Niko 2 1/2 yr old sow blood in urine

[Lynx]

Are they soft? Do they smell strongly? Are you weighing daily right now? Are you noticing a change in weight? Is she getting adequate fluids?

Do weigh daily right now. Consider soaking a handful of hay in water, feeding it and removing what is left after an hour or so.

[hbee]

They are soft, not unusually soft, but they are thin. I have noticed her weight is going down and she has a full water bottle that looks like she has not drunk much of. I gave her some water from a syringe and I am trying the soaked hay right now. She is eating most of the veggies, but less than she would normally and I give her the same amount every night.

[Lynx]

If she is loosing weight, I recommend hand feeding. The usual reason for losing weight is just not eating enough. Not eating enough will cause the poops to be smaller and sometimes they have a "tail".

Most guinea pigs really enjoy hay that is soaked. I hope she does and that it helps rehydrate her.
www.guinealynx.info/handfeeding.html

[hbee]

It's been a while since we've needed help with Niko, she has had numerous UTI's due to her calcium sludge problem when she urinates - we have her on Metacam and Tramadol and that has been working but I fear she is in pain and it is breaking through the meds. I have noticed she is having these shakes, feels like she has the chills. She will vibrate for a little bit and then stop and then it will happen again. I also noticed her bottom front teeth are worn down in the middle, kind of like a "U" shape. Perhaps she is chewing from being in pain? She is otherwise happy. She does get critical care every day and a fresh salad as well as pellets and lots of timothy hay. She seems to eat well and drink plenty. She does lay down a lot and sleeps in her fleece tunnel...I just got her a twig tunnel that she has started chewing on. She does chew on the bars of her cage but it is just for a few minutes when I am making the salads. Just wanted to know what everyone thinks about this...Is this an emergent issue for the vet? I just went through cancer and my funds are low so I have to wait a bit to get her to the vet but if you guys think it is emergent I will find a way.

[Lynx]

What kind of pellets and what kind of greens are in the salad? It is possible the bar chewing is contributing to the wear pattern you are seeing on her bottom front teeth.

[hbee]

She eats the Oxbow Essentials for pellets and green leaf or red leaf lettuce usually maybe romaine in the salad.

[Sef]

Is she maintaining her normal weight? Sludge is a particular problem for guinea pigs that are less active. What is her age? You mentioned that she lays around a lot. Is that something new for her? Remind me, does she have a companion?

[hbee]

She is surprisingly staying in 900 range which is her normal. She is 6 years old and she started laying around more when she started getting the UTI's all the time. Her companion (sister) passed away a few years ago. I got another piggy, but she is not friendly to Niko and so they have their cages right next to each other. I also don't want another pig to pick up the UTI's since they are so frequent with her bladder issues. I use coconut oil on her lady bits to remove the deposits that get stuck there and she is getting water that is double filtered to try to reduce the calcium. I try to give her a low calcium diet.

[hbee]

I am so sad. I lost Niko on Saturday and I cannot stop crying. She would have been 8 in November. We had such a bond, I will miss her terribly. I cannot bring myself to clean out her cage,for some reason I feel like I can't yet. Is this normal - like does anyone else have such strong emotions when they lose a piggie? My boyfriend took her to the vet for flaky skin and she had lost a little weight, but that morning she was begging for her vitamin C cookie and was eating good and was greeting me...she passed at the vet's office suddenly. My boyfriend was paying for the visit and he just happened to look behind him to check on her and she was on her side - the receptionist ran back to the operating room and the vet came out and grabbed Niko. I guess they were trying to revive her but could not bring her back. This may sound weird but I asked for my BF to bring her back home so I could pet her. I just needed some kind of closure. Just to see her with my own eyes that she was gone or something. The vet made me a paw print in clay and I brought her back for cremation yesterday. OMG I am crying as I right this. This is so hard...

[Bookfan]

I'm so sorry. I think we all get done in when we lose one of our babies. After our 1st pig died & was buried I was rooting around for pieces of her fur anywhere I could find them just to have something of her. Not weird for you to want to see her.

Eight years is a nice long life. Out of about 14 we've only had 1 live that long. However, the longer they live, the closer the bond.

Niko had a good home and was well loved. She's romping at the rainbow bridge.

[Lynx]

Oh, I am so sorry you lost her, hbee. It sounds sudden and not expected.

She was so well-loved by you. What a wonderful 8 years you shared together.

[Renonvsparky]

I'm very sorry to hear about Niko. 8 years is a very good, long life. The fact that she lived that long is a testament to you and the care you gave her. When it comes to our fur babies, nothing we do to help cope with the loss is abnormal. Some people keep some of their hair, some go days, weeks or even months without removing their cage. Others go right out and adopt a new guinea pig to take care of as a way to handle the grief, while others wait long or don't get another pig at all.

As for me, I removed Scruffy's cage immediately because I was supposed to be going on a trip to New York for the Christmas holiday. Had I not been leaving on that trip, I would have adopted another pig to go in it the next day. I adopted BJ within a few days of returning home. As with Scruffy, he was meant to be my guinea pig. I had been looking in on him at the humane society for a couple of weeks before I lost Scruffy and he was still waiting to be adopted. I have no idea why as he's such a sweet boy! I also have other guinea pigs who helped me get through my grief.