[Gpdd] Health: Re: Guinea Pig sludge

Leah McNeil lconsuela at yahoo.com
Fri Feb 11 10:55:29 EST 2005


Brenda,
I am so sorry to hear that MT is having
trouble with her pooping/peeing. Poor
Baby. Bladder sludge is this white, pasty
stuff. It looks almost like (white) tooth
paste when it's wet. And when Brownie Bear's
sludge dries, it looks chalky. The bladder
sludge is excess calcium deposits that gets
excreted through the bladder. My Bear gets
it so bad some times that I can see her
excrete it and she will whine. Those calcium
crystals hurt the piggies bladder lining
because although they are microscopic, they
have sharp, rough edges. Under a microscope,
they look like Jacks (like a 'jack' from that
game where you have a little rubber ball and
a bunch of 'jacks' and you bounce the ball
and try to pick up as many 'jacks' as you
can while the ball is in the air). I always
have a Urinalysis done when I take B-Bear for
x-rays and sometimes the Vet lets me look at
the crystals under the microscope. After seeing
that, I know why it hurts so much when our
piggies pass crystals. :-(

Um, I know that MT had x-rays and there were
no stones (Thank God!), but if you keep seeing
the bladder sludge, I would possibly consider
getting another x-ray done. I have x-rays done
every 3 months now for Brownie Bear because
I worry so about her getting stones again. And
yes, that probably is Excessive (and $Expensive$),
but I can't stand the thought of her getting
stones again.

That's Really Good that she drinks a lot of
water, cuz that water helps to flush out the
sludge (which could build up and become stones).
And you know that B-Bear doesn't drink enough
water some days, so I have to syringe it to her
sometimes.

And of course, I have to recommend that Chinese
herb called Shilintong to anyone with a piggie
with bladder sludge problems, because it is
helping tremendously with Brownie Bear. She's
3 years/3 months now, and I would be so scared
to have surgery on her again. Plus, the $12.50
I spend on Shilintong is much better than the
$500+ Vet bill it cost me for surgery...Yikes!

Well, I hope I have been of some help. And
I hope your little Girl is feeling better soon.
Please give MT some Extra Cuddles 'n Hugs from
Brownie Bear, Butterscotch, and me. And let me
know how she is doing, okay?

    Love 'n Wheeeeeeeeeeeeps,
          Leah...Slave to BB & BS :-) 

*******************************************************
Hi Leah,

Can you tell me what you mean by Brownie Bear passing
sludge? MT is continuing to have some problems when
pooping and peeing. She went tonight and I looked at
what was there and my best description is "slime". If
you recall, she had a bladder infection about a month
ago and that seemed to have cleared up. About two days
ago, she had loose droppings and I cut out most
veggies in her diet so she would be forced to eat her
dry food (hay and nibbles). I'm not positive on what
the problem could be anymore and was hoping for some
advice. She drinks a lot of water and when she was x-
rayed, no stones were found.
*******************************************************



	
		
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