Hey guys.. Really need ur advice on this, I dont know what to do anymore. Long story short: My 5 year old boar got sick with a really bad UTI in November 2015. The vet put her on doxycycline for 4 weeks, and it wasn't doing anything, in fact she got worse. Turned out it was pyometra, so we decided to do the surgery. It went well, she recovered, but the vet said that she noticed how my pigs urethra is attached to the muscle wall, and that could permanently prevent her from being able to empty her bladder fully by herself. And all because of this 4 week long infection which she wasn't being treated for.
Fast forward few months. The UTI wouldnt go away. I was desperate. She lost so much weight at a point I thought she would die, but she pulled through. We gave her a course of Bactrim, then Baytril, then chloramphenicol. NOTHING worked! The vet then referred to me to a specialist, which took an xray of her and said we should immediately operate her because she suspected a stone, even though the xray showed only sludge but no stone. Obviously, I didnt go for it. I did another xray at another place. Still NO STONE.
Because of all the antibiotics my pig developed bloat. But miraculously lived through it too, and fully recovered. She even eats her vegies with no issues! Shes one tough piggy.
The vet made the bacteria culture twice. It turned out to be a strain of Corynebacterium Renale, and Enterococcus gallinarum. In both cases the results showed that there should be susceptibility to both Bactrim & Doxycycline, but they cant be sure. For some reason its not working and they dont know why. No one can tell me if the bacteria is resistant.
Pig got better after a few weeks of extra fluids and manual daily emptying of her bladder. The last 9 months she has been living painfree. She gained tons of weight again, became very energetic, started oinking and chasing me for food and was overall happy, so there wasnt even a thought about euthanasia, but then I had to leave for a few days, and she started feeling worse again. Like showing the typical UTI signs. And I cant stand seing her suffer.
The vets opinion was to put her down all along. She makes it sound as if I'm torturing the poor animal by keeping it alive and that its kind of weird that I even do so much for a roddent. She keeps pressuring me to put her to sleep, that its not fair for her and that there's nothing we can do. I feel like a bad person for taking care of my pig. The 2 vets I saw dont seem to care about my pig or me at all. I dont even know who to go to anymore who could take me seriously. I guess Im just mentally exhausted, worrying / caring for my pig every day and yet not able to get any help or support from anyone. God knows I did so much for her, I used all my saving on her, and now Im being blamed for it.
Worst of all is, no one can tell me if this bacteria is resistant. But its obvious that my pigs UTI is now chronic. And it seems so stupid to put a guinea pig down because of a UTI, when she lived through things that were so much more. Had she been suffering I would've gladly put her down myself, but she has been fine the last many months UNTILL now, even though she has chronic infection.
Its been 9 months since I tried the antibiotics. I dont know if I should try again? Or should I give it up?
Thank you everyone for listening.
Fast forward few months. The UTI wouldnt go away. I was desperate. She lost so much weight at a point I thought she would die, but she pulled through. We gave her a course of Bactrim, then Baytril, then chloramphenicol. NOTHING worked! The vet then referred to me to a specialist, which took an xray of her and said we should immediately operate her because she suspected a stone, even though the xray showed only sludge but no stone. Obviously, I didnt go for it. I did another xray at another place. Still NO STONE.
Because of all the antibiotics my pig developed bloat. But miraculously lived through it too, and fully recovered. She even eats her vegies with no issues! Shes one tough piggy.
The vet made the bacteria culture twice. It turned out to be a strain of Corynebacterium Renale, and Enterococcus gallinarum. In both cases the results showed that there should be susceptibility to both Bactrim & Doxycycline, but they cant be sure. For some reason its not working and they dont know why. No one can tell me if the bacteria is resistant.
Pig got better after a few weeks of extra fluids and manual daily emptying of her bladder. The last 9 months she has been living painfree. She gained tons of weight again, became very energetic, started oinking and chasing me for food and was overall happy, so there wasnt even a thought about euthanasia, but then I had to leave for a few days, and she started feeling worse again. Like showing the typical UTI signs. And I cant stand seing her suffer.
The vets opinion was to put her down all along. She makes it sound as if I'm torturing the poor animal by keeping it alive and that its kind of weird that I even do so much for a roddent. She keeps pressuring me to put her to sleep, that its not fair for her and that there's nothing we can do. I feel like a bad person for taking care of my pig. The 2 vets I saw dont seem to care about my pig or me at all. I dont even know who to go to anymore who could take me seriously. I guess Im just mentally exhausted, worrying / caring for my pig every day and yet not able to get any help or support from anyone. God knows I did so much for her, I used all my saving on her, and now Im being blamed for it.
Worst of all is, no one can tell me if this bacteria is resistant. But its obvious that my pigs UTI is now chronic. And it seems so stupid to put a guinea pig down because of a UTI, when she lived through things that were so much more. Had she been suffering I would've gladly put her down myself, but she has been fine the last many months UNTILL now, even though she has chronic infection.
Its been 9 months since I tried the antibiotics. I dont know if I should try again? Or should I give it up?
Thank you everyone for listening.