Guinea pig with bladder stone

[Luckykmj]

Hi all. This is my first time posting here and I currently live in the US. For the last two months my 2 year old female guinea pig has had some light pink blood in her urine. She did not seem to be in pain but we took her to the vet as soon as we saw it. The vet did an X-ray and at the time didn’t see anything, diagnosed her with a UTI and gave her some antibiotics. The bleeding continued after she finished the antibiotic so we took her back but again they didn’t find anything after doing another X-ray and ultrasound so we took her to another vet who also couldn’t find anything on the ultrasound and sent us home. Last week, we noticed that she was crying when urinating and there was a lot more blood in her urine. We took her to a third vet 2 hours away that we previously went to before moving and who we absolutely loved. Finally they found a very small single bladder stone! The vet was concerned that she did have an ovarian cyst based on the uterus pushing against her bladder. We had her sedated for a CT scan on Thursday and thankfully she doesn’t have a cyst and just has the single small stone with some more possibly forming in her kidneys. The vet is hopeful that she will be able to pass it on her own and prevent the formation of new stones by using potassium citrate. She is also on metacam, enroflaxcin, and gabapentin. The vet wants a repeat X-ray in a few weeks to check the progress. Since the sedation she hasn’t been herself but continues to eat and drink when we bring her food. She is still crying in pain though from the stone and is not herself. We have done everything we can for her so I’m just posting this to see if anyone else has had a similar experience. Anything is appreciated! I just want my girl to feel better.

 

[Qualcast&Flymo]

Hi and Sorry your piggy is suffering with a bladder stone.
I'm not an expert but I did have one pig (a boar) who had a bladder stone.

Stones are very painful so she needs a decent dose of metacam or other pain relief to deal with that. (Here in the UK most vets prescribe what the makers recommend which is in reality way too little for anything but the mildest pain). You can also try giving her a glucosamine supplement which will help reline the bladder walls - in the UK Cystease is the easiest to get, not sure what is available in the US. Also check her diet, make sure she is not having lots of high calcium foods (including nuggets) and use filtered water especially if you live in a hard water area.

I hope this helps, and a medical expert will have more advice in the morning.

 

[Qualcast&Flymo]

Long Term Balanced General And Special Needs Guinea Pig Diets

this is the link to the diet advice pages in the "Food" subforum

 

[Luckykmj]

Hi and Sorry your piggy is suffering with a bladder stone.
I'm not an expert but I did have one pig (a boar) who had a bladder stone.

Stones are very painful so she needs a decent dose of metacam or other pain relief to deal with that. (Here in the UK most vets prescribe what the makers recommend which is in reality way too little for anything but the mildest pain). You can also try giving her a glucosamine supplement which will help reline the bladder walls - in the UK Cystease is the easiest to get, not sure what is available in the US. Also check her diet, make sure she is not having lots of high calcium foods (including nuggets) and use filtered water especially if you live in a hard water area.

I hope this helps, and a medical expert will have more advice in the morning.

Thank you so much! This is very helpful. I feel like I should be doing more but after 5 vet visits I can only do so much. The vet was very confident this treatment would work and we only started the potassium citrate on Friday so I’m trying to give it time. The vet was able to get a sterile urine sample while she was under sedation so we are waiting on the results. It’s possible the current antibiotic she is on isn’t the right one if she does have an infection. We went over her diet with the vet and it seems like her diet is okay. The vet also asked if we were using town or well water because well water can cause many bladder stones but thankfully ours is town water. What worked for your boar?

 

[Piggies&buns]

I’m sorry to hear this.

Stones are very painful. What dosages of the painkillers is she on?

Potassium citrate might help prevent more forming but it isn’t a guarantee and won’t do anything for any stones she already has.

I agree about the glucosamine.

Whether she can pass it, only time will tell. As more are forming in the kidneys, this won’t have a quick resolution.
Sows can have a slightly higher chance of passing stones (boars almost always need surgery due to the angle in their urethra) but you will need to make sure it doesn’t get caught when she is trying to pass it.

