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Blood In Urine (i Think)

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Eeyorific

Eeyorific

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Hi everyone, I'm new to posting on forums but here goes.

My little girl Lexi seems to have blood in her wee, or at least that's what it looks like. It just started all of a sudden, all the other wee patches were clear. She seems fit and healthy, very vocal, eating plenty and likes a good run around the cage.
I can't honestly say I've noticed anything else wrong. She does have longish fur around her bum and tends to have a wet bot quite often. Her white fur is now yellow stained.
Do you think this looks like blood? I'm taking her to the vets to get checked over tomorrow.
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It does look like blood to me. It is most likely a urinary tract infection which can be treated with antibiotics and pain killers. A lot of vets use Septrin for a UTI.

Please also ask for probiotics to give an hour of so after each dose so she doesn't get an upset tummy.

Other possibilities are bladder stones or interstitial cystitis but the vet will treat for a UTI first before looking into other possibilities.
 
Welcome to the forum, blood in urine can be quite shocking when you first see it but is often the sign of a UTI which will often clear up quickly with Antibiotics.

Please let us know how you go on at the vets, we have a recommended Vet finder in the UK here http://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/pages/guinea-pig-vet-locator/

Lots of healing vibes to Lexi
 
Hi! That looks very much like some blood in the urine; best have it seen!
 
Yes, it does look like blood in urine. This may well be a sign of a UTI. Definitely see the vet for a diagnosis, even if you don't see any more blood... it isn't visible in every sample, but should always be investigated! Some pigs will act ill with a UTI, but others will act perfectly normal, except for the blood. Hope this helps- hope she feels better soon!
 
Thanks everyone. It's really lucky that I happened to put a cream fleece in the cage or we wouldn't have spotted it. We thought it was getting chilly so decided to put an extra fleece in the cage -which I've never done before. So glad I did. I'll let you know how we get on at the vets.
 
We've got an appointment for her for tonight, they've asked for us to try and bring in a urine sample....any tips on the best way to do this?
 
Put a piggy on a wipeable surface and wait, ideally after a watery veg meal. it can easily take an hour. :(

You also want to sample several pees if that is possible, as not every pee may contain traces of blood - not even every red pee at the beginning of an UTI (I have been there myself). Suck the urine up with a syringe (you can get them in your pharmacy if you haven't got any at home, together with a little bottle for transport). Store in the fridge until you leave. Please be aware that urine changes outside of the body and that it can influence the test results. Most vets therefore press out the bladder during the examination for testing.
 
Wiebke said:
Put a piggy on a wipeable surface and wait, ideally after a watery veg meal. it can easily take an hour. :(

You also want to sample several pees if that is possible, as not every pee may contain traces of blood - not even every red pee at the beginning of an UTI (I have been there myself). Suck the urine up with a syringe (you can get them in your pharmacy if you haven't got any at home, together with a little bottle for transport). Store in the fridge until you leave. Please be aware that urine changes outside of the body and that it can influence the test results. Most vets therefore press out the bladder during the examination for testing.
Click to expand...

Thanks very much - unfortunately we won't have much time (maybe half an hour to 40 minutes) between getting home and her appointment at the vets so it's not looking like I'll get a sample - I'll try though. My Mam is popping to the Vets this morning to get a syringe for us.
 
Best of luck at the vets today. Hope its nothing serious. Let us know what happens. Healing vibes coming your way!
 
My best way of getting a piggie urine sample is to sit the piggie in a clean tupperware container and to feed them cucumber or another watery treat to encourage them to need to pee. After that, I use a syringe to suck up the sample and put it in a clean container. It's not sterile and hence might not be good enough for a urine culture, but it is good enough for a test for occult blood. Hope this helps- lots of luck at the vet today!
 
Managed to get the urine sample quite easily. Her wee seemed quite normal, no discolouration, no blood, the vet forced her bladder to release and he done 2 lots of tests. No traces of blood in either. Although he did say the sample showed a lot of sediments and calcium so could be a urine infection.
She's been given Baytril 2.5% at 0.4mls a day and also Loxicom anti inflammatory. Just have to keep an eye on her and go back in a week
 
All the best!

