Treating cystitis in a female piggie

[Josie_lg]

Hiya, hope you are all well. We have had the scariest 24hours, rushed straight for the emergency vet at midnight last night for one of my piggies who wasn’t eating as much, not pooping as much and suddenly came over funny, all hunched and flopping to the side, I thought I was going to loose her. Once there we did a blood glucose check and that was fine, we then took an x ray and there was some gas in the stomach so the vet suspected bloat, she made good improvement overnight, but during today has gone quieter and not pooping much at all. Luckily she was staying at the same vets I work at, so I was giving her meds and caring for her etc. At around lunchtime today I picked her and my hand was soaked in blood, it was coming from her vulva. As you can imagine I thought the worst and we ultrasounded her straight away, the vet has diagnosed cystitis. We did a urinalysis too and couldn’t see any bacteria so she isn’t on antibiotics. After being at the vets for nearly 24 hours she is coming home because she is getting very stressed at the vets, despite being in another room she can still hear dogs etc. She’s home now and is on metacam, probiotics as well as a gut stimulant and a urinary tract supplement all prescribed by my exotic vet. She is eating more now she is home, but her poops are very small, clustered and not much there. The vet is working all weekend and I will be going straight back if she gets worse or doesn’t improve. I’m sorry for the long explanation, but I wondered if there’s anyone on here that can offer some advise with cystitis. I have never had to deal with any of my piggies being this poorly, I’m running on no sleep and am a bit of an emmotional wreck haha. She has been having critical care today but I am giving her a rest as she is showing interest in food, I do also wonder if the change in her poops could also be the medication she was having in hospital potentially.
thank you in advance xx

 

[Wiebke]

Hiya, hope you are all well. We have had the scariest 24hours, rushed straight for the emergency vet at midnight last night for one of my piggies who wasn’t eating as much, not pooping as much and suddenly came over funny, all hunched and flopping to the side, I thought I was going to loose her. Once there we did a blood glucose check and that was fine, we then took an x ray and there was some gas in the stomach so the vet suspected bloat, she made good improvement overnight, but during today has gone quieter and not pooping much at all. Luckily she was staying at the same vets I work at, so I was giving her meds and caring for her etc. At around lunchtime today I picked her and my hand was soaked in blood, it was coming from her vulva. As you can imagine I thought the worst and we ultrasounded her straight away, the vet has diagnosed cystitis. We did a urinalysis too and couldn’t see any bacteria so she isn’t on antibiotics. After being at the vets for nearly 24 hours she is coming home because she is getting very stressed at the vets, despite being in another room she can still hear dogs etc. She’s home now and is on metacam, probiotics as well as a gut stimulant and a urinary tract supplement all prescribed by my exotic vet. She is eating more now she is home, but her poops are very small, clustered and not much there. The vet is working all weekend and I will be going straight back if she gets worse or doesn’t improve. I’m sorry for the long explanation, but I wondered if there’s anyone on here that can offer some advise with cystitis. I have never had to deal with any of my piggies being this poorly, I’m running on no sleep and am a bit of an emmotional wreck haha. She has been having critical care today but I am giving her a rest as she is showing interest in food, I do also wonder if the change in her poops could also be the medication she was having in hospital potentially.
thank you in advance xx

Hi!

Was it bloody pees or sheer blood coming out and has your vet checked the reproductive tract if it was bleeding?
The gut tightly wraps around the urinary and the reproductive tracts, so the gut can react to pain in either of them.

