Urine Health Test?

[jessegee]

Is there a urine test for guineas?

Since I have separated Farley and Timbas living areas, I have noticed that Farley drinks alot more than Timba, half a hamster sized bottle a day plus greens including cucumber

There doesnt seem to be any external problem with him down below, although I have to trim him short underneath

They are fed Science selective, hay, veg and grass

How would you know if a guinea had a low grade bladder infection etc?

[Dawn - Admin]

Well it's funny you should mention that because my two shelties Alfie & Charlie have always drunk loads. When I say loads I mean 2 medium sized rabbit bottles between them each day.

They have always drunk a lot so I am not worried that they have a problem with their water works.

I just think maybe some drink more than others as some of mine hardly drink anything.

Dawn

[jessegee]

Oh thats interesting, and I see what you mean, two bottles does sound like alot!

I have noticed that there is a bit of a smell also, like stale pee, and I only cleaned them out yesterday

I had a good look at Farley thismorning and he flinched when I touched his willy with the wet wipe, so I think I will take him to the vet just to be on the safe side, he's not going to like it, poor little man, but I think its justified

Do you know of any herbs or fruits that are good for this sort of problem, maybe like cranberry?

[pooksmum]

My Snowy was a slave to wee wee infections, there was a stale urine smell despite cleaning every day and also he was wet underneath. I found out that corn silks (the hairy bits between leaves and cob ) are very effective for bladder health and luckily for us Snowy adored them and it helped the problem!

[Dawn - Admin]

Yes I agree jessegee I would take him just to be on the safe side. Do you think different foods affect their wee maybe. I know celery is a diuretic and I have been feeding this again since I haven't been picking so much wild forage.

Do let us know how Farley gets on at the vet wont you jessegee, I hope it will be a false alarm and there is nothing to worry about with him.

[Dawn - Admin]

pooksmum said:

My Snowy was a slave to wee wee infections, there was a stale urine smell despite cleaning every day and also he was wet underneath. I found out that corn silks (the hairy bits between leaves and cob ) are very effective for bladder health and luckily for us Snowy adored them and it helped the problem!

I will certainly keep that in mind pooksmum thanks for the tip

[josie]

I buy mine nature sticks there are 3 different types for different things but one of them is to keep the bladder healthy. I can't reMember what they are called but I'll pick some up tomorrow from Pets@Home and post details.

[Dawn - Admin]

josie said:

I buy mine nature sticks there are 3 different types for different things but one of them is to keep the bladder healthy. I can't reMember what they are called but I'll pick some up tomorrow from Pets@Home and post details.

Ah yes I buy them for mine as a treat as they are expensive when you have 21 piggies I think it's the nettle ones that are good for the bladder isn't it?

Dawn

[josie]

Mine only get them as treats too cos they are pretty dear. I think it is the nettle. I'll get all 3 tommorrow and take a photo

[josie]

Well I couldn't get the photos to show all the detail so I found the manufactors website instead. It's quite good this site and has some good advice although i don't agree with rehoming babies at 3 weeks!!!

www.burgesssupafeeds.co.uk/small/index.php?page=nature_excel&expand=guineaPig&expandRange=supaguinea

BTW Dawn we were wrong its the dandelion for urinary tract health...I was sure it was nettle

[cuteguineapigs]

i no that in the piggie potions book (peter gurney) for cystitis it says barley water combined with honey is good. otherwise i know giving piggies foods with diuretic prpertities are ment to be helpfull with urinary infections or kidney infections. diuretics do lower the potassium levels in piggies its a side effect so diuretic foods with high potassium levels are good to give such as dandelion, celery. other diuretic fioods are alfalfa, cucumber, water cress, oats and parsely to conteract the side effects of the diuretic foods wgich is lovering potassium you can feed banana too to top the potassium levels back up.
hope this helps and hope ya little guy is ok i think you have made the right decision to take him to the vets best on the safe side let us know how he fairs up
vicky x

[heatherjhenshaw]

I will tell you something else thats great for urinary complaints, mild ones or as a complement to antibiotics in more severe cases, and thats Aloe Vera Juice. I use it for all sorts, its packed with vitmains, very soothing on the system and very good on mild infections. A friend of mine had a sow and she had a UTI that just wouldnt shift, she tried Aloe Vera as a last resort and it worked

Some people also swear by Cranberry, but the pigs seem to like the Aloe better

Heather

[Dawn - Admin]

I must get myself some of that Heather sounds like a good thing to keep in my piggy medicine box

Dawn

[jessegee]

Thats great Heather, I have fed him some aloe vera as I drink it myself, but I dont think he likes it much yet!