Please get hold of a probiotic to give a pinch of it about 1-2 hours after the baytril to help the guts. Baytril can be an appetite dampener and can cause soft poos. Please contact your vet if she stops eating/is losing weight or if she has diarrhea. Weigh daily at about the same time instead of weekly.
 
Ok thanks for that. I'll weigh her now just before her first dose. What is a probiotic?
I'll definitely know if she's off her food as she's very greedy. Never stops eating
 
A probiotic is a powder that contains "good" gut bacteria etc.
Here is more info, including where to get one. It is a good idea to always have a probiotic and recovery food at home, as emergencies and illness usually happen at the worst possible time.
 
I managed to get avipro plus/probiotic from a local aquarium/fish shop. Pets at home also do a probiotic. Its very important to take 1-2 hrs after each dose of baytril. Hope she is better soon. x
 
Oh dear, I've just given her the first dose of baytril, I didn't realise about the probiotic, I'll get some tomorrow first thing. Hope she's ok without it for tonight
 
She will be OK!

A probiotic is a supportive measure to help your piggy get through medical treatment more smoothly but it is NOT a life or death thing! You can always do the home version by giving a recovering piggy poo soup by soaking fresh poo from a healthy piggy in water and syringe it. It may a bit gross, but the piggies usually love it! ;)
 
Don't fret. Your girl will be fine. I'm a fan of "poo soup" for my piggies as an interim measure, she will be fine until you can get some probiotic. As Wiebke says it's not life or death and is merely to help her gut retain balance after the antibiotics clear out the bacteria.
 
Phew thanks! I'd literally just gave her it when I read about the probiotic and I was like oooooops!
I'll get some before her next dose
 
Don't stress over the lack of pro biotic the Baytril and Loxicom will hopefully do the job, just get some when you can or try poo soup using the pig of a healthy piggy. Pigs love poo soup....
Lots of healing vibes
 
As others have said, the probiotic is a good thing to have, but not a life-or-death matter. Some pigs have stomach upset from Baytril and probiotic can help... others do just fine even a probiotic (out of my three pigs, all have been on Baytril at one time or another and one has been on long term antibiotic suppression with Baytril. Only one has ever gotten an upset stomach or lack of appetite from it. Thankfully not the one who is on a low dose for a long time!)
 
I hope Lexi is recovering well! Daisy had a UTI a couple of months ago and it was the scariest thing seeing the blood spots! She actually had to have two rounds of antibiotics as her first prescription was for far too low a dosage. I was told by my vet that probiotics aren't really necessary unless they're on antibiotics for a prolonged period of time - I think he said around 6 weeks or so? Don't quote me on that. Make sure you keep an eye on her weight so you can track how she's going. I was also told to cut out all lettuce while she's on antibiotics and to cut down on pellets. Since I've just discovered this thread ten days late none of this could be helpful at all, but I wanted to put it out there just in case! My vet also told me that the occasional spot of blood in wee - as long as it isn't accompanied by pain - isn't necessarily something to stress over after a UTI. Hopefully Lexi's back to her normal self now :)
 
We've actually come to the conclusion that the blood wasn't actually in her urine, looks like she had a matted lump of fur just next to her bum that had been rubbing on her skin and made it sore, to the point of her skin breaking. It wasn't spotted until I bathed her the other day and decided to trim her fur. That's why the vet couldn't find any traces of blood in her urine when he done both tests. She has always seemed fine in herself, no symptoms at all, just the blood and the fact her fur is wet which the vet is now convinced is just because she lies down a lot (which she does) she's very lazy.

Anyway, she's pretty much been given a clean bill of health but we are still keeping an eye on her for any changes.
 
When I asked the vet about probiotic she said that there was no evidence to suggest this works, so it was not necessary for a short course of Baytril as it is mainly excreted through the urinary tract and not mainly through the gut, so less harsh. She said she did not want to give a probiotic as this was just one more thing for the guinea pig to take, which might not have an effect anyway.

When my guinea pig had Baytril, it did seem to depress his appetite slightly, mainly for his pellets (never for his cucumber!), but he seemed to do OK on it. But others seem to have more problems. It is like anything else, everyone is different and all guinea pigs will respond differently to the same treatment.
 
Glad to hear your piggy recovered well :) Do monitor her wee closely though, this was the same that happened to my piggy & turns out she had cystic ovaries & womb problems & the blood was from them & not from her bladder.
 
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