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Help! Margot is bleeding

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SweetCaroline

SweetCaroline

Junior Guinea Pig
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I am worried about my little Margot...help me!

I think she is in season (cos of her behaviour ie mounnting and snaking her hips), but I didn't think guinnea pigs bled when they are in season and she is bleeding from her genitals:...:......

is this normal or is it something unrelated to be worried about?

She also didn't like me picking her up today (although seems to be eating fine)

Worried Mummy x
 
Fairly common occurence, can look like a miscarriage. Usually over in a day, no immediate cause for concern.
 
miscarriage? she only lives with 1 other girl and they have had their sex checked loads and don't think/see how she can have been pregnant?

still worried, oh no!

thanks for reply though, will keep an eye on her

x
 
It is certainly not connected to her being in season. Best take her to the vet and have her checked!

It can be either urinary tract infection (UTI)/bladder trouble or trouble with the womb.

For a urine sample sit her on a bit of plastic for half hour to an hour and wait until she's peed. You may want give her some cucumber to speed up the process. Suck it up with a syringe (from vet or pharmacy) and keep the syringe in a freezer bag in the fridge until you go to the vets. If the urine is gritty, it is an indicator that she has crystals or a stone in her bladder.

The best antibiotic for UTI is septrin, though many vets will only prescribe baytril, as it is the only listed antibiotic. The correct dose for baytril is 0.4 ml for an adult guinea pig. Please ask for some probiotic with any antibiotic, and if necessary some painkiller. A good vet will not need to aneasthesize her for a quick x-ray.

Please keep us updated! We will help you with any questions or problems, or simply give you moral support at all times!
Wiebke
 
oh no my poor baby

shall I do the plastic thing before vets ? I am so worried and can't take her til tomorrow now...:...
 
Yes, you can do it at home, so she doesn't have to pee at the vets. I'm quite sure they would like to analyse her pee to see whether the blood is from the urine. If you done feel to yucky about it poke your finger in one puddle and feel whether it is gritty.

I'll keep my finger crossed for your poor little lady! What's her name, how old is she and how long have you had her?
 
Thanks. Margot is just 3 months old and I have had her from 8 weeks....she is busy munching grass at the mo and making happy noises so maybe she isn't in much pain.

I am not squemish about getting a sample, although don't have a syringe and no idea where to get one seeing as shops are now shut.

There is a kind of crust maybe also around her genitals...maybe that's the crystals?
 
Could be dried urine.

Does she feel wet underneath, or is her belly yelowish and has she been drinking lots of water?

The urine sample can be taken at the vets.

So you've had her for four weeks? Where did you get Margot from?
 
It is rare for girls to bleed when in season although it can happen. I would whizz her to a good vet who knows about pigs for further investigation.

Hope she is ok. :)
 
no I have had her since Easter and she was also checked over by a vet again (cos her friend Barbara had a scabby ear), about 6 weeks ago and all was fine...she is a healthy pig and has put on weight consistently.

no wet belly and I don't think yellow (though she is black and can't tell)...can you see the photo of them in my profile? I don't think it is showing for some reason!

I am not sure how much she has been drinking as I have been at work all day til 5.30 when I saw the blood :...

she does seem quite happy on the grass...hope she's ok and nothing serious.

I worry if it could be anything to do with a bug in her stomach...I have been growing parsley for them and after they had eaten some one night (about a week ago), I saw that the plant was ridden with insect eggs that I hadn't noticed...I have been worried the piglets may have consumed some of the eggs :(
 
If you bought your girl from a pet shop and had her for four weeks, then it could be a miscarriage - I'm a "shop granny", so I know it can happen!

I'm sure that your vet will explore all possiblites tomorrow morning. Hopefully, you'll get SOME sleep in.

Best wishes to little Margot.
 
If you've had her for eight weeks, it can't be miscarriage (pregnancy lasts about seven weeks) - our posts crossed.
 
If you've had her for eight weeks, it can't be miscarriage (pregnancy lasts about seven weeks) - our posts crossed.
Best of luck and don't panic too early!

Sorry, my computer is playing up today!
 
