[Gpdd] Health: Woopy whining and Chico meets the chicas

[Cazza177]

Hi Mieke
>
> It can sometimes be hard to tell if the cry is from weeing or pooping, as 
> I found with my own piggies. As your Woopy is female, she could have 
> cystitis, which is quite unlikely to show on an x-ray or echo abdomen. It 
> is usually indicated by a lot of white blood cells in the urine and very 
> small traces of blood. If you decide to take a urine sample to your vets 
> for analysis, you can do this by gettng Woopy to sit on a clean, dry, flat 
> surface. Let her urinate on it and then lift her off the surface. Then 
> tilt the surface so the urine can be caught in a container and taken to 
> the vets. You need to get the sample to the vets asap (no use keeping the 
> sample overnight as it will go 'off'). The pH balance of a gp's urine 
> should be 8 to 8.5, specific gravity should be mid-scale and all other 
> readings should be negative. If they aren't, then your vet will tell you 
> what comes next. If you are given Baytril (antibiotic), make sure you also 
> give Woopy a probitoic as well, given about 2 hours after the antibiotic, 
> as antibiotics kill off good stomach bacteria as well as bad. Make sure 
> Woopy stays on the probiotics for a couple of weeks after the antibiotics 
> finish. If you don't give probitoics as well, Woopy is in danger of 
> getting oral thrush. I have had a gp with this, and it is VERY hard work 
> keeping them alive and well-feed, as they find it very hard and painful to 
> swallow, and so syringe-feeding takes forever as the food just slips out 
> their mouths again as they drool heavily. Better to take a preventative 
> meaure than be stuck with oral thrush.  Also, if you cannot manage to 
> obtain a urine sample from Woopy (and it will take a bit of patience 
> waiting for her to go), ask your vet how they would obtain it. If they say 
> they will do it by squeezing Woopy, DON'T let them! I have heard terrible 
> stories on the Digest of this going wrong and causing dreadful harm to the 
> piggies.
>
> Here is what Peter Gurney says about cystitis, so you can compare symtoms 
> with Woopy: http://www.oginet.com/pgurney/cystitis.htm
>
> I hope Wopy will be back to normal soon.
>
> Kind regards
>
> Carole
> Remembering always BG and Artie
>