Infectious/Inflammatory
Physiologic cause of red urine in a rabbit
Porphyrin pigments
Renal mineralization can be caused in guinea pigs on commercial rodent diet due to excess of this vitamin
Over-supplementation of this element can lead to red-brown urine, seizure-like activity, and hepatocellular necrosis in sugar gliders
Copper
Although uncommon, this type of urolithiasis is most often found in chinchillas
Calcium Carbonate
The creater's gift to nutritional support in small mammals
Oxbow
Differential for thickening & exudation in the bladder with yellow-white foci of necrosis & inflammation in the kidney or a hamster
Bacterial cystitis
OR
Pyelonephritis
BALB/c mice are used as a model for this human disease
Polycystic kidney disease
This surgical approach allows to easy access to the kidney for removal or uroliths
Lateral flank approach
This anatomical feature allows for the free movement of the testes but also increases the risk of bladder herniation leading to obstruction in male rabbits and chinchillas
Open inguinal canals
The three biomarkers used to assess kidney function
BUN, Creatinine, & USG
This fungus is the most common cause of renal disease in rabbits
Encephaloitozoon cuniculi
Seen in rats incidentally or in diets low in magnesium and/or high in calcium and phosphorus leading to mineral deposition in the renal interstitial & tubules grossly appearing as pale streak
Nephrocalcinosis
This common uterine cancer in hedgehogs presents with hematuria or a caudal abdominal mass
Uterine adenocarcinoma
Dietary modification is typically unsuccessful in urolith dissolution in guinea pigs due to this specific chemical characteristic of their urine
Alkaline urine due to an herbivorous diet
When IV access is not possible or patient is too small
Intraosseous
This nematode lives in the renal pelvis & urinary bladder of rats
Trichosomoides crassicauda
The most common problem seen in the kidneys of hamsters - up to 50% diagnosed at necropsy
Amyloidosis; can be associated with nephritic syndrome
Treatment of Encephalotizoon cuniculi in rabbits requires the use of a benzimidazole which needs serial CBCs to monitor for this side effect
Pancytopenia
The retrograde movement of this male secretion in mice may coagulate and impact in the urethra/bladder leading to hydronephrosis
Seminal plugs
Hydration Deficit Equation
Weight (kg) x est. % dehydration x 1000
mineralization of the urinary bladder, with an ulcerative/necrotic cystitis, associated with alkaline urine and multiple bacterial infection: S. pseudintermedius and Cornyebacterium urealyticum) in hedgehogs
Encrusted Cystitis
High-protein diets, immunologic factors (mesangial deposition of immunoglobulin M), and high levels of prolactin are all associating factors to this degenerative/congenital renal disease in rats
Chronic progressive nephropathy or Old rat nephropathy
Uroliths in urethra and the vaginal vestibulum of a female guinea pig can be removed how
Manually (+/- aid of Lone Star retractor)
This gland and the testes will increase in size due to testosterone, inflammation, and/or neoplasia leading to functional obstruction of the urinary and/or gastrointestinal tracts of male sugar gliders
Paracloacal glands (*dorsal, anterior, and ventral)
Other therapeutic considerations beyond fluids in AKI in small mammals
manage ameia (transfusion, erythropoietin, etc.), analgesia, and support feeding