Gemma W
New Born Pup
Hello everyone,
I'm after some advice/opinions on the treatment given to my two year old female guinea pig recently for blood in her urine.
A couple of weeks ago I noticed she appeared to have done one orange/pale red coloured wee. I think she did squeak a little bit as if in slight discomfort but did not sound extremely painful. She did not do any more wees that looked concerning for just over a week. When the blood in her urine came back it was bright red this time and she was doing multiple small frequent wees with a fair amount of squeaking which is not like her at all! The wees are also very smelly and she did have a wet bum the next morning when I checked on her.
I've had piggies in the past who have had UTIs and urinary stones. Her symptoms aren't all the same as my previous pigs when they had stones so was leaning towards her hopefully just having a UTI. I took her to the vets the next day where she weighed in at 1.2kg which is around normal for her as she has not exhibited any weight loss (she absolutely loves food!). They tested her urine sample which I'd obtained in the morning, the dip test showed blood was present despite her urine that day looking pretty normal in colour. The microscopy exam showed a small amount of cocci present so said it would be best to start on some antibiotics as there were signs of a mild infection present. They also said to bring in a fresh sample the next day just to double check as the one I took in had been in the fridge for over 6 hours and not to start the antibiotics yet until another sample had been looked at.
She was prescribed with cat metacam to give 0.5ml once daily on the first day then 0.25ml once daily thereafter. I didn't want to use baytril as some of my previous pigs declined rapidly whilst on it so asked for sulfatrim as I'd had in the past for urinary issues. This was not in stock so was given the human equivalent Co-trimoxazole adult suspension to give 1.5ml twice daily for 7 days.
Can I please check if these dosages sound about right for a 1.2kg piggie? I'm sure when I've had metacam in the past I had to give it twice daily as they metabolise it quicker than cats and dogs? And when I gave sulfatrim I'm sure this was only around 0.3ish ml twice daily, 1.5ml twice daily of the Co-trimoxazole seems excessive to me?
The fresh urine sample I brought in was a slight pink/orange tinge and was quite cloudy. I did have to collect up about 4 wees as they were so small! The dip test for blood this time was off the scale and the square on the test strip went black! There did appear to be more cocci present than the previous day so advised the start the antibiotics asap. The vet and nurse were not sure if it looks like a couple of crystals are present so I will attach the microscope images they sent me below for other people's opinions.
The vet could not feel any large/obvious stones but I did mention I know they can be hard to feel and could it potentially be more of a sludge issue or tiny stones rather than one large one? She did advise to do xray imaging and an ultrasound scan to double check but both agreed to see how she is on antibiotics for about a week and if her symptoms don't go away to investigate further.
Thank you for your time, it would be lovely to hear what other people think particularly with regards to the medication dosages.
I'm after some advice/opinions on the treatment given to my two year old female guinea pig recently for blood in her urine.
A couple of weeks ago I noticed she appeared to have done one orange/pale red coloured wee. I think she did squeak a little bit as if in slight discomfort but did not sound extremely painful. She did not do any more wees that looked concerning for just over a week. When the blood in her urine came back it was bright red this time and she was doing multiple small frequent wees with a fair amount of squeaking which is not like her at all! The wees are also very smelly and she did have a wet bum the next morning when I checked on her.
I've had piggies in the past who have had UTIs and urinary stones. Her symptoms aren't all the same as my previous pigs when they had stones so was leaning towards her hopefully just having a UTI. I took her to the vets the next day where she weighed in at 1.2kg which is around normal for her as she has not exhibited any weight loss (she absolutely loves food!). They tested her urine sample which I'd obtained in the morning, the dip test showed blood was present despite her urine that day looking pretty normal in colour. The microscopy exam showed a small amount of cocci present so said it would be best to start on some antibiotics as there were signs of a mild infection present. They also said to bring in a fresh sample the next day just to double check as the one I took in had been in the fridge for over 6 hours and not to start the antibiotics yet until another sample had been looked at.
She was prescribed with cat metacam to give 0.5ml once daily on the first day then 0.25ml once daily thereafter. I didn't want to use baytril as some of my previous pigs declined rapidly whilst on it so asked for sulfatrim as I'd had in the past for urinary issues. This was not in stock so was given the human equivalent Co-trimoxazole adult suspension to give 1.5ml twice daily for 7 days.
Can I please check if these dosages sound about right for a 1.2kg piggie? I'm sure when I've had metacam in the past I had to give it twice daily as they metabolise it quicker than cats and dogs? And when I gave sulfatrim I'm sure this was only around 0.3ish ml twice daily, 1.5ml twice daily of the Co-trimoxazole seems excessive to me?
The fresh urine sample I brought in was a slight pink/orange tinge and was quite cloudy. I did have to collect up about 4 wees as they were so small! The dip test for blood this time was off the scale and the square on the test strip went black! There did appear to be more cocci present than the previous day so advised the start the antibiotics asap. The vet and nurse were not sure if it looks like a couple of crystals are present so I will attach the microscope images they sent me below for other people's opinions.
The vet could not feel any large/obvious stones but I did mention I know they can be hard to feel and could it potentially be more of a sludge issue or tiny stones rather than one large one? She did advise to do xray imaging and an ultrasound scan to double check but both agreed to see how she is on antibiotics for about a week and if her symptoms don't go away to investigate further.
Thank you for your time, it would be lovely to hear what other people think particularly with regards to the medication dosages.
She is a bit of a stress head and does get chased around a lot by her sister (not in an aggressive way but it does make her jump everytime as its like she gets the zoomies!). 