Please be aware that the poo output generally runs a day behind the intake and that you cannot control the hay intake (which should be around 80% of what a piggy eats in a day) by eye alone. If you want to get an up-to-date picture of the actual food intake you need to switch from the life-long once weekly weigh-in to weighing daily at the same time. It is your most important tool when monitoring an ill piggy with a dodgy appetite.
If the weight continues to go down or if the antibiotic impacts on the gut microbiome and dampens/kills the appetite, you may want to step in with extra feeding support to make up for what your piggy isn't eating in hay.
Weight - Monitoring and Management
How To Pick Up And Weigh Your Guinea Pig Safely

Be careful with feeding fresh food to a guinea pig with bloating issues.
Digestive Disorders: Diarrhea - Bloat - GI Stasis (No Gut Movement) And Not Eating
Not Eating, Weight Loss And The Importance Of Syringe Feeding Fibre

Please be aware that antibiotics build up over several days and reach the optimum efficiency in about 5 days to a week. UTIs may need up to 3-4 weeks on antibiotics. You may also want to be aware that apart from your classic urinary tract infection (which is caused by faecal bacteria getting into the urinary tract) there is a bacterial cystitis (bladder infection), which is often the result of trauma by a stone banging into the walls but there is also a non-bacterial cystitis (i.e. sterile interstitial cystitis), which doesn't react at all to antibiotics or will return soon after antibiotic treatment stops. The last is not well known outside vet circles who see plenty of guinea pigs although it has become increasingly common over the last decade. Sterile IC is caracterised by intensely red porphyrine coloured pees that look blood-red and are very often mistaken for blood but can actually be blood-free (although the majority will test for blood being contained in the urine).
If the course of antibiotics isn't successful, please contact us for more information and see your vet again.

All the best!

 

[Josie_lg]

Hi!

Was it bloody pees or sheer blood coming out and has your vet checked the reproductive tract if it was bleeding?
The gut tightly wraps around the urinary and the reproductive tracts, so the gut can react to pain in either of them.

Please be aware that the poo output generally runs a day behind the intake and that you cannot control the hay intake (which should be around 80% of what a piggy eats in a day) by eye alone. If you want to get an up-to-date picture of the actual food intake you need to switch from the life-long once weekly weigh-in to weighing daily at the same time. It is your most important tool when monitoring an ill piggy with a dodgy appetite.
If the weight continues to go down or if the antibiotic impacts on the gut microbiome and dampens/kills the appetite, you may want to step in with extra feeding support to make up for what your piggy isn't eating in hay.
Weight - Monitoring and Management
How To Pick Up And Weigh Your Guinea Pig Safely

Be careful with feeding fresh food to a guinea pig with bloating issues.
Digestive Disorders: Diarrhea - Bloat - GI Stasis (No Gut Movement) And Not Eating
Not Eating, Weight Loss And The Importance Of Syringe Feeding Fibre

Please be aware that antibiotics build up over several days and reach the optimum efficiency in about 5 days to a week. UTIs may need up to 3-4 weeks on antibiotics. You may also want to be aware that apart from your classic urinary tract infection (which is caused by faecal bacteria getting into the urinary tract) there is a bacterial cystitis (bladder infection), which is often the result of trauma by a stone banging into the walls but there is also a non-bacterial cystitis (i.e. sterile interstitial cystitis), which doesn't react at all to antibiotics or will return soon after antibiotic treatment stops. The last is not well known outside vet circles who see plenty of guinea pigs although it has become increasingly common over the last decade. Sterile IC is caracterised by intensely red porphyrine coloured pees that look blood-red and are very often mistaken for blood but can actually be blood-free (although the majority will test for blood being contained in the urine).
If the course of antibiotics isn't successful, please contact us for more information and see your vet again.

All the best!

