[Gpdd] [HEALTH] Bladder stones and Vitamin C

[Dr Kay Dudman]

My Vet Simon has just returned from the Western Veterinary Conference
in Las Vegas.  He went to the special session on uroliths in piggies
and bunnies, and told me that current thinking is that too much vitamin C
can make bladder stones worse.  Rather than using vitamin C to try to
acidify urine, it would be better to use potassium citrate, but piggies do
not cope well with too much acidity, their urine is naturally fairly
alkaline.  The best thing is to give a wide range of fresh foods, keeping
a good calcium balance (not too much to make stones more likely, but not
too little or the bones start to demineralise), plenty of hay, but cut
back on alfalfa.  Hay is most like their natural food, and they can't
have too much hay!

The speaker did mention a Chinese herbal remedy (that will be shillingtong),
but apparently no research has been done on the effectiveness of this, only
anectdotal evidence.

One of my own piggies, William, died recently from uroliths forming
quickly and blocking the ureters between the kidneys and the bladder;
he had stones on both sides.  Although sometimes the stones can be
manipulated down into the bladder, there is a tendency for them to recur.

I am hoping to try to find out whether certain types of piggies are more
prone to bladder stones (uroliths) than others.  My William was
tortoiseshell (black and copper).  If other Digesters would like to help,
I plan to gather information about piggies we know who have bladder
stones, so if you could email me the following information I will see if I
can find any patterns in the data.

I was thinking of collecting the following data on piggies with bladder
stones:

1. male/female
2. age and date when bladder stones first detected
3. current age
4. colour(s) of coat
5. type of coat (aby, short, long, rex, etc)
6. how diagnosis was made (X-ray, palpation, evidence of cystitis)
7. treatment received for bladder stones (surgery, which drugs, etc)
8. outcome of treatment(s) (there may have been more than one)
9. analysis of bladder stone (struvite, calcium carbonate, oxalate, etc)
10. diet (which fresh foods, which dry foods, and how much daily)
11. accommodation (indoor/outdoor, type of bedding)
12. hard or soft water area (does the kettle get scale)
13. do piggies have filtered water
14. any piggy relatives with the same problem (if known)
16. any other health problems the piggy has or has had and when
17. whether piggy has been neutered/spayed

If anyone can think of anything else that migh be useful to ask, please
let me know.

I know this won't be a proper scientific survey, but if there is some sort
of pattern that emerges it can only help, whether it is with diagnosis or
treatment.

Kay