Jackson / Bladder Stones

You did the right thing by taking him to the vet right away. I will keep Sheriff in my thoughts today and hopefully it is just an infection so he will not have to have surgery. Please keep us posted.

happy birthday ( I already know what your wish will be as you blow out your candles)

Poor little guy. Nothing like a birthday treat

This is an active thread on GL, where a member had a pig with stones. It has a lot of good information on it, and documents his progress. A good read: https://www.guinealynx.info/forums/viewtopic.php?t=28016

A few questions:

1. How much is the average stone removal? Really depends on the vet. Some are maybe a couple of hundred, others upwards of a thousand. (not many are that high, almost unheard of).
2. What is the healing time like? They usually come home same day so you can keep an eye on them. Healing is a process, some pigs heal faster then others. usually only a few more critical days, otherwise several weeks with improvments every day.
3. What is the post-op care like? https://www.guinealynx.info/stones.html And https://www.guinealynx.info/postop.html

Thank you for all your responses and the link to the GL forum!

Good news: the urine culture that had the blood (the 1st sample didn't) was negative for bacteria and actually a 1+ for calcium (on a scale of 1-4+), so it was relatively low.

Bad news: the emergency vet thinks a stone is causing intermittent bleeding, and he probably needs the surgery.

We're still waiting on our regular vet to review the information.

Worst case scenario, if he gets the surgery and needs handfeeding, how do those of you who work handle that? My wife and I both work. Doesn't handfeeding need to be done a few times a day?

Thanks.

Maybe you could take him to work with you? Or take the day off? Or hire someone else to do it?

I would not take a sick pig out of its environment to an office or work setting. The stress would be huge, a healthy pig would be reluctant to eat. I would consider taking time off or finding a foster mom if someone in your area is willing. Perhaps the vet could do this too, however that is going to $$.

I think you really need to get the stone analysed when it is out, as it does not sound like a typical calcium stone.

Cavies-and-Kids said:

I would not take a sick pig out of its environment to an office or work setting. The stress would be huge, a healthy pig would be reluctant to eat.

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I can definitely see how that could be stressful.

We have an appointment on Sunday with our regular vet to bring her the emergency x-rays, and we'll talk about about all this with her. If he does need surgery, I'm thinking we'll do it on a Friday so we can spend the weekend keeping an eye on him. I would also use a vacation day or two to make sure he's back on his feet. Anything for them!

I am very concerned that the appointment is not until Sunday, if a stone travels down to his urethra, it will in all likelyhood become lodged, which is very serious for a male pig, few recover. Similarly, leaving surgery until at least the 24th is not a good idea. I have never heard of an alternative to surgery for bladderstones that works. Leaving the stone in the bladder is a painful ticking time bomb. Is he on Metacam for pain?

I can sympathise with having to earn a living, there never is a good time for these things to happen. Is it possible to bump up this appointment?

You don't always have to handfeed a pig that just got out of surgery. One of my pigs just got home from a bladderstone surgery. I may need to hand feed him, but he's always been a finicky eater. So far he is still gobbling down hay and water, he hasn't been home long enough to eat pellets. My other pig had a surgery on his neck area and the first thing that he did when he was put in the cage was go to the pellet bowl.

The surgery cost us 413.90. It's worth every penny.

He should be able to go back into the cage with my other pigs in two weeks, he's in a 1x2 cage on a table near the other pigs. They need to be seperated just so they don't run around too much right after the surgery.

Cavies-and-Kids:

Unfortunately, no. There was no possible way to get an earlier appointment. He only shows his discomfort outwardly intermittently, but that doesn't mean he isn't trying to hide it. The x-ray was inconclusive, which is why our regular vet wants to make absolutely sure there is a stone just to avoid surgery for no reason. They did not give us Metacam at the emergency place.

dagwellismypigy:

I'm hoping, if there is indeed a stone and surgery is needed, he will eat after we bring him home. I just want to be prepared. Would a 2x2 be enough confinement after surgery?

I'm so sorry to hear of these problems. Your vet is Dr. Knox, right? If there is a stone seen on Sunday, then it's very unwise to wait until Friday to operate. Dr. Knox is in today, isn't she? This really isn't something that can wait.

A 2x2 will be fine for confinement. But you do need to be prepared to handfeed the first day or so. It might be unnecessary, but you never can tell.

I have chewie in a 1x2, a 2x2 would be just fine. I'll give him more room once he seems to need or want it.

Good news is that Jackson is eating, drinking and munching hay; he's being social (actually a little more so) and he still popcorns. We haven't heard him squeak, nor have we seen any blood, so I feel he'll do fine until the vet appointment tomorrow.

He even gained some weight! I'll keep you guys posted on his progress.

Mummy: I didn't know you had a shelter so close to us! If we ever need a pig for us or someone else in the future, I will let you know, okay?

Thanks, tattooyu!

Glad to hear he's doing better. Please let us know how Jackson does and what happens tomorrow with his appointment with Dr. Knox.

Sure thing!

Back from the vet!

Dr. Knox took another set of x-rays, because the ones at the emergency clinic were muddled and difficult to make out.

The good news is that there is no stone that she can see at all. From her experience, a pig with stones will consistently have blood in their urine samples. Since Jackson's is intermittent, she suspects crystals (sludge) even though his calcium count was low. She thinks the sludge might be from his diet when we first got him and weren't as strict with the calcium intake as we are now.

We have a follow-up soon so that she can do a urine culture to check for infection. My wife and I are both relieved for him that he doesn't need surgery. It's just a matter of keeping an eye on him right now. We are going to get a square of white fleece to have more obvious evidence if there still is any bleeding.

Good news. Have you read the diet information on the Calcium/Phosphorus ratio over at Guinea lynx? If not it should help enormously with Jackson's problem.

I have definitely read up on GL all about Cah ratios. We even have a printout of the list on our refrigerator. I really think the sludge is backlash from his previous diet.

Thanks, Mummy!

That is wonderful news. You must be very relieved!

Cavies-and-Kids: you have no idea how relieved we are. I am still concerned that he has intermittent blood in the urine, but I'm hoping that once the sludge is out of his system (and hopefully doesn't turn into a stone), this will subside.

Ooooh. That reminds me, I need to confirm with the emergency place to see whether they just looked for bacteria in the urine or actually did a culture!

Talk to you guys later!