So in late March I noticed there was a red spot on the fleece in my cage and I didn’t think much of it because I fed a lot of red vegetables so I thought it must just be a stain from the vegetables. I didn’t see it again for another two or three weeks and then once again I saw another red spot and thought it’s just stain from vegetables again. then I saw it again a couple weeks later and I was like OK this must be blood because I had not fed any red vegetables that day. I did a health check on both my guinea pigs and I didn’t see any cuts or anything but one of my guinea pigs had a like sludge type thing coming from her lady parts so I took her to the vet and they did just a regular exam they did a urine test they found blood in her urine and they said she had a UTI because in the x-ray they took they couldn’t find any stones or anything so they just assumed it was a UTI so we treated it like it was a UTI and after the medication I still saw a couple of spots that were kind of looking like blood so then I took her back to the vet and he did a physical exam and said she looks fine. He got urine sample and I felt a lot better when he took the urine this time because this time it looked perfectly clear, but before it was pink. It was so clear he almost didnt even test it but he did and even though it was clear he said there was still a lot of blood in it. He said it was probably just a pesky bacteria that needed a different type of medicine then what she had previously taken. So he did a culture on it and we got a call today saying there’s no bacteria and but today the results came back and said that there’s no bacteria in her urine. Just blood and that’s it. The x-ray didn’t show stones and there’s no bacteria but there’s obviously not just blood for no reason so my question is do any of you guys have any sort of idea on what this could be because there’s obviously a problem and they just can’t find out what it is so if you guys could give me any input on what this might be that would be super helpful.
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Unknown cause for blood in my pigs urine. HELP!
- Thread starter Kaitlyn
- Start date
Sorry your guinea pig is not well right now. It sounds like you really are trying everything to get to the bottom of the problem..
We recently went through a similar thing and our guinea pig was diagnosed with bladder 'sludge' (no stones).
To reduce the irritation in her bladder this was flushed (under anesthetic of course) and then we started a 2 week course of antibiotics and anti inflammatories.
This still didn't clear everything totally so she had various x-rays and ultrasounds to confirm her bladder was clear, and then another 2 week course of antibiotics (different to the original ones).
Has you guinea pig had a bladder flush to clear away any sludge?
If not this will continue to irritate the bladder and might be the problem.
And how long was the course of antibiotics?
I think UTI's can be tricky to shift and some do require a long course of antibiotics to cure them.
We recently went through a similar thing and our guinea pig was diagnosed with bladder 'sludge' (no stones).
To reduce the irritation in her bladder this was flushed (under anesthetic of course) and then we started a 2 week course of antibiotics and anti inflammatories.
This still didn't clear everything totally so she had various x-rays and ultrasounds to confirm her bladder was clear, and then another 2 week course of antibiotics (different to the original ones).
Has you guinea pig had a bladder flush to clear away any sludge?
If not this will continue to irritate the bladder and might be the problem.
And how long was the course of antibiotics?
I think UTI's can be tricky to shift and some do require a long course of antibiotics to cure them.
Hi and welcome!
Please be aware that clear urine can still score high in blood whereas as deep red urine can test out as blood-free.
But you see this deep red urine from a high content of bilirubin often in context with the onset of UTI or a cystitis/interstitial cystitis.
Urinary tract problems usually present with very similar symptoms, so vets tend to work down the ladder; treating firstly for bacterial urine infection (UTI), then checking for the presence of stones in the urinary tract.
But there is a third problem, which can usually only be diagnosed by default: cystitis. In the case of persistent or recurring acute symptoms, we speak of interstitial cystitis (IC). This is a non-bacterial inflammation of the bladder walls which does not react at all well to antibiotics.
So far we don't know what it causing it and can therefore only address the symptoms but not cure it. Hence also why it cannot be positively diagnosed.
The good news is that IC eventually goes away on its own and that it does NOT cause any bladder stones.
The bad news is that 'eventually' is usually a matter of years rather than months.
Over the last decade IC has become a lot more frequent, but it is not necessarily well known yet by general vets that don't see a lot of guinea pigs.
