tomato turning pee red/orange?!

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LittleEskimo

LittleEskimo

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so yesterday morning the guinea pigs had some tomato and a little bit of carrot. I just saw mcmacs pee and it is orangey or red. I got a bit freaked out seeing it considering he has been through an operation. should I worry? he is acting totally normal and not in pain or anything. doing really well recovering
 
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My Piggies regularly have tomato's and never have red pee........ are you sure it was pee and not actual juice from the tomato's?

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szv7QKp.jpg
 
I would say that that is just oxydation and not blood! Some foods can discolour the pee, like carrot, peppers and beetroot. Generally, you do not need to worry about orange and rusty colours.

If there was blood in the pee, you tend to either find small maroon coloured spots in the middle of the pee or a maroon rim on the outside of the pee, depending on the amount of the blood in the pee. In fresh pee, the blood comes out a pinkish tone.
 
I was watching him pee on it as there had been very light orange marks on the fleece I am using at the moment and I wanted to see if it was blood or not. It came straight out a light orange colour. As it dried out it turned a stronger orange/red colour.

He is doing incredibly well recovering and seems fine and happy. He is still underweight but he is putting it back on bit by bit.

I put him back into the cage as he wasn't urinating on the towel and he went for a little wee straight away. It looked yellow/orange and there were these two little dots of darker orange/red as he walked away to eat. I'll try to get pictures.

I just don't know what to do with him. Another stone couldn't have developed this quickly could it? Unless it is an infection or a small stone making it's way through....
 
Here it is:
http://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/...ely-burnt-orange/page2&highlight=burnt+orange

That is the colour that it turns:


Jerry has bladder sludge so I regularly test his wee with urine test strips for signs of blood. Despite the awful colour (it's terrifying, I know!) there is was no blood present in this sample. I've talked about it with the vet, who is equally baffled by the cause of it, but agrees that there must be something present in the urine that is oxydising. Last time he had it it lasted about 2 weeks, and then overnight his wee turned back clear. That was about 2 months ago. His wee changed to this burnt orange colour again a few days ago and is still this way now.

Obviously you can't definitely rule out the presence of blood in your own piggy without having it tested (as even wee that looks clear can have blood in it, as I've often found), but I wouldn't immediately think the worst for your boy.
 
Oh that's really strange....I wonder why it happens.

I think my mum may have some tester dips as she is prone to ovarian cysts. I may take some and just have a check to see if there is blood. I will be keeping an eye on him and take him to the vets for a check up if it continues though.
 
Jerry's wee starts off clear and then turns this colour. I've been unfortunate enough to have a piggy with a bladder stone, and several UTIs and his wee was pink (not orange like this) immediately as it was leaving his body - rather than changing colour a few seconds later
 
I hope it's just some strange oxidization or something. Don't think I could deal with having him go through more infections and stones :(
 
LittleEskimo said:
I hope it's just some strange oxidization or something. Don't think I could deal with having him go through more infections and stones :(
Click to expand...

Fingers crossed! With Jerry, I don't think it has anything to do with what he eats either. He's on a low calcium diet so has the same range of veggies on rotation, yet the orange wee started completely out of the blue! I hadn't introduced anything new to his diet.
 
Jerrybelly said:
Fingers crossed! With Jerry, I don't think it has anything to do with what he eats either. He's on a low calcium diet so has the same range of veggies on rotation, yet the orange wee started completely out of the blue! I hadn't introduced anything new to his diet.
Click to expand...

I was looking into a lower calcium diet for McMac. Do you think that helps at all with stone pigs?
 
Alright he did a wee.

It was on the fleece but I wiped it through the puddle as soon as he had done it.

I am not sure how you read them so here's a picture. To me the blood levels look way over 200?

I chopped off the others so it's easier to see which one is the blood indicator.

Fncl6JG.jpg


:(
 
Hmmm...it does look that way, doesn't it. Your test strips are different to mine but I think you're reading it right.

Is that a date on the pot - 2012? The instructions say that the results are not accurate after 30 days of being opened (thought that is obviously meant for humans, not piggies!) Perhaps the reading isn't 100% accurate?
 
Umm umm I have no idea, I don't think it had a date. Perhaps you are right...still not very comfortable about it though :( I think a vet check up would be in order. I just hope a stone hasn't come back already. I read that some owners have found stones again within 3 weeks of an operation....Dunno what i'd do if that happened
 
LittleEskimo said:
Umm umm I have no idea, I don't think it had a date. Perhaps you are right...still not very comfortable about it though :( I think a vet check up would be in order. I just hope a stone hasn't come back already. I read that some owners have found stones again within 3 weeks of an operation....Dunno what i'd do if that happened
Click to expand...

Oh, sorry! I thought I could see '2012' in the picture so assumed it was a date!

I think it's definitely best to get him checked out - even it it's just for your own peace of mind :)
 
I used to have those strips. You are reading it right but it looks like the strips have expired mainly due to the colour of what the ketone indicator has gone.
I would get him checked out.
 
If in doubt, get him checked out.

Some piggies with a lowered immune system can suffer from a blooming of bacteria that discolour the pees which then turn an intense orange or rust colour. It seems to happen mostly with piggies with major UTI and bladder issues. It has happened to one of my earlier piggies once.

Coloured wees can really play mind games with you because clear wees can contain traces of blood and highly discoloured pees can be totally free of any trace.
 
Does McMac still have orange wee? Did you take him to the vets to get him checked out?

Jerry's wee is still a rusty colour. It's been like this for a few weeks now mallethead
 
Jerrybelly said:
Does McMac still have orange wee? Did you take him to the vets to get him checked out?

Jerry's wee is still a rusty colour. It's been like this for a few weeks now mallethead
Click to expand...

I am hopefully taking him tomorrow. Had a really stressful time with college work, home life and money recently. He is still doing fine and eating like he should. His pee is not orange anymore from what I can see, but his poops are still a little on the soft side. It's very confusing.
 
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