Incontinent Guinea Pig?

[Christy053]

Hello I have two 5 yo unspayed sows. Bella has had query UTIs in the past and it has cleared up with antibiotics. Recently I have noticed she is wet with urine under her stomach, no strong smell and no squeaking when passing urine. I took her to the vets last week, he was able to get some urine from her and dipped this, no sign of blood or proteins in the urine. He said I could treat it with antibiotics I had left over from a previous time which I have done but it hasn’t helped (it had not expired). He mentioned that it could be bladder stones and for this would need X-ray and surgery but unsure if this is the way to go considering her age and the cost. She seems normal and happy in herself, is eating and drinking. I am bathing her daily and applying Sudocrem as a barrier cream. I have just cleaned their cage now and she is dribbling urine, could she be incontinent with age or is it likely to be the stones? Any advice on what else I can do? TIA

 

[Lady Kelly]

I would imagine that bladder stones would cause blood in the urine too. I have experienced incontinence in older sows. One was ovarian cysts which needed a spay to solve and the second time it was arthritis in the lower spine that stopped her from moving and passing urine freely. I think you may need to consider an x-ray to look for stones or arthritis and a physical exam or perhaps ultrasound for cysts. How experienced is your vet with piggies? My vets are excellent but even they didn't spot the arthritis and it was the specialist who picked that up