• Discussions taking place within this forum are intended for the purpose of assisting you in discussing options with your vet. Any other use of advice given here is done so at your risk, is solely your responsibility and not that of this forum or its owner. Before posting it is your responsibility you abide by this Statement

Problem with Urine - Help Needed please

Status
Not open for further replies.
sport_billy

sport_billy

Administrator
Staff member
Administrator
Joined
Nov 10, 2009
Messages
54,379
Reaction score
39,485
Points
3,350
One of our pigs is passing yellow urine which is then turning to an orangey/brown colour when it drys. It doesn't smell and she doesn't seem to be in any discomfort when weeing.

She is eatong her parsley/celery leaves/spinach but is leaving her cucumber which is unusual for her.

We noticed this start on Friday on some white sheets in the run. It also looks this colour on the wood shavings in cage..

Could this be a UTI? The wee comes out yellow at first but changes as drying.

thanks
 
Hi there there must b an epidemic of urine probs at the monment

just bn to vet with sisters guinea pig who has been doin this and he has been prescribed Baytril as there was blood in his urine so got to syringe him it twice daily but it was strange as was coming out usual colour then changing as it dried its weird mallethead

mibbe see your vet just to get piggle checked out :)
 
How do you collect piggle wee for a sample, I don't think she would go on comand into a jar? :-) Was your sister pigs wee yellow until it dried then?
 
It may just be that the urine is more concentrated i.e. she's not drinking enough water. Worth checking for infection, but concentrated (not diluted) urine will appear a stronger colour.

Turning a rusty colour as it dries often points to foods staining the urine; the porphyrins oxidise, changing colour as the urine dries. Carrots, red pepper, beetroot are all foods that more often lead to this.

Collecting a urine sample - put the pig in an empty plastic box. Wait until she pees, then use a sterile 1ml syringe to 'suck up' as much as you can. Store this in the fridge until you can take it to a vets. I had to do this the other day, was great fun. :))
 
Last edited:
The same thing happened to me with 2 of my piggies.

To collect a sample, you can place your piggy in to a pet carrier or something with a smooth service. When the piggy pee's, suck it up with a syringe, syringe the urine in to a bottle of some kind and place in to the fridge until you can take it to the vets. The fresher the sample, the better.

However, when the urine dried this colour, it doesn't always mean that there is blood present. Guinea pig urine can sometimes turn orange once it has oxidised.

Discoloured urine can also be a build up of bacteria in the bladder.

Good luck xx
 
would it be ok, to leave her till wednesday to see the vets, so i can do the piggle wee collecting tomorrow, do you think? as would need syringes.

Just worried incase she needs to be seen urgently?
 
Piggy pee changes colour when in contact with the air.
Often, yellow pee points to too little fluid intake.

However, reddish urine does not necessarily mean that blood is present, whereas you can have blood present in normal coloured urine.
 
Thank you all so much for your replies. This is such a wonderful place full of great people always willing to help.
I hope to have enough knowledge of 'piggles' one day to be able to help the same way people on here do.

I feel like a hypochondriac on behalf of the pigs sometimes, we love them so much and it is so worrying to think of them in pain or not being very well, sometimes you feel so helpless - as you cant explain to them whats going on... Other people think we're mad for getting so stressed over our guinea's but to us they're such an important part of our family.

Thanks again
Lee + Rach
 
Just a quick update, took both Pitch and Putt to vets with Urine samples. Pitch's Urine was also changed in colour though not as dark as Putt's.

The vets tested the urine and couldn't find any traces of blood, he seems to think it may be a pigment in some food stuff and nothing to be concerned about as they seemed healthy otherwise.
So quite relived, just going to keep eye on them both.

Only thing I can think of is the pigs have been having a lot of 'Hay tubes' from pets at home over past few weeks, wondering if they may contain something..
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top