Abbey's Medical Thread

Delaine · Post » Sat Aug 30, 2014 11:45 am

Thanks for the replies. Abbey is a 3 1/2 years old American sow. Her surgery was June 10th. She has presented with blood in her urine for most of her life.

I did a visual of her ears but I need her vet to look deeper.

I will definitely talk to her vet about heart disease.

Protein in the urine is usually due to kidney disease. This makes the most sense for Abbey. She has had blood on and off in her urine for most of her life. The little bit of research I have done seems to link deafness to kidney disease.

There is a genetic condition in humans called Alport syndrome. It presents with blood and protein in the urine, deafness and eye abnormalities. About a year ago Abbey's vet said she noticed cataracts starting when she looked into her eyes. Is it possible that there could be a similar disease in guinea pigs?

Also Abbey has had the one eye that fills with cleaning fluid. This has been going on for a year.

I am beginning to think all her issues may not be random but all linked to one issue.

bpatters · Post » Sat Aug 30, 2014 12:09 pm

Alport syndrome occurs in dogs. They've been unable to find/develop it in mice, which they'd like to do because it's so much less expensive to do medical testing on mice.

Post » Sat Aug 30, 2014 3:30 pm

"She has had blood on and off in her urine for most of her life." On a daily basis? A couple days on, weeks off, on again? Could it be related to her cycle? (rare but possiblel).

Delaine · Post » Sat Aug 30, 2014 6:38 pm

I did find one article on Alport syndrome in mice. Article attached.

http://www.alportsyndrome.org/what-is-a ... -syndrome/

Delaine · Post » Sun Aug 31, 2014 12:21 am

I first noticed some blood in 2011 when the girls were less than 5 months old.

Since then I have seen darker urine which I don't know for sure contains blood and some blood on the fleece. I would say now I am seeing it maybe 4 days out of 7. I am noticing it more now because I have light colored fleece pads for the houses. If I use dark fleece I don't notice it.

I am better able to monitor her urine now because I have the urinalysis strips. Before I was just guessing on whether her urine color was normal or not.

Post » Sun Aug 31, 2014 6:53 am

So you've pretty much confirmed with the strips that this is all blood then? Not porphirins? (rusty color urine)

Talishan · Post » Sun Aug 31, 2014 1:29 pm

"Also Abbey has had the one eye that fills with cleaning fluid. This has been going on for a year."

In our house, blocked tear ducts/malfunctioning tear ducts (actually, I should say duct; it's most often only on one side) have been very closely linked to heart compromise. The vast majority of pigs we've had with tear duct drainage problems have also been heart pigs, and vice versa.

Also, has the vet considered interstitial cystitis?

Start here:

viewtopic.php?t=16331

Delaine · Post » Sun Aug 31, 2014 3:13 pm

Lynx: In the beginning when they were under a year I wasn't sure if it was blood or porphirins. I had read young guinea pigs urine sometimes has an orange tinge to it.

Now I can test the urine so I know for sure many of the urine samples do contain blood. Sometimes testing at the vet's confirm blood other times it doesn't. I quite often see small red smudges where she has dragged her bottom on the fleece. Any sort of blood clots are extremely rare.

Talishan: Heart problems could be a possibility. She has always been a very active pig so up until now I didn't think about heart issues. There seems to be some connection between kidney and heart problems. I need to do some more research yet.

Thanks for the link. I printed out that thread a awhile ago because it seemed to relate to Abbey. My mother-in-law had interstitial cystitis so I have done much research on that topic in the past. Abbey has no pain when urinating or pooping and there should be pain with interstitial cystitis. My mother-in-law had terrible pain but no blood.

It is the hearing loss that has me baffled. In the past if I said the word "treat" she was out, eager and waiting. If Abbey is sleeping in her house I have to wave the treat in front of her face before she figures out food is waiting.

I have a vet appointment for Thursday September 4th. I will take a urine sample with me. I want to see if they get a high protein reading on their test.

I am still leaning toward some sort of inflammation of the kidney. What are the best tests to show kidney disease besides an urinalysis?

Delaine · Post » Sun Aug 31, 2014 3:26 pm

I am going to have Abbey's vet check teeth, ears, urine, heart, her incision from surgery, feel for any lumps or growths and her bottom end. I know this is a long shot but I am also going to inquire about Alport syndrome because she seems to have all four symptoms.

Anything else you can think of?

bpatters · Post » Sun Aug 31, 2014 3:27 pm

Blood tests are also used to diagnose kidney disease, but those are hard to get in guinea pigs because of the difficulty of drawing blood.

Delaine · Post » Sun Aug 31, 2014 3:31 pm

Thanks bpatters: I may have to go that route but she will have to be sedated and she had such a hard time recovering after her surgery in June. Which leads back to heart problems.

Talishan · Post » Mon Sep 01, 2014 1:48 pm

Also from what I understand (and bpatters knows more than I do, so listen to her first), for kidney compromise to show up in bloodwork it has to be pretty advanced. That is, it's unlikely (not impossible, but unlikely) that bloodwork will show you anything that can be treated as far as kidneys go.

I don't get bloodwork done on guinea pigs unless it is absolutely, unconditionally necessary AND has the potential to give useful information. It's just too hard and too stressful to get enough blood from them for a reliable test.