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Reducing chances of bladder problems?

Lou77

New Born Pup
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We have 4 female 1-2 year old un-spayed piggies. I've caught one crying a little off and on when she squats to pee (or perhaps poop). There is no blood anywhere either on her or on the cage floor/pads. Her poos look normal. I can't see sludge, just normal milky deposits which could be from her or a cage mate.

I have made the following changes:
1. Spinach only once per week (before it was more like 4 times a week!) because they love it so much.
2. Purchased the Sherwood Urinary Support tablets, she gets two a day crushed into some water which she takes well from a syringe.
3. Have bought 100% Timothy hay pellets and will use these instead of the commercial Harringtons pellets they are on. I got the Simple Solutions Timothy horse pellets (blue bag) as suggested by a user in this forum, its 100% timothy grass (dried) with no other added ingredients. Hopefully they will accept these!
4. Reduced overall amount of fruit and veg to once per day instead of twice per day, and reduced the amount. They still get plenty. Trying to avoid spinach. What other fruit or veggies should we be restricting?

Any other ideas? Obviously if she keeps vocalising I will take her to a vet, slightly anxious about this as our last girls to go to the vet died just after her anaesthetic to remove mammary tumours/spay at only 1 year old.

I have read good things about the Sherwood tablets, reviews say that they can actually dissolve sludge and even stones. We will see.

Thanks everyone.
 
Are you completely sure that her vocalization is because of dietary issues? Has she had problems in the past? Is it possible that she may be in some pain from an injury or perhaps some throat inflammation or irritation caused by rough hay? Are there any other symptoms other than her vocalization?
 
No 100% sure its totally dietary, but from what I've read, dietary issues can lead to bladder issues, and the vocalisation is only ever when she is peeing/pooing (hard to see what).
No other symptoms at all, lively, acting normally, eating and drinking well.

Never had problems until about 3 weeks ago when we first heard her squeaking when peeing, and it's not every time either.
Definitely no injuries.
 
Oh, I'm sorry, I do recommend taking her to the vet, you do not have to get her treated but maybe take her for a check-up to diagnose what is wrong. From what I'm seeing "It could be a urinary tract infection, they tend to squeak when pooing if they have one (as well as when peeing). Treatment will be with antibiotics, Septrin is usually the most effective. Make sure he has plenty of fluids too. I would also ask the vet for pain relief."
 
Please go to the vet now rather than wait any longer. If it’s been going on for three weeks then it’s been long enough that you should be seeing a vet now - it could be any issue.
A UTI will not get better by dietary changes, a diagnosed infection needs antibiotics and pain medication.

Diet changes will not remove any current stones or sludge. It’s good you’ve cut the spinach down but if it has already caused an issue with sludge or a stone, reducing it now won’t change the current issue. It’ll only help reduce the risk of further issues after this one is dealt with.

Sherwood tablets - please don’t be fooled by the claim, there is no medical evidence to prove they do anything (if there was the guinea pig community and vets would know about it!). There is nothing that will dissolve stones and sludge. Surgical removal is the only option for stones (very very tiny ones in sows may be able to be passed (painfully) but they can also get stuck trying to pass them even more dangerous in boars) . Sludge can also need surgical intervention if packed too tightly (a diet in higher water intake can sometimes help release loosely packed sludge).
Trying the tablets should definitely not cause you to delay seeing a vet.

Chalky white patches can mean there is too much calcium in the diet (actually it can also mean there is too little as little also). It is the normal way calcium is excreted but if it is happening a lot then diet changes do need to be looked at.
If she has had a diet too high in calcium for some time then she needs to be checked for a stone or sludge asap.

If stones, sludge and UtI are ruled out but she is still in pain, then there is a condition called sterile cystitis. It is non bacterial so cannot be treated with antibiotics. It can be managed with glucosamine and painkillers. It comes in flares and may be linked to stress. It may not be caused by diet like the way stones and sludge are, but rather changes in the diet can cause a flare. (You still need to ensure the balance of calcium intake is right though).
It’s only diagnosed by process of elimination though so everything else has to be ruled out first.