Thank you so much for your reply. She isn’t on antibiotics because the urinalysis came back as not containing bacteria. Yes we checked for pyometra, tumour on the ultrasound and found the bladder wall was thickened and the vet said the bladder represented that of cystitis. No stone seen in the x ray. She has had syringe food today but I’ve held off this evening as she is showing interest in food. I just need her to do a big wee but it’s hard to know what she is doing as she lives with three others, but becomes depressed when separated. x

 

[Josie_lg]

Hiya hope you are all well. I posted a thread on the weekend regarding my piggie with cystitis. I really need some advice and experiance from other piggie owners. She has been improving, eating and pooping more, brighter and more comfortable in herself. However, she has now started crying when she wees, and last night she did frequent small wees with blood. She had a ultrasound and x rays and we couldn’t see stones. But today we are going to repeat them to make sure. She was diagnosed with cystitis Friday, and she has had pink wees since with the occasional normal wee, but last night she started crying when urinating, is this something you have all seen before? Is it just the lining of the bladder, and inflammation? It’s awful to see her crying
She’s on a high dose of pain relief, urinalysis supplements and probiotics.
thank you xx

 

[RosieLily]

I have no advice, but I wish to offer you my support. It's so stressful to have a poorly piggie, I really hope you will find something that helps asap! We're here for you ❤

 

[Siikibam]

I don’t have any experience but hope she can be sorted soon. I’ll tag @Wiebke @Piggies&buns @VickiA

I’m going to merge your threads as it’s an ongoing issue with the same piggy.

 

[Josie_lg]

thank you

 

[Josie_lg]

She’s had her x rays and ultrasound today, both clear of stones. So I guess the crying when weeing is really just the inflammation and pain. What I’m finding so strange is that when the bleeding started she wasn’t crying when passing wee at all and she was passing big wees, now it’s regular small wees and cries. Does anyone have any advice or experiance with this. It’s really breaking my heart hearing her cry, and I just don’t understand why the cries and discomfort after staring now, 3 days after diagnoses.

 

[Claire W]

Aw bless her She’s probably doing little wees as it hurts her to wee. Is it interstitial cystitis (IC) she has been diagnosed with which can’t be cured, just treated when she has a flare or does she have a bacterial cystitis which can be treated with antibiotics?

 

[YvonneBlue]

I am not one of the forum health experts. However, we have a piggy with IC and her bladder wall is thickened. She is on a permanent low dose of Metacam (0.2ml twice a day - she weighs 1.2kg). We also give her cystease, we empty one capsule into 3ml of water and she gets a 1ml syringe full twice a day.

All our pigs are on a low calcium diet and have minimum grain free nuggets (1 tablespoon each per day).

All of this seems to help and she is no longer in pain when passing urine.

I'm sure one of the forum health experts will be along soon with more detailed advice.

I hope your piggy starts to feel better soon. x

 

[Josie_lg]

Aw bless her She’s probably doing little wees as it hurts her to wee. Is it interstitial cystitis (IC) she has been diagnosed with which can’t be cured, just treated when she has a flare or does she have a bacterial cystitis which can be treated with antibiotics?

We aren’t sure at the moment. Vet just said cystitis because this is the first time she has ever had it. We have just been prescribed with antibiotics if no improvement we will be going back. With IC are they in this much pain for the rest of their lives? her wees are now small and very bloody and she is crying when passing them, does it improve and you just treat when they have a flare up? Xx

 

[Josie_lg]

I am not one of the forum health experts. However, we have a piggy with IC and her bladder wall is thickened. She is on a permanent low dose of Metacam (0.2ml twice a day - she weighs 1.2kg). We also give her cystease, we empty one capsule into 3ml of water and she gets a 1ml syringe full twice a day.

All our pigs are on a low calcium diet and have minimum grain free nuggets (1 tablespoon each per day).

All of this seems to help and she is no longer in pain when passing urine.

I'm sure one of the forum health experts will be along soon with more detailed advice.

