New here- piggie with UTI

[freela]

Hi everyone! I'm new to this board, just looking for information or similar experiences. I've had guinea pigs for four years- originally we had two sows, Linney and Frenzy. Frenzy passed away due to problems with dental malocclusion and tooth abscesses about two years ago. We then got another sow, Sundae, to keep Linney company. So my two piggies right now are Linney (almost 4 years) and Sundae (2 years.)

So this morning, I went to give the piggies some hay and Linney was just laying there in the corner. She is normally right into the food so I knew she was unwell. I took her to the vet, who palpated her abdomen and managed to get some urine for a urine test. There was occult blood in her urine sample. The vet said she wasn't sure if there was a stone there or not... she thought she might feel something, but said it could also just be normal poop in the colon. She gave me two options: give her antibiotics and see if she might have cystitis that responds to antibiotics, or x-ray her to double check for a bladder stone and still give her antibiotics. I opted to give her antibiotics and see how she progresses- if she continues to have symptoms after 48 hours on antibiotics I will take her back for the x-ray to check for stones/sludge.

My questions: has anyone had a piggie with a UTI that was JUST a UTI? How long were they on antibiotics to clear it up? She is on a week of Baytril right now, and then she goes back for a follow up. I've read that 7 days is likely not enough to completely clear a UTI. Does anyone have any experience here?

Secondly, she is is almost 4 years old. She did have surgery two years ago for a skin abscess, but I'm very reluctant to have another, more invasive, surgery at this age if she does have bladder stones. Does anyone have a piggie living with bladder stones being managed conservatively (ie. not surgically?) I certainly don't want her to be in pain, but I would also hate to do the surgery and have her die from complications.

Thanks in advance for any help or information! I'm worried about my girl... and my three kids are worried as well.

[Kayleigh]

A uti is a common health issue with pigs. Baytril/septrin is often given to help clear it up. Usually takes about 10days along side upping the vit c and i usually suggest feeding cranberry juice just to clear things. It would also help if cysitis is present. You can also give cysitis medication for humans in the cranberry to help out.

Surgery of any form can be fatal for g.pigs. I have never known a pig to successfully live a happy pain free life with a stone. It would need treated/removed. Sometimes if its small the pig will pass it.


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[Orlaith]

I recently had a stone removed from my girl who is four and a half and she's recovering great. You are right, though, that surgery is risky, and the risks increase with age. In Annie's case, the stone was so large and causing so much pain that it was surgery or having her put to sleep.

She had a uti from the stone and my vet said it would be at least 10 days of antibiotics to clear it, if not more. Utis seem tricky to clear.

As for living comfortably with the stone (if she has one), it really depends on the size, but more than likely it will cause recurrent utis. Initially we had agreed with our vet that we would just treat the utis and not do surgery, but it turned out the stone was more painful than we realised. However, if the pain only comes from the utis and not the stone itself, you could just keep her on cranberry juice (unsweetened and diluted 50/50 with water) to minimise the infections and then put her on antibiotics as and when needed.

In the meantime, I would stop feeding any high calcium veg (cabbage, broccoli, parsley, kale, etc) as a precaution.