Poor Dennis... blood clots in urine

[JenniC1234]

Some of you may remember my little boar Dennis (now around 5-ish), who suffered from on-and-off bloat after coming to me from a home where he rarely (if ever) got fresh food. That is now well under control on a diet of hay, good pellets & occasional mint leaves, and he's happily paired up with his friend Joe.

Today, though, I noticed a huge puddle of red-stained wee - followed by a blood clot. I've taken him to the emergency vet, who's nonplussed (the clots aren't really gritty, she can't see any stones on the ultrasound, and she doesn't believe there's any infection in the urine, although she wasn't 100% convinced by the sample). I've come home with some Baytril + Metacam for safety, which I'm giving, but I'm totally foxed. If the issue doesn't resolve itself, she's recommended a referral to the Cat & Rabbit, but that's a long way from our base in Cambridge! Most threads I've read about blood clots are about sows, not boars: has anyone ever experienced anything like this before? We're probably up to about 8-ish clots now, most the size of a grain of rice, but there was one big one around the size of a little fingernail.

And a quick update - he just passed a large, stringy clot, which I pulled apart to find a little shard of hay in. No idea if this is the cause of the blood/clots or just a coincidence, or even something that just attached itself to the clot when he passed it!

 

[CTWC]

I am so sorry Dennis is poorly I hope one of the experts will be along soon to advise.
Have you posted this in the illness section?

 

[JenniC1234]

I am so sorry Dennis is poorly I hope one of the experts will be along soon to advise.
Have you posted this in the illness section?

I *think* I've posted it in the illness section, yes - or at least, I hope I have!

 

[Truffolo]

Sorry to hear that Dennis is poorly. Thank you for sharing this issue with us. I hope he can be treated and is well again soon

 

[JenniC1234]

Thank you all so much for your well-wishes!

Just some further info: Dennis has lost functionally no weight over the last 2 weeks (8g), and his weight has been stable at the same level for a good 8-9 weeks

I just spoke to the vet, who managed to look at the urine sample, and she can see a small amount of bacteria and lots of blood, and says it's quite dilute. So now we're thinking kidney issues?

 

[JenniC1234]

I've attached a photo of the cage (lined with one of my husband's old work shirts): the bright red colour makes me think of porphyrin (?), especially as it's staying red and not going brown as it dries? Which makes me hope that maybe this is a UTI - although I'm not sure you'd get clots with a UTI?

@Wiebke I don't know if you might have insight?

 

[Wiebke]

Hi

I am very sorry. Have you or your vet checked the anus and the penis shaft in case a sharp piece hay could have got stuck and caused some bleeding?

PS: You are posting in the correct section.

 

[JenniC1234]

Hi

I am very sorry. Have you or your vet checked the anus and the penis shaft in case a sharp piece hay could have got stuck and caused some bleeding?

PS: You are posting in the correct section.

It's really interesting you suggest that, Wiebke - I've been examining all the clots (looking for stones), and one of them (the biggest, by far) *did* contain a shard of hay (although I obviously can't be 100% certain it didn't attach to the clot while it was being passed, it was fairly red-stained). I'm starting to wonder whether it's some kind of internal injury from that? Especially since, as that big clot has passed, we haven't now had any clots for a good 2-3 hours.

The vet didn't examine his genitals at all, but I've got a follow-up with her on Thursday am, so I'll talk to her about it then, and I'll have a gentle look myself in the interim, too. Thank you, as ever, for your invaluable insight!

 

[Wiebke]

It's really interesting you suggest that, Wiebke - I've been examining all the clots (looking for stones), and one of them (the biggest, by far) *did* contain a shard of hay (although I obviously can't be 100% certain it didn't attach to the clot while it was being passed, it was fairly red-stained). I'm starting to wonder whether it's some kind of internal injury from that? Especially since, as that big clot has passed, we haven't now had any clots for a good 2-3 hours.

The vet didn't examine his genitals at all, but I've got a follow-up with her on Thursday am, so I'll talk to her about it then, and I'll have a gentle look myself in the interim, too. Thank you, as ever, for your invaluable insight!

I am just guessing but it is a possible angle from what you are saying that is worth taking into consideration.