IC trouble

[Little Ones]

If he’s in that much pain I’d take him back to the vets to be seen again. Maybe you could call Cat and Rabbit and get them in today. I know you’re going tomorrow but It must be so sad for you watching them in so much pain.

If only it were that simple :/ Ellie is a 3 hour bus ride from me, and I don’t know if she’s working today and Simon, if he can even get me in, is a 4 hour train journey. He’s in a lot of pain and he’s an extremely nervous guinea pig who doesn’t cope well with travelling so if it’s unnecessary then I don’t want to put him through such a long journey today and tomorrow. When the general vet where I live opens, I’m going to call and see if they’re able to do a conscious X-ray on him. Fingers crossed they can and I can just take a taxi down

 

[Little Ones]

He’ll take food and water when offered, it’s just this pain he keeps getting is the most severe it’s ever been

 

[Piggies&buns]

How do I know whether the stone has moved to his urethra? @Wiebke
He’s been in so much pain for the past few hours, literally screaming so loud. He’s on gabapentin, tramadol and loxicom but none of it is helping. The pain seems to be from him trying to poo, when he’s doing this small droplets of water are being ‘peed’ but I wasn’t sure whether this is enough to indicate whether the stone has moved.
Is there something I should look out for or something for me to feel?

Does he still have a normal urine flow? Or is it just drops/reduced flow/no output?

 

[Little Ones]

Does he still have a normal urine flow? Or is it just drops/reduced flow/no output?

I can’t tell, I’ve had him out for about an hour and a half and he hasn’t peed yet, I’ve had him out just waiting for it to happen. I’m just feeling droplets coming out when he’s pooing, all whilst screaming

 

[Little Ones]

The general vet doesn’t get in until 8:30, they’re going to ask him if he can do anything. They said if he can, it’ll likely be an ultrasound but they just don’t know if the vet will be able to do it on a guinea pig

 

[weepweeps]

I think if he’s not peeing properly it’s now an emergency

I hope your local vets can help.

 

[Little Ones]

Managed to find an exotic vet I can get to by train, rang as soon as they opened at 8:30 but there was no vet in till 10, they managed to squeeze me in at 10:30, so I’m just waiting for the train now which is delayed by 15 mins. He’s no better, I just hope it’s good news but honestly I’m not optimistic.

 

[weepweeps]

Good luck. Sending healing vibes

 

[Wheekallweek]

The general vet doesn’t get in until 8:30, they’re going to ask him if he can do anything. They said if he can, it’ll likely be an ultrasound but they just don’t know if the vet will be able to do it on a guinea pig

Sorry to hear he's in a lot of pain. It sounds just like my boys, one of which had a stone.
In case it's any help Larry had several ultrasounds so they can be done x

 

[Little Ones]

Really bad news. Stone has broke off and some in urethra, it’s in quite an awkward place. The vet I came to didn’t know too much about guinea pigs, but their other branch have a bit more knowledge so they’ve referred me there. The vet spoke on the phone to Simon to figure out what can be done, she also asked if Simon could do the op today but he’s swamped so it’s not possible. Ellie also isn’t working today. The surgery at the other branch of this vet will cost £1300 which is insanely expensive. The vet here isn’t even sure if anything can be done. Anyway, I’m on my way to the other branch, I’ll talk with the vet there about whether there is any point in doing the procedure or if we should just have him PTS. I’m so sad by all of this, wishing I’d had the scan at the last two appointments because then it would’ve been removed by now and it would’ve been fine. But Ellie really didn’t think it was going to be a stone, so I didn’t. But I should have. I’m so mad at myself right now

 

[Spaniel]

Thinking of you

 

[Wiebke]

How do I know whether the stone has moved to his urethra? @Wiebke
He’s been in so much pain for the past few hours, literally screaming so loud. He’s on gabapentin, tramadol and loxicom but none of it is helping. The pain seems to be from him trying to poo, when he’s doing this small droplets of water are being ‘peed’ but I wasn’t sure whether this is enough to indicate whether the stone has moved.
Is there something I should look out for or something for me to feel?

Hi

Please contact your vets ASAP as an real emergency.

Droplets of peeing means that the urine flow is no longer happening properly and could be back up in the kidneys. I know from my hub when his urine flow was blocked after an peration just how painful it is.

 

[Little Ones]

Hi

Please contact your vets ASAP as an real emergency.

Droplets of peeing means that the urine flow is no longer happening properly and could be back up in the kidneys. I know from my hub when his urine flow was blocked after an peration just how painful it is.

