another issues just showed up. I found my female pig whining (what i believe is slight pain. the same kind of whining my male pig was doing and found out it was stones a few weeks after) when she went to a corner to pee. it wasn't loud but you had to really put your ear as close as possible to hear.
that isn't the worse part about it. there was blood coming out. the picture I attach shows no fresh poop so I assume it was all from peeing since i took this picture rght as she left the corner. super unfortunate since we just resolved the hormone issue (which she has been super happy since. no issues presented that i was aware of). plus, she loves to drink water so she pees pretty frequently.
Eye ulcer snd vet visit
she well could of developed a stone since the last time she had an xray was back in august 2021 (when she was having her hair loose and suspected it could be an ovarion cyst). The vet did palpate her ovaries and she felt something. after the hormone injections, she was not able to feel anything in her ovaries anymore and hair started growing back a few weeks after till all her hair was back to normal.
if it isn't a stone, can other things like UTI cause bleeding with pain? i still want to do another x ray to confirm no stones but i just want other things that can cause blood with pain while peeing.
if UTI can cause something like this too, is septin the better meds for it as well?
if it isn't a stone, can other things like UTI cause bleeding with pain? i still want to do another x ray to confirm no stones but i just want other things that can cause blood with pain while peeing.
if UTI can cause something like this too, is septin the better meds for it as well?
i hope it is a UTI because if it is a stone, she is turning about 6 years old so there wouldn't be anything i can do to resolve the issue aside from painkillers and making her comfortable.
Get the x-ray asap. Take it from me. Sammy had the same symptoms and I lost him because I let the vet convince me that he didn't have a stone because they couldn't "feel" it when they palpatated his bladder. If I had insisted on that x-ray on his first vet visit, he might have stood a chance. I say might because when they finally took the picture after 3 visits and several hundred dollars, it was the size of a tic tac and the surgery would have been pretty risky at that point because of his age and the size of the stone. His condition deteriorated very quickly, but when I took him in for the first visit, he was still pretty strong, hadn't lost that much weight yet and stood a much better chance of getting through surgery. You can see the xray on his medical thread.
https://www.guinealynx.info/forums/viewt ... 6&start=40
Whether or not they could have successfully removed it, I'll never know, but at least I could have saved him some of the pain and suffering he went through while they treated him for a misdiagnosed UTI. I still can't forgive myself and I don't want anyone else to ever feel this way, so get that x-ray as soon as you possibly can so that if it is a bladder stone, you can at least treat the pain so your pig doesn't suffer while you make the determination on what to do for her.
https://www.guinealynx.info/forums/viewt ... 6&start=40
Whether or not they could have successfully removed it, I'll never know, but at least I could have saved him some of the pain and suffering he went through while they treated him for a misdiagnosed UTI. I still can't forgive myself and I don't want anyone else to ever feel this way, so get that x-ray as soon as you possibly can so that if it is a bladder stone, you can at least treat the pain so your pig doesn't suffer while you make the determination on what to do for her.
Trust me, I wasn't gonna leave the vet till an xray was done to rule that out. Just dropped her off, just waiting till she is seen
so xray showed a small stone sadly. i got Metacam (0.15ml twice a day for 1 week, after 1 week just once a day) for pain and enrofloxacin (0.16ml twice a day for 2 weeks) for inflammation. pretty sure these were the same meds i got for my male pig when he had his stone. any meds i may be missing for this situation?
they tried to collect a urine sample per my request to make sure she don't have an ongoing infection (just incase) but urine was not enough sadly. i don't know if i should go back in a few days while my female pig recovers from the stress she may have experienced at the vet. kind of concerned about it. let me know your advice for this one.
they recommended me to reduce her calcium intake (trust me i was thinking about this the second i dropped her off) on veggies. the only veggies i give her is green/red lettuce twice a day and a different color bell peppers around night time everyday. very few times i give her a small piece of banana (only fruit i have seen her really love) and very rare a may give 1 strand or 2 of parsley because of the high calcium contents so i am careful with this. oxbow pellets every other day. i don't believe the veggies i give her are super high in calcium but the pellets are my concern for this. i feel i should reduce her pellet intake some more while increasing her veggie intake instead with more opportunities for her to drink more water (she is already a drinking machine at times). every time i switch the extra fleece i place on top of the location of her pig hut, it always has powdery substances. not every time but they are there.
if the veggies are not the issue, maybe she is a sensitive pig towards pellets? i want to reduce the pellets and see if I notice less powder at least because i have no experience in taking care of a piggy with no access to pellets (I know it is possible but have no clue on it).
