hello! I have a guinea pig with a mystery illness that the vet is stumped by.
he is in pain while peeing and peeing blood but x ray/ultrasound scans came back clear for bladder stones and a urine culture also came back negative. he also has not improved on antibiotics. i am waiting for the specialists to call me Monday but i am very worried and wondered if anyone else has had anything similar? the vet said it could be some very very tiny bladder stones but i am worried it could be a kidney issue or something more serious.
Hi and welcome
Have your vets considered sterile interstitial cystitis, i.e. a non-bacterial infection that seems to mainly affect the glucosamine coating of the urinary tract that keeps highly corrosive urine from coming into very painful contact with the raw tissue of the walls?
Sterile IC is characterised by a very low count (or none at all) of bacteria in the urine but is very often diagnosed by default after all other possible issues have been excluded. Because it cannot be healed by antibiotics, it is a condition that can only be managed; especially the regular flare-ups every few weeks or months once you have got the acute symptoms somewhat under control.
It is a condition that has become rather common in indoors guinea pigs over the last 15 years and that has over taken bacterial urine infections (UTIs) but that is sadly hardly known outside vet circles that see a lot of piggies. Our forum is often the port of last resort for desperate owners where all conventional options have been exhausted.
Treatment follows generally a similar condition in cats (the other species prone to urinary tract problems) that is called feline sterile cystitis (FSC) with mainly glucosamine - orally in mild to medium cases - or, in wake of some more recent research, with cartrofen stronger cases. We've seen both cartrofen injections or tablets being prescribed in the last 2-3 years.
For milder cases we recommend Feliway cat bladder supplement capsules (UK product) whose contents are mixed with 2 ml of water and given either 1 ml every roughtly every 12 hours or 2 ml once a day; it is the easiest way to work out a dosage and give it and most piggies like the taste. Glucosamine is classed as a food supplement and not as a medication.
For the pain/inflammation guinea pigs are additionally put on longer term meloxicam (metacam).
Since sterile IC runs the whole spectrum from very mild to very severe, you and your vet have to work out firstly how to get the acute symptoms under control, which can take a few weeks since the glucosamine takes time to build up in the body. Then you will have to work out how low you can go with a maintenance dosage in between flares and how high with the glucosamine and metacam do you need to go to get the acute painful symptoms under control again.
Sterile IC can in mild to medium cases eventually go away on its own but we are talking years rather than months.
Sterile IC, like FSC, seems to affect especially guinea pigs who have their mother's high levels of stress hormones as their normal while still in the womb. Healthy companions can usually fend it off with a full working immune system without ever developing acute symptoms.
Here is some more information:
Links - Interstitial Cystitis - Guinea Lynx Records
I hope that this helps you? Unless your piggy is one of the very unlucky ones with severe sterile IC, the illness once under control is more of a nuisance and very much a maintenance job with daily medication; but it doesn't cause any bladder stones and it is not life-shortening.
You can additionally help with some dietary measures; it's mainly a somewhat more strict version of a regular diet and as such sustainable for the long term. Once introduced, please be aware that new foods can cause a flare - from lettuce (which in itself doesn't cause flares) to fresh spring grass, so you need to introduce any new foods slowly and initially in small amounts.
Long Term Balanced General And Special Needs Guinea Pig Diets
PS: My Nerys, the large teddy in my avatar picture to the left, had sterile IC in the early years when it was hardly known for three years between 2010-13 and then had another 3 years free of any urinary tract issues until her death in 2016 from age related problems - she lived to celebrate her 8th birthday. I've since had a couple more sterile IC piggies myself.
I hope that this helps you.