Hi, thanks for getting back to me.
He’s currently in emergency surgery. Neither Simon or Ellie could get me in today, so a more local exotic vet is carrying out the procedure. Some of the stone had broken off and gone into his urethra, it isn’t low enough down the urethra that they can make a hole above it. The surgery action plan was to flush the stone back into the bladder and then remove both stones. I have everything crossed and I’m hoping for the best

 

[piggieminder]

Thinking of you while you wait for news.
I had a boar with a stone in his penis a few years ago. They successfully flushed it back to the bladder and removed it. He made a good and amazingly quick recovery from the operation.
Sending healing vibes to your boy.

 

[piggieminder]

Thinking of you while you wait for news.
I had a boar with a stone in his penis a few years ago. They successfully flushed it back to the bladder and removed it. He made a good and amazingly quick recovery from the operation.
Sending healing vibes to your boy.

 

[piggieminder]

Sorry don't know what happened there. I have an echo!

 

[Little Ones]

Thinking of you while you wait for news.
I had a boar with a stone in his penis a few years ago. They successfully flushed it back to the bladder and removed it. He made a good and amazingly quick recovery from the operation.
Sending healing vibes to your boy.

That gives me a lot of reassurance, thank you. I’m assuming the worst but hoping for the best. From what Simon told me previously, the bladder can be easily damaged when attempting to flush a stone back in due to the small amount of fluid it can handle. I’m hoping the vet doing the op knows what he’s doing

 

[Little Ones]

Okay, bit of a weird one. I don’t really understand what has happened. The vet said he removed the stone from the bladder but was unable to remove the stone from the urethra. He said it’s not causing difficultly regarding urination. That nothing can be done with it right now? He said he couldn’t flush it into the bladder. I don’t know, I honestly have no clue. BB is just coming around from the operation.

 

[Wiebke]

Hi, thanks for getting back to me.
He’s currently in emergency surgery. Neither Simon or Ellie could get me in today, so a more local exotic vet is carrying out the procedure. Some of the stone had broken off and gone into his urethra, it isn’t low enough down the urethra that they can make a hole above it. The surgery action plan was to flush the stone back into the bladder and then remove both stones. I have everything crossed and I’m hoping for the best

Fingers very firmly crossed for your poorly boy.

 

[Little Ones]

Fingers very firmly crossed for your poorly boy. It sounded like the urethra was getting blocked.

My thoughts are with you.

I just updated a moment ago, you may not have seen it. Maybe you can shed some light on what has happened? I really don’t know

 

[Wiebke]

I just updated a moment ago, you may not have seen it. Maybe you can shed some light on what has happened? I really don’t know

It is likely that the stone that has gone into the urethra has fetched up in the awkward inglenook that boars have and from which it can be rather difficult to get out.

 

[Little Ones]

It is likely that the stone that has gone into the urethra has fetched up in the awkward inglenook that boars have and from which it can be rather difficult to get out.

What does that mean for him? The vet said something like it will just calcify into the wall or something? The way he spoke was like it was nothing to worry about but I really don’t understand what this means for him.

 

[weepweeps]

Good luck with his recovery. Sending lots of healing vibes his way .

 

[Wiebke]

What does that mean for him? The vet said something like it will just calcify into the wall or something? The way he spoke was like it was nothing to worry about but I really don’t understand what this means for him.

Stones can embed themselves into the wall.

I am however not as sanguine about it not being a problem in the longer term, I am sorry to say.

Anyway, I am sending my vibes.

 

[piggieminder]

Fingers crossed here for BB.

 

[Little Ones]

Update
We’ve picked him up and spoken to the nurse. She said that the ‘stone’ seen on the X-ray in the urethra is actually a calcified thickening of the urethral wall and not the stone having been broken off into the urethra. She said he’d started eating pretty quickly, not so much hay but bits of vegetables. She said the stone was pretty spiky and the bladder had a lot of blood inside. They think the problem was just the stone in the bladder.
I’ve also spoken to Simon for reassurance who said that this calcified wall was like that prior to today - so on the X-ray Ellie took that I hadn’t seen. He said he’s not sure why it’s like that, it doesn’t have the appearance of a stone but it’s certainly something. He wasn’t okay with it being like that but not overly concerned as of right now unless he continues to have pain in which case it could prove to be a real cause for concern. I think, provided all is well and BB heals okay, we’ll see what Simon thinks regarding operating to see what’s going on or monitoring it etc. He definitely thought it was odd. Simon has recommended us to give some emeprid too to make sure no bloat can set in.
As of right now, we got home about 15 minutes ago. We think we heard BB make pain noises a little bit in the car home which had us worried, but we’re trying to remember that his bladder will be super painful. Simon told us to give the loxicom and gabapentin and see how he goes and if he’s in pain then we should throw some tramadol back into the mix.
He doesn’t need pain relief tonight we’ve been told, but I’m going to give him some syringe food and emeprid at about 9 once he’d had chance to settle back in.
Thanks everyone for the support, advice, reassurance, just all of it. This ordeal has had me so scared, I just hope we’re over the worst of it now

