Nibbles Medical Thread

IssaG

Post   » Mon Feb 04, 2019 4:21 pm


Hopefully this will be the only thing I'll ever have to post in this thread!

Nibbles has a bladder stone. So far she's in good health. No wheaking or obvious pain just the red urine and tender abdomen. Her vet wants us to try Shilintong. The vet said she's used it in guineas and rabbits and found female guineas respond well to it. She's also put Nibbles on a strict diet of specific veggies. Poor thing as she, like her name suggests, likes just about any fruit or veggie given to her. So I have no questions about the stone or treatment at this time.

However I was also given Meloxicam for pain as needed. My question is how do I tell she is in pain? Is it just wheaking when trying to urinate or straining? I want to get on top of the pain when it's there but not dose her with this if she doen't need it yet.

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Lynx
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Post   » Mon Feb 04, 2019 5:00 pm


Look over this page:
www.guinealynx.info/pain.html

As a general rule, bladder stones do not go away (rare). Sometimes, if small, especially for a female (larger urethra), they can pass a stone. But surgery is usually required as they are painful and in may block the passage of urine (an emergency).
www.guinealynx.info/stones.html

IssaG

Post   » Tue Feb 05, 2019 11:41 am


Thanks Lynx, that is exactly what I needed and couldn't find the first time.

Yes, my vet had done a lot of stone removal on rodents but has seen success in some of her guineas and rabbits passing stones with this herb. So we decided to try it and just see what happens.

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Lynx
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Post   » Tue Feb 05, 2019 2:28 pm


Keep us informed! I certainly do wish you success. Absolutely watch for signs of pain and make sure she is peeing or things could go south quickly.

IssaG

Post   » Mon Feb 11, 2019 3:11 pm


Not much of an update but we received the supplement and she's been on it and pain meds since last Thursday. The pain meds have put back to a normal guinea personality wise which is so nice. She doesn't like being handled much though, I'm guessing because of her tender abdomen, and doesn't run circles around the cage like she used to. She seems to sleep more as well and I don't know if the pain meds cause sleepiness or not.

On the first day of pain meds, the bloody urine went away. I don't believe there is a correlation there, but interesting that the stone is not causing blood anymore. Its still there, she still has problems urinating and we bathe her back legs and behind every other day or as needed as the urine runs down her left leg. I can't imagine that feels good. It's always amusing to put her back in the cage after her mini bath and watch Callie, the other guinea, follow her around sniffing her backside trying to figure out what happened.

This morning she balked at the crushed supplement in banana. So I'm pondering different ways to get it in her. I don't know what the deal was this morning, but I'll try that method again while pondering something else to shake things up.

So just a lot of watching and waiting at this point.

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Lynx
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Post   » Mon Feb 11, 2019 8:29 pm


I wonder if she'd like the supplements syringed in some carrot juice?

Hoping for success.

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Catie Cavy
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Post   » Mon Feb 11, 2019 8:42 pm


A couple of us have had good luck using Ativan or Valium. They act as muscle relaxants and can help a guinea pig pass a stone. You might want to ask your vet about it. Extra liquid is good too. Focus on fruits and vegetables with the highest water content and syringe water or unflavored Pedialyte.

IssaG

Post   » Tue Feb 12, 2019 3:06 pm


You know, I never really thought about the liquid part of this thing. Which is silly since she can't push out a stone if there's nothing in there to push with. So a few things.

I'm writing down Ativan and Valium to ask when we go back in a couple weeks. My vet is an exotic with rodents in a small town, but always willing to research things.

Per the vet, she is limited to, veggie wise, cucumber, tomato, bell pepper, melon, apple, blueberries, and banana. And maybe one or two more I can't remember. She likes cucumber and pepper, is so-so on the tomato but that is new to her so it make take a little time. I'm careful on how much fruit I give and only offer a little bit a couple times a week. All those seem pretty liquidy to me, I'm not sure how to make them more so.

As for adding water to her diet via syringe, that might work. She's really open to syringe feeding. How often would be appropriate to do that and how much? I'd like to try it but not give her so much she gets sick.

As for the supplement, I dissolved it in water but I used too much water and it was a mess. Plus I tried it when Nibbles was already upset at me for something else. I should have waited and given her time to cool down. Last night I added just a tiny bit of water and turned it into a paste that I loaded in the syringe. She took it but I could tell it wasn't her favorite thing. This morning she ate it in banana. So the carrot idea is making me think. I can explore that to shake things up a bit. Would applesauce work too, do you think?

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Lynx
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Post   » Tue Feb 12, 2019 7:50 pm


Any time you can, go for vegetables over fruits due to their sugars. You can also used plain cooked pumpkin/squash.

IssaG

Post   » Fri Mar 08, 2019 1:40 pm


It's been several weeks and I have no idea if she's passed the stone. I've given her the supplement twice day as well as pain meds. Every once in a while I'd skip the pain med to see how she was doing and she'd huddle in the corner stiff or attack her fleece so I'd give her more. But a week a go she behaved normally and I haven't needed to give her pain medications since.

She still has a wet back side every once and while but isn't dribbling urine down her leg like she was. The blood in the urine is gone, or so fine I can't see it. Only one time did I see blood and that was over two weeks ago after vigorous floor time chasing her cage mate around. That lasted about 12 hours and was gone.

Our next vet appointment is Monday where I'll ask her to get re-xrayed and we'll see where we are. This new veggie diet has translated into fewer treats for her overall. This has made her more food aggressive with the treats we give so I've had to take her cage mate out and feed her separately as Callie will not fight very hard for treats. That's not so bad, I like playing with Callie, but a dynamic I hadn't expected.

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Lynx
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Post   » Fri Mar 08, 2019 10:46 pm


Thanks for the update. It would be wonderful if she has passed the stone.

IssaG

Post   » Thu Mar 14, 2019 2:02 pm


Well they couldn't get an xray on Monday so they asked me to bring her back so she could stay all day and they would try and get an xray that would be clear whether the stone was there or not. That was yesterday and the results are that SHE PASSED THE STONE!!! I am so happy. So the vet wants to keep her on the supplement so she'll continue to pass crystals or whatever forms in the bladder before it becomes a big stone. However we are dropping the dosage to 1 tablet a day instead of 2.

So I guess these supplements really do work. This has been such a weird experience. I know these things can go south quick so I'm happy in this case it resolved successfully.

The vet wants to keep her on her abbreviated diet though in the next breath said there really isn't any good evidence that change in diet keeps stones from forming. Guineas are stone formers or they are not. So I guess I'll stay on it for the most part for now and we'll see.

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