Diet wise -
- Reducing veg from twice to once may not any difference.
They can have one cup of veg per pig per day, access to fresh grass etc is good for them but actually ensuring they have a wet diet can actually help reduce bladder issues. It ensures they are urinating well and keeping urine dilute.
(I actually feed a bit more than one cup per pig per day but I don’t feed pellets more than twice a week so have plenty of leeway and do in fact have the ability to feed higher calcium veg without concern).

- Pellets need to be just one tablespoon per pig per day.
- drinking water filtered
Water and pellets introduce most calcium into the diet.

- Any high calcium veg needs to be kept limited - spinach, kale, parsley etc.
- fruit including carrot should not be in the diet. If you are going to give them it is one tiny amount is one type and only once a week as a very small treat

- the four safe daily veg are lettuce (not iceberg), coriander, bell pepper and cucumber.
Anything else is in moderation and rotation, no more than once to twice a week for any other item.
 
Definitely have your pigs checked by a vet! Nothing will dissolve sludge or stones unfortunately. It either needs to be passed (rather painful, my girls were both on painkillers when passing sludge, luckily no stones) or surgically fixed.

My girls both are really sensitive to calcium. Their water is filtered, no pellets ever, on the daily they get lots of cucumber, bell pepper and romaine lettuce. Even coriander caused flares so had to cut that, too. They get a bite of apple and carrot every once in a while, but anything else is very much limited. I can't remember the last time I gave them things like spinach or parsley.

Best have your pigs checked for UTIs or any other digestive issues before deciding that YES it is a bladder issue. Something going undetected can cause huge problems later on.
 
Thanks for the replies.
I will book a vets appointment.

Are the timothy grass pellets okay for them? I'm planning on phasing out the Harringtons pellets completely. The ingredients for the new pellets just says 100% dried Timothy grasses.

We live in a soft water area in Scotland so calcium in the water is not an issue.

Re. the Sherwood tablets, do you think the reviews are fake? They have reviews from users claiming that pre and post bladder xrays show complete dissolving of actual bladder stones, not sludge.
 
Thanks for the replies.
I will book a vets appointment.

Are the timothy grass pellets okay for them? I'm planning on phasing out the Harringtons pellets completely. The ingredients for the new pellets just says 100% dried Timothy grasses.

We live in a soft water area in Scotland so calcium in the water is not an issue.

Re. the Sherwood tablets, do you think the reviews are fake? They have reviews from users claiming that pre and post bladder xrays show complete dissolving of actual bladder stones, not sludge.

100% grass pellets are absolutely fine.

There is simply nothing as yet that will dissolve them! Surgical removal is needed.
If these worked to dissolve stones it would be huge news in the veterinary and piggy community - they would be the miracle we could do with!

Guinea Lynx :: Bladder Stones
 
That's a shame, I guess the reviews are too good to be true.
I guess I was thinking they worked the same way as the prescription diets available for urinary issues in cats and dogs which claim to be able to do similar things by changing the pH of the urine, but having said that, it seems calcium oxalate stones do not respond as well (if at all) to these diets, and they are more for other types of stone.
I had also read about potassium citrate but doesn't seem to be a consensus on whether that works either! If someone comes up with an effective medicine or proven supplement they would be onto a winner!

Thanks for all your help, good to know the grass pellets are safe, hopefully they will like them but either way I think phasing out the commercial guinea pig pellets is a good idea.
 
At 1 to 2 years old if there is a stone it's more likely to be caused by their genes than diet. Black eyed white piggies are more probe to this.

Regarding altering diet then remove spinach & Parsley completely. Only dark greens to be given regularly should be kale & coriander. The reason for this is that stones aren't just caused by high calcium but by high calcium plus high oxalates/oxalic acid. Most dark greens are high in calcium so go for the ones that are low in oxilates. The 2 lowest are kale & coriander. Change their nuggets to a lower calcium nugget. The lowest are Science Selective. Both the standard & grainfree are exactly the same so either of these are good
 
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