possible urine scald
Well, we've just got back from a very long(and very expensive) emergency vet trip. The blood in the urine came back, with very little urine output. The emergency vet did an ultrasound, and found 'suspicious shadowing' in her bladder. I got an x-ray, and they couldn't see any stones. We now left with metacam, and baytril. Any thoughts?
To be honest, i think i was just freaking myself out. She wasn't peeing much, and a tint of blood was back in her urine. But, about half way to the emergency vets, she EXPLODED pee on me. Which was good, but i still wanted to get her x-rayed just to be safe.
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- You can quote me
I'm going to take a guess that she passed a stone, or perhaps even more likely a clot of congealed sludge, when she exploded.
Is she urinating normally now?
You probably know this but use probiotics with Baytril. Please keep us posted on how she's doing.
The 'shadowing' could be more sludge, or possibly interstitial cystitis. Also possibly a tumor, but I'd consider that the least likely of the three.
The vibration from the car ride may have helped her more than anything else. Consider getting a vibrating massage pillow-type thingy for her. You could also just put her on a thin pillow or clean, soft folded-up towel, and hold her on top of your washer on spin cycle. If she'll tolerate it, it might help loosen sludge for passage before it gets into an uncomfortably -- or blocking-ly -- large clump.
Without reading back, does she drink well?
Is she urinating normally now?
You probably know this but use probiotics with Baytril. Please keep us posted on how she's doing.
The 'shadowing' could be more sludge, or possibly interstitial cystitis. Also possibly a tumor, but I'd consider that the least likely of the three.
The vibration from the car ride may have helped her more than anything else. Consider getting a vibrating massage pillow-type thingy for her. You could also just put her on a thin pillow or clean, soft folded-up towel, and hold her on top of your washer on spin cycle. If she'll tolerate it, it might help loosen sludge for passage before it gets into an uncomfortably -- or blocking-ly -- large clump.
Without reading back, does she drink well?
No, she does not. It's almost a running joke in my house. She'll wheek, and it'll be a sad, croaky wheek. We all yell, "Ginger, get a drink!". I've been syringing her about 10-12 CC's of water a day since this happened.
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- You can quote me
Try offering her some unflavored Pedialyte, if you haven't tried that yet. Many pigs love the taste of it and will drink more of it more readily than water via syringe.
Also, give her thoroughly, dripping, sopping wet greens, and the ribs (center stem) of leaf lettuces. Those have a lot of water in them.
Also, give her thoroughly, dripping, sopping wet greens, and the ribs (center stem) of leaf lettuces. Those have a lot of water in them.
I guess I was thinking of the cranberry-ish one for UTIs. But wouldn't the acidity in the cranberry also help with sludge?
- LS in AK
- Upside-down & Backwards
Just a note on the Oxbow urinary support tabs: they contain dandelion leaf, which often causes sludge in calcium challenged pigs.
I have observed an increase in chalky deposits in past pigs in response to feeding the tabs.
So, don't go that direction in treating Ginger-pig.
Frankly, I don't know what Oxbow was thinking in putting the ingredients together for that product.
I have observed an increase in chalky deposits in past pigs in response to feeding the tabs.
So, don't go that direction in treating Ginger-pig.
Frankly, I don't know what Oxbow was thinking in putting the ingredients together for that product.
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- You can quote me
Shoot. I'm glad you posted that. That's about the last thing that needs to be in a urinary support tablet for a guinea pig.
Dandelion is supposed to ease urinary discomfort (muscle relaxation? I think; some mechanism, anyway), but has way too much calcium to be used for that purpose in a cavy.
Dandelion is supposed to ease urinary discomfort (muscle relaxation? I think; some mechanism, anyway), but has way too much calcium to be used for that purpose in a cavy.