something important to note just for reminders, she is nearing 6 years of age so i feel surgery is not the play here unfortunately.
my male pig passed away the night he got his stone surgery done and he was also 5 years of age so it does hurt allot more she is end of 5 years of age and also developed a stone. i hoped this would never happen.
any advice is appreciated.
they tried to collect a urine sample per my request to make sure she don't have an ongoing infection (just incase) but urine was not enough sadly. i don't know if i should go back in a few days while my female pig recovers from the stress she may have experienced at the vet. kind of concerned about it. let me know your advice for this one.
they recommended me to reduce her calcium intake (trust me i was thinking about this the second i dropped her off) on veggies. the only veggies i give her is green/red lettuce twice a day and a different color bell peppers around night time everyday. very few times i give her a small piece of banana (only fruit i have seen her really love) and very rare a may give 1 strand or 2 of parsley because of the high calcium contents so i am careful with this. oxbow pellets every other day. i don't believe the veggies i give her are super high in calcium but the pellets are my concern for this. i feel i should reduce her pellet intake some more while increasing her veggie intake instead with more opportunities for her to drink more water (she is already a drinking machine at times). every time i switch the extra fleece i place on top of the location of her pig hut, it always has powdery substances. not every time but they are there.
if the veggies are not the issue, maybe she is a sensitive pig towards pellets? i want to reduce the pellets and see if I notice less powder at least because i have no experience in taking care of a piggy with no access to pellets (I know it is possible but have no clue on it).
something important to note just for reminders, she is nearing 6 years of age so i feel surgery is not the play here unfortunately.
my male pig passed away the night he got his stone surgery done and he was also 5 years of age so it does hurt allot more she is end of 5 years of age and also developed a stone. i hoped this would never happen.
any advice is appreciated.
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bpatters
- And got the T-shirt
Some pigs are just prone to stones. A few have even developed stones within three weeks of having them removed.
You can modify the diet, but I'm not optimistic about that helping. I would completely stop the parsley, and avoid herbs in general. Also avoid romaine lettuce. It's not particularly high in calcium, but it does cause excess urinary calcium in some pigs although not in all.
As far as I know, the best two things you can do are to drastically increase her water intake, and make me be more active. The more she moves, the more likely the sludge in the bladder is to be peed out rather than clumping into a stone.
You can modify the diet, but I'm not optimistic about that helping. I would completely stop the parsley, and avoid herbs in general. Also avoid romaine lettuce. It's not particularly high in calcium, but it does cause excess urinary calcium in some pigs although not in all.
As far as I know, the best two things you can do are to drastically increase her water intake, and make me be more active. The more she moves, the more likely the sludge in the bladder is to be peed out rather than clumping into a stone.
How drastic are we talking? Like a syringe with 1 ml of water twice a day kind of drastic or more?
My fear is that the stone won't let urine pass as fast and in term bloat her bladder which is super uncomfortable (from personal experience)
My fear is that the stone won't let urine pass as fast and in term bloat her bladder which is super uncomfortable (from personal experience)
What did they say about removing it? I saw where you said that she's 6 years old, but age isn't as big a factor as her health. If her weight is good and she's otherwise healthy, there's probably a good chance that she'll get through the surgery. I wouldn't rule it out based solely on her age. There's also quality of life after surgery to consider. What is the chance that she'll get another one? I would think its pretty low if she's never had them before and you reduce the calcium content in her diet and have her be more active as was suggested by bpatters. I'm not qualified to advise on that. I would suggest talking to the vet about it. Like I said about Sammy, his condition deteriorated very quickly. The sooner you decide, the better. Once they get to a certain point, it's too late and ending their suffering becomes the only option.
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Sef
- I dissent.
What kind of Oxbow pellets are you feeding? Oxbow removed calcium carbonate from a couple of their formulas, but the Organics still has it. Some of us who have had issues with bladder stones over the years suspect there *could* be a correlation between the formation of stones and that particular ingredient in pellets for those pigs who might be predisposed.
I would highly suggest using filtered water if you aren't already doing so. I might also suggest putting multiple water bottles in her cage at different heights to further encourage fluid intake. Letting her have regular floor time, if practical, might also be beneficial in helping to prevent additional stones.
I'm not sure I would agree with the use of enrofloxacin. Bactrim tends to be a better choice for UTIs in guinea pigs, and she may have one concurrent with the stone. It's not all that uncommon. Do monitor her closely to make sure it doesn't cause her any issues as Baytril/enrofloxacin tend to be hard on the gut. What is her weight?
