Snowy has possible bumblefoot :(

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Sef
I dissent.

Post   » Fri Jun 28, 2013 9:43 am


We believe the stone is from the urinary tract, and somehow lodged in the vagina as she was passing it.
That would make sense. I was wondering how in the heck she could have formed a stone in her vagina. Either way, ouch.

Very glad to hear she's recovering well. :)

CF7

Post   » Fri Jun 28, 2013 10:22 am


I had two pigs with vaginal stones removed within a month of each other. One of them was the heart pig in my cardiomyopathy thread. I mentioned in that post she passed the stone, but it was actually removed from the vagina by the vet. I figured it wasn't really pertinent to her heart issues, and the post was already long, so I didn't want to get into the details about it.

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Delaine
Supporter in '14

Post   » Fri Jun 28, 2013 12:35 pm


Would a stone show up on an X-ray better than on an ultrasound? I keep pushing the stone issue but when this nonsense all started last August her X-ray showed no stones or sludge. I just had an ultrasound done on Abbey and it was totally normal. The vet I go to is the exotic vet in the area my local vets would refer me to.

Abbey's vet is pushing to have her spayed to rule out any reproductive issues. Compared to an ultrasound spaying is very reasonable but I still feel any operation is risky and what if I put her through a spay and we still have problems? I really would like to know what the problem is before I randomly start doing surgeries.

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Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Fri Jun 28, 2013 9:07 pm


I would definitely have an xray before doing a spay. Xrays generally do a better job of showing stones.

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Delaine
Supporter in '14

Post   » Sat Jun 29, 2013 12:37 am


Thanks Lynx:

The last x-ray she had was about 10 months ago. The ultrasound was less than 3 weeks ago.

The vet keeps insisting stones or sludge is not the issue and right now my girls urine is pretty good and free of sludge. Would a bladder tumor show up on an ultrasound?

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Delaine
Supporter in '14

Post   » Sat Jun 29, 2013 12:46 am


Jessie:

I am so glad you were able to resolve Snowy's problem. You must feel so relieved that Snowy is feeling comfortable.

I have only seen Abbey look uncomfortable twice. Most of the time you wouldn't think she had a problem, except for the blood. Right now her urine looks clear but tests positive for blood.

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Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Sat Jun 29, 2013 7:52 am


I am guessing a bladder tumor would show up on an ultrasound.

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Sef
I dissent.

Post   » Sat Jun 29, 2013 9:06 am


I had two pigs with vaginal stones removed within a month of each other.


I'd be really interested to hear more about that (feel free to email me if you'd rather not post here about it). Were they calcium carbonate stones? Did your vet think the stones actually formed in the vagina vs. somehow migrated there?

CF7

Post   » Sat Jun 29, 2013 1:48 pm


The first one, in the heart pig, was so far along that it didn't even show up on the first x-ray because the tailbone was just outside the image zone of the machine. The vet said she popped it out very easily while the pig was sedated for the first echocardiogram. We never sent it for testing, and I never really questioned where it had originated. I just assumed it had formed in the bladder.

The second pig's stone was much smaller, maybe 1-2 millimeters in diameter at most, and it was further up, so it was slightly more difficult to pull out, but they got that one as well. That one was tested and came back calcium carbonate.

I wonder if maybe the location of the urethral opening (the pee hole) can have a slightly different location from one female pig to another. Maybe the most logical explanation is that a stone formed in the bladder, passed through the urethra, and instead of landing in a puddle of pee on the bottom of the cage, it somehow got stuck in the vagina and had to be removed by a human.

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Jessie
Supporter in '13

Post   » Sat Jun 29, 2013 5:11 pm


Would a stone show up on an X-ray better than on an ultrasound?
My vet says x-rays far outweigh ultrasound when it comes to stones. It was one of the things she mentioned during her talk at the rescue party a few weeks ago.

Ultrasounds are great for assessing soft tissue, like tumors, kidneys etc, but they can miss stones.

The vet could tell the exact position of Snowy's stone, which needed no surgery. If she hadn't had the exact position, Snowy could have been operated on for no reason.

Having a knowledgeable vet makes a difference. I looked back at Snowy's first x-rays and the difference in quality is amazing. The original x-ray doesn't have as much detail as the new ones. During the visit the vet showed me Snowy's heart, Lungs, bladder, full of food gut, and the position of her Kidneys. The kidneys weren't clearly visible, but the vet said she could say 100% that there were no stones in them.

Xray by bad vet
Image

Xray by new vet
Image

I'm not convinced that the first x-ray shows enough detail. I'm wondering if the stone was there from the beginning of the UTI saga.

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Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Sat Jun 29, 2013 10:24 pm


There are definitely different techniques for taking xrays. And different equipment these days. I like the second one too. Would you like them added permanently to your thread?

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Jessie
Supporter in '13

Post   » Sun Jun 30, 2013 6:41 pm


Yes please Lynx. I hope from the comparison they can see the difference having a cavy savvy vet can make. It's taken a year, but now that I've found one only an hour away, I feel a lot more confident about caring for the girls properly.

Snowy update - she's been on dark blue fleece while on her mini break. I gave it a good check over for powder, and there's none! She had a few really powdery deposits last week, but over this weekend they seem to have reduced dramatically.

Just in case anyone is trying to sift through all of the info, here's Snowy's current diet and meds.

6 burgess pellets per dish per feed
Dried Tomato flakes, pepper flakes, dried beetroot flakes, flaked peas (100g of each in mix, 1 tbsp per pig per feed)
Leafy lettuce
Cucumber
Pepper
Occasional tomato
Occasional blueberry or other low calcium fruit

Britta filtered water (my water supply is soft water)

20mg Potassium Citrate EP, twice daily.
1/4 Feline Urinary Support supplement twice daily http://www.nutravet.co.uk/cats/nutracys-plus
0.15cc metacam once a day

For the potassium citrate, we mix one level teaspoon with the same amount of water until fully dissolved, and draw 0.02cc into a syringe to get 0.02g or 20mg.

I've been reading the stone study thread, and the bacteria mentioned in the report is the same as Snowy's culture grew last year.

The lovely Foster Daddy who has been looking after the girls this weekend is the person who can test the stone for me. I've said Oxilates and Carbonates. Is there anything else of interest we should look for? My guess would be that it's calcium oxilate.

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