Sudden thirst increase, urine scald, high calcium, diet
I took Henry to the vet today. I finally succeeded to some degree in checking him, but I didn't see anything going on, other than the fishy odor. Another symptom I didn't mention above, is that the drinking that I originally started this thread on, has increased. He typically drinks about a bottle a day. He's been this way for years. For the last several weeks I've needed to add some to get him through the day. When I first took him in for this, I agreed with the vet, that in lieu of any other symptoms, we would just watch and hold off on doing a blood draw.
Today, the vet said we can learn a lot from his urine (not sure why this wasn't suggested earlier, as he been to two different vets), so I am going to get a sample to them as soon as I collect one. So, we held off on an antibiotic, and If something seems amiss with the urine, we will check his blood. He's still wetting his bed consistently. As I said above, he used to lie on his bed in a way that allowed him to urinate off the back end onto pads, without having to get up. Today he also left a really weird poop, like just a large wet lump. I'm not sure I've seen any like this previously, from any of my pigs.
Today, the vet said we can learn a lot from his urine (not sure why this wasn't suggested earlier, as he been to two different vets), so I am going to get a sample to them as soon as I collect one. So, we held off on an antibiotic, and If something seems amiss with the urine, we will check his blood. He's still wetting his bed consistently. As I said above, he used to lie on his bed in a way that allowed him to urinate off the back end onto pads, without having to get up. Today he also left a really weird poop, like just a large wet lump. I'm not sure I've seen any like this previously, from any of my pigs.
- Lynx
- Celebrate!!!
The weird poop, related to impaction perhaps?
https://www.guinealynx.info/impaction.html
I think of fishy odors as fungal infections, like yeast infections. They can be oral. Sometimes the mouth gets whitish.
https://www.guinealynx.info/impaction.html
I think of fishy odors as fungal infections, like yeast infections. They can be oral. Sometimes the mouth gets whitish.
The urine test indicates a UTI for Henry. The vet prepared Baytril, but I requested Bactrim so they called it in to a pharmacy, as they didn't have it in stock. He has 3 doses in him now, and the weird thing is that I now see blood in his urine for the first time. He seems fine otherwise, maybe a bit livelier tonight. Anyone have thoughts on why he would be having blood only after starting the antibiotic?
It's pink. He had it last night. There was none on anything in the morning, and now tonight, it's there again. He has 5 doses of antibiotic in him. He seems livelier than he's been for the past few weeks. The prescription is only for 7 days. I was surprised so short. I guess I keep an eye on it for now and see where we are on Monday and at the end of the 7 days.
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- And got the T-shirt
Yeast infections can cause an odor. But if you think it's his bedding, you need to keep the cage cleaner. Sitting in their own waste can contribute to bladder infections and well as yeast infections. You can make fleece pads to put in the areas where he pees and poops the most, and change those frequently.
I kept Henry on the Bactrim for 8 days at the prescribed dose, which seemed low to me... .4 ml every 12 hrs., and then I gave .3 for a couple days before stopping. I was unsure of whether he still had the infection, but then I saw blood in his urine again. He was off the AB for a few days, but I asked to get the prescription renewed at a higher dose. I think he was just under 2 pounds. I was thinking the vet would bump it up to .5 ml, but the prescription is for.7, which is higher than I used on any of my pigs. I recall the prescriptions always being .5 ml whenever I've used antibiotics. The bottle only says "pediatric suspension". Is this a specific concentration? I'm wondering if .7 ml isn't a bit high...