Is this a big flare up?

[Toffee and Oreo]

Hi Everyone,

Toffee is an IC piggie and has recently had a bigger flare up than usual, I just want to know is this unusually big or is it quite small compared to other piggies. She is currently on dog metcam 2 times a day at 0.3ml, and glucosamine 250mg once a day, so I hope that relieves her symptoms soon. I’ve attached photos below of all the blood she has had in a 2.5 day period. Also is this blood in the photos or is it just deeply coloured pees? Also on my fleece liners some of the red spots have bluey hues around them? Is this normal?

 

[Wiebke]

Hi Everyone,

Toffee is an IC piggie and has recently had a bigger flare up than usual, I just want to know is this unusually big or is it quite small compared to other piggies. She is currently on dog metcam 2 times a day at 0.3ml, and glucosamine 250mg once a day, so I hope that relieves her symptoms soon. I’ve attached photos below of all the blood she has had in a 2.5 day period. Also is this blood in the photos or is it just deeply coloured pees? Also on my fleece liners some of the red spots have bluey hues around them? Is this normal?

Hi

This looks like dried porphyrin pees to me. Real blood dries as a decided mid-brown, not dark red. It is typical for the onset of a sterile cystitis (IC) flare.

Please discuss with your vet whether you can up or double the glucosamine for a few days to see whether you can get on top of a flare more quickly. You are already pretty high up with your dosages so that should not be done on spec.

 

[Wiebke]

Hi

This looks like dried porphyrin pees to me. Real blood dries as a decided mid-brown, not dark red. It is typical for the onset of a sterile cystitis (IC) flare.

Please discuss with your vet whether you can up or double the glucosamine for a few days to see whether you can get on top of a flare more quickly. You are already pretty high up with your dosages so that should not be done on spec.

In my own trials with a piggy with medium strength IC I found that doubling the regular glucosamine shortly was much more effective in bringing a flare back under control than increasing the metacam. This won't however necessarily work for a stronger variety of sterile cystitis.

However, my maintenance glucosamine dose was half of yours and what you are giving daily was what I gave Breila during a flare. Hence the recommendation to check with your vet. The same also went for her metacam.

All the best. It is hard to sit by when your piggy is having a major flare.

 

[Toffee and Oreo]

Thanks a lot for the support,
Ive just realised that I’ve done my calculations wrong for how much glucosamine I’m giving her, I’m actually giving her 125mg at the moment . So I could probably double it for her like you did with your Breila, and hopefully that helps .

As Toffee is currently on Metacam at the moment at the dose that I’ve mentioned above, do you think she would still be in discomfort during a flare up like this? All I want for her is to not be in pain, that’s all.

 

[Wiebke]

Thanks a lot for the support,
Ive just realised that I’ve done my calculations wrong for how much glucosamine I’m giving her, I’m actually giving her 125mg at the moment . So I could probably double it for her like you did with your Breila, and hopefully that helps .

As Toffee is currently on Metacam at the moment at the dose that I’ve mentioned above, do you think she would still be in discomfort during a flare up like this? All I want for her is to not be in pain, that’s all.

I would give her a capsule (120mg) roughly every 12 hours for the next 3 days and see whether that does the trick. It did it with Breila even without the need to up her metacam and make management of her IC flares much easier for the rest of the time she had it. What I cannot guarantee that it will work for you.