Rodney - Drinking and weeing a lot more lately?!

[Charl]

Hi there,

I have noticed that lately, my guinea Rodney, has been drinking and weeing alot more than usual. Is this normal? And he is 5 years old, could it be his age? Apart from that, he is fine. He is happy and healthy.

Thanks

 

[Wiebke]

I could be an early warning sign for the onset of an illness like UTI or diabetes. Keep an eye on him.

 

[Charl]

Oh no! Thankyou I will. :{

 

[Charl]

Do you think it is worth me taking him to the vets?

 

[Wiebke]

It might be useful to have his urine tested.

You can take a urine sample yourself, by feeding him a bit of cucumber or other watery food and sitting him on some plastic. Wait for some time, so your boy has time for several pees. Suck them up with a syringe and store the filled syringe in the fridge (best in a little freezer or plastic bag) until you go to the vets.

Unfortunately, increeased thirst is such a vague sign that it will be difficult to determine whether there is something wrong.

For diabetes, you would like to look out for weight loss; for UTI for blood in the urine (which NOT necessarily means red urine!) and peeing pain.

It can well be that he is OK. I hope that Rodney is!

The other question - in warm weather, they can drink more. Are you in the South? In this case, it can well be just the warm weather!

 

[Charl]

Well all I'm gonna say is that it isn't the warmest place here mallethead

But it isn't freezing either

Rodney is very thin, but he is a very old guineapig too

Oooh no :0

 

[Charl]

Well the temperature hasn't been very warm lately, only 18-20 degrees celcius. The weather is getting a bit warmer though!

 

[Wiebke]

If you are really worried, have his urine checked. That will hopefully give you a clue where to look - or if there is anything to look for!

Neither condition I've mentioned is fatal, you know!

 

[Charl]

Phew! Very good

I will keep a good eye on him!

Thanks for all your great advice

 

[xjennax]

Hi Pip -

I would weigh him on a set of kitchen scales as the first sign of illness is usually weight loss. A change in the veges you give him can affect drinking, if there has been less lettuce, cucumber etc then he will drink more as vege is mostly water kinda thing. Does his pee smell worse then usual ? Or have you changed the water bottle ?

I hope he is ok, my Poppy recently got very ill and it was soo sad - please keep us updated xx

 

[Charl]

Thanks x

Rodneys wee is normal, and it doesn't smell. The only problem is he has been doing more of it. Actually, to think about it, I have been giving him more veg recently as my dad has forced me to pull up my whole crop of Fennel plants, as he wants to demolish my veggie patch :{ So I've been wanting to get rid of the fennel so it doesn't go off. So I have been giving the guineas fennel once a day, or sometimes once every two days.

Thanks very much for your advice, I will surely keep you updated!

x

P.s. Sorry to hear about your poor Poppy! Hope she gets better soon xx

 

[Laura-CCC4]

For a pig of Rodney's age, I wouldn't be surprised if it is simply his kidneys slowing down. As the kidneys start to wear out, they don't filter as effectively as they used to, leading to more frequent urination. This in turn creates an increased thirst in order to replace the fluids lost through the extra urination.

Another explanation could be dietary - some foods can be diuretic, which also leads to more frequent urination and an increased thirst.

Just keep an eye on him, see if it's a long-term thing or if he is simply more thirsty as a result of the temperature or the diet.