guinea pig urine is light pink, bum wet

[eloquenteevee76]

First time guinea pig owner here!

My guinea pig's urine is light pink and her bum is constantly wet. She has not been squeaking in pain but is drinking more than normal. Some of her poos are irregularly shaped (long or small). Are these signs of illness? What should I do?

Also, she was diagnosed with crystals on 5/2 but after giving her more water she was fine.

Thank you so much!

 

[Piggies&buns]

Yes they are signs of illness, please see a vet - she is having urinary issues and a vet will need to diagnose what is going on (urinary issues can be anything from a simple UTI to stones)

You should switch from the routine weekly weight checks and instead weigh her daily. This enables you to monitor that she is still eating enough hay. An unwell piggy/piggy in pain will often reduce their hay intake (you can’t gauge hay intake by eye though) so you will notice weight loss and will need to step in with syringe feeding in that case.

 

[eloquenteevee76]

Ok, thank you so much! Also how long should it take for crystals/sludge to clear up on a wet diet/extra water?

 

[eileen]

I've a piggie with sludge,she was given cystease 1 capsule daily,metacam 0.5mls twice daily dog strength. Potassium citrate 0.3mls twice aday.15mls water syringed twice daily.
This regime has kept Dakota pain-free,and sludge free.This is at the vets advise.but not all guinea pigs will be clear of crystals or sludge with this.some will need bladder flushes.you will need to take your piggie back to the vets.
It's very difficult seeing your piggie poorly.i hope you can get her sorted.xx

 

[Piggies&buns]

Ok, thank you so much! Also how long should it take for crystals/sludge to clear up on a wet diet/extra water?

It depends hugely on how much sludge is in there and how tightly it is packed.
A lot and/or tight packed requires intervention (a bladder flush), simply drinking more/increasing urination may not help.

Check the diet. Ensure, most importantly, you are filtering drinking water and that pellets are kept strictly limited to one tablespoon per pig per day. Most calcium comes into the siet come pellets and drinking water. (Although being in Devon if I recall correctly your water is soft?).
Don’t feed high calcium veggies much (no small than one small amount, once per week) - things like spinach, kale, parsley are all high calcium items

Is she on any painkillers?

 

[eloquenteevee76]

It depends hugely on how much sludge is in there and how tightly it is packed.
A lot and/or tight packed requires intervention (a bladder flush), simply drinking more/increasing urination may not help.

Check the diet. Ensure, most importantly, you are filtering drinking water and that pellets are kept strictly limited to one tablespoon per pig per day. Most calcium comes into the siet come pellets and drinking water. (Although being in Devon if I recall correctly your water is soft?).
Don’t feed high calcium veggies much (no small than one small amount, once per week) - things like spinach, kale, parsley are all high calcium items

Is she on any painkillers?

Thank you, this is so helpful! Yes, the water is soft-should I still filter it? Also in the morning, we just put both bowls down for the pigs to eat from so I’m not sure if one is getting more pellets than the other. Do people usually feed their piggies separately?

 

[eloquenteevee76]

I've a piggie with sludge,she was given cystease 1 capsule daily,metacam 0.5mls twice daily dog strength. Potassium citrate 0.3mls twice aday.15mls water syringed twice daily.
This regime has kept Dakota pain-free,and sludge free.This is at the vets advise.but not all guinea pigs will be clear of crystals or sludge with this.some will need bladder flushes.you will need to take your piggie back to the vets.
It's very difficult seeing your piggie poorly.i hope you can get her sorted.xx

Thank you so much! Yeah, I hope she feels better soon

 

[Piggies&buns]

Thank you, this is so helpful! Yes, the water is soft-should I still filter it? Also in the morning, we just put both bowls down for the pigs to eat from so I’m not sure if one is getting more pellets than the other. Do people usually feed their piggies separately?

No don’t feed them separately, just give them no more than one tablespoon per pig per day. I’d they are going to have bladder issues then you can cut that down.
My piggies aren’t bladder piggies but I prefer to be almost pellet free. They get 8-10 pellets each and only get them twice a week.

We don’t recommend the use of bowls and instead recommend to scatter feed pellets amongst a large pile of hay. They then have to forage for them so it provides mental stimulation and helps prevent one getting more than the other.
Alternatively, hand feed each their pellets. That way it becomes a bonding time between you and them and you know exactly how many each one is getting

 

[eloquenteevee76]

No don’t feed them separately, just give them no more than one tablespoon per pig per day. I’d they are going to have bladder issues then you can cut that down.
My piggies aren’t bladder piggies but I prefer to be almost pellet free. They get 8-10 pellets each and only get them twice a week.