Most calcium comes into the diet via pellets and water. Make sure pellets are kept limited to one tablespoon per day. Make sure water is filtered.
You then also have to check the veg element of the diet and ensure you aren’t feeding high calcium, nitrate or oxalate veggies.

While she is unwell, you must make sure you are weighing her every morning to ensure she is still eating enough hay independently. If she loses 50g or more in weight then she is not eating enough hay and you must step in with syringe feeds.

I hope she is ok. The guides below detail further

Thread 'Wiebke's Guide to Pees and Stones'

May 29, 2024

1 The Urinary Tract
2 Pees
- Water intake changes
- Pee discoloration
3 Infections
- Bacterial urine infection (UTI)
- Bacterial cystitis
- Sterile cystitis (interstitial cystitis or IC)
4 Stones, Sludge and Crystals
- Crystals, stones and sludge
- Stone and sludge removal
5 Kidneys...

• Wiebke
• Replies: 3
• Forum: Wiebke's Guides to the Body

Thread 'Weight and Weight Loss Explained: BMI, Weighing, Poos and Feeding Support'

Jun 20, 2024

1 Weight and Weight Loss
- Why regular weight monitoring matters
- How weight changes over a lifetime
- How to weigh on your kitchen scales (with video)
- The weight loss rules
- How critical is the weight loss for my piggy?
- Possible causes for weight loss
2 Body Mass Index (BMI) or 'Heft'
- Why is understanding your piggy's weight so important?
- 'Average' weight vs. individual weight - the big trip up
- How to check for the BMI...

• Wiebke
• Replies: 5
• Forum: Health & Illness Support Corner

• 
• 

 

[Luckykmj]

Thank you so much for the information. Currently she is on 0.3 ml of metacam which we give her at night and 0.2 ml of gabapentin which we give her in the morning.

I have heard that they can get caught. I work during the day but when I am home I am always listening to see if she is in pain. How would I know if it is caught for sure? Will she be constantly crying in pain and not eating?

My vet said she has had success with this treatment so I’m hoping she is right. She specifically sees just exotics which is why we drove so far to take her to the vet. I have attached her xray and circled the stone for reference. Thank you again for all the information!

 

[Piggies&buns]

She would be in pain and you might see swelling in her general, the potential for reduced urine flow depending on the size of the stone

 

[Luckykmj]

I’ll definitely look out for this. She doesn’t cry in pain every time she urinates but still does sometimes. Today I did watch her and I saw blood again so I’m assuming urine is still flowing. She also ate her lettuce this morning like she normally does. I attached the xray from her visit last week. You can barely see the stone but it’s definitely there! The vet thinks waiting for it to pass is the best option and would like to avoid surgery since it is so small

 

[Luckykmj]

Hi all. Just thought I would share an update. After her CT scan she seemed to improve a little bit and would come out for her veggies and hide most of the day. Every day she seemed to do a little worse and stopped coming out to drink. She was crying in pain and barely pooping. We took her to the vet yesterday where her temperature was low from the pain and it became a critical situation. After trying to be conservative the vet said she needed the surgery to remove the stone. Today she had the surgery and I’m happy to report that the surgery went well! The vet removed a single stone and found that she had an ulcer in her bladder which she was able to clean up a little while in there. She said that the ulcer was most likely causing her the pain because the stone was small but the stone caused the ulcer. They are keeping her tonight because she was still groggy so they will give her pain meds and some injections. I’m hopeful that she will make a full recovery!

