THIS STORY IS FROM OUR ARCHIVES
Kirby’s downside began two months in the past. He’s usually an energetic, playful guinea pig; when he turned boring and quiet, Jay knew that there should be one thing incorrect. He watched him rigorously, and observed that Kirby was in ache when handed urine: he squealed shrilly.
I EXAMINED KIRBY
When Jay introduced him in to see me, Kirby appeared vivid and energetic, scurrying round usually. An examination of a guinea pig is just like a canine or a cat: I checked his ears, eyes and mouth, listened to his chest with a stethoscope, and took his temperature. Every little thing appeared regular till I palpated his stomach, gently squeezing his tummy to really feel for any abnormality. He was relaxed at first, however after I moved my fingers to press over the realm of his bladder, Kirby squealed loudly: there was undoubtedly a spotlight of ache there.
The ideas of most illnesses are the identical throughout all species. In guinea pigs, simply as in people, ache on urination may be attributable to quite a lot of circumstances, together with kidney stones and urinary tract infections. Kirby handed urine whereas I used to be analyzing him, which was helpful: I used to be capable of have it checked in our clinic laboratory. His urine was cloudy to have a look at, and at first I believed that it would comprise crystals and tiny stones. Nonetheless, after I examined the urine below the microscope, there was no signal of those. As a substitute, I discovered giant portions of white blood cells: Kirby was affected by a critical urinary tract an infection. I took xray photos of his stomach, and these confirmed that there was no signal of kidney or bladder stones.
TREATMENT
Therapy was easy: a course of antibiotics. These have to be used with care in small herbivores comparable to guinea pigs and rabbits: they want the resident micro organism of their digestive tract to assist to digest the meals. If the incorrect sort of antibiotic is given, these micro organism may be killed off, and the animals can undergo dramatic and probably deadly reactions. Kirby was given a course of a secure antibiotic, and he quickly returned to regular.
Quickly after Christmas, the issue recurred: once more, Kirby went quiet, and when he squatted to go urine, he squealed. He was introduced in to see me once more, and this time, we wanted to attempt one thing totally different, to make sure that the issue didn’t maintain coming again. A urine pattern has been despatched off to the laboratory to be cultured, to attempt to isolate the micro organism inflicting the issue. Generally a particular antibiotic could also be wanted: the laboratory outcomes will information us in the direction of the best antibiotic to make use of.
We’re additionally going to make use of a much less typical seasonal therapy for Kirby: cranberries. These have been used to stop urinary tract infections in people for over 100 years. Analysis has proven that chemical substances in cranberries intervene with the flexibility of some micro organism to connect themselves to the liner of the urinary tract. Cranberry juice is extensively utilized in human drugs in its place means of stopping urinary tract infections.
Once I carried out some analysis with my alternative-medicine veterinary colleagues, I found that cranberries have additionally been used efficiently for guinea pigs. I heard about one male guinea pig who was handled with three uncooked cranberries day-after-day: his recurrent urinary tract infections cleared up utterly.
Kirby has been despatched dwelling with the identical prescription: he’ll take pleasure in recent cranberries right now of yr, after which thawed-out frozen cranberries when they’re out of season. Jay tells me that he loves consuming totally different fruit and veggies as treats, so there can be no downside getting these into him.
Kirby has began onto his new therapy already, and judging from the way in which he devoured up the cranberries, he’s going to take pleasure in it.
