All the way back in April, Bitsy was diagnosed with a urinary tract infection. During the course of Bitsy’s treatment, the little fuzzy saw 3 doctors, took 3 different types of antibiotics (along with probiotic, of course). She also went through countless washings and even a change in her diet.

Oy!

After a few weeks and while taking trimethoprim sulfa (an antibiotic) for her infection, Bitsy began showing signs of an unhealthy buildup of calcium in her bladder – the tell-tale signs of which were spots of white powerdy deposits seen around the cage and in her favorite pigloo (the translucent green pigloo on webcam #3) .

The humans started to worry that this buildup might crystallize into painful bladder stones. So to address the calcium buildup (which had already been confirmed by the vet on her fourth visit), the humans were expressing her bladder a few times, every day, to help her clear out this excess calcium.

During Lady Bitsy’s latest visit to the vet, she had a urinalysis performed and her bladder was expressed by the vet tech. This time, a small bladder stone came out.

Uh oh!

The humans were told that the stone could have been in there for a while or this could be a new formation. Either way, we’re sure she feels much better having that pesky white stone out of her body.

The BEST NEWS from the appointment is that there is no longer any UTI bacteria or trace of blood in her urine. Her UTI is gone!

An “atonic bladder” (weakened bladder function) can lead to excess calcium buildup. Now that we know Bitsy’s bladder muscles aren’t strong enough to adequately eliminate wee, the humans will express her bladder gently a few times a day for as long as she needs.

UPDATE 03/30/2012: Since this post, Bitsy hasn’t regained muscle tone in her bladder. The humans have been expressing her bladder every few hours, every day, to make sure she stays comfortable and UTI-free.

The humans also have put Bitsy on a low calcium diet. Her new diet will help ensure that she’s not eating foods that are high in calcium (like dark leafy greens) which can lead to bladder stone formation.

Here’s how the diet of the Happy Cavies has been adjusted:

• No more unlimited pellets (timothy hay pellets are high in calcium)
• No lettuce or other leafy greens for Bitsy (the other piggies still get lettuce during floor time)
• Bitsy can still have her favorite snack: cucumber! She can also have low calcium snacks like green pepper and tomato in moderation.
• The humans have tracked down oat hay and orchard grass hay. They will use a 30% orchard grass/70% oat hay mix. Oat hay is low in calcium, orchard grass is a little higher in calcium (but lower than timothy hay) and it provides more protein. All the pigs can still get the same nutrients from this mixture, so the orchard/oat hay mix can be given to them all.
• The Happy Cavy water bottles are now filled with distilled water, which has no minerals (including calcium) as opposed to the regular filtered tap water.

After Bitsy got home from the vet appointment, she went through her usual few hours of hiding and relaxing after the entire experience. She isn’t the vet’s #1 fan, that’s for sure. But since then, she seems to be doing much better.

Since being off of the UTI antibiotic, the color and texture of her coat has improved. Her poos are consistent in color and look perfectly healthy. Also, she seems to have more energy and is OK with being cuddled. Looks like Bitsy finally got her groove back!

Now it’s up to the humans to keep a diligent eye on Bitsy and to give her a diet that is as low in calcium as she can get.

No more UTI equals one very happy piggy! Horray for Bitsy!