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is the "blood" thick and a constant flow or watery, if its watery it sounds like it could be a UTI, in wich case a trip to the vets is needed, and i'd be suprised if they ask for a urine sample, they should be able to tell by looking at her rear end as its common with UTIs for it to be a little smelly and constantly wet and mucky, it of a waste of time really for a urine sapmle as the vets should just give you baytril or something simlar staight away rather than waiting for samlpes to come back and looking at blood in the urine wont tell you where its come from, as it is mixed with the urine to start with.

It is common for sows to have some discharge(only we arnt with them 24/7 so dont always notice it) when they are in season, but this should only last a day or 2.

Guineas are pregnant for about 10 weeks so she could have been pregnant and could be miscarring a baby, in which case a baby isnt always passed, but if your really worried it would be best to take her to the vet even if its just to get a corse of antibiotics just to be on the safe side.
 
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It was thickish blood

I just looked at her again and the blood was dried on her so I carefully wiped with a warm damp cottonwool.

There was some hay stuck in her, which she squeeled at when I took it out...could this just be the cause? ...although she does seem to be quite 'open' (sorry if I sound a bit gross), more so than normal I think.

She seems ok though...I will keep checking as now I have cleaned her I will be able to tell if she bleeds more.

My poor baby piglet Margot

xx
 
You misread my post. I said that it could look like a miscarriage not that it was. Maybe it was the wrong choice of words, it would have been more accurate to ask whether it was only blood or if it were blood/tissue.
I have had a number of sows that have lost the lining of the uterus.
I am looking at a photo I took on 24 Feb 1996 of one such case.
It looks like a piece of raw meat!
It was about 3.5cm wide and about 2 cm from top to bottom, and shows the "Y" shape of the uterus.
She was totally unconcerned by this condition and received no treatment.
She died 5 Sept. 1997, at the age of 5 years.
 
If Margot was pregnant, and you've had her for eight weeks, the babies would have been well developed by now and she would have clearly shown her pregnancy by putting up a lot of weight over the last two weeks and by getting very large at the back end and having moving "balls" inside her. So I don't think it has to do with pregnancy.

A urine test is only one of the things a vet can check - mine can check urine within minutes, so it's worth it when I'm suspecting an infection of the urinary tract. Yours doesn't sound like that, I must admit!
 
I agree that it is best to get her checked. Keep an eye on how long the blood lasts; if it clears up within a day then she may just be one of those rare pigs who do bleed a little in oestrus. However I wouldn't go as far as to say that is what's caused the blood; a urine test just to check for blood in the urine would be a good step to take.
 
Phew she seems totally fine today and no blood! She has all the signs of being in heat so think she may just be one of those rare pigs that bleed..bless her
 
Aww glad to hear she is a little better. One of my older girls Bupu bled very slightly a couple of months back. I monitored the situation and there was nothing to suggest it was a UTI. She's been the vet since and had a clean bill of health so perhaps this bleeding when in season is more popular than we think.

Hope she continues to be ok. :)
 
Thanks! yes I will be recording to see if it happens again and monitoring her cycles...

I weighed her again this morning and she has put on a little weight (she is still growing), so seems healthy.

I love your picture by the way!

x:)
 
Post 4 "It is certainly not connected to her being in season"
Post 2 As I said it is a fairly common occurence.!
 
Al, do you think it is more common than we are lead to believe? As I said Bupu had it in April. I only noticed because I let her and her 2 sisters have a run around on light coloured fleece and picked her up and noticed a tiny amount of blood around her 'area'.

Because many of us house on hay or other bedding and is only there for hours max we would miss it. So does make me think is it more common than we think. :)
 
SAT
You could be right, it could be more common than we think.
When a sow gives birth she quickly eats the placenta(s) and cleans any blood from herself and/or the babies, usually within 30 minutes no evidence remains. It is more than reasonable to assume that the same happens when in season, when the amount of blood loss should be much less than when giving birth. So, the chances of an owner seeing "recycling" happen, especially during the night, are quite small.
 
Thank you - I stand corrected; so far, I've never seen it happen with any of my girls, but that doesn't mean it's not possible or wouldn't be cleaned away quickly!
 
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