We don’t recommend the use of bowls and instead recommend to scatter feed pellets amongst a large pile of hay. They then have to forage for them so it provides mental stimulation and helps prevent one getting more than the other.
Alternatively, hand feed each their pellets. That way it becomes a bonding time between you and them and you know exactly how many each one is getting

Ooh ok, thank you so much for the ideas!
Also I think my pig might be getting better by herself-after feeding more watered down veg and removing high-calcium veg I’ve been seeing white spots on the mats and haven’t found blood so far. Are these signs of recovery? Here are my notes for these couple days:

fri may 24

• from tues to fri, bottom always wet
• not squeaking in pain
• weirdly shaped poos
• fed more veg thurs and fri, removed calcium high veg
• 2.0 lbs wed-fri

sat may 25

• some white spots found on mats, could be excess calcium deposited
• pee was clear!
• bottom dry (? or maybe very slightly wet)
• poos look more normal
• syringe fed ~6 mL
• 2.2 lb

 

[Piggies&buns]

Ooh ok, thank you so much for the ideas!
Also I think my pig might be getting better by herself-after feeding more watered down veg and removing high-calcium veg I’ve been seeing white spots on the mats and haven’t found blood so far. Are these signs of recovery? Here are my notes for these couple days:

fri may 24

• from tues to fri, bottom always wet
• not squeaking in pain
• weirdly shaped poos
• fed more veg thurs and fri, removed calcium high veg
• 2.0 lbs wed-fri

sat may 25

• some white spots found on mats, could be excess calcium deposited
• pee was clear!
• bottom dry (? or maybe very slightly wet)
• poos look more normal
• syringe fed ~6 mL
• 2.2 lb

No they aren’t signs of recovery.
The signs of a bacterial infection can actually be inconsistent - they can be present and then seem to get better without actually getting better - in the early stages and can take a while to firm up. Therefore I would not be assuming she is getting better.
A bacterial infection won’t get better just by removing calcium rich veg and giving more water. Bacteria will be killed by a course of antibiotics.

White spots mean that she is excreting calcium. That is normal but if there is a lot then it means there is a problem with calcium levels. Equally if your piggy is struggling with excess calcium in the diet, changing the diet will take several weeks to have any effect on the calcium levels in the body. It certainly isn’t immediate.
Also consider that removing too much calcium from the diet is also detrimental to health and as bad as it being too high.

Most calcium comes into the diet via pellets and water, not veg.

You also don’t want to suddenly feed more veg. It can be detrimental to hay intake

Regarding her weight, if she is losing weight then she needs to be syringe fed. I’d she isn’t losing weight then she doesn’t need to be syringe fed.
In the event of her losing weight and needing syringe feed, you would be looking to feed in excess of 40-60ml per day. Just 6ml of feed won’t have made a difference in the case of weight loss each morning

 

[eloquenteevee76]

Oh ok thank you again. I had thought it was probably crystals or sludge again over UTI but I will take her to the vet if she gets worse again. Also I should’ve clarified the 6mL was water (since she didn’t have any veg that day because her poop was weird).

 

[Piggies&buns]

Oh ok thank you again. I had thought it was probably crystals or sludge again over UTI but I will take her to the vet if she gets worse again. Also I should’ve clarified the 6mL was water (since she didn’t have any veg that day because her poop was weird).

It could be crystals/sludge - she needs to see the vet for diagnosis and any necessary treatment.
Sludge can be the precursor to stone formation so it’s best to have her seen by the vet rather than wait for her to get worse

If you have been feeding high calcium veg between when she was diagnosed with sludge and now then it’s possible the sludge has for worse/returned.
It’s best to review the diet and make the changes now.
The four safe veggies that can be fed daily are lettuce, cucumber, bell pepper and coriander. Keep pellets to one tablespoon per pig per day and filter drinking water

 

[eloquenteevee76]

Thank you! Is filtering soft water necessary btw?

 

[Piggies&buns]

Thank you! Is filtering soft water necessary btw?

Probably not!
If you make sure your pellets are low calcium and aren’t over fed then actually you may have a bit more leeway in terms of veg - assuming she isn’t having an ongoing problem first though.
You have to find a balance that works for your specific area as everybody is going to find different things work better for them. I’m in a hard water area so shouldn’t feed much high calcium veg but my piggies are pretty much on a pellet free diet so actually I have a balance and can feed a bit more in the way of calcium veg due to them not really getting pellets

 

[eloquenteevee76]

Ooh ok, thank you so much

 

[eloquenteevee76]

Oop one more question-After taking piggies off veg for 1-2 days for soft poop, should I start slow again? Like only feeding them a piece of veg, then going from there, or can I give them their regular serving?

 

[Piggies&buns]

Oop one more question-After taking piggies off veg for 1-2 days for soft poop, should I start slow again? Like only feeding them a piece of veg, then going from there, or can I give them their regular serving?

You should only reintroduce veg once poops have gone back to normal and have been normal for 24 hours. You can then reintroduce veg but you need to do it slowly. Never just give a normal serving as you may just cause the poops to go soft again.
It’s recommended you start by offering a sprig or two of a herb as they are milder on the digestion