 

[Truffolo]

Good to hear that the stone is out. Your vet sounds good. I hope your piggy makes a full recovery and is comfortable

 

[fluffysal]

Healing rumbles from my boys

 

[weepweeps]

Hi all. Just thought I would share an update. After her CT scan she seemed to improve a little bit and would come out for her veggies and hide most of the day. Every day she seemed to do a little worse and stopped coming out to drink. She was crying in pain and barely pooping. We took her to the vet yesterday where her temperature was low from the pain and it became a critical situation. After trying to be conservative the vet said she needed the surgery to remove the stone. Today she had the surgery and I’m happy to report that the surgery went well! The vet removed a single stone and found that she had an ulcer in her bladder which she was able to clean up a little while in there. She said that the ulcer was most likely causing her the pain because the stone was small but the stone caused the ulcer. They are keeping her tonight because she was still groggy so they will give her pain meds and some injections. I’m hopeful that she will make a full recovery!

Good luck for a speedy recovery.

 

[Roselina]

Good luck for your piggy

 

[Luckykmj]

Hi all. Thank you so much for the kind words and thoughts vet said that she was doing much better yesterday and did poop. Today, she seems tired and only ate a little bit of lettuce. She only pooped once since I picked her up yesterday at 12:30 pm and it is now 7:20 am. We have given her three doses of Reglan as directed and gave her 20 ml of critical care last night and 20 ml today. I’m not sure why she isn’t pooping but she is peeing. Anyone else have a similar situation?

 

[Piggies&buns]

Poop output is a day or two behind food intake. If she isn’t pooping today then it’s because she didn’t eat enough yesterday (and even potentially the day before). It could also reflect the time she was under anaesthetic and therefore not eating.

Have you been weighing her daily since she became unwell?
Have you weighed her this morning?
If so how does it compare to the last few weight checks?
It’s essential she is weighed every morning to monitor food intake and ensure you are syringe feeding her enough while she was recovering.

You will be aiming for 60-90ml of syringe feed per day while she is recovering but the weight checks tell you whether you’ve got the amount right

 

[Luckykmj]

Poop output is a day or two behind food intake. If she isn’t pooping today then it’s because she didn’t eat enough yesterday (and even potentially the day before). It could also reflect the time she was under anaesthetic and therefore not eating.

Have you been weighing her daily since she became unwell?
Have you weighed her this morning?
If so how does it compare to the last few weight checks?
It’s essential she is weighed every morning to monitor food intake and ensure you are syringe feeding her enough while she was recovering.

You will be aiming for 60-90ml of syringe feed per day while she is recovering but the weight checks tell you whether you’ve got the amount right

Thank you for replying! That is reassuring that the output may be delayed. I’ll be honest I haven’t weighed her but I will be sure to weigh her. So if she is losing weight does that mean we should increase syringe feedings?

 

[Piggies&buns]

Thank you for replying! That is reassuring that the output may be delayed. I’ll be honest I haven’t weighed her but I will be sure to weigh her. So if she is losing weight does that mean we should increase syringe feedings?

Yes output is delayed but that is why it is not a useful way to gauge food intake.
By the time you notice they haven’t pooped or lack of poop, they already haven’t been eating properly for a couple of days. As piggies can’t afford to lose food intake, you could then lose valuable time in stepping in with help.

Make sure you weigh healthy piggies every week as routine but then weigh daily when there is an health issue or you notice weight loss of 50g or more.
100g of loss in 24 hours is an emergency.

The guides I linked in on my reply at post number 5 above give all the information you need about the importance of weight checks, and the syringe feeding needs

 

[Wiebke]

Here are two pictures of my Teggy, who ended with a large urethral stone in the wake of the pandemic lockdowns - try to feed 27 piggies on a balanced diet when shielding...
She had a successful operation by my local general vet in October 2020 for a much larger urethral stone than yours (hers was really borderline). Teggy died in June 2022, aged 6 years.

I agree that potassium citrate won't help with existing stones but it can hopefully slow doen the formation of new ones. You will be able to feel the stone through the skin when it arrives at the muscle ring that operates the exit (pee flow) of the urethra.





Any movement down the urethra can be painful when it scratches the walls. Metacam and glucosamine will help with that.

