Bladder / urinary infection
- Ibepatience
- Supporter in '13
So I haven’t got the X-ray copies yet, I’ll call again today to try to get them, but I did talk to my regular vet last night. She said there’s definitely the beginnings of stones in her bladder. She said she is comfortable doing surgery but I’m still not convinced. She said we could try to break the stones down with a high acidic diet and doing sub-q fluids 1-2x a day and see if that works. She said if the antibiotics are upsetting her stomach I can discontinue them since they’re obviously not going to do anything for the stone and the infection is just a symptom of the stone. She’s still eating and maintaining her (low) weight, my question is am I being selfish prolonging her suffering? I don’t think there’s a very good chance we can break up the stones and I know she’s uncomfortable. When do I call it quits and let her go?
- Sef
- I dissent.
I agree. Of all surgeries to have on a guinea pig, bladder stone removal is relatively straight-forward as long as there are no stones in ureters or in the urethra, and as long as the guinea pig is in good health otherwise. Having a decent vet is a must, of course. Does your vet not think the stones can be passed? Females can often do pass smaller stones; with males, it's not as common.
Acidifying the diet hasn't been shown to help, as far as I know.
Acidifying the diet hasn't been shown to help, as far as I know.
- Ibepatience
- Supporter in '13
My vet thinks surgery would be ok, I think I just have only heard bad bladder stone surgeries and went through one that our pig didn’t make it through. She had surgery about 6 months ago on a growth on her chin with this vet and did very well, she’s also spayed but that was done when she was younger. Maybe I should consider it, it’s definite not because of cost it’s 100% fear.
- Ibepatience
- Supporter in '13
I gave Faith some sub-q fluids (they gave me some to do at home) and she seems VERY perky tonight! She’s standing at the side of her cage begging for veggies! When I took out her fleece bed (I’m changing it several times a day to keep her clean) I found this poop. Is that mucus or is it some of the sludge / stones coming out? Her urine is cloudy white too.
https://photos.app.goo.www.guinealynx.info/
[added crop of photo - Lynx]
https://photos.app.goo.www.guinealynx.info/
[added crop of photo - Lynx]
- Ibepatience
- Supporter in '13
Here’s a photo is the cloudy urine. It’s finally not tinged with blood!
https://photos.app.goo.www.guinealynx.info/
https://photos.app.goo.www.guinealynx.info/
- Ibepatience
- Supporter in '13