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I think my piggy has. UTI

Mikatelyn

Mikatelyn

Junior Guinea Pig
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Hi, I recently noticed that my 2 year old boar, Bandit has been drinking more than usual in the past few days, has decreased appetite, has lost about 80g since I last weighed him 2 weeks ago, and seems to be squeaking his submissive squeak when he pees. There is also a red/pink tint to his urine (I put him in a clear plastic bin)
I tried to book him a vet appt but the soonest they can see him is in 1 week!
Can he wait that long? Should I just take that appointment? What can I do in the meantime? I'm calling other vets but there aren't that many that see guinea pigs.
Thanks in advance!
 
Please step in with daily weight checks to see more accurately what is going on with his weight and step in with syringe feeding to stop any further weight loss.

I would take the appointment you’ve been offered but also ask them to put you on their cancellation list in case an appointment comes up sooner. But also continue to see if you can find another vet who can see him sooner than the appointment you’ve booked.

All About Syringe Feeding and Medicating Guinea Pigs with Videos and Pictures
 
:agr: re asking them to ring if there’s a cancellation. Hope your boy is on the mend soon.
 
Thanks all,
I've called quite a few vet clinics. There were only about 5 that were even open, and only that one sees guinea pigs. I snagged the appt for next week and they recommended that I just call every morning to see if there are cancellations because they don't keep cancellation lists. They won't let me just go and sit there as a standby in case someone no-shows either.
My poor piggy. He's become the dominant one so I hadn't heard his submissive squeak in a while. I didn't know why he was doing it randomly until it occurred to me to check for signs of a UTI. Now I feel terrible knowing it's because it hurts him to pee.
Here's some pics of Bandit for tax, and also a pic of his urine (it had been sitting for a bit, so now more brownish than reddish)
16562718598970.webp16562718780791.webp16562719076302.webp
 
Aww get well soon bandit. I’ve just had this worry 2 weeks ago with my boy. And after ruling out stones, with x ray and ultrasound sound. He has sterile IC.
 
Hopefully there will be a cancellation so he can be seen. Do let us know how you get on. Lots of healing wheeks.
 
Thought I'd give you all an update:
Bandit seems to be improving! Vet still has no sooner appointments, but Bandit's weight is up 30g (I'm weighing every 12 hours. Both piggies are trained to walk onto the scale for treats so it's not stressful for them). He seems perkier and more interested in treats again. I haven't heard the squeaking in over 24 hours, and I just put him in the plastic tub for a few minutes and his urine is now clear without any red/pink tints!
I tried to give him some diluted unsweetened cranberry juice. He took 1 ml one time, and now he wants nothing to do with it.
Now I'm wondering if I over reacted? Or could this still be a bladder stone or interstitial cystitis? Could he have kicked a UTI or passed a really small bladder stone on his own?
Thank you all for the healing thoughts! It seems to be helping!
 
It’s great he seems happier but please do keep the vet appointment.
At the start of a UTI symptoms aren’t always consistent. It’s possible for clear urine to still contain blood.
Cranberry juice is not recommended. It does not work for guinea pigs like it is said to for people and even unsweetened version contains too much sugar which can cause it’s own problems for piggies. UTIs need antibiotics to fully get rid of any bacteria.
Boars are less likely to be able to pass stones due to the angle in their urethra. Not impossible if a stone is absolutely tiny but stones in boars pose more of a risk of becoming an emergency if it get stuck in the angle.
Continue to keep an eye on his weight but only weigh once every 24 hours. Weighing every 12 hours will mean you pick up more fluctuation so will make it less accurate
 
I managed to get Bandit into the vet's today. They did some xrays. He has a small stone stuck about a centimeter up his urethra. The vet is going to give him a hopefully brief anesthetic and manipulate it out. They have several procedures scheduled today, but they added him on for later this afternoon (I'm in the US). I had to leave Bandit there, and I left Bolt (his brother) with him for emotional support. I feel very nervous to leave my piggies in someone else's care without being there. I'm a medical professional, so I have to admit that being on the patient side of things feels a lot more helpless!
 
Bandit and Bolt are both back home! The vet said everything went well, and that the stone was actually several smaller granular stones stuck together. She flushed it out with saline, then did a post procedure x-ray that was clear. We got Meloxicam for pain and trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole for prophylaxis. Bandit's puttering around and eating hay. Appetite is still down and he's squeaking with peeing, but the vet said that was to be expected for tonight. 16565534778060.webp
 
I’m so glad the stone is out and I hope he is feeling better soon.

It may be worth reviewing your diet to ensure you are feeding high calcium/oxalate items to help reduce the risk of another stone forming (although there is also a genetic element but obviously we can’t do anything about that).