Treatment is mostly by metacam, which is an anti-inflammatory as well as a painkiller; by a glucosamine based food supplement like cystease, which helps to support the natural glucosamine coat of the bladder walls, and by a diet which avoids the main foods that could contribute to triggering acute episodes; this is thankfully not all that different from the regular veg mix we recommend to minimise the risk of bladder stones.
Long Term Balanced General And Special Needs Guinea Pig Diets
More information on IC here: Links - Interstitial Cystitis - Guinea Lynx Records
If it is any consolation to you, my Nerys had IC for nearly 3 years, then spent another 3 years of her life completely free of an bladder issues and died from age related problems at the ripe old of 8 years. My Ceri got over it in 1 1/2 years; again she was problem-free from urinary tract problems for the rest of her life.
PS: Since we have members from all over the world, we find it very helpful if you please added your country, state/province or UK county to your details so we can tailor any advice and recommendations to what is relevant and available where you are. There are quite some major differences in brands, climate, vet and rescue access across the globe. Please click on your username on the top bar, then go to account details and down to location. This makes it appear with every post you make. Thank you!
We are going through something similar and feel so helpless! 2 year old male, bloody painful urination. UA ok, X-ray didn’t show any sludge or stones. Labs, including thyroid, ok. Maybe it’s cystitis, anything else that we can do that would confirm it?
We are in Minnesota, USA.
We are in Minnesota, USA.
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thank you so much for replying! so sorry I'm just now getting back to you, ive had a busy summer lol well she did not get her bladder flushed beasue they insisted there were no stones and the antibiotic were 2 weeks. since my last post she seems to be doing a lot better and I haven't seen any blood
Thank you so much for replying, I have been so busy this summer I totally forgot I posted this until last week. I am pretty sure you are right about the Cystitis. The symptoms and the part about it just being inflammation with no bacteria. since I posted I have only noticed blood once and she still is not showing signs of pain while urinating and she is still acting completely normal. once again thank you for all your help!Hi and welcome!
Please be aware that clear urine can still score high in blood whereas as deep red urine can test out as blood-free.
But you see this deep red urine from a high content of bilirubin often in context with the onset of UTI or a cystitis/interstitial cystitis.
Urinary tract problems usually present with very similar symptoms, so vets tend to work down the ladder; treating firstly for bacterial urine infection (UTI), then checking for the presence of stones in the urinary tract.
But there is a third problem, which can usually only be diagnosed by default: cystitis. In the case of persistent or recurring acute symptoms, we speak of interstitial cystitis (IC). This is a non-bacterial inflammation of the bladder walls which does not react at all well to antibiotics.
So far we don't know what it causing it and can therefore only address the symptoms but not cure it. Hence also why it cannot be positively diagnosed.
The good news is that IC eventually goes away on its own and that it does NOT cause any bladder stones.
The bad news is that 'eventually' is usually a matter of years rather than months.
Over the last decade IC has become a lot more frequent, but it is not necessarily well known yet by general vets that don't see a lot of guinea pigs.
Treatment is mostly by metacam, which is an anti-inflammatory as well as a painkiller; by a glucosamine based food supplement like cystease, which helps to support the natural glucosamine coat of the bladder walls, and by a diet which avoids the main foods that could contribute to triggering acute episodes; this is thankfully not all that different from the regular veg mix we recommend to minimise the risk of bladder stones.
Long Term Balanced General And Special Needs Guinea Pig Diets
More information on IC here: Links - Interstitial Cystitis - Guinea Lynx Records
If it is any consolation to you, my Nerys had IC for nearly 3 years, then spent another 3 years of her life completely free of an bladder issues and died from age related problems at the ripe old of 8 years. My Ceri got over it in 1 1/2 years; again she was problem-free from urinary tract problems for the rest of her life.
PS: Since we have members from all over the world, we find it very helpful if you please added your country, state/province or UK county to your details so we can tailor any advice and recommendations to what is relevant and available where you are. There are quite some major differences in brands, climate, vet and rescue access across the globe. Please click on your username on the top bar, then go to account details and down to location. This makes it appear with every post you make. Thank you!