Pumpkin's medical thread

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Post   » Fri Feb 24, 2023 9:35 pm


Pumpkin is a female around 5 years old. She was treated for a UTI a few weeks ago and it seemed to have cleared up fine until recently she passed blood that looked clotted. I've had issues with bloody urine before in some of my guinea pigs in the past but I've never seen it look clotted like this.

She went to the vet today and they did an x-ray which showed she has no stones. No tumor either but I was told an x-ray isn't enough to determine that. She does have some bladder sludge which has been a problem for her in the past.

These are the pictures of the blood I found:
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I only saw the blood on the evening on Feb. 21, and when I cleaned the cage on Feb. 22.

I showed my vet these same pictures of the blood and she said it's worrisome and something more could be going on.
She wants to have an ultrasound done but as my exotic clinic does not have an ultrasound machine I need to book an appointment at a different clinic to have the ultrasound performed. I'll be making an appointment asap and I'll update after it's performed.

Also, she was spayed back in October 2022 after finding an ovarian cyst. The type of spay performed was just the removal of her ovaries.

I'm very worried and was wondering if anyone has any advice or has gone through something similar.

[Added img tags - Lynx]

bpatters
And got the T-shirt

Post   » Fri Feb 24, 2023 10:57 pm


That doesn't look like blood from the urinary tract to me. That kind of blood is almost always mixed with urine, and there will an area of diluted blood around it. Clots like that almost certainly have not been in contact with urine.

My guess is that it's from the uterus, since only her ovaries were removed. Or, it could have been an incomplete spay and part of an ovary was left.
I guess it's possible it's from her digestive tract, but I don't think I've ever heard of clots like that from the digestive tract.

The ultrasound should tell a good deal about what's going on.

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Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Fri Feb 24, 2023 11:43 pm


I agree. Definitely clots and not likely from the urinary tract (though possible).

Have you seen any other bleeding since the spay last October?

Bookfan
For the Love of Pigs

Post   » Wed Mar 01, 2023 9:14 pm


Pepper, who had a long history of bladder problems, passed blood clots that I thought were from the bladder. I'd have to go back & look at her thread for details. It never happened again.

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Post   » Fri Mar 03, 2023 7:05 pm


Pumpkin had her ultrasound done a couple days ago and they found crystals in her kidneys and a general dilation of the kidneys, especially in the right kidney. She has had problems with crystals in her bladder in the past but I did not know about them being in her kidneys. My vet informed me surgery might be an option. A surgery to remove one kidney (nephrectomy). However the vet said the surgery can end up inducing an insufficiency in the other kidney. My vet said the surgery isn't an option if there's already signs of insufficiency in the kidneys and a blood test would be needed. My vet also said it's possible that none of the vets at my clinic have done this surgery before. For now I've booked an appointment for a blood draw but I'm really unsure about the surgery.

Otherwise another option would be palliative care, fluids several times a week, omega 3 and anti inflammatory medication for pain.
I'm really not sure what I want to do, I always want to do everything I can for my guinea pigs, but the surgery makes me feel really uneasy.

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Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Fri Mar 03, 2023 11:16 pm


When you say crystals, do you mean small stones? I think of crystals as being very small and suspended and being able to pass via urine.

If you have looked at the stones page, sometimes stones form in the ureters (I think the top xray shows this):
https://www.guinealynx.info/stones.html

I am sorry she is having these problems.

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Retve

Post   » Sat Mar 04, 2023 4:11 pm


I’m going to contact my vet when they’re open next week for some clarification.

Hopefully I can get a copy of her last xray and the ultrasound images of her kidneys. I’ll post them here if so.

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Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Sat Mar 04, 2023 8:15 pm


Being able to look at the images should help clarify things for you so you can make the best choices. Good luck to you and Pumpkin!

Bookfan
For the Love of Pigs

Post   » Sun Mar 05, 2023 4:04 pm


Cystease has helped several of our pigs with cystitis and other bladder symptoms. I realize this may not be the problem here, but it might be worth a try and help her feel a little more comfortable. It has glucosamine.

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Post   » Wed Mar 08, 2023 3:14 pm


I asked the vet for clarification on”crystals” and was told it was the material that can eventually form stones, so sludge would probably be the more accurate word?

Pumpkin has been doing much worse since yesterday. Lots more blood passed and very alarming looking.

Image

She’s been in the same spot all day and doesn’t have much interest in eating. I’ve started force feeding her.

I took her back to the vet yesterday because of her condition getting worse. They took a urine and blood sample to test. The vet should hopefully be calling me tomorrow with the results.

Can sludge cause this effect? Any problems I’ve had in the past with sludge has never looked like this. I’ve never seen such thick bright red blood. Same for UTIs, the blood never looked like this. I’m worried there’s something more going on but after doing x-rays and an ultrasound I don’t know what else to do.

Here’s the xrays:
Image
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I think I forgot to mention it in the OP, but she also has arthritis, she receives cartrophen injections for it.

I’ll update the thread as soon as my vet calls me.

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Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Wed Mar 08, 2023 5:30 pm


I am cropping a section of the lower image (open view in another page for a larger image) and wondering if the pale ovals above the hip bones are stones (note: I do not have a medical background - just examining the image).

https://www.guinealynx.info/pics/Retve-e.jpg

Image

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Post   » Thu Mar 09, 2023 1:57 am


She passed away at home tonight.

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