chesca_27
Junior Guinea Pig
This has a story behind it, so let me explain.
We adopted Pemba just over 5 weeks ago from a lovely, but small guinea pig rescue. He had been health checked at a vet before coming home, so I do not want to blame the rescue for this at all. Ever since we have had Pemba, he has always drunk a TON of water and I have regularly been finding orangey - red patches of urine. I knew it wasn't Oreo as this started right after we got Pemba. I have been keeping an eye on it as it was a very little amount that I would find each week. I have read that guinea pigs who have previously had bladder problems can have discoloured wee, so I put it down to that.
Anyway, tonight I cleaned out the piggies, after I got back from the vet with Oreo. I left them to be piggies after relaxing in the lounge with them for a couple of hours and to go get ready for bed. The cage looked normal. I came down about 45 mins to an hour later to say goodnight. There were way more reddish patches than normal and some had tiny (teensy, like full stop sized) drops of blood in them. I picked Pemba up and looked at his private area and sure enough, there is a drop of blood there. He hates being held so I quickly put him back. He (for the first time) decides to wee immediately and I get to see it turn the bedding red. Obviously, it is now Pemba with blood in his urine. I have collected all the worst patches of bedding (thank god it's white bedding) and put them in a tupperware to show to the vet. My phone camera won't capture it properly.
My mum has reluctantly agreed to take him to the vet. Unfortunately, she wants to go to the vets where I volunteer, because it is cheaper than the other vets I saw today with Oreo, who see far more 'exotics' (AKA rodents) and have more experience. I have only agreed to this because I know where I volunteer, the vets really do mean well and are usually very nice to me (especially the nurses). If they cannot diagnose it, or there is no improvement in treatment, I will ask my dad to take him to the exotic specialist (who is off all week).
Ironically, I said to my mum in the car on the way to the vets for Oreo that we should get Pemba's urine tested while we were there. She said she didn't want to pay for another piggie to go to the vet when we only went for one. Aww thanks Karma.
I already use filtered water for the bottles and I will print out the forum bladder piggie veggie list in the morning. I also feed a mixture of Burgess mint and Rosewood grainless nuggets. Can I keep feeding these? Or should I try different nuggets? I am wary of switching the nuggets as Oreo seems to lose weight on anything that isn't Burgess mint, especially since he never gained back what he lost when Toffee died and he got really ill. That would mean separate nugget time (Pemba's in his loft or the cage and Oreo on my lap). I really can't afford to spend tons on nuggets, as although I have savings which I would happily use for vet bills, food, hay, bedding, toys, treats and fleece but I am not allowed as it is for the future (but piggies are my future, duh).
Any other advice? Please cross your fingers for Pemba.
We adopted Pemba just over 5 weeks ago from a lovely, but small guinea pig rescue. He had been health checked at a vet before coming home, so I do not want to blame the rescue for this at all. Ever since we have had Pemba, he has always drunk a TON of water and I have regularly been finding orangey - red patches of urine. I knew it wasn't Oreo as this started right after we got Pemba. I have been keeping an eye on it as it was a very little amount that I would find each week. I have read that guinea pigs who have previously had bladder problems can have discoloured wee, so I put it down to that.
Anyway, tonight I cleaned out the piggies, after I got back from the vet with Oreo. I left them to be piggies after relaxing in the lounge with them for a couple of hours and to go get ready for bed. The cage looked normal. I came down about 45 mins to an hour later to say goodnight. There were way more reddish patches than normal and some had tiny (teensy, like full stop sized) drops of blood in them. I picked Pemba up and looked at his private area and sure enough, there is a drop of blood there. He hates being held so I quickly put him back. He (for the first time) decides to wee immediately and I get to see it turn the bedding red. Obviously, it is now Pemba with blood in his urine. I have collected all the worst patches of bedding (thank god it's white bedding) and put them in a tupperware to show to the vet. My phone camera won't capture it properly.
My mum has reluctantly agreed to take him to the vet. Unfortunately, she wants to go to the vets where I volunteer, because it is cheaper than the other vets I saw today with Oreo, who see far more 'exotics' (AKA rodents) and have more experience. I have only agreed to this because I know where I volunteer, the vets really do mean well and are usually very nice to me (especially the nurses). If they cannot diagnose it, or there is no improvement in treatment, I will ask my dad to take him to the exotic specialist (who is off all week).
Ironically, I said to my mum in the car on the way to the vets for Oreo that we should get Pemba's urine tested while we were there. She said she didn't want to pay for another piggie to go to the vet when we only went for one. Aww thanks Karma.
I already use filtered water for the bottles and I will print out the forum bladder piggie veggie list in the morning. I also feed a mixture of Burgess mint and Rosewood grainless nuggets. Can I keep feeding these? Or should I try different nuggets? I am wary of switching the nuggets as Oreo seems to lose weight on anything that isn't Burgess mint, especially since he never gained back what he lost when Toffee died and he got really ill. That would mean separate nugget time (Pemba's in his loft or the cage and Oreo on my lap). I really can't afford to spend tons on nuggets, as although I have savings which I would happily use for vet bills, food, hay, bedding, toys, treats and fleece but I am not allowed as it is for the future (but piggies are my future, duh).
Any other advice? Please cross your fingers for Pemba.
.