Does your vet think the stone is small enough to pass? Six is not *very* old but not young, either, for any kind of surgery. My main concern would be with the anesthesia. I lost Amos (also 6) to stone surgery two years ago, but he was not in good overall health at the time and there were complications (the stone had adhered). If your girl is in good health otherwise, it's worth discussing it with your veterinarian to see how comfortable he/she would be in going ahead with it if the stone can't be passed.
One thing that some here have used with mixed results, is Shilintong. If there is a chance that the stone can be passed, Shilintong can help reduce pain and inflammation and potentially help it to pass. I've actually used it myself for stubborn UTIs.
As far as recurrence, bpatters is correct: stones do tend to recur, sometimes quickly. We adopted a little guy a few years ago who developed three stones roughly a month apart. Sadly, we felt as though we couldn't put his little body through another surgery and made the tough choice to have him put to sleep. With males, though (as all of mine have been), stones tend not to pass on their own.
I would highly suggest using filtered water if you aren't already doing so. I might also suggest putting multiple water bottles in her cage at different heights to further encourage fluid intake. Letting her have regular floor time, if practical, might also be beneficial in helping to prevent additional stones.
I'm not sure I would agree with the use of enrofloxacin. Bactrim tends to be a better choice for UTIs in guinea pigs, and she may have one concurrent with the stone. It's not all that uncommon. Do monitor her closely to make sure it doesn't cause her any issues as Baytril/enrofloxacin tend to be hard on the gut. What is her weight?
Does your vet think the stone is small enough to pass? Six is not *very* old but not young, either, for any kind of surgery. My main concern would be with the anesthesia. I lost Amos (also 6) to stone surgery two years ago, but he was not in good overall health at the time and there were complications (the stone had adhered). If your girl is in good health otherwise, it's worth discussing it with your veterinarian to see how comfortable he/she would be in going ahead with it if the stone can't be passed.
One thing that some here have used with mixed results, is Shilintong. If there is a chance that the stone can be passed, Shilintong can help reduce pain and inflammation and potentially help it to pass. I've actually used it myself for stubborn UTIs.
As far as recurrence, bpatters is correct: stones do tend to recur, sometimes quickly. We adopted a little guy a few years ago who developed three stones roughly a month apart. Sadly, we felt as though we couldn't put his little body through another surgery and made the tough choice to have him put to sleep. With males, though (as all of mine have been), stones tend not to pass on their own.
She has never had a stone before.
I used to use kms hayloft pellets but since I was never able to get another one due to them running out I went with oxbow since this forum said it was the next best thing.
The vet only mentioned it was a small stone and I had requested to speak with her when they brought her back but was too busy to come back out (I was squeezed in but I never met with her in person. She only called me and discussed it with me). I wanted to have her repeat her findings and ask her a bit more on the stones position. Was told she would call be back yesterday but she never did. Now they are closed sadly which does tick me off when I think about it.
I'll check the ingredients list for my oxbow in a few for calcium carbonate.
She has been in good health (to my understanding) aside from the whole ovarian cyst thing. Once those hormone injections were administered, she got her hairs back and mood improved tremendously.
Reason why I said since she is about 6 years old and surgery would probably be a bad idea was because of past comments saying the older a pig is, the harder performing surgery is and seeing how it went with my male pig's stone surgery in the best incision outcome and still passed away that same night, makes me feel scared to do so.
I'll re weight her since she is due a weight in today.
I used to use kms hayloft pellets but since I was never able to get another one due to them running out I went with oxbow since this forum said it was the next best thing.
The vet only mentioned it was a small stone and I had requested to speak with her when they brought her back but was too busy to come back out (I was squeezed in but I never met with her in person. She only called me and discussed it with me). I wanted to have her repeat her findings and ask her a bit more on the stones position. Was told she would call be back yesterday but she never did. Now they are closed sadly which does tick me off when I think about it.
I'll check the ingredients list for my oxbow in a few for calcium carbonate.
She has been in good health (to my understanding) aside from the whole ovarian cyst thing. Once those hormone injections were administered, she got her hairs back and mood improved tremendously.
Reason why I said since she is about 6 years old and surgery would probably be a bad idea was because of past comments saying the older a pig is, the harder performing surgery is and seeing how it went with my male pig's stone surgery in the best incision outcome and still passed away that same night, makes me feel scared to do so.
I'll re weight her since she is due a weight in today.
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