Squeaking intermittently

[Caviesavy]

At my wits end here - my guinea pig is around 7/8 years of age and has been making squeaking noises intermittently. During this he will freeze in place and presumably defacate, sometimes he appears to be producing two poos at once. These squeaks do not happen every time that he defacates. His belly is soft and he can be very gassy/smelly at times.

He is eating, drinking and defacates plenty though! He has shown some signs of impaction in the past (clumped poos) but I had a feel around his bottom and all appeared normal.

I have now taken him to multiple vets with one providing critical care, incase of bloat. The most recent visit the vet didn't seem concerned and suggested it was a digestive issue and requested that I change his diet to a low calcium one and return if there are still issues. I pushed for an x-ray to explore this further, though unsure if this will be helpful (medically and financially)!

As for his diet, I already have him on a bottled water and since this appointment I have changed to the lowest calcium containing bottled water. Otherwise he gets science selective grain free, plenty of hay and I avoid any gassy vegetables (usually I provide mainly fresh pepper with other low calcium veg/fruits as advised by guides). I have also been using fibreplex to help aid digestion.

Has anyone else had a guinea pig with very similar symptoms? Any responses are much appreciated, thanks.

 

[piggieminder]

I have 2 "oldies" aged 5 & 6 who do this. They have both been diagnosed with arthritis after xrays. Their diagnoses for the squeaky toileting (sometimes urination sometimes pooping) is it's partly due to the arthritis being painful and stopping them positioning themselves comfortably and partly because not being in a comfortable position means they don't empty the bladder properly leading to sludge/grit accumulating. This accumulation makes urination uncomfortable and will make it more likely they get stones in the future. They are on pain meds, a low calcium diet and I wet their veg and give them extra water bottles round the cage to try to encourage drinking.

I've just had a bad week with Red (6), the worst I've seen and heard him. I thought he had a stone, the extra pain killers I'm allowed to give at these times didn't help much. He seems to have settled again now after passing some very gritty urine. I thought we were going to be back at the vets for an xray looking for a stone so I'm relieved he has picked up again.

Good luck to you and your piggy, I hope you can sort out something for him.

 

[piggieminder]

Bump!

 

[Caviesavy]

I have 2 "oldies" aged 5 & 6 who do this. They have both been diagnosed with arthritis after xrays. Their diagnoses for the squeaky toileting (sometimes urination sometimes pooping) is it's partly due to the arthritis being painful and stopping them positioning themselves comfortably and partly because not being in a comfortable position means they don't empty the bladder properly leading to sludge/grit accumulating. This accumulation makes urination uncomfortable and will make it more likely they get stones in the future. They are on pain meds, a low calcium diet and I wet their veg and give them extra water bottles round the cage to try to encourage drinking.

I've just had a bad week with Red (6), the worst I've seen and heard him. I thought he had a stone, the extra pain killers I'm allowed to give at these times didn't help much. He seems to have settled again now after passing some very gritty urine. I thought we were going to be back at the vets for an xray looking for a stone so I'm relieved he has picked up again.

Good luck to you and your piggy, I hope you can sort out something for him.

Thank you for responding and bumping!

This is a good possibility actually - I have noticed that he's slowed down a tad in his older age. Though this has not been as dramatic or as noticeable as my other boar who had to be medicated for his arthritis and washed regularly due to a wet bottom. I think sludge/grit is possible for my boar, perhaps in combination with being prone to wind due to a sensitive stomach. I suspect the scheduled x-ray may confirm a theory or two and lead to treatment one way or another.

Sorry to hear that Red hasn't been having a good time, but glad that he's picked up again!

 

[Caviesavy]

For extra context - this is what was just produced after a squeaking episode. I have never seen anything before like the clump pictured here.

A quick Google has show potential for a gut problem or aging rectal muscles. Any ideas for what this could signify?

 

[Caviesavy]

Update

It's now been a week since I first posted and I've made the following changes:

• Administering fibreplex daily (much to his disgust)
• Switched to lowest calcium bottled water available
• Providing a coarser timothy hay for regularly alongside meadow hay
• Temporarily pausing fresh veggies, incase this is a gut issue that needs to settle

These changes have resulted in these squeaking noises reducing to once a day, rather than 5+. He has also become less noticeably gassy!

He is still constantly eating hay, though has been off his pellets and generally prefers to stay in bed (but is active in bursts), so I honestly wonder if he is slowing down due to old age. I have started supplementing his feed with syringed critical care several times a day, that he happily gobbles.

 

[Wiebke]

Update

It's now been a week since I first posted and I've made the following changes:

• Administering fibreplex daily (much to his disgust)
• Switched to lowest calcium bottled water available
• Providing a coarser timothy hay for regularly alongside meadow hay
• Temporarily pausing fresh veggies, incase this is a gut issue that needs to settle

These changes have resulted in these squeaking noises reducing to once a day, rather than 5+. He has also become less noticeably gassy!

He is still constantly eating hay, though has been off his pellets and generally prefers to stay in bed (but is active in bursts), so I honestly wonder if he is slowing down due to old age. I have started supplementing his feed with syringed critical care several times a day, that he happily gobbles.

Hi

Glad that your boy is feeling better in himself. Are you weighing regulary (either once weekly or daily first thing in morning on your kitchen scales) to monitor the food intake?

Looking after older piggies is not easy. You can find some general practical care advice for oldies via this link here: Caring for Older Piggies and Facing the End - A practical and supportive information collection

 

[Caviesavy]

Update 2

Managed to find an exotic vet nearby after noticing some blood in his urine. Got a same day appointment and they immediately sent him for a conscious x-ray, unlike the previous vets visited.

This x-ray and ultrasound showed that he has a small bladder, with thickening (possible calcification in areas) and a very small bladder stone. They have diagnosed cystitis and prescribed a painkiller, anti-inflammatory and cystophan.

VERY glad to finally have his pain managed and have this under control. Follow up booked for a weeks time.

 

[Wiebke]

Update 2

Managed to find an exotic vet nearby after noticing some blood in his urine. Got a same day appointment and they immediately sent him for a conscious x-ray, unlike the previous vets visited.

This x-ray showed that he has a small bladder, with thickening (possible calcification in areas) and a minor bladder stone. They diagnosed cystitis and has prescribed a painkiller, anti-inflammatory and cystophan.

VERY glad to finally have his pain managed and have this under control. Follow up booked for a weeks time.

That is great news. I hope that it helps. Please be aware that glucosamine (cystophan) will take several weeks to build up; it is not an immediately effective thing but it will help for the long term.

 

[Caviesavy]

That is great news. I hope that it helps. Please be aware that glucosamine (cystophan) will take several weeks to build up; it is not an immediately effective thing but it will help for the long term.

Thank you, I hope so too! That's really helpful, I'll make sure to look into ensuring he has access to this long term.

 

[Wiebke]

Thank you, I hope so too! That's really helpful, I'll make sure to look into ensuring he has access to this long term.

Your vet is obviously treating for sterile cystitis (better known under interstitial cystitis). It has become a lot more common in especially indoors guinea pigs but it is not much known outside vet circles that see guinea pigs regularly. The 'sterile' refers to the fact that the infection is not bacterial and characterised by a no or more usually much lower bacterial count in the urine than expected.
Because it cannot be healed by antibiotics, it is all about management - especially of the flares every few weeks/months once you have got symptoms under control initially.

We are here for any questions you have. Sterile IC is one of our forum staples.

 

[Wheekallweek]

Glad to hear you know what is going on now and have a treatment plan! It sounds like he's feeling a bit better too which is great! Both my boys had glucosamine supplements for bladder issues for a long time.