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Red Urine

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Roo3

Roo3

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I cleaned out all my pigs today, and a few minutes ago I noticed a lot of bright red/ orange urine in my four year old boar, Fuzzy's, cage.
My first thought is cystitus or a bladder stone (my other 4 year old boar has just been treated for both) but Fuzzy is showing absolutley no signs of discomfort when going to the toilet.
His weight is stable and his appetite is good.

Has anyone got any ideas about what may have caused this and how we can treat it?

Thanks
 
have you given him anything red or orange to eat?
 
No nothing. My boyfriend thinks it is more orange than red but it's very bright. I've just had a look on guinea lynx and it says that orange urine can be normal but i don't what could be causing it.
 
I've checked him again and it looks as though there's some normal coloured urine there too. We'll keep an eye on him over the next day or so and take him to the vets if needs be.
 
That was Claire's experience as well - several normal pees, but in between a bright orange one.
 
I had the same experience after a bad bout of chronic cys**** in my bladder stone piggy Minx - suddenly the wee turned orange. The specialist I saw then said that it could happen with guinea pigs, that their urine could just turn brightly coloured (not bloody).

Claire's piggy's worst bout happened after an infection of the guts. Her piggy still has the odd bit of brightly coloured pees every few weeks. She was found to have a small amount of blood in her urine - but not always.

As far as I could find out is that there are bacteria which are responsible for the colouration of the urine who for some reason (reduced immune system?) are suddenly flourishing. It is frightening when it happens the first time!
 
It could be blood or colouring from food eg beetroot or the additives in dried food. If the condition persists then investigate further.
 
Hi Roo,

What Wiebke has said is spot on.

I have had this problem with 2 pigs now and it is such a worry when you first see it.

CONNIE: Connie started to wee an orangey / red wee and squeaking / being in pain when she wee'd in November 2008. Over 5 month, she was backwards and forwards to the vets. During this time, she was on Baytril and Septrin, had 2 x rays, a bladder flush and was opened up. The first x ray showed nothing but the second x ray which was carried out a few months later showed speckles and inflammation of the bladder. With my consent, the vet opened Connie up but found nothing. The vet gave her a bladder flush to clean out her bladder of any grit or sludge but we unfortunately lost Connie a few days later.

ELIZA: Eliza started to pass an orangey / red urine at the beginning of last summer. When it first happened, I was so scared because of what had happened to Connie. I took Eliza to the vets along with a urine sample and the vet found nothing abnormal. She explained that after speaking with a specialist (going back to when Connie had the same wee) guinea pig urine can sometimes be this colour. She advised me to keep an eye on her and to take a sample in in a week or so if it was still the rusty colour. Unlike Connie, Eliza showed no symptoms of discomfort but still had the rusty coloured wee's. A few weeks down the line, the vet detected blood in the urine was Eliza was put on a course of Septrin. Eliza had an x ray just to make sure there wasn't a stone and thankfully there wasn't.

four weeks later and 4 urine samples later, Eliza's urine had gone back to being a clear colour and no blood was found. She was finally taken off the antibiotics at the beginning of September.

Since then, Eliza has had on occasion, an orangery / red wee. From advise from people on here and my vet, it is probably something that will just happen from time to time with Eliza. My vet has told me to only take a urine sample to them if Eliza shows signs of discomfort when urinating and / or the rusty wee continuous for a week or more.

Eliza has had clear wee's now for a good couple of months so I am keeping my fingers crossed.

From reassurance from people on here and my vet, Eliza does NOT have what Connie had and her urine colour is just one of those things. My vet has said that it could even be down to diet. Although Eliza didn't eat anything red or orange before the wee's, my vet explained that it could be something as simple as preservatives or colourings in the dried food

From my experience, I would keep an eye on Fuzzy for now and if the urine continuous or becomes persistent where every pee is the orange / red colour I would take him to the vet just to be on the safe side. If you do take him, I would suggest that you take a urine sample with you so that it can be tested there and then.

Good luck but you probably don't have anything to worry about at this stage.

x
 
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Thanks Clare. We've kept an eye on Fuzzy since last night and we are pretty sure that there are no more reddy/orangey wee's in his hutch. He's been fairly lively throughout the day and has been eating his normal amount. He's definitely not in any discomfort when going to the toilet so hopefully it's nothing we need to worry about.
My first thought when I saw it last night was that he'd got a bladder stone as a few weeks ago our other 4 year old boar Zippy had a stone removed. Thinking back, Fuzzy and Zippy's urine were different colours and Zippys was clear with blood in it whereas Fuzzy's was all just a reddy/orangey colour.
 