I hope your piggy starts to feel better soon. x

Oh wow. How did they diagnose this? We have had x rays and ultrasound and the vet has just said cystitis for now. So I’m not sure. She has just been prescribed antibiotics so I suppose we wait and see if those work xx

 

[Claire W]

We aren’t sure at the moment. Vet just said cystitis because this is the first time she has ever had it. We have just been prescribed with antibiotics if no improvement we will be going back. With IC are they in this much pain for the rest of their lives? her wees are now small and very bloody and she is crying when passing them, does it improve and you just treat when they have a flare up? Xx

I see. Is she on a painkiller such as metacam? If not, she would highly benefit from it. IC can be painful but they generally have flares where some days / weeks are worse than others. Thickened bladder walls are diagnosed from an ultrasound x

 

[YvonneBlue]

Oh wow. How did they diagnose this? We have had x rays and ultrasound and the vet has just said cystitis for now. So I’m not sure. She has just been prescribed antibiotics so I suppose we wait and see if those work xx

IC is usually diagnosed when no other cause for the cystitis can be found (infection, etc.). The initial ultrasound that Mavis had showed that her bladder was so inflamed that they thought she had a tumour and told me she was basically on palliative care and sent me home with Metacam. I added the Cystease after getting advice from this forum and checking that this was ok with the vet. When she hadn't got any worse 3 months later, they did another scan and found that her bladder was much better and just slightly thickened and diagnosed her with IC. We tried to get her off the Metcam but within a month of stopping it she was passing blood in her urine again so we now have her on the low 0.2ml dose and she is now a happy piggy.

I do hope that the vet can get to the bottom of what is troubling your piggy. I would ask if you can start to give her Cystease as it takes a while to take effect. You can buy it on the internet (we get ours from Amazon).

 

[Josie_lg]

IC is usually diagnosed when no other cause for the cystitis can be found (infection, etc.). The initial ultrasound that Mavis had showed that her bladder was so inflamed that they thought she had a tumour and told me she was basically on palliative care and sent me home with Metacam. I added the Cystease after getting advice from this forum and checking that this was ok with the vet. When she hadn't got any worse 3 months later, they did another scan and found that her bladder was much better and just slightly thickened and diagnosed her with IC. We tried to get her off the Metcam but within a month of stopping it she was passing blood in her urine again so we now have her on the low 0.2ml dose and she is now a happy piggy.

I do hope that the vet can get to the bottom of what is troubling your piggy. I would ask if you can start to give her Cystease as it takes a while to take effect. You can buy it on the internet (we get ours from Amazon).

Oh bless her. But I’m so glad it wasn’t a tumour for your piggie. She is on a high dose of metacam, fibreplex and nutracyst ! And we are starting on antibiotics tonight. I really hope it helps. The ultrasound showed inflammation and the vet diagnosed cystitis. Her x rays were unremarkable. We are hoping she will start to improve on the antibiotics, because in herself she has improved massively, is now eating drinking pooping normally too! And is active and bright, it’s just whenever she wees it’s very bloody and she cries and because she feels like she needs to wee all the time she is doing frequent small ones. But it scares me seeing all the blood !
thank you for your help. I will keep you updated x

 

[Josie_lg]

I see. Is she on a painkiller such as metacam? If not, she would highly benefit from it. IC can be painful but they generally have flares where some days / weeks are worse than others. Thickened bladder walls are diagnosed from an ultrasound x

She is on metacam. The highest dose the vet can put her on! She is also on nutracyst and fibreplex, she is starting the antibiotics tonight as the vet initially held off on that to begin with because she was having gut issues, but now that’s improved we are trying the antibiotics. She had an ultrasound Friday when she was really poorly, and the exotic vet and exotic nurse both agreed on cystitis. In herself she has improved so much, eating drinking pooping no problem. It’s just whenever she needs to wee she cries. I will see how we go on the antibiotics. Fingers crossed it improves. I wonder if IC has something that causes it. As this is her first time having cystitis x

 

[Claire W]

It’s good she’s in metacam. It is scary seeing the blood and so sad when they cry Fingers crossed the antibiotics help x

 

[Josie_lg]

