Pink Urine after starting antibiotics?

[mehartr]

Hello! My 2 year old boy has been sneezing and having a crusty nose. I took him to the vet and they said his lungs sounded fine but because of the crusty nose, they put him on a 7 day course of Bactrim (only because he didn’t tolerate Baytril well last time).

The medication is hot pink, and since giving him his first dose, he has been leaving small pink/LIGHT red dots in his cage. Could the medication be altering his urine color? He had absolutely no tinted pee before starting these meds yesterday.

 

[Wiebke]

Hello! My 2 year old boy has been sneezing and having a crusty nose. I took him to the vet and they said his lungs sounded fine but because of the crusty nose, they put him on a 7 day course of Bactrim (only because he didn’t tolerate Baytril well last time).

The medication is hot pink, and since giving him his first dose, he has been leaving small pink/LIGHT red dots in his cage. Could the medication be altering his urine color? He had absolutely no tinted pee before starting these meds yesterday.

Hi!

It sounds very much like the pigment in your medication is the cause indeed! Coloured veg and colours in the food can change the appearance of urine.

 

[mehartr]

Hi!

It sounds very much like the pigment in your medication is the cause indeed! Coloured veg and colours in the food can change the appearance of urine.

I took him to the vet this morning just to be safe, they took an x-ray and confirmed that he did have a bladder stone. Being the superstar he is, he peed it out while on the x-ray table!

 

[Wiebke]

I took him to the vet this morning just to be safe, they took an x-ray and confirmed that he did have a bladder stone. Being the superstar he is, he peed it out while on the x-ray table!

Odd coincidences can happen; please keep in mind that we can only ever comment on the basis of what you are telling us without direct access to a member's piggy. Your wording and how you present any facts and your own guesses will inevitably shape the direction in which we are looking; what you tell is already filtered by your own perceptions. We sadly don't have crystal balls to see what is really going on although I really wish we had!

Very sorry about the bladder stone. Best get it operated out as soon as possible. What has your vet proposed?
If there is pink stained urine (i.e. a VERY lot of blood as seemingly clear urine can test high on blood with an infection), then a stone has most likely moved into the urethra and scratched the walls of the tube badly. You don't see this much with stones still sat in the bladder. Boars have an awkward inglenook in their urethra where stones generally fetch up and can cause more problems than if they were still in the bladder. Stones cannot be got rid of with medication unfortunately.

Please review your diet. The calcium absorption process is complex and relies on a range of factors. Diet is the one factor you can influence; genetic factors or something simply going haywire in the process you can't.
You can find recommendations for guinea pigs with urinary tract problems in our diet guide in the special diets chapter.
Glucosamine supplements can help to heal the damaged natural coating of the walls in the urinary tract that prevents the corrosive urine from coming into contact with raw tissue.
Please be aware that both these measures are longer term ones, but very important ones; it takes time for them to build up and filter through. There are not instant. But the sooner you start the sooner they will be effective.
Long Term Balanced General And Special Needs Guinea Pig Diets