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Squealing whilst peeing

LucyP said:
You’re doing brilliantly and being really thorough. I know how stressful it is. We are in a similar situation with Betty (minus the question about penis issues!) She’s had the tests and all were negative. The vet wondered about her discomfort and squeaks being colitis/digestive related (based on possible mucus seen on the poo), and we discussed starting her on meds for that, but lately her squeaking has gone right down so we’ve all agreed to watch and wait for now. IC is another possible diagnosIs. Food wise we’ve noticed she seems to squeak after nuggets or spinach - this could be a total coincidence and/or just the intermittent nature of IC, but there seemed to be a pattern so we’re holding off those for now (she gets plenty of other good stuff) and have heard no squeaks for several days.. much too early to make a judgement on what’s happening but we’ll see what happens next. She’s not on any meds right now and metacam didn’t seem to make much (any?) difference to the squeaking in her particular case.

I’m not suggesting any of this is relevant to you or advising you to cut out certain foods because I really wouldn’t know, but since we’ve been comparing notes I thought I would mention where we’re up to. Keep us posted!
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HeatherW said:
I also noticed Pickle was similar with spinach, so have almost entirely cut it out of her diet. I'm not sure whether the course of Sulfatrim had any effect or whether it's just calmed down for now.
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furryfriends (TEAS) said:
It’s definitely worth keeping a food diary. I’ve found celery has caused digestive issues, in a few piggies, over the years, so longer feed it at all xx
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Thank you all for idea that certain veg may be a cause (I don’t feed spinach or celery as neither of the boys are interested in it). Peanut had two days where i didn't hear him squeak at all - i know i can’t be there every second of the day but I am for a large portion and heard nothing. Then yesterday the squealing began again, the only thing different in the diet was that he had had some pepper the evening before so we’re considering that pepper may be a potential cause so we’re taking him off it completely to see if there’s a change.
He’s still on the cystease in case it’s helping, the metacam doesn’t seem to be having any effect though.
I haven’t heard any noise today as of yet but it’s still only early on in the day
 
Well, he had a good week or so without squealing (to my knowledge) and now it’s started again in the last day or so. The only thing I changed was decreasing the dosage of loxicom from 0.3 twice a day to 0.15 twice a day. Again it seems to only be when he pees calcium deposits from what I’ve manage to catch. Think the ultrasound will be on the cards if I can find someone relatively close who will do it without GA
 
Veggies Galore said:
the best nearest vet to you is in Matlock …. Ellie Whitehead

Specialist Guinea Pig Vet | Matlock, UK | The Guinea Pig Vet

Ellie was able to diagnose my IC boar ( Reuben ) without the need of investigations under GA
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Thank you, I’ll have a look then. That’s around the same length of time it takes to get to my current vet now, I didn’t know there was another so close. I may have to switch over to Ellie completely if she’s good as my vets can be very hit or miss
 
Sorry to hear it’s come back again. That’s stressful for you all. Hope the new vets can help, they sound good.

Interesting about the metacam. It never seemed to help Betty that much with her squeaky wees. Glad it’s been of some help for you. Bettys been about 12 days squeak free (to the best of my knowledge) and seems ok, touch wood but I expect it to come back because nothing has really changed unless it has been diet related.

Our vet did an ultrasound of our other pig without any GA- that was for heart and lung issues.

Good luck with the next steps and keep us posted on how you get on!
 
I think we need to remember that dealing with IC is about symptom management . I had a boar with IC and it took 3+. years for it to resolve . He used to be on a maintenance dose of Metacam / Loxicam
... and the vet prescribed 0.5 mls twice daily for when he had acute flare ups .
 
LucyP said:
Sorry to hear it’s come back again. That’s stressful for you all. Hope the new vets can help, they sound good.

Interesting about the metacam. It never seemed to help Betty that much with her squeaky wees. Glad it’s been of some help for you. Bettys been about 12 days squeak free (to the best of my knowledge) and seems ok, touch wood but I expect it to come back because nothing has really changed unless it has been diet related.

Our vet did an ultrasound of our other pig without any GA- that was for heart and lung issues.

