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Help, browny, yellowy discharge. Sows soaked all down stomach and looks blocked.

Heidi still seems a little better today however, she seems to be very docile. Last night I put it down to anesthetic or injection but she is still just sitting very still staring into space. She is on 3 medications so could be that, just concerned again.
 
sarahloo89 said:
Oh no poor Poppy, it's not nice for her or yourself having recurring bladder issues to cope with. I do hope she is OK. Me too, I am dreading Fireworks all my pets hate them and to be honest so do I! I hate that our piggies are so susceptible/prone to so many nasty health issues. Is Poppy on any ongoing meds for her flare ups? If yes, does it help? I ask as I am not sure whether to buy cystease for Heidi when the vets prescription has ran out and keep her on this x
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She’s on Half a nutracyst capsule a day and metacam when needed. However the metacam hasn’t been doing much for her flare ups recently so I want to ask if there’s something else for her :( nutracyst is good! I don’t know much about cystease? But nutracyst contains glucosamine which is good for the bladder. My girl takes hers in a salad leaf But the other day I dropped one on my lap and the powder from inside went everywhere and my other piggie hazel lapped some of the nutracyst powder up before I could clean it all so according to her it’s very tasty😬xx
 
furryfriends (TEAS) said:
What medications is she on? x
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She is on metacam 0.4 per day but vet said we could up the dosage if we think we need to. She's also on enrocare 0.8 per day, cisapride 0.1 twice per day and the nutracyst, half a capsule a day. She had a strong opiate injection yesterday too but vet said should wear off by around midnight last night and of course she had anesthetic yesterday too.
 
Josie_lg said:
She’s on Half a nutracyst capsule a day and metacam when needed. However the metacam hasn’t been doing much for her flare ups recently so I want to ask if there’s something else for her :( nutracyst is good! I don’t know much about cystease? But nutracyst contains glucosamine which is good for the bladder. My girl takes hers in a salad leaf But the other day I dropped one on my lap and the powder from inside went everywhere and my other piggie hazel lapped some of the nutracyst powder up before I could clean it all so according to her it’s very tasty😬xx
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Yer that's what Heidi is on at minute too. The nutracyst to my knowledge can only be got on prescription but there is another similar one in pets at home called cystease which does contain glucosamine too so I think may be the same.

Awww yes definitely explore other options if the metacam isn't helping. Yes, we give Heidi her nutracyst on lettuce leaf too but I don't think she's keen lol. At least your piggies seem to like them lol. I think Heidi is just being a bit of an awkward diva! x
 
I actually bought some cystease earlier this year but during our move was kept in garage for around a week during hot weather so not sure if they will still be OK. Not sure if heat would effect it x
 
sarahloo89 said:
She is on metacam 0.4 per day but vet said we could up the dosage if we think we need to. She's also on enrocare 0.8 per day, cisapride 0.1 twice per day and the nutracyst, half a capsule a day. She had a strong opiate injection yesterday too but vet said should wear off by around midnight last night and of course she had anesthetic yesterday too.
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Enrocare is baytril. I do think Sulfatrim is a better choice of antibiotic, for urinary tract/bladder problems. Is the metacam just once a day? Ideally it needs to be twice xx
 
She's also started doing that movement again where she is trying to pass something but is struggling. I wonder if it's due to sludge or pain from infection. She rocks forward abruptly and looks as if she is straining. Her face also sort of twitches. Not nice to watch. Showed vet a video yesterday cos couldn't quite explain it x
 
furryfriends (TEAS) said:
Enrocare is baytril. I do think Sulfatrim is a better choice of antibiotic, for urinary tract/bladder problems. Is the metacam just once a day? Ideally it needs to be twice xx
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I asked for sulfatrim but they said enrocare was first line of treatment. Yes they said 0.4 once a day, but could up dosage if I think it's needed. Do you think I could administer another 0.4 twice a day instead? I just dont want to overdose her x
 
We had our rainbow bridge piggie treated with the dog loxicom by another practice earlier this year and she was on a higher dose 0.8 I think it was per day and it was twice. I might give her a 0.2 before bed if she still seems in pain. I can't watch her suffering, she's obviously having a hard time passing something poor girl x
 
sarahloo89 said:
I'm thinking it's this awful sludge causing her discomfort. Will the antibiotics clear this?
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Unfortunately not. The antibiotics will help clear any infection that has got into the urinary tract / bladder. As I understand it, the sludge can silt up the bladder, causing the urine to become stale and providing a bit of a site for infection. Piggies can pass some sludge themselves in their urine but to do so they need to be flushing it out with lots of urine (usually encouraging increased fluid intake). If there is too much sludge then it can be necessary to flush it out. Or sometimes (dont wince) the vet can express some or all of it out. My old girl Holly had this as a recurring problem towards the end of her life.
 
