Stones Options for an Old Guinea Pig with Bladder Stones

[CojoBlu]

My piggy is 6.5 years old and has just been diagnosed with bladder stones. He’s never had stones before, and I’m not sure what the best thing to do for him would be due to him being a senior. The vet said he had roughly a 50/50 chance of making it through the surgery okay, or I could choose to just give him antibiotics and painkillers and hope that the smaller of the two stones doesn’t get stuck in his urethra.

I want what’s best for him and I don’t want him to suffer. If anyone has any thoughts about what would cause him the least pain, I would be incredibly grateful to hear them.

 

[Guinea Pig Papa]

I wish there were an easy answer to this question. I'm sorry your little guy has to go through this.

There is a risk with any surgery. At 6.5 years, 50/50 odds are the best you're going to get. If he were mine, I'd probably do the surgery. I'll tell you why I say that.

My little guy Scooter passed in May from a bladder stone. I didn't even know he had one. It lodged in his urethra. At 6:30am that day, he was climbing the cage begging for a treat. He peed red at 10am, and after rushing him to the vet late that afternoon, he was given medication and told to be back first thing the next morning. He passed away that evening. I knew it was a stone when I saw him get larger and larger that evening.

I'm not going to tell you the things I saw or the things he did that evening. I watched my precious little boy fade before my eyes and it hurt immensely, and it hurt more knowing he was in pain and nothing could be done. If a bladder stone lodges in the urethra of a male pig, it's a death sentence. Nothing can be done.

With surgery, at least there is a chance. If you are confident in your vets ability to perform the surgery and you can be available for all of his surgical aftercare, then that's what I would do.

 

[CojoBlu]

Thank you for responding so quickly.

I am so sorry to hear about Scooter. I can't begin to imagine how scary and painful that must have been for you. I know how hard it is to lose a furry family-member, especially when you know they were hurting. You always want what's best for them. My heart goes out to you, and I'm so sorry the both of you had to go through something like that.

RIP Scooter

 

[Guinea Pig Papa]

Thank you for the condolences. He was a special pig who was an absolute treasure. They all are.

I had another boar, Sly, who had dental problems. I just wanted to let you know about him. He endured, in the end I believe it was 11 dental surgeries over a two year period. It started just after his 5th birthday, and stopped a few months short of his 7th. Now, his surgeries were nowhere near as invasive as bladder stone surgery, I just wanted to make the point that a large issue with surgeries is anaesthetic. As you can see, Sly was a senior pig. Some pigs tolerate it well, others do not and there is NO way to know beforehand how a pig will react.

Sly had anaesthetic 11 times, so from that aspect it is possible.

As for Scooter, I just wanted you to be aware of his story if you chose to leave the stones and hope for the best. If one does lodge, if you're like me you won't forgive yourself and wonder what you could have done different. Scooters stone had to have formed very, very fast. He had x rays two weeks prior and nothing was visible.

Also, I do believe we had a senior female piggy here recently (this year) who had bladder stone surgery and if I remember correctly she came through just fine. If I can find the thread, I'll post it here for you.

 

[bpatters]

If you decide not to have the surgery, just be aware that a stone falling into the urethra is a painful medical emergency. And if it happens at night when no exotic vet is available, it's even worse.

It's hard to decide for a pig that old. Honestly, I'd seriously consider euthanasia unless i had a really good exotic vet with a lot of GP surgery experience.

Good luck to you, and let us know how things go.