smeewolf
New Born Pup
My guinea pig was sometimes crying when urinating but overall seemed in good health, eating and drinking well.
On examination, he had a build up of gunk inside his penis shaft and they cleaned him up and suggested we have him sedated and scanned to check his bladder.
On sedation, they found he had some bladder sludge and suggested he have a bladder flush which we agreed to. On his return home he was well in himself and eating and drinking.
On starting the antibiotic prescribed (marbocyl) he quickly went down hill and was not eating, so the antibiotic was stopped at advice from the vet and to monitor. He then began eating again.
A few days later he was starting to cry again while urinating and so he was prescribed another antibiotic (co-trimoxazole) as he had a slight temperature and the vet suspected a bladder infection. Once again he stopped wanting to eat and drink as much but the vet advised us to continue with the antibiotic.
His temperature is now normal but he is still crying when pooing/urinating and he does not want to eat at all so we have been syringe feeding/hydrating him constantly.
The vet wanted to sedate him to take bloods and potentially do a dental (with him not eating for so long), but we were hesitant to put him under again and asked for a conscious x-Ray and ultrasound. On a conscious exam of back teeth, he said they were slightly overgrown but nothing major. The vet found that he had some kidney damage but could not advise us as to how bad the damage was without taking bloods. He was then prescribed fortekor to see if this would help his kidneys.
We are at the stage now where he will still not eat hay and is getting increasingly distressed at being syringe fed. I’ve managed to hand feed him a tiny amount of greens. When I have him out on the floor, he enjoys a little stroll around but is obviously fed up with being handled so much. He was first prescribed metacam to keep him comfortable but is now instead on cerenia. I feel both have not helped with keeping him pain free but the vet would not give more pain relief when asked.
Do I seek out a second opinion on my guinea pig or do I need to accept it’s his time? He’s only two years old and was such a happy, great eater before all of this. I really wish we hadn’t done a bladder flush now and maybe things would be different.
On examination, he had a build up of gunk inside his penis shaft and they cleaned him up and suggested we have him sedated and scanned to check his bladder.
On sedation, they found he had some bladder sludge and suggested he have a bladder flush which we agreed to. On his return home he was well in himself and eating and drinking.
On starting the antibiotic prescribed (marbocyl) he quickly went down hill and was not eating, so the antibiotic was stopped at advice from the vet and to monitor. He then began eating again.
A few days later he was starting to cry again while urinating and so he was prescribed another antibiotic (co-trimoxazole) as he had a slight temperature and the vet suspected a bladder infection. Once again he stopped wanting to eat and drink as much but the vet advised us to continue with the antibiotic.
His temperature is now normal but he is still crying when pooing/urinating and he does not want to eat at all so we have been syringe feeding/hydrating him constantly.
The vet wanted to sedate him to take bloods and potentially do a dental (with him not eating for so long), but we were hesitant to put him under again and asked for a conscious x-Ray and ultrasound. On a conscious exam of back teeth, he said they were slightly overgrown but nothing major. The vet found that he had some kidney damage but could not advise us as to how bad the damage was without taking bloods. He was then prescribed fortekor to see if this would help his kidneys.
We are at the stage now where he will still not eat hay and is getting increasingly distressed at being syringe fed. I’ve managed to hand feed him a tiny amount of greens. When I have him out on the floor, he enjoys a little stroll around but is obviously fed up with being handled so much. He was first prescribed metacam to keep him comfortable but is now instead on cerenia. I feel both have not helped with keeping him pain free but the vet would not give more pain relief when asked.
Do I seek out a second opinion on my guinea pig or do I need to accept it’s his time? He’s only two years old and was such a happy, great eater before all of this. I really wish we hadn’t done a bladder flush now and maybe things would be different.