 

[Wiebke]

Update
We’ve picked him up and spoken to the nurse. She said that the ‘stone’ seen on the X-ray in the urethra is actually a calcified thickening of the urethral wall and not the stone having been broken off into the urethra. She said he’d started eating pretty quickly, not so much hay but bits of vegetables. She said the stone was pretty spiky and the bladder had a lot of blood inside. They think the problem was just the stone in the bladder.
I’ve also spoken to Simon who said that this calcified wall was like that prior to today - so on the X-ray Ellie took that I hadn’t seen. He said he’s not sure why it’s like that, it doesn’t have the appearance of a stone but it’s certainly something. He wasn’t okay with it being like that but not overly concerned as of right now unless he continues to have pain in which case it could prove to be a real cause for concern. I think, provided all is well and BB heals okay, we’ll see what Simon thinks regarding operating to see what’s going on or monitoring it etc. He definitely thought it was odd. Simon has recommended us to give some emeprid too to make sure no bloat can set in.
As of right now, we got home about 15 minutes ago. We think we heard BB make pain noises a little bit in the car home which had us worried, but we’re trying to remember that his bladder will be super painful. Simon told us to give the loxicom and gabapentin and see how he goes and if he’s in pain then we should throw some tramadol back into the mix.
He doesn’t need pain relief tonight we’ve been told, but I’m going to give him some syringe food and emeprid at about 9 once he’d had chance to settle back in.
Thanks everyone for the support, advice, reassurance, just all of it. This ordeal has had me so scared, I just hope we’re over the worst of it now

Hi

All the best! He will need painkillers for another 3-5 days until the healing process is kicking in fully but in my own experience just the absence of pain from the stone will be a huge relief and will help with the recovery quite a lot. There may be some blood in the urine for a couple of days in the wake of the operation. This should stop once the bladder starts healing.

I can of course only go by what you are saying but I also haven't come across a calcified section in the urethra; just stones and crystals embedded in the wall. That is definitely unusual.

 

[weepweeps]

I’m pleased BB has had his op and hopefully on the road to recovery. Keep him warm this evening (not hot). When my Percy had a stone removed recently the nurse called me the next morning and said he should be moving around a bit by the afternoon. If BB is still unwell tomorrow afternoon I’d get him seen again. Good luck. I really hope there is a positive outcome for BB

 

[Wheekallweek]

He'll feel so much better now the stone is gone and his bladder can start to heal!
Hopwfully there is nothing too sinister going on in the urethra and it doesn't cause him any problems.
I hope he recovers well, you're doing a fabulous job x

 

[Little Ones]

Hi

All the best! He will need painkillers for another 3-5 days until the healing process is kicking in fully but in my own experience just the absence of pain from the stone will be a huge relief and will help with the recovery quite a lot. There may be some blood in the urine for a couple of days in the wake of the operation. This should stop once the bladder starts healing.

I can of course only go by what you are saying but I also haven't come across a calcified section in the urethra; just stones and crystals embedded in the wall. That is definitely unusual.

I'm just crossing everything that whatever it is isn’t causing the immediate problem, that now the main stone is gone, he can heal, recover and then deal with whatever it is later. I think it’s more likely to be crystals than a stone perhaps, because Simon said it didn’t have the appearance of a stone. I wish I had the X-ray to show you, it was in the shape of a diagonal line from one side of the urethra to the other. But the vet team at the exotic place thought calcified wall (I don’t have a great deal of trust in them in general compared to Simon/Kim/Ellie), Simon I think just seems unsure. Hopefully it’s something for another time. Thank you for all your help and advice, I really appreciate it so much.

He has a follow up in two days with the vet that did the surgery. Then he needs one in two weeks time which I think I’ll try and get with Ellie. Bb is just eating some vegetables right now, hoping for a smooth recovery.

He'll feel so much better now the stone is gone and his bladder can start to heal!
Hopwfully there is nothing too sinister going on in the urethra and it doesn't cause him any problems.
I hope he recovers well, you're doing a fabulous job x

Thank you, fingers crossed!

I’m pleased BB has had his op and hopefully on the road to recovery. Keep him warm this evening (not hot). When my Percy had a stone removed recently the nurse called me the next morning and said he should be moving around a bit by the afternoon. If BB is still unwell tomorrow afternoon I’d get him seen again. Good luck. I really hope there is a positive outcome for BB

Thank you! We’ve got a snugglesafe in the cage for him to use as he sees fit. He’s not as subdued as I thought he’d be, wriggling around in his bed and eating his vegetables