Good luck with the next steps and keep us posted on how you get on!
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I didn’t think the metacam was doing anything honestly but now it’s been decreased it seems like it must have been doing something.
Thank you! I hope Betty stays alright, it’s horrible when they’re clearing experiencing pain and you can’t do anything more to help!

Veggies Galore said:
I think we need to remember that dealing with IC is about symptom management . I had a boar with IC and it took 3+. years for it to resolve . He used to be on a maintenance dose of Metacam / Loxicam
... and the vet prescribed 0.5 mls twice daily for when he had acute flare ups .
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Yeah that’s true, I might put the metacam dose back up, I was hoping to slowly ween him off it as he was doing okay but I don’t want him to be suffering without it. Going to ring Ellie up tomorrow to try and get an appointment for either Tuesday or Friday. Hopefully the ultrasound will shed some light on what’s going on and I’m so relieved anaesthetic isn’t required too, this will be the last thing needed to confirm IC (aside from a blood test)
 
Little Ones said:
Going to ring Ellie up tomorrow to try and get an appointment for either Tuesday or Friday. Hopefully the ultrasound will shed some light on what’s going on and I’m so relieved anaesthetic isn’t required too, this will be the last thing needed to confirm IC (aside from a blood test)
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....

you can also see what appointments are available online ...
Ellie is working Mon , Thurs and Friday next week

Derwent Valley Vets : Appointment Booking
 
So took him to see Ellie today as Peanut had a really bad night last night, he was screaming so bad from 5am to past 8am. She didn’t do an ultrasound but had a really good feel and has diagnosed IC. Peanut is now on 1ml twice a day of loxicom. If it improves after a week, it’ll go down to 0.6ml twice a day. Got a big bottle of loxicom as well as a prescription, do feel a bit sick as I paid £60 for 100ml of loxicom to find I could have got it for £13 with prescription online but what can you do. I didn’t want him to be without as we’re almost through our 32ml bottle and if he’s on 2ml a day, it’ll be gone pretty quickly. Not to worry, even though Peanut will likely be on metacam the rest of his life, there shouldn’t be anymore extreme expenses regarding his bladder issues
 
Update:
His pain hasn’t gotten better despite being on 2ml of loxicom a day. In fact, in the past day or two, it’s gotten a lot worse. He’s now squeaking what seems to be every time he pees. I’ve found that it’s the calcium that’s making him squeak, when there is a very chalky wee left behind, the squeak was louder and seemed more painful compared to when there is a small amount of chalk/calcium left behind.
I’ve been in contact with Ellie who has suggested either more pain relief alongside the loxicom as well as a diuretic which reduces urinary calcium. Or another X-ray and then catheterising him and flushing his bladder. Not sure which to do for the best but leaning more towards flushing the bladder.
The pain relief he’s on now is doing absolutely nothing at all, so I imagine another type of pain relief alongside that may do little to nothing too and we’d have to rely on the diuretic to sort him out. I just don’t want him to be in this pain for any longer. Not sure if GA would be needed to catheterise him though which we want to avoid if at all possible.
 
Little Ones said:
Update:
His pain hasn’t gotten better despite being on 2ml of loxicom a day. In fact, in the past day or two, it’s gotten a lot worse. He’s now squeaking what seems to be every time he pees. I’ve found that it’s the calcium that’s making him squeak, when there is a very chalky wee left behind, the squeak was louder and seemed more painful compared to when there is a small amount of chalk/calcium left behind.
I’ve been in contact with Ellie who has suggested either more pain relief alongside the loxicom as well as a diuretic which reduces urinary calcium. Or another X-ray and then catheterising him and flushing his bladder. Not sure which to do for the best but leaning more towards flushing the bladder.
The pain relief he’s on now is doing absolutely nothing at all, so I imagine another type of pain relief alongside that may do little to nothing too and we’d have to rely on the diuretic to sort him out. I just don’t want him to be in this pain for any longer. Not sure if GA would be needed to catheterise him though which we want to avoid if at all possible.
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perhaps , as a temporary solution , he could have some more Loxicam ? I know Ellie is happy for guinea pigs to have Dog strength Loxicam/Metacam 0.4 mls/kg twice daily
 