Thought I would update you all. She still has blood in her urine and is still crying when weeing. But she did do one normal wee today. I won’t lie I did get upset this evening. I just want her to start getting better.
This evening I read somewhere on here that sulfatrim can take 3-4 weeks to heal a UTI/cystitis. And are a lot slower than other antibiotics which kind of reassures me that the antibiotics are still working, however we only started her on them yesterday.
She has that stale fishy smell which other people have also said is typical of a urine infection which again reassures me that it is just that. The blood just scares me so much
If she does not improve after a few days or so I will be maybe taking her to another exotic vet for a second opinion, someone has also recommended a blood test to check kidneys. But I don’t want to be sedating her if not needed and I need to give the antibiotics time to work. However, if no improvement I will do whatever needs to be done.
If anyone has anymore advise or knows how quickly we may see a difference on sulfatrim please let me know. Thank you xx

 

[stef.trg]

I don’t have any more advice but I just wanted to send you a big hug. I know how awful it is hearing them being in pain. Hang in there, you‘re doing great

 

[Claire W]

The stale / fishy smell that you describe is common with a bad infection / cystitis. I hope the antibiotics kick in soon x

 

[Josie_lg]

The stale / fishy smell that you describe is common with a bad infection / cystitis. I hope the antibiotics kick in soon x

I hope so too! We only started her on them yesterday. That makes me feel more relieved knowing that it’s common with the infection. I’ve found she doesn’t cry when she is doing a big wee even if it’s filled with blood, but she cries more often with the small ones, the times where she feels she needs to go but really there isn’t much in there to come out, I suppose because it’s putting more pressure on her little bladder. Thank you for your support x

 

[Josie_lg]

I don’t have any more advice but I just wanted to send you a big hug. I know how awful it is hearing them being in pain. Hang in there, you‘re doing great

Thank you so much. It really is awful and it’s breaking my heart. I don’t know how much blood is too much blood either. So worrying away. I hope the antibiotics start to work soon. Thank you so much for your message. It’s nice to know I’m not on my own

 

[YvonneBlue]

Aw poor girl. I hope all she starts to improve soon. Sending healing vibes.

 

[Josie_lg]

I don’t have any more advice but I just wanted to send you a big hug. I know how awful it is hearing them being in pain. Hang in there, you‘re doing great

Thank you so much

 

[Josie_lg]

Aw poor girl. I hope all she starts to improve soon. Sending healing vibes.

Thank you

 

[Josie_lg]

Thought I would come on here and give you all an update. Poppy is doing slightly better, there is now hardly any blood in her urine! But she is still crying when weeing she is also excreting quite a few calcium deposits. I have felt them and they aren’t gritty, just powdery. I’m trying to feed her high water foods to flush out whatever is in there. But I’m worrying about the calcium. Is that what could be causing all of this. And what can we do about this? I’m ordering a water filter as I expect our water is the main culprit as I’m very careful with their diets. I just want to take her pain away. It’s so hard listening to her crying whenever she has a wee xx

 

[Claire W]

Aw bless her I wouldn’t worry if the calcium deposits are powdery and not gritty but it’s good you are getting a water filter as tap water especially in hard water areas contains a lot of minerals and calcium x

 

[YvonneBlue]

There is a thread on the forum 'Feeding the Guinea Pigs at TEAS' (sorry I don't see to be able to link it here). It's worth a read, I have adopted this diet for my piggies.

 

[Josie_lg]

Aw bless her I wouldn’t worry if the calcium deposits are powdery and not gritty but it’s good you are getting a water filter as tap water especially in hard water areas contains a lot of minerals and calcium x

Yes I cannot believe how much calcium hard water contains. Way more than feeding kale a vet told me. Are there any in particular you like or recommend? I can imagine the fact she is already swollen and inflamed down there from the infection, passing calcium is going to be painful poor thing xx

 

[Josie_lg]

There is a thread on the forum 'Feeding the Guinea Pigs at TEAS' (sorry I don't see to be able to link it here). It's worth a read, I have adopted this diet for my piggies.

I will have a look at this! Thank you