VickiA said:
Unfortunately not. The antibiotics will help clear any infection that has got into the urinary tract / bladder. As I understand it, the sludge can silt up the bladder, causing the urine to become stale and providing a bit of a site for infection. Piggies can pass some sludge themselves in their urine but to do so they need to be flushing it out with lots of urine (usually encouraging increased fluid intake). If there is too much sludge then it can be necessary to flush it out. Or sometimes (dont wince) the vet can express some or all of it out. My old girl Holly had this as a recurring problem towards the end of her life.
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I have noticed her urine does seems to have a grainy type texture and looks different to usual. She is also drinking more water than normal, guzzling from her bottle for a while. Think the poor baby is trying to flush it out herself. Can this we life threatening? The sludge I mean? I don't know whether to monitor her for now or seek out another practice x
 
furryfriends (TEAS) said:
You need a vet who is experienced in doing bladder flushes. My vet managed to squeeze a lot of sludge out, from one of our piggies, but I think they need to be confident about what they’re doing xx
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After changing vets 3 times I thought I had found the best in the area. They especially cater to cats and exotics however, yesterday due to it being an emergency I was sent to their other practice which was just a standard practice. They said they would get whichever vet was available to perform and assess the xray/results. I really had no choice but to go ahead as I feared I was gonna lose her. I did however state any surgery must be carried out by exotics vet.

The morning appointment the vet did squeeze Heidi's bladder and said she wondered if it was a stone if she could get it out. When she squeezed the first squirt of urine smelt fishy and the second squeeze smelt horrific, like sewerage and Heidi screamed out like Ive never heard before, i feared she had burst her bladder! She said it was the most peculiar smell she had ever witnessed, which of course panicked me even more x
 
Antibiotics - where they are going to work - will normally see results within the first day or two... sometimes 3 with a heavy infection so give it some time yet. We've never had a bladder expressed - usually seeing a piggy soaked in pee has been enough for the vet to get the antibiotics out!

George's x-ray showed one mighty stone in the bladder and sludge in the urethra. When the bladder is tender and inflamed from either a stone or uti it hurts to pee at a good rate. If you've ever seen a healthy pig pause for a pee they'll stand still for a moment and depending on the surface you can actually hear the pee jetting out! This is usually enough to keep any normal gritty bits flushing through. But when the bladder is inflamed you just can't get the 'oomph' required to clear the tubes and pee just dribbles. This is why Georgie and poor Heidi are so wet underneath as it soaks through the fur. If the antibiotics and metacam can reduce the inflammation you might find she clears the sludge herself pretty promptly.

Drinking more (of low calcium, filtered or bottled water!) is a good thing. My vet emphasises every time that to 'keep things flushing through' is the way to reduce stone risk. George suddenly developed a terrific thirst - I actually posted a chat thread about this a month or so ago. He couldn't seem to get enough water. But we suspect there might have been some metabolic changes associated with age that have thrown his system out and led to this sudden formation of large stones. With my younger girls in the past it's been more common to have UTI with no stones. Because stones are a risk for pigs that tends to be what comes to mind when you see a drippy piggy but it can just be a straightforward UTI.
 
We switched to filtered water and cut out pellets when poppy got really bad and these really helped. She ate more watery food and she came out for a run around once or twice a day to try and prevent the sediment sitting at the bottom of her bladder. Even now she gets a flare up after pellets which is so sad as she loves them a lot.
 
Free Ranger said:
Antibiotics - where they are going to work - will normally see results within the first day or two... sometimes 3 with a heavy infection so give it some time yet. We've never had a bladder expressed - usually seeing a piggy soaked in pee has been enough for the vet to get the antibiotics out!

George's x-ray showed one mighty stone in the bladder and sludge in the urethra. When the bladder is tender and inflamed from either a stone or uti it hurts to pee at a good rate. If you've ever seen a healthy pig pause for a pee they'll stand still for a moment and depending on the surface you can actually hear the pee jetting out! This is usually enough to keep any normal gritty bits flushing through. But when the bladder is inflamed you just can't get the 'oomph' required to clear the tubes and pee just dribbles. This is why Georgie and poor Heidi are so wet underneath as it soaks through the fur. If the antibiotics and metacam can reduce the inflammation you might find she clears the sludge herself pretty promptly.

Drinking more (of low calcium, filtered or bottled water!) is a good thing. My vet emphasises every time that to 'keep things flushing through' is the way to reduce stone risk. George suddenly developed a terrific thirst - I actually posted a chat thread about this a month or so ago. He couldn't seem to get enough water. But we suspect there might have been some metabolic changes associated with age that have thrown his system out and led to this sudden formation of large stones. With my younger girls in the past it's been more common to have UTI with no stones. Because stones are a risk for pigs that tends to be what comes to mind when you see a drippy piggy but it can just be a straightforward UTI.
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Hopefully the antibiotics are working and it will take away the nasty infection so she can shift that sludge. You can tell how painful it is for her trying to go to toilet. Awful to see! Can I ask which bottled water you use? It's just a lot of them have all these added minerals and seem to have a high calcium count. I'm not sure what to get her x
 
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