Sick New pig mom: is my pig going to die tonight from this bladder stone?

[JCoSparkling]

Hi all,

Sorry for the alarmist post, but I really am terrified and I'd love some reassurance.

I adopted two little piggies two weeks ago, and have been really careful to do everything a new pig mom should. I know that calcium isn't great for them, so I've kept to low-calcium snacks like romaine lettuce and red bell peper. I've been experimenting with bedding, and after I saw that my littler girl had a very dirty bottom in the first week, I washed her and cut that hair so it's quite short there now.

On Thursday, it got VERY hot here in NYC- and Laoshu, she of the dirty bottom, was very lethargic. I freaked out, put a bunch of icey water bottles in their cage, and browbeat my roommate into putting in the AC that night. She perked up a bit, but not 100%.

Over the following days, I noticed that Laoshu was still lethargic. I was hoping she was just getting over being hot, but not so. I noticed some blood on the towels, but like the idiotic new pig mom that I am, I thought it was stains from the little tomato slices I had fed her and her sister. This morning, I saw a little droplet of blood on my chest when I put her back in her cage- and again, like an idiotic new pig mom, I said to myself "Oh, she must be on her period!"

After a day of research, I am now pretty sure she has a bladder stone. She isn't peeing (I wanted to see if she was bleeding, so I fed her some watery veggies and waited. Over an hour, she didn't pee at all.) though she is still well enough to rumblestrut at her sister and chase after veggies.

I'm going to take her to the vet tomorrow (I'll find one on a Sunday no matter what it takes.) However, that doesn't alleviate my fear for her for now. I've done a ton of searching, but basically haven't been able to fine the answer - can this kind of thing kill a little girl guinea pig (2.5 years of age) before I am able to get her to the vet? I would feel bad for the rest of my life if this little girl dies within two weeks of my getting her.

Help!

- new pig mom

 

[bpatters]

The droplet of blood was most likely from reproductive tract, and maybe because she was in heat. Most sows don't bleed during heat, but occasionally we run across one that does. And blood from the urinary tract is usually red-tinged pee, or frank clots, rather than drops of blood. All that is not true 100% of the time, but close to it.

They don't necessarily pee every hour. You'll have to give it hours longer than that to know if she's peeing.

She may well have a urinary tract infection. Is there any odor to her fresh urine?

Romaine is no higher or lower in calcium than any of the other lettuces, but some pigs excrete a lot of urinary calcium when eating it, while others are not bothered at all. Red or green leaf lettuces are a better choice.

Guinea pigs are very susceptible to heat stroke. Anything above eighty-five degrees can cause death within a pretty short period of time.

I would take her to the vet, but be sure it's an exotic vet. Small animal vet means dogs and cats, and they don't get an education in the care of pocket pets.

 

[JCoSparkling]

Thanks so much for the reply- we had a sudden heat wave, with temperatures going from jacket and scarf weather on Tuesday with temperatures in the 90s on Thursday. My apartment doesn't usually get that hot, as it's quite shaded on that side, but it was scary enough that I put in the AC as soon as I possibly could.

Not sure if the pee is smelly, but there was some cloudy/sludgy pee this morning.

I'm glad to hear that her not peeing immediately doesn't necessarily mean that she's not peeing at all. I'll call the vet in my neighborhood tomorrow and make sure they have a vet experienced with guinea pigs, and travel with her if they don't. I'm very worried about my new piggie.

Fingers crossed it's something easy!

 

[bpatters]

Guinea pig urine is normally cloudy. Sludge is grainy calcium deposits that are easily seen when puddles of urine have dried.

 

[spy9doc]

I'll call the vet in my neighborhood tomorrow and make sure they have a vet experienced with guinea pigs, and travel with her if they don't.

I'm sure that you will be able to find a cavy-savvy vet somewhere in NYC. I would offer to help, but I'm sure that you don't want to travel Metro North for 1:30 to get to me in CT. I'm quite fortunate to have three good exotic Vets within less than 30 mins from me.

Heat stroke is something to be concerned about. We had a cavy tragically die from heat stroke, but from being carelessly left in a hot car by my husband.

With our unpredictable New England weather (witness yesterday vs. today), I have developed a system for keeping my cavies comfortable. My cavy cage is in my small home office where I spend a great deal of time. There is no A/C in the room, but there is one in the adjoining kitchen. I have a very small fan that blows on the wall directly behind the cage, and a larger one across the room if all of us need more cool air. This morning I simply have the window open.

Keep us posted on your progress!

 

[JCoSparkling]

Welp! Thanks to everyone who commented. I was kind of loca for a bit with worry.

After a trip to the vet (after five hours and $800 - hello, NYC) bladder stones have been ruled out for Laoshu. She did have blood in her pee, so they?re testing it to see what antibiotics she needs. Turns out the other pig (Chichi) actually needed to have a growth lanced and drained, so we got that out of the way as well.

Basically, I think I?m paying for the fact that their previous owner didn?t really do any kind of preventative care.

It looks like they?re both gonna be ok, though Chichi?s wound looks gross and needs to be flushed and I'm still waiting on Laoshu?s using analysis.

What a day!

 

[spy9doc]

After a trip to the vet (after five hours and $800 - hello, NYC)

Jeez......I trust those were "weekend or emergency" rates? Otherwise, you would have been better served to make the trip on Metro North.

Happy to hear that the girls are going to be o.k. Keep us posted!

 

[JCoSparkling]

Yeah- it was super pricey to take them in on an emergency basis >< I’ll definitely be doing preventative visits from now on!

 

[JCoSparkling]

Chichis lanced wound is puffy, which I hope doesnt mean anything bad (The vet seemed very judgmental about whether or not I made sure to push out the excess anti-septic from the wound after I irrigated it... no? because the nurse didnt tell me anything about that?)

Laoshu tested negative for stones and her initial test came back negative for a UTI, but she is still peeing pink. I just want my girls to be healthy. Ive only had these guinea pigs for two weeks - this all just feels unfair, to me and them.

Note: I took all of the apostrophes out of this because they are showing up as?. Weird!

 

[JCoSparkling]

Check out JCoSparkling on Instagram for videos and pictures - they are incredibly adorable when theyre not terrifying me with health scares!

 

[bpatters]

Don't worry about the apostrophes. They show up in some people's posts but not in others. I have no idea what's going on.

 

[JCoSparkling]

Update to the pigs: It's not a UTI and it's not bladder stones. The vet thinks it could be reproductive, but she's not sure. She recommended a preventative spay either way, and recommended it for Chichi as well. They're 2.5 and 3.5 years old respectively. I'm just not sure if it's smart to do at that age, although I have read that it can prevent reproductive issues later on. Anybody want to weigh in as to whether this is a good idea or not? I'm so exhausted with all this.

 

[bpatters]

There are two different schools of thought.

One, a spay definitely prevents problems with the reproductive tract later on. Two, it's a fairly risky surgery, and not all pigs will ever develop reproductive problems. I've never had one spayed, and never had a problem with a cyst, although I think my senior sow may be developing one. I'll have to cross that bridge when I come to it, because she's a rescue and I have no clue how old she is.

You pays your money and takes your choices.