possible UTI/stone

[lindsecm]

After taking Pola and Nell (both sows) out of the run last night, I was cleaning up the newspaper and noticed two areas of urine with a pink streak and some grit residue.

So I got on here and found this thread:

http://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=31412&highlight=UTI

They both seem to be eating normally, because I observe them when I give veggies. Neither were wheeking when they peed, as I was in the room the entire time they were in the run last night. Today I did a complete cage clean and weighed both of them. When I put them back in their new cage Pola urinated and there was a bit of residue left on the fleece.

Pola went from 534g on Wednesday to 550g today (Saturday) and little Nell has been steadily gaining weight as she should from 258g Thursday to 270g today (Sat).

I am sure the one that had the blood was Pola because of the slight decline in weight and the fact that she is a Sheltie (and I do try to keep her groomed). Tonight I am going to put Pola in the run until she pees to be 100% sure.

Of course this has to happen on the weekend when vets are impossible to get a hold of, so it will be Monday at the very soonest she can be seen. So until then I have read Cranberry juice is something that should be given and I have also seen conflicting ideas about whether you should use regular cranberry juice or unsweetened....so I am really confused on that. Any help is greatly appreciated.


[sorry for the length, trying to give as many details as possible].

 

[alcesterpigs]

Greetings from this side of the pond.
If you look down the health section, the one we are on, you will see lots of references to Urinary Tract Infection, cystitis, bladder stones etc. I think those will give you plenty of advice.
Regards from the UK.

 

[lindsecm]

I waded through about 14 pages, on top of the several searches I ran last night and still could not find a clear answer on regular cranberry juice or if it has to be unsweetened, I apologize if I missed it, but I really don't want to give her the wrong thing and potentially make anything worse.

 

[Laura-CCC4]

Unsweetened is preferable. Sweetened cranberry juice has added sugars/sweeteners, which the pigs could do without.

Are you sure it was blood in the run? Have they eaten anything that could taint the urine? (Beetroot, carrots and even red pepper can make the urine red.)
Also remember it is normal for pee to oxidise, which is to say it dries an orange-y, rusty colour.
Having said all that, from your description I do think a vet check on Monday is important. Let us know how they get on!

 

[Wiebke]

The changes of weight are completely within the norm. UTI and bladder stones only cause weight loss when the pain/soreness is so bad that it is affecting the appetite - and you would hear them screaming when peeing before that.

If you have extra syringes, you can take urine samples (best from some plastic underlay) from each girl - feed them some cucumber to expedite the process. Keep the syringes (one for each girl, preferably labelled) in a freezer bag in the fridge until you go to the vet. My Llewelyn had one red wee and two normal ones in half an hour, but a mix of all three samples did test negative for blood at the vets.

Is the urine staining the hay a bright yellow? That is ususally the very first sign of a possible UTI for me.

All the best - and try not to worry too much, yet. I know it's easier said than done...

Big hug from Vicky

 

[lindsecm]

Thank you both!

I will go get unsweetened cranberry juice today, hopefully it is easy to find...but if not I'll get regular.

The only thing on the list I feed them is carrot and it's a half a baby carrot each :{

These two don't urinate in their "hay bin" like my others do, so I can't tell from hay, just what they pee on the fleece and in turn what goes through to the puppy pads underneath.

They are both of the same spot, but I found another spot just like it. You can barely see the yellow urine outline from either of the pics, but the pink is pretty clear.

All that said, I will try and collect some urine samples (no worry about running out of syringes, my Mom works at a hospital and can get them easily for me!) and hopefully we can get her in the vet tomorrow... :...

 

[alcesterpigs]

(no worry about running out of syringes, my Mom works at a hospital and can get them easily for me!) and hopefully we can get her in the vet tomorrow... :...