[Gpdd] HEALTH: UTI

[pat schuett]

Hi Dana,

Thanks for your input!

I have been "around the block" with urinary problems with one of my other piggies, Doris, and believe me, if there had been any sign of blood in Olivia's urine, squeaking while she was peeing or ANYTHING more dire than a damp bottom, she would have been whisked in to the vet immediately.  I was using the cystitis remedy from Peter Gurney's book, which stipulates clearly that if the barley water mixture does not clear up the problem in three or four days, you do need to see a vet. (Fortunately, in this case, it did work, and Olivia has been dry and vacuuming up her food with her usual enthusiasm in the ten days since then.)

I am definitely not a fan of people who play fast and loose with their animals' health for the sake of a few bucks, but be assured --- I'm probably at the other end of the spectrum; amongst the three piggies, my three cats and two bunnies, I think I am probably putting several of the vet's kids through college!  (I do know that I singlehandedly paid for the vet practice to acquire proper piggie and rabbit dental tools because I happened to be the first of their owners willing to pay for those procedures!)

                                                       Pat



--- On Thu, 1/22/09, Dana Felice <dfhakes at aol.com> wrote:

> From: Dana Felice <dfhakes at aol.com>
> Subject: HEALTH:  UTI
> To: gpdd at gpdd.org
> Cc: bunzella at yahoo.ca
> Received: Thursday, January 22, 2009, 11:46 AM
> From Pat's post:
> 
> (All the material I've founded on barley water only
> talks about short-term
> use when the piggie actually has the UTI.)  
> 
> Hi Pat,
> 
> I'm a fan of simple over complex but in certain
> circumstances you need to
> rely on the guidance of a veterinarian.  Many non-exotic
> vets incorrectly
> diagnose a condition as a UTI when in fact it is symptom of
> a larger
> problem.  So, the first red flag for me is, does the piggy
> actually have a
> UTI or something worse?  Second, there is a pain component
> to the UTI that
> is not addressed with a barley/cranberry beverage. 
> Experiencing pain will
> delay the healing process and possibly lead to other issues
> such as not
> eating (and then you have a really big problem).  
> 
> I just talked to a lady this week who did all these things
> and tried all
> these things to clean up a severe case of mites in a rabbit
> with
> internet-suggested remedies.  She caused the bunny severe
> pain and prolonged
> the issue when 1-2 trips to the vet to receive a shot would
> have solved the
> problem.  She was trying to save money at the expense of
> causing harm to the
> rabbit.
> 
> Hope your little one feels better soon.
> 
> Dana


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