General Guinea Pig Doesn't Like New Pellets and Possible Bladder Stones?

[cavylover_180]

Is it ok if I wait till' tomorrow? They still have some hay, and it's coming tomorrow, probably around noon. I think they'll be OK, no? We don't have any pet stores very close to us either.
Also, I'm going to try to call the vet place. What should I ask about?

 

[cavylover_180]

The vet place we have cost $71 for a checkup. Should we still do it?

 

[bpatters]

Why were you going to the vet?

I generally only take my pigs when something is wrong. They don't need vaccinations or any other sort of routine maintenance. But I do keep a close eye on them so I can take them if some problem is developing.

 

[Soecara]

If she is still showing symptoms of possibly having bladder stones then yes she does need to see a vet for an x-ray. If $71 is what the exotic vet charges for an appointment, that is a little higher than average, you might just have to pay that to get her seen unless you have any other exotic vets in your area that can do x-rays.

Just make sure that they have the facilities to take an x-ray to check for bladder stones, and if they do how much they typically charge for that service. It would be a waste to take her in and pay the appointment fee only to find out they can't actually take an x-ray.

 

[cavylover_180]

Hey guys. So we finally went to the vet today.
When we got there she did stuff like check Sofie's heartbeat, look at her mouth, etc.
She felt her bladder and said it felt big. So then she did an x-ray and she showed it to us. Thankfully there were no bladder stones, (phew!) and also no sludge, but she did see some calcium buildup. I told her about the squeaking. She put Sofie on the antibiotic that they use for children. You guys might have heard of it. It's called Trimethoprim Sulfa. We have to give it to her for 10 days. It's in the tube thing and she showed me how to give it to her. She didn't want to eat the medicine, but the vet was able to get her to eat. She said she'll get used to it. We have to give it to her in the morning and night. Today counts as one day. This should hopefully stop Sofie from squeaking when she goes to the bathroom. I've never given a guinea pig medicine before, but others are going to help me.
She gave us these urinary tract pills tablets that are treats from Sherwood Forest to give to both the pigs as a treat. I was trying to introduce one slowly by giving them a 1/2 tablet, but I didn't have a pill-cutter. I put two in a dish as instructed and I came down an hour or so later and I saw 1 left.
And we talked with her about a lot of other stuff. I'm really glad we made the trip and that Sofs is OK now!
Thanks guys for all your help.

 

[cavylover_180]

She also did a checkup on Lulu and she's fine. XD

 

[cavylover_180]

Hi guys so today I went to the guinea pigs cage like half an hour ago and I saw red spots in the hay, with poop I think. It looked like blood. Then I discovered multiple blood areas throughout the cage, but they weren't as bad as the one in the hay. I checked my first guinea pig, Lulu's, vagina area and saw nothing. Then I checked Sofie's and saw blood on her anus or vagina. What should I do? Also, Lulu was squeaking when she was pooping a little more often today.

 

[bpatters]

How old are the pigs?

 

[cavylover_180]

They're about 3 years old

 

[bpatters]

I'd get her checked out by an exotic vet. She's getting to an age when reproductive system problems can surface, and one of the symptoms of that is bleeding. The squeaking while pooping can also indicate bladder stones.

 

[cavylover_180]

She doesn't squeak while she poops anymore, we took her to the vet and she said she just had a lot of calcium, no stones. We gave her medicine for around 10 days and she stopped squeaking while pooping. I am finding more blood spots in the cage. I realize now that the bedding could absorb the blood, and where the hay is there is no bedding. Only at the bottom. Do you think she has ovarian cysts?

 

[cavylover_180]

We took her to our local dog and cat vet. Also, yesterday I found a white, powdery chunk attached to a piece of bedding. They said it could be a stone. When they x-rayed her, they saw no stones. They saw gas though. They think it could be something with their uterus or ovaries. We're taking her to the exotic vet soon. They recommended them taking her soon.

 

[bpatters]

Money spent on a small animal (dog and cat) vet is pretty much wasted when it comes to guinea pigs. They get almost no education and experience in the care of exotics, and what they do get covers everything from gerbils to giraffes.

 

[cavylover_180]

So next time go straight to the exotic vet?

 

[Guinea Pig Papa]

So next time go straight to the exotic vet?

For a guinea pig, there's no point in going elsewhere. They require the expertise of a cavy savvy exotics vet.

 

[cavylover_180]

So we went to the vet. She has a UTI and lost 1/2 a pound. But she was also filled with gas. We have to give her two different types of medicine.

 

[Guinea Pig Papa]

Poor little thing. I AM happy, however, the you finally got useful diagnoses.

Be very, very glad that the bloat didn't take her. Hopefully she'll be feeling much, much better soon. Keep us posted.

 

[cavylover_180]

Ok so we just finished giving her medicine yesterday. And yesterday I noticed she looked fatter than usual. Today, she basically stayed in her house the whole day. She has trouble walking, it looks like she has to pull herself along. And I try to feed her hay she'll just put part of it in her mouth but she won't chew it. I don't know if she's been eating and drinking during the day, but just a few minutes ago I saw her near the water bottle and pellet bowl. (They're near each other). I tried to get a scale but it was in pounds, each pound cut up into quarters. (If you know what I mean). It said 2 pounds, but I'm not sure if that's accurate. Please help!

 

[bpatters]

No possibility that she's pregnant, is there?

You need a kitchen scale that weighs up to about five pounds in both ounces and grams. Anything else isn't accurate enough.

What medicines are you giving her? Name, strength, and dosage, please. It's entirely possible that the medicines are the cause of her not eating.

 

[cavylover_180]

Ok so we have been giving her trimethoprim Sulfa Liquid for the past two weeks. We gave her this other white medicine for a week. The sulfa one is pink and we finished giving it to her yesterday.