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Orange / Red Piggy Wee?

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Maisy and Poppy

Maisy and Poppy

Adult Guinea Pig
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Hi,
I am posting this on behalf of a friend who has a mystery with her two sows.
My friend's two guinea pigs weed in their cage and their wee was orange / red! The bedding is fitch so they could see it clearly. They have just cleaned the cage out so cannot take a pic to show you guys. I suggested splitting up the cage to see which piggy has the orange wee so that they can monitor their diet.
My friend has asked does anyone know what this is and is it serious?
 
Strongly coloured orange pee can be:
- caused by eating coloured veg like peppers or carrots; the pee is already stained when leaving the body
- strong oxidisation. In this case, the urine is clear when it leaves the body, but "rusts" in contact with the air. This is generally caused by a build-up of bacteria in the bladder that occur naturally and are usually kept in check by the immune system, but can flourish if the immune system is lowered for some reason. Sometimes there can be a small trace of blood in the urine. If the oxdisation is very strong, you friend may like to have her piggy and its urine checked by a savvy vet.
- blood has different specific weight to urine, so it generally either dries as pinkish/reddish drops in the middle, or if there is more, a pinkish/reddish rim around a differently coloured pee patch.
 
If it is just a one-off, then it could be veg. If there is more like it, it is more likely oxidisation.
 
Wiebke is more experienced than me so I will wait for her answer.

I had this problem with my guinea pigs . I used to give them a variety of veg - including celery leaves and the problem resolved when I cut out all veg apart from the daily veg i.e

1 green bean
1 slice cucumber
1 piece celery
1 sprig coriander
a slice pepper

... per pig twice day
 
Her piggies went to a holiday boarding while they were away for a week so I suspect they might have got lots of veg there.
 
It could be down to veg, but your friend may also keep an eye out in case it is the beginnings of a UTI. If the stains look like the picture and are not all that big. A urine test for blood with fresh pee may bring clearance or you wait what happens tomorrow. if necessary, keep both piggies on a light, old towel overnight.
 
How do you do a piggy urine test?
My friend could bring the piggies to the vets as I am at her house now.
 
Your vet can certainly express the bladder and do a quick dip test if you are worried that there is blood in the urine.
 
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