Blood In Urine, Severe

[Dilly's Piggies]

My 2.2y old sow Willow urinated a lot of blood yesterday, a few hours before this I felt something wasn't right, she was still acting rather normal but would lay down more frequently and stretch out her back legs, this indicated pain to me so I knew she was having a bladder issue again. I took her downstairs into the kitchen on the tiled floor in hopes she would do a wee so I could dipstick it for blood, well, when she did urinate you can see there was no need for me to check it at all!

She has had blood in her urine for months that is normally slightly pink, today it's pure red so getting worse, my vet can't figure out what's wrong and my other sow Tizzie is in exactly the same situation as Willow. They've both had ultrasounds, cultures and multiple visits but nothing ever came up. I'm taking both pigs to the vet again on Monday for an xray as I'm not convinced fully yet that this isn't bladder stones, they are showing typical symptoms of stones so I'm still worried. When I see a clear xray I will settle for interstitial cystitis. Is there anything other than an xray I should be asking the vet for?

I gave Willow sulfatrim and loxicom which she is responding well to, my emergency vet said due to this she can hold out until Monday unless she goes downhill, if that happens she will go to the emergency vet. This was just a very scary thing for me to see, my poor sweet girl.

 

[Wiebke]

Take a deep breath - it may not be blood, but just severely oxydised urine. I have been there with piggies of mine whose urine samples looking like that tested negative for blood.
I also got pees like that (again negative for blood) whenever I tried to stop or went too low on cystease with Nerys, who did suffer from IC for three years before I went on its own, never to return.

However, it may signal the onset of a new acute phase of IC (interstitial cystitis).

But it is good that you have contacted an out of hours vet and you may want to have her checked over by your regular vet next week.

 

[Dilly's Piggies]

Take a deep breath - it may not be blood, but just severely oxydised urine. I have been there with piggies of mine whose urine samples looking like that tested negative for blood.

However, it may signal the onset of a new acute phase of IC.

Willow's samples have always tested positive for lots of blood, even ones that looked like there was nothing in it, this is the worst it has ever been though and it was horrifying to see this, I did strip test it after taking the photo and it was positive for blood unfortunately. I was in a fit of panic and immediately grabbed the meds and phoned the emergency vet! My vet is trying both of them on metacam/loxicom as an anti-inflammatory to try and control it and it does seem to help a lot, Willow's urine is now normal coloured again today but she is still in a bit of discomfort, thankfully the pain meds have taken the edge off as she was in a right state last night with it, I felt so useless.

I am honestly hoping for IC with them, bladder stones is such a horrible thing and they are only 2 years old, I'd hate for them to be subjected to constant surgery for life as I know once removed they usually come back. Tizzie's urine however is intermittent, 50% of tests show blood and the other come up negative so it's very mysterious! Both are in obvious pain but they continue to eat and come wheeking when a bag rustles, these little pigs are so strong it amazes me

 

[Wiebke]

Willow's samples have always tested positive for lots of blood, even ones that looked like there was nothing in it, this is the worst it has ever been though and it was horrifying to see this, I did strip test it after taking the photo and it was positive for blood unfortunately. I was in a fit of panic and immediately grabbed the meds and phoned the emergency vet! My vet is trying both of them on metacam/loxicom as an anti-inflammatory to try and control it and it does seem to help a lot, Willow's urine is now normal coloured again today but she is still in a bit of discomfort, thankfully the pain meds have taken the edge off as she was in a right state last night with it, I felt so useless.

I am honestly hoping for IC with them, bladder stones is such a horrible thing and they are only 2 years old, I'd hate for them to be subjected to constant surgery for life as I know once removed they usually come back. Tizzie's urine however is intermittent, 50% of tests show blood and the other come up negative so it's very mysterious! Both are in obvious pain but they continue to eat and come wheeking when a bag rustles, these little pigs are so strong it amazes me

To be honest, it sounds like typical for IC to me. This discolouration (which is NOT blood although the urine sample can test positive for invisible blood) is very typical for the onset of an acute phase. If necessary, ask for a scan for stones or sludge, but if that is coming back negative start treating for IC. While antibiotics can help take the tip off an acute phase in some cases, they typically do not clear the infection because IC is caused by an inflammation of the bladder walls.

IC is best treated with metacam (loxicom is one of the brand names), which you up whenever there is an acute spike. The presence of blood in the urine is also typical for IC.
Concentrate on easing bladder discomfort with cystease or another glucosamine product to help protect the natural glucosamine coat of the bladder walls. You may not necessarily notice any changes, but you will notice that the bladder doesn't like being without it when you stop or go too low in the dosage. Cystease is not a medication, but a cat food supplement, which is the other pet species prone to bladder problems. The glucosamine is one of the few things that have stood the test of time.
Some people also swear that barley water has helped their piggies' bladder. Barley water is the gloopy fluid that results when you cook some pearl barley in a bit water for 20-40 minutes and then strain the fluid off. Reserve in the fridge, if necessary add a bit more water if it is too difficult to syringe. Piggies usually like it and can have as much as they want. Make a fresh batch every 3-4 days.
Please follow our sample diet in our diet thread, minus the lettuce. This diet is free of all the foods that are not good for IC and bladder piggies (grains, root veg, too much sugary veg and fruit), but balanced enough to be sustainable over a long period. Aim for grain-free and low calcium timothy based pellets or mixes and filter your water.
Recommendations For A Balanced General Guinea Pig Diet

The good thing about IC is that while it is at this stage not curable, it will eventually disappear on it own and it does NOT cause any stones etc.

 

[Flutterby]

Sending lots of healing vibes!