[Gpdd] Health: Flower's Bladder

[Anneli Cochrane]

Dear friends,
Today was another expensive piggie vet visit for me. Flower had urine scald
and blood in the urine (I am using diaper rash cream). She had an x-ray
done which showed some tiny calcifications in the bladder, but no full-on
stones yet. Her uterus looked normal (her ovaries have been removed), so
the problem is not reproductive. The vet determined that these pre-stones
are irritating the bladder and/or causing a UTI. She was put on Baytril and
Meloxicam. I know we have talked a lot of here about ways to acidify urine
to prevent this from happening. They also gave me Oxbow urinary support
treats for small animals which have cranberry, dandelion, pumpkin seed,
marshmallow and astragalus root, and glucosamine in it. However, I will
probably have to mash it up and syringe it down her because my pigs are not
used to getting treats like this, and she has already refused to eat it. I
know people with cats and dogs have used Methionine to stop crystals from
forming in the urine and dissolving them. I could get some and make some
sort of suspension solution, but I didn't know if anyone had ever tried
this on pigs and how much would need to be given?

PS- We are in central Indiana and fine, Northern Indiana got hit the worst.

Anneli