12 hours for the first few days so it will hopefully kick in a bit more strongly.

What you can also do especially at this time of year - if you have access to dog pee free unsprayed grass - to feed plenty of it provided that her gut microbiome is already used to grass. Otherwise you will have to introduce it carefully starting with a little and upping the amount each time over the course of several days in order to avoid diarrhoea or potentially fatal bloating from an unprepared digestive system. You need to give the specialist digestive bacteria that deal with the processing of fresh grass time up their numbers. Rich growing fresh grass, which counts half as hay and half as veg will hopefully stimulate stronger urination.
Feeding Grass And Preparing Your Piggies For Lawn Time

All the best.

PS: These are the pictures my vet sent me from Teggy's urethral stone removal. The stone was about as large as could get down without blocking the urethra and rather tricky to get out. We had worries over her just leaking urine instead of peeing. Thankfully, she did make a full recovery and lived for another 1 1/2 years. The stone was unfortunately the result of fresh food shortages at the start of the pandemic - with 27 piggies and limited shop access due to me needing to shield my hub it was a major challenge... :(

Teggy, urethral stone x-ray 2020.jpg Teggy, urethral stone 2020 size.jpg
 
Thanks everyone for your well wishes, and thank you for the information Wiebke, I’ll get on the glucosamine asap. Her last stone was adhered to her bladder wall so I suspect her bladder has been through a lot, so anything to soothe it I definitely will try! I just want to make her as comfortable as we possibly can for how ever long before it’s too much.

Currently she is still really active, happy and being her little cheeky sassy self, you wouldn’t know anything was wrong if it wasn’t for the blood. I release that might not be the case for long though and have come to accept it. I’m just focusing on making her life as pain free as we can until we have to make the call.

Thanks again everyone, this forum really helps to talk through your feeling and help process the situation. ❤️
 
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