Please review your diet. It is unfortunately our own instrument - and a very blunt one it is - for controlling stones since it is only one factor in several that play into the formation of stones.

You may find this guide here helpful:

Thread 'Wiebke's Guide to Pees and Stones'

May 29, 2024

1 The Urinary Tract
2 Pees
- Water intake changes
- Pee discoloration
3 Infections
- Bacterial urine infection (UTI)
- Bacterial cystitis
- Sterile cystitis (interstitial cystitis or IC)
4 Stones, Sludge and Crystals
- Crystals, stones and sludge
- Stone and sludge removal
5 Kidneys...

• Wiebke
• Replies: 3
• Forum: Wiebke's Guides to the Body

 

[Luckykmj]

Thank you for your help. I will look back at your reply. I also called the vet but the exotics vet isn’t there until noon so we are waiting to hear if there is anything else we can do. I know they syringe fed her a lot yesterday before we picked her up to

 

[Luckykmj]

I appreciate everyone’s reply with post-op care. I was not able to weigh her yesterday or today because I was out of town for 24 hours for a wedding but my parents took care of her. I was so worried about her all day especially because she didn’t look good. They gave her all her meds and fed her a total of 60 ml of critical care yesterday. She did not poop at all yesterday but when they got up this morning there were a bunch of poops! She drank some water on her own (not much but a little) and we gave her 20 ml of critical care this morning along with her gabapentin, Metacam, antibiotic, and reglan. She ate all of the critical care (a little bit dribbled out of her mouth) and she peed on me so she is producing urine. She looks very relaxed in her cage and her fur isn’t puffed up which I know is as a sign she was uncomfortable. She has been hiding in her hut all day and won’t eat food on her own so we will continue to feed her critical care 3 times a day as the vet suggested. She did try to fight the critical care and seemed to have strength to do so but she got all of it. She still looks a little tired and doesn’t want to walk around but I figure that is normal for 3 days post op. Her incision looks great but she did squeak in pain a little when she urinated which can also be normal since she still has an ulcer that has to heal. Her urine is light pink compared to the dark red we were seeing prior to surgery. She is currently cleaning herself which she hasn’t tried to do on her own in a while! Overall I think she is improving slowly considering it has only been 3 days but if anyone has any other advice I will take it! Thanks again for the advice!

 

[Roselina]

Ah I’m so pleased she’s getting bettter

 

[Luckykmj]

Hi again. I’m so sorry for all of the posts on here but everyone has been so kind! She is still eating the critical care no problem and actually enjoys it. She nibbled on her lettuce a little bit but still doesn’t want to eat hay, pellets or drink water. When I put her back in her cage after giving her the medication, she sniffed the hay but won’t eat it. I tried to encourage her by putting some in front of her but she didn’t do anything. She weighed 960 grams the day of her surgery when she went to the vet on 10/17 and today on 10/21 weighs 904 grams so she isn’t losing a significant amount of weight (she was 1,060 grams on 10/5 at the vet).

Here’s the problem. We are going to the hospital tonight to have our first child and I’m going to be so worried about her. The hospital is only 15 minutes away so my husband will come home to give her the medicine she needs including critical care. I feel so bad leaving her. Would it be okay splitting up the critical care into twice a day increments so he doesn’t have to leave three times? She currently gets 60 ml a day split into three times throughout the day per the vet. Also when should she start eating on her own? I’m wondering if she isn’t eating because she is still in pain as she still has an ulcer in her bladder that will take time to heal.

A little background but the vet found out that our girl is very sensitive to pain medication. After the surgery she was concerned because she wasn’t recovering well from the anesthesia or the opioids. She finally found out that our piggie was basically stoned from the dose even though that’s the normal amount for a guinea pig. So currently she is on 0.1 ml of gabapentin twice a day and 0.15 ml metacam twice a day so she isn’t sleeping the entire time. Thank you all so much for your help!

