Possible bladder stones

[Guineapigfeet]

Little Rey has not been quite herself the last couple of days and went off to the vets this afternoon (what a lovely birthday gift!). Vlad gave her a thorough check and her jaw arthritis is progressing, as it is bound to do, and her bladder was very distended. He suspects she has a stone/a so she’s booked in for a burrito X-ray tomorrow morning to see what’s what.
Hopefully it can be managed by diet and medication as I really don’t want to put her through an anaesthetic and surgery at her age and size. I’m about to order a water filter from Amazon in anticipation.

 

[Wheekallweek]

Hope Rey is feeling better soon! Stones are such a nightmare in piggies. I think it's slightly easier for females to pass small ones though than the boys. Best of luck!

 

[weepweeps]

Good luck tomorrow at the vets Rey. I hope there are no stones.

 

[Free Ranger]

Is she still able to pass her urine? Even as a dribble? It's very important that she's not completely blocked.
Good luck tomorrow x

 

[Guineapigfeet]

Is she still able to pass her urine? Even as a dribble? It's very important that she's not completely blocked.
Good luck tomorrow x

Not really sure, all her wee just disappears into her substrate so it’s really difficult to tell and she won’t pee on me or when she’s being watched! She has a fleece-covered heat pad at the moment so hopefully I’ll be able to see some pee on that later.

 

[Guineapigfeet]

Well she has no bladder stones. She does have a thickened bladder which they said could be an infection or hepatic (?) cystitis. She’s home with a course of baytril and nutracyst. Any tips of getting that in her? She’s not keen on eating food with the powder on it and there’s quite a lot of powder for one very-tiny-and-not-very-foodie pig !
This is her X-ray for anyone who’s interested.
Once again she was a big hit at the vets who all say what a lovey coat she has and how bright she is and what good condition she’s in for such an old girl :-)

 

[Free Ranger]

Ahh, lovely girl - thank goodness that there are no stones. I know someone used to wedge a bit of cucumber, slice out the centre, sprinkle the powder in and replace the middle bit... will that fool her? Or try mixing into a small amount of critical care and hope she'll eat it off a plate?

 

[Guineapigfeet]

I might try the cucumber trick; Last time I tried critical care she was not interested at all!
I sprinkled it on lettuce and tried to mush it in so it didn’t fall off easily today and that seemed to work, so I’ll maybe mix it up to keep her guessing.
Do you know if it’s supposed to taste of anything?

 

[Free Ranger]

I don't know about the taste - I do know they are a pain to dissolve in water but if you can manage that you can syringe them. I saw in another thread that the cystease tablets can be dissolved in a couple of mls of water overnight and then syringed into piggy's mouth (half each morning/evening). Worth a try?

George takes oxbow joint support lozenges. The also do a urinary support one. Both contain glucosamine (90 in the JS, 45 in the US). They are like a big flat biscuit and my pigs like to crunch them up. If your pigs don't like them it's a bit of a pain to grind them up and mix them with CC though! In this house we use the papaya flavoured CC fine-grind and pretty much anything mixed with a bit of this is deemed acceptable. Generally you will be waiting a couple of weeks to see the effects of the glucosamine but it's worth persevering with. It made a miraculous difference to George's arthritis and now he has bladder problems I'm grateful he's happy to take something.

 

[piggieminder]

The cystease capsules pull open the powder dissolves quite easily in water. I use a small bottle, tip the powder in, measure the water with a syringe and give it a good shake. You can store it in the fridge when mixed. Would the Nutracyst powder dissolve enough this way? Would she take it in a little Mushed pellet mix and syringe it? I had to do that to get Nugget to take his Ranitidine as it was a crushed tablet. Brillo has Bisolven powder which he takes on half a slice of cucumber. Half because he drags a whole piece across the cage and wipes it off! I leave it on the cucumber for a few minutes before I give it to him so it melts.

 

[Guineapigfeet]

Thank you, I was wondering if it would dissolve - another trick in my arsenal if needed.