Diagnosed bladder sludge, still passing "gummy worms&am

Canuckenstein

Post   » Thu Aug 29, 2013 8:44 am


Hi everyone, sorry for the miserable first post. I know my Little Mouse has sludge and we cleared up a bladder infection too. We've tried to change his diet to low calcium, are hand feeding water and he passes the typical sandy-sludge.

My question, that has not been answered by anyone, is what exactly are these "gummy worms"? They're mineral sand in nature and if left for one day they dehydrate to half the size. This one is 4cm long and maybe 2.5mm wide. They have the consistency of a slightly hard gummy worm, but are more brittle, like soft cartilage. One forms every 3-4 days, ranging from 1.5cm to 4cm.

Other details, 2.5 weeks ago we began antibiotics and the UTI cleared up normally. 1.5 weeks ago Little Mouse was in such pain we went back to the vet and he pulled out the first gummy worm and prescribed Loxicom (Meloxicam). LM then passed a lot of sandy pee and has been on the pain meds ever since.

Passing sand and these things is extremely painful for him and like all of you, I don't want him to suffer if there's something we can do... and if there's nothing we can do? :(

Little Mouse is 2 years old, male, tortoise shell short hair of no fancy lineage and is not castrated.

My vet isn't a specialist and did not know the answers. Obviously answers can vary depending on the pig, but any one with experience with these "gummy worms", or a proper name for them, would be appreciated:

1. What are these?
2. Will they go away?
3. How long does a case of sludge take to clear up?

Thanks, sorry for the rambling, we've been doing 24/7 water and feedings and checking for the last 1.5 weeks and are exhausted.

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Edit: The "head" of the worm forms outside his penis, from dripping urine I assume. The smooth part is inside. I grab the head and can pull it out. Let me know if you need more detail, but I'd love to talk to anyone who knows about these things.

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Jessie
Supporter in '13

Post   » Thu Aug 29, 2013 9:06 am


Could it be dried boar glue?

I'm taking a stab in the dark as 99% of my knowledge is from caring for girls. Someone who knows more about boys is bound to answer.

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clairey

Post   » Thu Aug 29, 2013 9:12 am


That is absolutely 'boar glue' or ejaculate to be more technical. Nothing at all to worry about. If he's not great about cleaning himself up at the time, it might be an idea to keep an eye on him and clean him when necessary but it's totally normal. Is he a young boar? I only ask because it's not something my boars have really had since they were 'teenagers'. Whether they got better at cleaning or just aren't so, um, excitable, I don't know!

bpatters
And got the T-shirt

Post   » Thu Aug 29, 2013 9:14 am


Also called sperm rods, I think.

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Sef
I dissent.

Post   » Thu Aug 29, 2013 9:20 am


Yep. :)

Canuckenstein

Post   » Thu Aug 29, 2013 9:27 am


... you're telling me he's having wet dreams? :o Thanks, now we probably need a family psychiatrist and not a vet ;P

Seriously though: He's 2 years old so he's a bit past the teenager stage. These are pretty painful for him since they're happening with passing sand. It seems like he cannot urinate while one is in there. He just strains and cries until it gets far enough out for us to remove.

Is that normal for sperm rods? Could it be related to the pain or the process of passing all the sludge? Do you think the pain meds are err, relaxing his inhibitions?

What do you guys recommend, just continuing with the pain meds, a low calcium diet and wait and see at this point?

Canuckenstein

Post   » Thu Aug 29, 2013 9:52 am


Addendum to previous post: Castration looks like a viable treatment? Anyone with experience on this?

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Sef
I dissent.

Post   » Thu Aug 29, 2013 9:57 am


What exactly is his diet, pellet-wise and veggie-wise?

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Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Thu Aug 29, 2013 10:00 am


Your photos are nice and crisp. Let me know if I can add them permanently to your thread so they will be available to other readers in the distant future.

You mention sand. When your boar pees, do you see whitish gritty calcium deposits? You might want to read this page and review your diet.

www.guinealynx.info/.html

Canuckenstein

Post   » Thu Aug 29, 2013 11:04 am


We know all about diet, stones, sludge, kidneys and acceptable antibiotics and painkillers now :) I've always had boars and never seen this problem, so only now did I have to get up to speed!

I just knew that something else was up.

His diet *has been* Oxbow pellets, unlimited timothy hay, and his main treats are cukes, with fresh grass and dandelions in season and things like lettuce, parsley, basil, apple, celery, etc. all in moderation because our boys are fat. We never strictly monitored the calcium intake because it wasn't a problem. This summer perhaps dandelions, clover and other "bad things" were probably more frequent. Anyhow.

*Now* his diet is much more selective. Limited pellets, no high calcium dandelions or parsley, etc., a bit of cranberry juice every day to help the UTIs, wetted timothy hay, and wet treats like watermelon to encourage more water intake. All in moderation, of course.

Please, do add the photos. Maybe, if you can, also add stupid key words for this problem too. I had a really hard time searching because I was assuming that this was a mass of pus + grit from the first infection and sludge problems. Stupid terms like: worms, string, white spaghetti thing, etc.

We'll be looking in to castration tomorrow. We know of at least one exotic specialist vet in the area.

Thanks again everyone, your fast replies were really wonderful!

Edit: Or actually, why isn't this a photo featured problem under medical and health? I checked GuineaLynx first, but only got stones and sludge! You guys are THE resource, you know ;)

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Jessie
Supporter in '13

Post   » Thu Aug 29, 2013 7:55 pm


For low calcium you need to cut out Dandelion, Parsley and Celery as they're all high calcium content.

Maybe try cutting out pellets too. It made a massive difference for us. We tried Oxbow pellets, and they gave more sludge than the Burgess we were using. We're now pellet free and seeing the best results yet. Here's our diet and regime.

bpatters
And got the T-shirt

Post   » Thu Aug 29, 2013 8:56 pm


Ditto Jessie. It wasn't until I cut out pellets altogether that I got the calcium under control. And I was using KMS pellets, which don't have limestone as their calcium source.

I don't the the cranberry juice will do anything. In humans, it makes the urine slightly more acidic, but herbivores don't have acidic urine to start with. My theory is that you'd have to give a LOT of cranberry juice to tip it over to the acidic side. That's just my theory, mind you, and I have no way to prove it.

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