 

[Piggies&buns]

She sounds to still be on a downward trend - between the day of surgery and today is 56g of loss but 100g from her normal weight.
So this means she may well need to be fed more than 60ml per day to stop any further weight loss.
It is the cumulative amount over a 24 hour period which is important but it’s the weight checks that tell you whenever you’re feeding the right amount. It is also the case that the less they take per sitting the more sittings they need.

We can’t know when she will start eating. Pain certainly is a factor which will stop from them eating. It would be worth contacting your vet if you are not seeing an improvement.

Best wishes for the birth of your child

 

[Luckykmj]

She sounds to still be on a downward trend - between the day of surgery and today is 56g of loss but 100g from her normal weight.
So this means she may well need to be fed more than 60ml per day to stop any further weight loss.
It is the cumulative amount over a 24 hour period which is important but it’s the weight checks that tell you whenever you’re feeding the right amount. It is also the case that the less they take per sitting the more sittings they need.

We can’t know when she will start eating. Pain certainly is a factor which will stop from them eating. It would be worth contacting your vet if you are not seeing an improvement.

Best wishes for the birth of your child

Thanks for your reply! I will try to increase her critical care intake so she will gain some more weight. She goes back to the vet on 10/25 but if I don’t see an improvement I am going to call to see what else we can do

 

[Roselina]

Thanks for your reply! I will try to increase her critical care intake so she will gain some more weight. She goes back to the vet on 10/25 but if I don’t see an improvement I am going to call to see what else we can do

It could be worth checking with your vet about the metacam - my piggy developed gastric ulcers from the metacam while he was being treated for uti/bladder stones - he was put on childrens liquid paracetamol which really suited him and definitely improved his appetite

 

[Piggies&buns]

Thanks for your reply! I will try to increase her critical care intake so she will gain some more weight. She goes back to the vet on 10/25 but if I don’t see an improvement I am going to call to see what else we can do

Syringe feeding is less about gaining weight and more about getting them stabilised and stopping further weight loss.
Gaining weight takes quite a lot longer and isn’t usually achieved until they are feeling better and eating hay properly for themselves again.

Let us know what the vet says.

 

[Luckykmj]

I called the office to see about increasing her pain medication and anything else we can do at home. She wasn’t there but will be there in the morning so she will call then. The tech said keep doing what we are doing until then. She ate 2 pieces of lettuce today while we were holding her, she had a total of 60 ml of critical care, and I syringe fed her some water. She seems interested in her food as she sticks her head out of her hut to smell her hay and pellets but she doesn’t feel like eating them. She also seems to have a lot of strength as she tries to fight off the critical care (she still eats all of it when it is in her mouth)

 

[Roselina]

Ah bless her - I hope she’ll start eating on her own soon - you’re doing a fantastic job of looking after her
I hope all goes well for you and the baby - so exciting

 

[Baileysmypig]

I called the office to see about increasing her pain medication and anything else we can do at home. She wasn’t there but will be there in the morning so she will call then. The tech said keep doing what we are doing until then. She ate 2 pieces of lettuce today while we were holding her, she had a total of 60 ml of critical care, and I syringe fed her some water. She seems interested in her food as she sticks her head out of her hut to smell her hay and pellets but she doesn’t feel like eating them. She also seems to have a lot of strength as she tries to fight off the critical care (she still eats all of it when it is in her mouth)

I know this is an older post, but did your piggie ever get the proper pain relief medication?

 

[Luckykmj]

I know this is an older post, but did your piggie ever get the proper pain relief medication?

Hi. My guinea pig passed away on 10/25 but it turns out that she didn’t have a stone. Based on the xray the vet thought it was a stone but when she removed it she said the texture wasn’t consistent with a stone so she sent it to pathology. Turns out she had a really bad bladder infection, which we have been treating since August, and what she removed was actually part of the bladder wall that came off. Pain medication wouldn’t help her because it wasn’t really healing