Purdie - Blindness?

Post Reply
User avatar
Trick

Post   » Thu Aug 14, 2008 1:46 pm


After a couple of false starts with Purdie providing the vet with no pee sample, I had the fun task of obtaining one for myself. I managed after much misadventure and Purdie pig-swearing at me, but it was a tiny amount. Enough though for the vet to find a lot of blood in it.

The sample was too small for a culture to be done, but we have a prescription of Septrim (Bactrim) for her with the instructions that if there is no improvement at the weekend to get her an x-ray. We will book an x-ray with Good vet and devise a plan of action with him.

I am very worried that this is going to turn out to be bladder stones but I'm hoping for the best, that it is a UTI that the Septrim/Bactrim will fix.

User avatar
Bugs Mom

Post   » Thu Aug 14, 2008 2:52 pm


Fingers crossed for just an infection.

Tracis
Let Sleeping Pigs Lie

Post   » Thu Aug 14, 2008 4:34 pm


Sending good thoughts for lovely Purdie.

User avatar
Yuugi

Post   » Thu Aug 14, 2008 4:45 pm


Wishing for the best for Purdie! I'm going trough the same with my Momo, and hopefully will find out tommorow if it's a stone or not.

User avatar
kokiepbmommy

Post   » Thu Aug 14, 2008 5:17 pm


I hope Purdie gets better soon!

Talishan
You can quote me

Post   » Thu Aug 14, 2008 8:43 pm


Ditto to the above good wishes. That to me is the best plan of action ... try Bactrim first, then x-ray.

Good luck to her and to you.

User avatar
Trick

Post   » Thu Aug 28, 2008 3:50 pm


The Septrim didn't have much of an impact at all, and early this week after it ran out she started to really cry hard when trying to pee. I also noticed a couple of white spots in the cage for the first time in... months? Over a year? A long time anyway, and they were from Purdie as I saw her do one of them, with a diet (I think) not out of the ordinary for everyone.

Thankfully today was our appointment with our far away but super guinea pig vet. He ran several x-rays of her and did not find any evidence of bladder stones in her bladder or any lodged in her urethra. However, her bladder lining was very thickened. He compared a fresh urine sample with the one I collected late last night and while the older one had blood in it, the newer one was totally clear! We could quite clearly see the difference visually when he showed us, the older sample was decidedly pink and a bit murky looking as well.

Nothing really out of the ordinary showed up on her x-ray at all (this is a really good vet who has treated hundreds, if not more!, guinea pigs) but given the presence of blood in the older sample, our case history over the past few months, and her thickened bladder wall, he is going with a diagnosis of suspected interstitial cystitis.

Obviously I'm glad no stones are present in her at all, but this is not the diagnosis I was holding out hope for. However, we are remaining positive right now, just like Purdie always does :)

Our vet recommended a three week course of Septrim, and at least two weeks of Rimadyl. I am very glad of the latter as hopefully this will ease her discomfort. As I type, Purdie has been totally fine today! But as I have come to realise, this means nothing about what tomorrow will bring.

I have one slight snag in that because the vet didn't have Septrim in stock I had to pick it up from my local vets, and they have given me it at the dose of 0.5ml once daily, when I am pretty sure (using the GL calculator, and having found that Septrim is identical to Bactrim in chemical make-up and suspension) that she should be on 0.65ml twice daily. (Weighing as she does at just over 1kg). I'm pretty sure this is why it seemed to have so little effect before as well :/

Jon is going to phone the far away vets practise in the morning and get conformation of what our good vet wrote down as the dosage so we can know for sure. I have no problem demanding more meds when needed from the local vets!

Good vet also asked us back in exactly two weeks so he can check her progress. I'm hopeful that perhaps this extended antibiotic course will clear her up, but if it is an ongoing problem we will be talking about the best methods of prevention and treatment for her comfort. I'll be reading up on all the interstitial cystitis info and threads on Guinea Lynx in the meantime!

(PS, good vet used Purdie's x-ray to compare with a suspected heart pig in at the same time and so Purdie inadvertently helped diagnose a heart piggie - yay!)

Tracis
Let Sleeping Pigs Lie

Post   » Thu Aug 28, 2008 4:00 pm


I hope Purdie starts feeling better again soon.

A collection of IC threads:
LINKS - Interstitial Cystitis

User avatar
snowflakey
E's Moriarity

Post   » Thu Aug 28, 2008 4:21 pm


I'm glad you got a diagnosis and had a good vet visit. The treatment plan makes sense to me. Hope she's feeling better soon.

User avatar
Yuugi

Post   » Thu Aug 28, 2008 6:20 pm


I'm happy she doesn't have stones. My Momo has the same thing(and so do i) and while it's painful it can be kept somewhat under control with a good diet,increased fluids and pain meds when it flares up. I am thinking if it works for me it will work for my Momo.

I noticed also that high calcium foods made her miserable,so she's been doing very well these last two weeks without any romaine and just a sprig of parsley twice a week.

User avatar
Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Thu Aug 28, 2008 7:49 pm


I wonder if what the vet thinks is thickened walls is actually sludge. I would go for the higher dose too.

User avatar
Trick

Post   » Fri Aug 29, 2008 5:22 pm


We confirmed with the good vets practise today that the correct dose was the higher twice daily dose. Purdie is thrilled as she loves the Septrim so much, it is banana flavoured and she thinks it is the best treat in the world :)

That is definitely a possibility Lynx :/ I would guess that if the Rimadyl does not succeed in bringing the thickness of the bladder wall down after the two weeks then it is likely it could be sludge. I will definitely bring that up at the follow up appointment.

Thank you for the links tracis :) I am going to be spending this weekend reading through them all and learning up on the condition and treatments for Purdie.

Thanks for mentioning the high calcium foods Yuugi, I'm going to tamper around with the diet a bit and see if I can get a menu together that falls in the right ratio every day.

Post Reply