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Blood In Urine

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subapeg

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Hello,

I took in a guinea pig that was in poor health about 4 months ago. She was very skinny and could barely eat.

I took her to the vet and we treated her with pain killers and an improved diet. She has gained weight and no longer has problems eating.

I just recently changed her bedding to a white paper bedding and today I noticed blood in her urine. She is not making any noises when urinating.

She has always drank a lot of water which I thought was due to her teeth issue.

Now I am thinking she could have a UTI or bladder stones.

Is it possible that she could have developed this issue before she was in my care or would this have been recent?

I am taking her to the vet as soon as I can but they are closed at this hour.

Her current diet is Oxbow pellets and Orchard grass along with Timothy hay.

She gets romaine lettuce every day. Green bell pepper and carrots every few days.
 
If it's a UTI then it probably started recently. It's not a sign of poor care, it can just happen.

If it's a stone then it could have been there when you got her. They can be inside them for while before they become a visible problem.

If she's prone to bladder sludge then that can cause UTI's to happen more often too.

Good luck at the vet, let us know how you get on.
 
subapeg said:
Hello,

I took in a guinea pig that was in poor health about 4 months ago. She was very skinny and could barely eat.

I took her to the vet and we treated her with pain killers and an improved diet. She has gained weight and no longer has problems eating.

I just recently changed her bedding to a white paper bedding and today I noticed blood in her urine. She is not making any noises when urinating.

She has always drank a lot of water which I thought was due to her teeth issue.

Now I am thinking she could have a UTI or bladder stones.

Is it possible that she could have developed this issue before she was in my care or would this have been recent?

I am taking her to the vet as soon as I can but they are closed at this hour.

Her current diet is Oxbow pellets and Orchard grass along with Timothy hay.

She gets romaine lettuce every day. Green bell pepper and carrots every few days.
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Hi and welcome!

Please have your girl seen during regular opening hours; it is not an emergency.
Veterinarians - The GLX-Files

UTIs (urinary tract infections) are pretty common in guinea pigs, as they have a rather alkaline urine and are therefore much more prone to them. This also contributes to the development of bladder stones, as calcium and bacteria can build up in some guinea pigs. If your guinea pig has been very neglected, it takes time to strengthen the immune system, so your little one is more liable to opportunistic illnesses for a while longer.
Guinea Lynx :: UTI

You may find our diet guide helpful, especially our balanced daily sample diet, which is as rish in vitamin C as possible and as low in calcium as necessary to make sure that other vital nutrients are not neglected. You can give her some extra vitamin C if necessary to help boost her immune system.
Recommendations For A Balanced General Guinea Pig Diet
Probiotics, Recovery Foods And Vitamin C: Overview With Product Links

You may also find our new owner's guides collection helpful for more information on beheviour, interaction and general welfare etc. New Owners' " How To" Starter Kit
 
Thank you both for your responses.

I have two other guinea pigs I have had for 2 years now and never have had any issues like this but I am thinking it might be because of her past like you mentioned.

I made an appointment for tomorrow and I will update you then.

For now it seems like the blood is more diluted and pink colored than yesterday where there were bright red splotches.

I know her past owner said she did not eat hay, only pellets (cheap Walmart brand pellets) and it took me awhile to get her to eat hay again so I'm wondering if that could have caused stones. We will see tomorrow..
 
subapeg said:
Thank you both for your responses.

I have two other guinea pigs I have had for 2 years now and never have had any issues like this but I am thinking it might be because of her past like you mentioned.

I made an appointment for tomorrow and I will update you then.

For now it seems like the blood is more diluted and pink colored than yesterday where there were bright red splotches.

I know her past owner said she did not eat hay, only pellets (cheap Walmart brand pellets) and it took me awhile to get her to eat hay again so I'm wondering if that could have caused stones. We will see tomorrow..
Click to expand...

It sounds normal for the onset of an urinary tract infection, if it is any consolation for you. Any decent vet will feel the bladder to see if it soft and relaxed or hard and tight - the first indicates UTI, the latter argues for either a stone or cystitis (bladder wall inflammation). All the best!