Hopefully, it is just a one-off; in most cases it is!
 
About an hour ago we saw more orangey/reddy urine in Fuzzy's hutch. My boyfriend sat next to his hutch whilst he went for a wee and there was definitley no signs of discomfort at all.

I'm thinking about making a vets appointment tomorrow for him, mainly to put my mind at rest if nothing else.
 
Good; it is what I would have done as well!

Wishing Fuzzy the best of luck!
 
It very strange as it only appears at night time. I've checked him again today and all his urine is clear but last night after having clear urine all day, it went a reddy/orangey colour! I'm very puzzled.

Got an appointment with the vet at 4.10pm so fingers crossed its nothing serious.
 
"My boyfriend sat next to his hutch whilst he went for a wee and there was definitley no signs of discomfort at all."


I am trying to work out who was where, who was doing what and who had no discomfort!
 
Good luck Roo. Please do let us know how Fuzzy gets on :) When Eliza had her infection, her urine started off as the odd red / orange urine and then she had that colour every time she went for a wee. I'm pleased you are having a vets appointment though xx
 
We are just back from the vets. He said that it could be cystitus or a stone or it could be problems with his kidney (as one of his kidneys is a bit larger than the other one) or just something in his food which is causing it. We are to keep an eye on him for the next few days and if it carries on we'll take him for an xray.

I'm obviously really hoping it's not his kidney as our vet says he's not sure what can be done if it is his kidney although if it's only one of them the other one should work fine for him.

He passed a drop of urine whilst we were with the vet and it was clear! Typical!
 
Yes, I know the "nothing wrong with me at the vets" syndrome only too well! malletheadmalletheadmallethead

Sending my best wishes to poor Fuzzy and hoping that all goes right again!
 
Yes, that has happened to me before too mallethead Did you take a urine sample with you? I would have thought that if it was a stone, Fuzzy would be showing symptoms xx
 
"He said that it could be cystitus or a stone or it could be problems with his kidney (as one of his kidneys is a bit larger than the other one) or just something in his food which is causing it."

How to be always right with a diagnosis; mention everything, it never fails to boost the reputation!
 
Claire W said:
Yes, that has happened to me before too mallethead Did you take a urine sample with you? I would have thought that if it was a stone, Fuzzy would be showing symptoms xx
Click to expand...

No, I didn't take a sample with me because he only seems to do it at night time.
He's been a little quieter than usual tonight, but I'm putting that down to him getting a little stressed on his journey to the vets. We'll keep a close eye on him tonight.

We're not having much luck with our animals at the moment, last month our other boar Zippy had a bladder stone removed, on Friday our rabbit got bloat and now this with Fuzzy.:...
 
Roo3 said:
No, I didn't take a sample with me because he only seems to do it at night time.
He's been a little quieter than usual tonight, but I'm putting that down to him getting a little stressed on his journey to the vets. We'll keep a close eye on him tonight.

We're not having much luck with our animals at the moment, last month our other boar Zippy had a bladder stone removed, on Friday our rabbit got bloat and now this with Fuzzy.:...
Click to expand...

I'm sorry things have all came at once :( Please do keep us updated on Fuzzy xx
 
Normally around this time we'd notice the red/orange wee and at the moment all is clear and normal in Fuzzy's cage. We'll check again before we go to bed.
He's currently tucking into his veg without a care in the world so has obviously got over the trauma of the car journey earlier!
 
Aww bless him that's a good sign. Hopefully, the orange urine was a one off. Like I said, Eliza has the odd orange urine moment from time to time. I have everything crossed for you x
 
alcesterpigs said:
"He said that it could be cystitus or a stone or it could be problems with his kidney (as one of his kidneys is a bit larger than the other one) or just something in his food which is causing it."

How to be always right with a diagnosis; mention everything, it never fails to boost the reputation!
Click to expand...

How true that is.
I bet he charged you for that as well.


ps Elvis has eaten 3 tiny bits of grape on his own[tiny acorns and all that]
 
alcesterpigs said:
"He said that it could be cystitus or a stone or it could be problems with his kidney (as one of his kidneys is a bit larger than the other one) or just something in his food which is causing it."

How to be always right with a diagnosis; mention everything, it never fails to boost the reputation!
Click to expand...

We've been using this vet for quite some time now, he has been excellent and has gone beyond the call of duty on some occasions. He gave Fuzzy a thorough examination but was unable to find anything clearly wrong and was just giving us possible causes as to why the urine had gone a funny colour and what we'd need to monitor in the future. I think any good vet would do the same.

Many thanks to everyone for their concern and advice about Fuzzy.
 
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