# Vaginal infection not responding to antibiotics



## HellsBells (Nov 8, 2012)

Hello all,

Sorry my first post here will be a bit grim, but I was hoping someone might have an answer for me.

We got our hedgie, Florence last May. The day I got her home, she squeaked when she peed, and a white mucus came out at the same time. The breeder said it was nothing to worry about, and that sometimes hogs squeak when they're constipated. This, however, didn't stop. The periodic squeaking came back.

To cut a very long story short, she's seen a number of vets - one of whom is well known as the best exotic vet in the country (I live in sunny Scotland!). They took a fine needle draw and her urine came back clear, they took an x-ray, and it was clear. They put a camera into her and they said her vaginal area was very red and inflamed. 

So far she has been on Septrin, Baytril, Marbocyl and Veraflox antibiotics with no change. We have been also giving her Metacam, and more recently prednisolone (not at the same time!) as an anti-inflammatory, both of which again, have not helped. 

Both we and our vet are now at a loss at what to do. She is fine in herself - still bright, active, eating, pooping, peeing and wheeling are all the same as usual. It's just breaking my heart to see her in pain each time she toilets, and I imagine she's sick of being syringed meds every night.

Has anyone ever experienced anything similar to this before? I'd be really grateful if anyone had any stories or ideas of what we can do for our hog. Thanks.


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## Nancy (Aug 22, 2008)

Welcome to HHC and I'm sorry this is happening to your little girl. 

My only thought would be have you tried changing her food? I wonder if there is something in the food that is irritating her. There are foods designed for urinary issues that change the PH of the urine and one of them might help. 

I'm asking a friend to read your post and give her thoughts on it. She might have some ideas.


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## quillyones (Mar 5, 2009)

I attempted to post earlier but got an error message.

We have a female hedgie with similar issues. We are cleaning the vulvar area with Nolva San Dilute and then applying Tritop ointment. Her vulvar area is looking much much better. I will attach a picture taken at the vets.

Her sterile urine sample came back clean and blood work all within normal limits, ultra sound showed everything normal.
Cyndy


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## LizardGirl (Aug 25, 2008)

Welcome to HHC, though sorry to hear about poor Florence! Persistent infections are no fun. I'd give changing foods a try, as Nancy mentioned - it'd certainly be cheaper than yet another vet visit.  Depending on how long this draws out, if it just never goes away I wonder if spaying her would help clear any reproductive things up. I hope you can find something to help her that isn't so drastic, though. Keep us updated on her!


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## HellsBells (Nov 8, 2012)

Thank you all so much for the wonderful replies. She is a fussy little eater, but have ordered some of the urinary food. The first vet we saw said her urine was very concentrated, so I'm very much hoping that might be the ticket!

I will certainly mention the ointment too - when she came back from the bladder test, they'd managed to flush her insides out and I've never seen her look happier! She got up super early and was wheeling even when we had the light on, which isn't her usual routine 

I think spaying is our final option, but we're willing to try every non-invasive avenue before we do that.

Thanks again


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## quillyones (Mar 5, 2009)

Update on Nyarai the ointment cleared up the red area concerning the vulvar area. She went through a successful spay Dec 28th. Our vet stated that the cause of her issues looked to be a cycling inflammatory condition of the uterus and/or a precancerous state. During the spay our vet noticed her bladder also seemed to be a little inflamed also he took another sterile urine sample and they found a small amount of blood in the urine. She is on both an antibiotic and pain medication once a day. We are to watch her urine closely for blood and call right away if we see any. So far her urine looks nice and clear. 

I am attaching a picture of her incision and yes her stitches are hot pink in color.

Cyndy


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## Christemo (Oct 5, 2011)

Glad to see she's doing better!  Also, the bright pink stitches are awesome!


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## Nancy (Aug 22, 2008)

I'm so glad her spay went well. She looks so much more comfortable now. Love the pink stitches. Hugs


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## LarryT (May 12, 2009)

She sure is pretty!  So glad she's doing much better!


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## LizardGirl (Aug 25, 2008)

So so glad it went well! Thank you for the update!


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