Water infection?

[Jo83]

Hi just wondering if anyone with any experience of water infections could help.
My boy Milo has had 2 lots of antibiotics & an X-ray to rule out bladder stones but he’s still squeaking when going to toilet, other than that he’s absolutely fine, eating, drinking and behaving completely normal, I don’t like to think he may be in pain but don’t know where to go from here!

 

[Piggies&buns]

Is he on painkillers?

There is a condition called sterile cystitis. It’s non bacterial so will not respond to antibiotics. It cannot be cured but instead only managed with diet and glucosamine. Concluding that a piggy has this condition is more by ruling out everything else and when a few courses of different types of antibiotics have not cured it.

Do contact your vet again because it may be a different antibiotic is needed (if his previous two courses were of the same type) before considering sterile cystitis.

I hope you can get him feeling better

 

[Jo83]

Not anymore, they finished at the end of last week, was taking metacam & baytrill which seemed to do the trick as it stopped while he was taking them but I’m guessing that was the painkillers maybe rather than the antibiotics

 

[Free Ranger]

I've had short and long courses of antibiotics at high and low doses - there is quite a range that can be prescribed. Infections can persist and sometimes repeat courses are necessary. My vet says this is not that unusual - esp with Baytril as it has been such a good workhorse for so long that resistance is appearing.

The effects of antibiotics are usually seen between 1 and 3 days... typically 24-36 hours after the first dose you can see improvement. Then piggy seems 'better' till the end of the course but within a few days of it finishing there can be a return of symptoms if there are residual bacteria which the ABs have knocked down but not knocked out! If it was just the painkillers you would have seen a difference within 20 mins of the first dose and symptoms might re-appear late in the day as that dose wears off. But my money would be on AB. If Milo has sterile IC the antibiotics wouldn't have made any difference at all to his symptoms and although metacam would have eased things a little he wouldn't be 'cured' by it... owners of IC pigs have to manage the flare-ups of this condition carefully so if it was just a case of more painkiller these pigs wouldn't have a problem.

If Milo improved initially and you thought he was cured until a few days after stopping meds I would phone vet and explain. They can either give a longer course of Baytril (one of my girls was on it for nearly 3 weeks, and then a week later back on it for nearly 3 weeks again but it worked in the end! And each time she improved within a day or 2 of starting the course) Or they might try a different AB. Or a different dose. It depends on how he tolerates the ABs - my long term girl was fine physically although she hated the taste but I followed up her morning and evening doses with the metacam which she loved. The vet might not even charge a consult fee second time around as the treatment hasn't cleared the condition... it's worth asking on the phone. But I'd go back to the vet.

Good luck Milo - and if you're an older boy (like 4+) get the vet to check for any signs of impaction as that is what triggered a UTI in my boy George... the only one he's ever had!

 

[Jo83]

Thanks so much for your help both, I will definitely go back to the vets, I seem to be there all the time at the moment But as long as they’re ok, just relieved it wasn’t bladder stones!
Thanks again