Post by catalady on Jan 23, 2009 17:38:32 GMT
I have not posted this before for fear of tempting fate and also because I wanted to leave it a while and see how things went before I actually told you about it.
I first found this group through an internet search just before Christmas when my 3 year old female started to have bladder problems, blood in her urine and straining. The vet initially thought that it was cystitis and we tried treating it with pearl barley mixtures and cranberry juice but this had no effect so she ended up on anti biotics . After a couple of weeks there was no improvement and one day I found her in agony and not able to pee at all so we rushed her to the vets and they admitted her and x rayed her, they rang us to tell us that she had severe bladder stones completely blocking her urethra and either needed an emergency operation immediately or to be put to sleep.
We naturally opted for the operation, as they said there was a high chance of it being successful. She had to stay in overnight and when we collected her the vet told us what he had done, this is a relatively new vet to my surgery who has a very good reputation as a surgeon and he decided that he was going to do an operation on her that he had never done on Guinea Pig before but had done it on dogs and saw no reason why it shouldn't work on cavies too. He actually cut a 'new' urethra running next to Tilly's existing one and removed the stones that way , as they were right at the top of her urethra, he then left this open so that she would pee through here and hopefully pass a few small remaining stones that were higher up in her bladder. He didn't really want to go into her bladder, as he said that this is where it gets complicated and Guinea Pigs don't react well to this invasive surgery. He did warn us that the stones could recur, and often do once they have had them once and there was no treatment as far as he knew to avoid this.
So, we bought her home and I came on the internet and did some research and so found this site and the reference to petherbs.co.uk. I decided that anything was worth a try to stop the stones recurring and contacted them just to get reassurance that their products were safe for cavies. I eventually ordered some Lysium and , after a few days of worrying if I was doing the right thing, I started to give it to her twice a day. Just after Christmas we had a scare when she started passing blood again and had blood around her urethra....but this only lasted one day and then cleared up, so we came to the conclusion that she had actually passed more stone/s, I put her back onto anti-biotics for a week and we regularly have her run around the kitchen so that we can see her pee and check it's clear.
Obviously I can't be sure that the Lysium has helped, but it has certainly done her no harm...she has a beautiful shiny coat and is bright and perky. Unfortunately the Lysium has quite a strong curry smell to it ( she now gets called my 'little curry pig')...but no-one else in the herd seem to mind and she always gets groomed once shes had her daily dose and they lick the residue off her!
I hope this might be of some use to someone, as I say I can't be sure that the Lysium is what is really helping...but anything is worth a try !
Sorry this post is a bit long....hope I haven't sent anyone to sleep!
Tracy
I first found this group through an internet search just before Christmas when my 3 year old female started to have bladder problems, blood in her urine and straining. The vet initially thought that it was cystitis and we tried treating it with pearl barley mixtures and cranberry juice but this had no effect so she ended up on anti biotics . After a couple of weeks there was no improvement and one day I found her in agony and not able to pee at all so we rushed her to the vets and they admitted her and x rayed her, they rang us to tell us that she had severe bladder stones completely blocking her urethra and either needed an emergency operation immediately or to be put to sleep.
We naturally opted for the operation, as they said there was a high chance of it being successful. She had to stay in overnight and when we collected her the vet told us what he had done, this is a relatively new vet to my surgery who has a very good reputation as a surgeon and he decided that he was going to do an operation on her that he had never done on Guinea Pig before but had done it on dogs and saw no reason why it shouldn't work on cavies too. He actually cut a 'new' urethra running next to Tilly's existing one and removed the stones that way , as they were right at the top of her urethra, he then left this open so that she would pee through here and hopefully pass a few small remaining stones that were higher up in her bladder. He didn't really want to go into her bladder, as he said that this is where it gets complicated and Guinea Pigs don't react well to this invasive surgery. He did warn us that the stones could recur, and often do once they have had them once and there was no treatment as far as he knew to avoid this.
So, we bought her home and I came on the internet and did some research and so found this site and the reference to petherbs.co.uk. I decided that anything was worth a try to stop the stones recurring and contacted them just to get reassurance that their products were safe for cavies. I eventually ordered some Lysium and , after a few days of worrying if I was doing the right thing, I started to give it to her twice a day. Just after Christmas we had a scare when she started passing blood again and had blood around her urethra....but this only lasted one day and then cleared up, so we came to the conclusion that she had actually passed more stone/s, I put her back onto anti-biotics for a week and we regularly have her run around the kitchen so that we can see her pee and check it's clear.
Obviously I can't be sure that the Lysium has helped, but it has certainly done her no harm...she has a beautiful shiny coat and is bright and perky. Unfortunately the Lysium has quite a strong curry smell to it ( she now gets called my 'little curry pig')...but no-one else in the herd seem to mind and she always gets groomed once shes had her daily dose and they lick the residue off her!
I hope this might be of some use to someone, as I say I can't be sure that the Lysium is what is really helping...but anything is worth a try !
Sorry this post is a bit long....hope I haven't sent anyone to sleep!
Tracy