You may find the tips in our diet thread helpful; take the lettuce off the daily samply diet, as it can be one of the trigger foods when your piggy has cystitis, but otherwise it makes a good long term balanced low calcium veg diet that should go a good way to minimise the build up of stones; if necessary, replace it with a double serving or some extra vitamin C as your piggy has likely got a bit too little of that before she came to you.
If you are worried about stones, also filter the water and try to find low calcium/grain free pellets (may not yet be available in the US) or feed only half a handful (ca. 10g) of "normal" pellets per piggy per day. Try to avoid alfalfa/lucerne based brands.
Recommendations For A Balanced General Guinea Pig Diet
 
The vet I see is very cavy savvy. She felt her belly and she said she felt pretty normal and everything felt relaxed. She did protest a little bit but she didn't seem too concerned. She is running an analysis on her urine. She said there was a lot of blood in the urine sample I gave her. She also is urinating more frequently than normal, she went twice in our short visit.

She gave me Sulfatrim for 14 days and I should hear back from her this week about her lab results.

Otherwise she was her very sassy self as usual at the vets office. Her weight is good and her teeth are much better.

I will update again soon.

The vet said that if it is just a UTI, it is just common in female guinea pigs due to their anatomy. Is there any other way to prevent this in the future?

Fingers crossed that it's not stones..
 
subapeg said:
The vet I see is very cavy savvy. She felt her belly and she said she felt pretty normal and everything felt relaxed. She did protest a little bit but she didn't seem too concerned. She is running an analysis on her urine. She said there was a lot of blood in the urine sample I gave her. She also is urinating more frequently than normal, she went twice in our short visit.

She gave me Sulfatrim for 14 days and I should hear back from her this week about her lab results.

Otherwise she was her very sassy self as usual at the vets office. Her weight is good and her teeth are much better.

I will update again soon.

The vet said that if it is just a UTI, it is just common in female guinea pigs due to their anatomy. Is there any other way to prevent this in the future?

Fingers crossed that it's not stones..
Click to expand...

UTI is caused by fecal bacteria climbing up the urethra. The best way to minimise that is to clean and change the cage and especially the toiletting and sleeping areas very regularly. Sows have got a much shorter urethra then boars.

Best of luck that the sulfatrim is going to the trick!
 
The vet called and said she has a lot of crystals in her urine.

She is going to keep her on the antibiotic for 10 days but she said to see if it gets any worse.

If it gets worse she needs an x-ray.

She said to avoid high calcium food but she doesn't get anything get anything like that.

I read some people said Oxbow pellets can have too much calcium is this true?
 
subapeg said:
The vet called and said she has a lot of crystals in her urine.

She is going to keep her on the antibiotic for 10 days but she said to see if it gets any worse.

If it gets worse she needs an x-ray.

She said to avoid high calcium food but she doesn't get anything get anything like that.

I read some people said Oxbow pellets can have too much calcium is this true?
Click to expand...

If you can, please follow the tips for a bladder piggy diet I have given you earlier.

Have you tried alfalfa/lucerne free oxbow Cavy Cuisine adult guinea pig pellets? You may be able to find them online available in the US. Otherwise I would try to google for no or low calcium guinea pig pellets and see whether other brands are now available in the US, too.
 
Can you check the ingredients list of your pack? It should be based on timothy hay meal. The UK product has a slightly different packaging without "essentials". You can also see whether they list the percentage of calcium.
 
OK. I am going to try filtered water and reducing her romaine lettuce which normally she gets every day, otherwise I have no idea where she would be getting this from.
 
subapeg said:
OK. I am going to try filtered water and reducing her romaine lettuce which normally she gets every day, otherwise I have no idea where she would be getting this from.
Click to expand...

Calcium absorption is a very complex process - and it is as yet not much researched and therefore understood.
Diet is a factor that you can influence.
Bad drinking is another factor - try to get your piggy to take as much water from a syringe as you can without forcing it down in order to help flush out the bladder better with a larger pee.
What you cannot influence is a genetic disposition or other changes/ issues with the calcium absorption.
Most members have found that filtered water can make quite a difference in terms of minimising the build up of crystals and then stones; I hope that it is helping you as well!
 
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