We saw the vet, and he couldnt find anything wrong from a basic check up and thought he looked in very good health , so I'll try this and see if it makes a difference, although I think I may have worked out one cause of the smell, he has taken to lying in his pee tray, and where I had one layer of cardboard under the vet bed , but it had got soaked through over night, and dried on the long hair at the rear end, so I now have carefresh in there again as cardboard doesnt last the night even under vet bed

He gets cucumber and celery, perhaps I should feed less of those, maybe I am making him pee too much by feeding too much of those foods? And I'd better feed him some banana too incase he's low on potassium, thank god for pre mixed pellets, I'd have a job to work all this out on my own!

jessegee

[linda43416]

Jessegee, so glad to hear your little guy is well. His problem sure did get a lot of good information from others, it is good that you posted. I didn't know that aloe vera was drinkable and all the different veggies effect on their bladder. Sure was helpful to me, thanks Linda

[jessegee]

Glad you found it helpful, I'm so happy we have so many knowledgeable people on here, I swear they know far more than the vet

I managed to get them to drink the aloe vera, they were not keen at first, but I followed a post I saw about introducing new veg, and put a dish of aloe with tiny bits of cucumber in it, and hay, whihc they ate and got thirsty , so they had to drink it. Now they drink it ok, but how mean am I ?
( sorry darlings!!!)

[Dawn - Admin]

It is for their own good pity they don't understand. I have tries mine with the aloe vera and they drink it ok thank goodness

[Niki]

This thread is fantastic & very informative. I've learned a lot, thanks everyone

Niki x

[jessegee]

Update on Farley - a quick write up of my own experience today

I took him to a very experienced vet to be on the safe side, and they did test his urine using a human test strip that you can buy in the chemist

The strip has several little " pads " on it, and each one shows something different when dipped in urine

The vet said the ones to look out for are

Blood traces - it will change from beige to varying dgrees of colour indicating severity

Fortunately Farley was significant but not serious

Another pad tests

"Protein" hwoever this can change depending on the food given etc

Another tester pad shows

Glucose , this is almost certain to show up making the poor owner think their guinea has diabetes, however because of the way guineas digest their food etc its normal to have some glucose present

The vet said 50mls a day was a reasonable amount for a guinea to drink, thats half a standar guinea bottle, 75mls upwards might be cause for concern and a reason to investigate further

The vet asked me if I saw blood in the urine, and I have to say no, it can be thinned out if the guineas drinking alot making it hard to see, especially if like me they are not on pure white bedding

So we have antibiotic liquid that he will have to have syringe fed every 12 hours for a week, and some probiotics to begin having halfway through the treatment

I will definately be giving aloe vera also

One thing I think is significant here, although it is only my own opinion, and wasnt discussed with the vet, is that Farley had a big pee before we left and no veg thismorning, so his bladder contents were concentrated
This helped the disgnosis, as, if he had had lots of watery veg as normal it may have been so dilute it may not have shown up clearly
So I am not suggesting that we dehydrate our pigs, but avoid letting them drink gallons which they may do if they have a bit of an infection
I had a nice piece of cucumber and a water bottle in the car for when we were done, whilst I had my flask of tea!

And for interest the charges were
£22 for consultation
£11.70 for one urine test strip
£9.70 for liquid antibiotics
£3.90 for specialist guinea probiotics
Education from a very experienced guinea vet - free

jessegee

[josie]

Wow £22 for a consultation - Everyone is always telling me that my vet is dear but Tish's consultation was only £10 and I asked her some other stuff too which was nothing to do with Tish.

It might be grim up North but it's cheap!! ;D

[Dawn - Admin]

I am glad you were satisfied with your vet visit jessegee. I do think £22 is dear but if they know what they are talking about it's well worth it. A lot of vets haven't got a clue and still charge you the earth.

Dawn

[Niki]

Hi Jesse,
I'm glad you had your suspicions confirmed so that Farley's now getting the right treatment.
£22 is expensive but like Dawn said, he's a good vet which makes it a bit more palatable, you could've been told a load of rubbish & still been charged that amount or more (perish the thought).

Niki x

[jessegee]

Yes, exactly my thoughts, I dont mind if its worth it!

I'm lucky that the vets is advertised by the Reading Guinea Sanctuary and is currently running a study on OD, I found them on the internet, it was an hours drive away, but totally worth it

jessegee

[jessegee]

I have an update on the above, Farley is doing well and the problem seems to have cleared up

I feed aloe vera almost daily when I remember ( ahem)

and I have managed to buy some urine test strips like the ones used by the vet

I found them on ebay, from USA £20 ish for 100

The ones in the chemist here only seem to be for glucose, the vet said the crucial test was for blood traces



Get your guinea to pee on a clean surface and lay the tes strip on it, then check the colour pads against the colours on the bottle, you can just see the Blood traces as the 6th one down, how it changes from yellow to green....

jessegee

[Niki]

Hmm i may have to go on a Timba Bond type mission & see if i can find one of these "lying around" whilst i'm in hosp LOL

Niki x