Ensure you give filtered drinking water and that you only feed one tablespoon of pellets per pig per day. Pellets and water (particularly if you are in a hard water area) contain most calcium.
Ensure high calcium veg such as spinach, kale, parsley, is kept very limited (particularly now he has had a stone) and only fed in a very tiny amount and given no more than once a week.

Long Term Balanced General And Special Needs Guinea Pig Diets
 
Wow - I think Bandit's had a narrow escape here. Usually boys who have stones really struggle and although it's not been easy for Bandit he's escaped without surgery thanks to a clever vet and some good luck! I'm so pleased that he's got through OK - and he's a cutie to boot! 🥰
 
I think the most frustrating thing about all of this is that I was already following all of the recommendations to avoid bladder stones. They almost never got any high oxalate veggies, like maybe once every 2 months.
The vet did say that there is likely a genetic component, and that while controversial, some people advocate for no green veggies at all and just giving them vit supplements.
I do not see that going over well with the piggies! I am reducing their veggie amount though. I've also switched them to bottled water only (we even looked up which brands have the lowest calcium) since the US Brita website doesn't make any mention of filtering out calcium so I'm wondering if it does.
I'm also wondering if Bandit gets more calcium because he seems to like to lick at Bolt's urine. Bandit will all of a sudden be licking at a part of the fleece, and we'll realize it's because Bolt just peed there. Any thoughts on how we discourage that particular odd behavior would be appreciated!
 
There's definitely an unknown component because in my early pig keeping days years ago I gave far too much muesli (not even pellets!) and didn't filter my crusty tap water at all. And we were quite a few pigs in before we saw any sign of a stone. They should all have been p*ssing cement really...

Of my 3 the one that causes most concern in terms of bouts of gritty pee is my pellet-loving fat fluffy girl. I have considered scatter-feeding the evening pellet portion but she and George 'have dinner' every night sharing a bowl which they both enjoy so I try and counter the effect of her having more pellets than is good for her by giving her a glucosamine supplement and keeping my 4 water bottles close to the hideys and food so she can drink something at any time without having to move much. Everybody gets the same veg portion - we handfeed because it's fun! Everybody gets grass together . But if I occasionally see patches of calcium white on the poops it's always Louise.
 
@Free Ranger how much and how often do you give glucosamine? Any particular brand/product you'd recommend?
 
Hi, I personally use oxbow joint support lozenges because my boar has them for arthritis - I saw great improvement in his mobility after a few weeks on these. They contain 90mg glucosamine per lozenge (perhaps you'd call them 'cookie' as they are like a little biscuit!) and he has a whole one. Louise has half which gives her 45mg... this is the same amount as in the oxbow urinary support lozenges. I considered getting a bag of these in just for her but tbh this is simpler for us! Both these pigs are very fond of their daily treat but my other pig really dislikes them so if she ever needed glucosamine I'd have to consider something else.

Other people have recommended something called 4Joints (which is actually aimed at dogs) or cystease (for cats... I think Feliway is the company that makes it?) is a popular choice. I think these are dissolved to be liquid and therefore a small amount be syringed into even an unwilling patient! Search the forum and you'll come across discussions on how much to give and how often ☺️
 
Hi all,
Thought I'd give a quick update.
Bandit initially improved after the urethral stone removal. He had 3 days of pain meds and antibiotics, weight was improving, everything was looking good. Then 2 days after that he started doing the squeaking while peeing thing again with blood in the urine, and weight was drifting down again. We started pushing/force feeding the critical care, and put him back on the meds. After 2 more days, he was holding steady, not better not worse. That's when we got him the glucosamine via the oxbow joint support tablets. All of a sudden he was sucking down the critical care and trying to run away with the syringe, pee was clear, no more squeaking. I know the glucosamine is supposed to take a while to start working, so it's probably just a coincidence, but from now on both piggies are getting glucosamine! Thanks @Free Ranger !
He's on his last day of antibiotics now, so fingers crossed that he continues to fly.
Gratuitous piggy photos below:

16578478978491.webp16578479343882.webp16578478817040.webp
 
Lovely boys! 🥰

And what fantastic news for bandit - long may his health continue when his antibiotics finish. It's handy that he likes the cookie!

It's interesting about the glucosamine because when George first started it was definitely a few weeks before I noticed any change but at one point we were between bags waiting for another one to arrive so he was off it for about 5 days. He still had his usual evening health checks and a few days I started to see hair in his teeth again... one of the signs his joints were sore and he was nibbling them. There it was again the next day, and I was kicking myself for not re-ordering on time, thinking that it'd take a couple weeks to get him back on track. He went back on the lozenges as soon as they arrived and amazingly his teeth were clear the next day and have remained so ever since. Could be a co-incidence...? But he started on them in Feb this year and the hair disappeared from his teeth by the beginning of March, and this is the only time I've seen it reappear. Whatever the reason, we'll be sticking with them.
 
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