Guinea pig bladder stones

Re: Guinea pig bladder stones

Evelyn Barbour-Hill — Thu, 31 May 2012 12:34:05 GMT

[quote user="Mark Rowland"]Human artificial sweetners or honey can be used to sweeten up the water,[/quote]

Sorry, why honey? Why not just sugar?

Re: Guinea pig bladder stones

Mark Rowland — Thu, 31 May 2012 09:40:21 GMT

Composition and characteristics of urinary calculi from guinea pigs.

J Am Vet Med Assoc. January 2009;234(2):214-20.

Michelle G Hawkins¹; Annette L Ruby; Tracy L Drazenovich; Jodi L Westropp

¹Department of Medicine and Epidemiology, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of California, Davis, CA 95616, USA.

CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Contrary to findings of other studies, urinary calculi analyzed for the present study were most commonly composed of 100% calcium carbonate, and infrared spectroscopy or XRD was necessary to differentiate this mineral from others. Treatments, including diet and husbandry practices, should be developed to help prevent development of calcium carbonate calculi in guinea pigs.

è Thiazide diuretics act to decrease renal calcium excretion so may be used to manage these cases long term. Decreased levels of urine calcium are generally associated with the use of thiazide diuretics. A problem with giving thiazide diuretics chronically is that they have been linked to glucose intolerance. Replacement of potassium has been shown to eliminate thiazide-induced hyperglycemia.

è Find out if owners are supplementing diet with Vitamin C. Experimentally, urinary ascorbate, if present at a high concentration increases stone formation in guinea-pigs given high calcium or high oxalate diets. This may be a double-edged sword i.e. giving enough Vitamin C to prevent scurvy but not increase stone formation.

è Guinea pigs adopt a stance for urination similar to a cat. The animal lifts its hindquarters and directs a jet of urine away from the body. Guinea pigs that are obese or have bumblefoot are unable to assume the correct stance to urinate, retain urine in the bladder, and dribble urine on the fur. Retained urine leads to calcium sedimentation if the animal is on a high calcium diet; urine dribbling leads to skin scalding and infection, and especially in females to an ascending urinary tract infection. Correct the problems of obesity and bumblefoot for long-term prevention of urinary incontinence. Short-term measures for dealing with incontinence are to clip soiled, matted hair from the skin and to apply topical antibacterial medication and/or waterproof barrier cream to the perineal area. Check the spine also when taking radiographs and possibly go onto meloxicam if there is any spondylosis

è Urolithiasis crystal formation may be reduced by giving citrate to guinea pigs at risk. It is not palatable and although it will raise urine pH, it exerts its effect by reducing calculi formation. Potassium is the preferred citrate compound because sodium citrate can increase urinary calcium excretion.

Doses: Potassium Citrate...1ml/kg liquid citrate devided into 3 doses

Hydrochlorothiazide 1mg/kg bid

Monitor also for cystitis as inflammation will predispose to calculi formation.

Even so these can be very frustrating, I did a nephrectomy last week on a little piggy with a ureter full of calculi and hydronephrosis having removed one small stone from the ureter 6 months ago.

Human artificial sweetners or honey can be used to sweeten up the water, the citrate needs to be given separately as it has very poor palatability

Hope this helps.

Re: Guinea pig bladder stones

David Mills — Thu, 31 May 2012 00:24:27 GMT

[quote user="Evelyn Barbour-Hill"]

[quote user="Mark Rowland"]Natural non sugar sweeteners[/quote]

Suggestions?

[/quote]

Stevia leaves - actually just marketed commercially as a granulated preparation for humans. Zero calories.

Our record of recurrence stands at 8 weeks for bladder stones in pigs. We've tried all sorts re diet but have never been convinced that clients have followed such - they seem to see it as a bit of a faff 'just for a guinea pig' generally

Re: Guinea pig bladder stones

Julie Innes — Wed, 30 May 2012 22:20:02 GMT

Watching this with interest, as I had a case last year where I had to remove stones from the bladder of a guinea pig, and also one from each ureter (ouch!) Piggy did really well on an increased veg and hay diet and lived a year before dying of unrelated causes. But I did wonder at the time about rabbit urinary diet.

Re: Guinea pig bladder stones

Evelyn Barbour-Hill — Wed, 30 May 2012 17:38:32 GMT

[quote user="Mark Rowland"]Natural non sugar sweeteners[/quote]

Suggestions?

Re: Guinea pig bladder stones

Mark Rowland — Wed, 30 May 2012 15:41:39 GMT

Hello These cases are frustrating and recurrence is common. Pathogenesis is is not completely understood. Dietary changes are unlikely to be that effective but increasing vit c and staying clear of pellets is what I would do. Fluid intake is important so I would try to encourage this and increase exercise. Natural non sugar sweeteners may increase fluid intake. Goodluck.