Veggies Galore said:
perhaps , as a temporary solution , he could have some more Loxicam ? I know Ellie is happy for guinea pigs to have Dog strength Loxicam/Metacam 0.4 mls/kg twice daily
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He’s on dog strength 1ml twice a day, so I think he’s on the max we can really give him and that’s why adding gabapentin (the second pain relief) would be the next option unfortunately. For such a high dose of loxicom, I’m so shocked that there’s been no difference but it just has no effect at all :(
 
After asking Ellie what she, in her opinion, would do, we’ve decided to go with the bladder flush and X-ray. He’s booked in for Friday at 8:45. Whilst it’s the most expensive option, the extra medication could easily not work and then we’re back to having the flush anyway. It will require heavy sedation, but I think Peanut will be okay and that Ellie will look after him.

Fingers crossed that after this, he will be back to normal!
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:doh:
Little Ones said:
He’s on dog strength 1ml twice a day, so I think he’s on the max we can really give him and that’s why adding gabapentin (the second pain relief) would be the next option unfortunately. For such a high dose of loxicom, I’m so shocked that there’s been no difference but it just has no effect at all :(
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Sorry ...got my decimal points mixed up:doh:
 
Little Ones said:
After asking Ellie what she, in her opinion, would do, we’ve decided to go with the bladder flush and X-ray. He’s booked in for Friday at 8:45. Whilst it’s the most expensive option, the extra medication could easily not work and then we’re back to having the flush anyway. It will require heavy sedation, but I think Peanut will be okay and that Ellie will look after him.

Fingers crossed that after this, he will be back to normal!
View attachment 135826
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He’s gorgeous ❤️💕
 
Veggies Galore said:
He’s gorgeous ❤💕
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He really is. He’s come on in leaps and bounds since having his teeth fixed by Simon. He was 800grams when I first adopted him from cavy corner 8 months ago, now he’s over 1400grams - he’s filled out very nicely. Just shows what a good set of teeth can do!

Underweight Peanut
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Chunky Peanut (who is also quite peanut-shaped, too :D)
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I have everything crossed that Ellie can sort him out, it’s so heartbreaking to hear him in pain :(
 
So sorry he’s still having a hard time despite the pain relief, I hope things pick up after Friday’s intervention. He looks and sounds totally adorable! Please keep us posted - we’re all behind lovely little peanut!
 
I hope peanut feels better after the flush. My late Sam was in a lot of pain when peeing even on loxicom and antibiotics and after he had a flush it did seem to help xx
 
Gem789 said:
I hope peanut feels better after the flush. My late Sam was in a lot of pain when peeing even on loxicom and antibiotics and after he had a flush it did seem to help xx
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That’s good to hear, I’m really hoping it does the trick and sorts him out. It’s so awful to hear him in pain, sometimes his squeaks can be so loud and throaty that you can just tell how much it must hurt :(
 
Little Ones said:
That’s good to hear, I’m really hoping it does the trick and sorts him out. It’s so awful to hear him in pain, sometimes his squeaks can be so loud and throaty that you can just tell how much it must hurt :(
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Bless him, it is horrible when they're in pain. I really hope it helps him xx
 
Peanut is back from having his operation and X-ray. The X-rays were completely normal, when they flushed out his bladder his urine was clear, there was no sludge or anything, there was a bit of blood but as far as I’m aware that’s normal. So let’s hope that whatever was causing the issue is gone!
I’m not sure if it was GA he had as I was told it was a heavy sedation but he’s perfectly fine which is the opposite to the last GA he had. He’s weeing (though I think some of that was the liquid used to flush his bladder), pooing and has eaten some hay before snuggling down to sleep :)
 
I should also note that peanuts medicine is now 1.4ml twice a day of loxicom, and 0.4ml of gabapentin twice a day.
 
Anyone know if this is normal after a bladder flush? Think I’m going to email the photo to Ellie tomorrow to be on the safe side but I don’t want to be worrying in case she doesn’t respond until after the weekend.
507E5746-2B39-4786-B7F0-23FF2F4A0BDE.webp
 
Sorry I don’t have the knowledge but sending healing vibes to Peanut. Hope someone comes along and says it’s quite normal after a procedure of that kind x
 
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