• 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

Yellow wee turning immediately burnt orange

Status
Not open for further replies.
Jerrybelly

Jerrybelly

Senior Guinea Pig
Joined
Aug 9, 2012
Messages
3,963
Reaction score
1,679
Points
905
Location
South Gloucestershire
For anyone that has read Jerry's main thread, you'll see that we've have a crazy few days:
http://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/...-vibes-needed-for-Jerry&p=1426095#post1426095

I won't go into detail about it again, but Jerry seems to have a very unusual health issue which I'd really like to find out more information about, if possible.

His urine is acting very strange. It starts off being bright yellow (like the colour of a yellow highlighter pen), but as soon as it comes into contact with the air it turns to a very deep, burnt orange (like rust!) I can actually watch it happening in front of my eyes. At a glance it looks like a pool of blood, but on closer inspection it is clearly orange and not the pink/red colour that you would expect if it was diluted blood.

It has been tested and there are no signs of an infection. Dipsticks are showing intermittent signs of blood, but it is still turning orange even when there is no blood present.

The vet is completely baffled. She said she has never seen it happen in guinea pigs before, but is aware of something similar happening in humans. If he is still doing it in a week or so, then we are going to have to look into it further.

In the meantime, does anyone have any ideas?!
 
Rach will probably explain it a bit more as she is a chemist and has mentioned this to me before and it has been something our vet once said to us that wee sometimes changes to a rusty orange color when it is standing it's something to do with the oxidation of porphyrins in the wee.

I don't what these porphyrins are howver!

Just found this for you - It is briefly mentioned on Guinea lynx http://www.guinealynx.info/uti.html down the bottom quoted

Blood in urine:

Urine sometimes changes to an orange color on standing (this may be the oxidation of porphyrins in the urine). When your guinea pig has blood in its urine, it will appear red or pinkish (if diluted). Blood dries a brownish color
 
My Connie had exactly the same problem as this. She did however also have constant UTI's although when the urine turned this orange colour, there wasn't always blood present.

I have heard that urine can turn orange as it oxidises with the air also that the orange colour could have been due to certain bacterias within her bladder.

Connie had cronic bladder problems (which Jerry probably doesn't have) and my vet was baffled too.

She was on and off antibiotics for 5 months, had x rays which showed nothing until sludge and grit were found. She had a bladder flush and in the end I gave permission for my vet to open her up to investigate.

Sadly, Connie gave up the fight 5 days after this at just 18 months old but like I say, apart from the rusty urine that Jerry has in common, Connie did have a lot of problems with her bladder so please do not let me worry you.

In 2010, Eliza had rusty coloured urine too. Sometimes there was blood present on the dipstick and sometimes there wasn't. She was on Septrin for four weeks and thankfully she has been OK since.

I have occasionally found rusty coloured pees but they have been a one off which my vet said can happen due to it becoming oxidised and possible certain bladder bacteria.
 
sport_billy said:
Rach will probably explain it a bit more as she is a chemist and has mentioned this to me before and it has been something our vet once said to us that wee sometimes changes to a rusty orange color when it is standing it's something to do with the oxidation of porphyrins in the wee.

I don't what these porphyrins are howver!

Just found this for you - It is briefly mentioned on Guinea lynx http://www.guinealynx.info/uti.html down the bottom quoted

Blood in urine:

Urine sometimes changes to an orange color on standing (this may be the oxidation of porphyrins in the urine). When your guinea pig has blood in its urine, it will appear red or pinkish (if diluted). Blood dries a brownish color
Click to expand...

Thanks for the GL info, Lee. I remember reading that recently, but as Jerry is nearly 4 years I'm not sure why it would start now. I've also got no idea what a porph-y-whatsit is...!
 
Claire W said:
My Connie had exactly the same problem as this. She did however also have constant UTI's although when the urine turned this orange colour, there wasn't always blood present.

I have heard that urine can turn orange as it oxidises with the air also that the orange colour could have been due to certain bacterias within her bladder.

Connie had cronic bladder problems (which Jerry probably doesn't have) and my vet was baffled too.

She was on and off antibiotics for 5 months, had x rays which showed nothing until sludge and grit were found. She had a bladder flush and in the end I gave permission for my vet to open her up to investigate.

Sadly, Connie gave up the fight 5 days after this at just 18 months old but like I say, apart from the rusty urine that Jerry has in common, Connie did have a lot of problems with her bladder so please do not let me worry you.

In 2010, Eliza had rusty coloured urine too. Sometimes there was blood present on the dipstick and sometimes there wasn't. She was on Septrin for four weeks and thankfully she has been OK since.

I have occasionally found rusty coloured pees but they have been a one off which my vet said can happen due to it becoming oxidised and possible certain bladder bacteria.
Click to expand...

Thanks for this Claire. It's really helpful. I'm afraid that Jerry and your Connie do have a few things in common.
Jerry has had chronic bladder problems since January 2012, and he had his bladder flushed in May 2012 after a substantial amount of sludge was found.

He still has some of this sludge, but we manage it on a daily basis with various medications. Jerry has occasional 'bad days' when he'll squeak a few times when weeing/pooing, but he also has many good days when he won't make a sound. Every couples of months I notice spots of blood in his wee, and I up his cystaid dose which usually sorts him out. I took him to the vet last week as the blood hadn't cleared up after a week (that's when the vet gave him the Convenia injection and everything went rapidly downhill...)

He's had two urine tests since his wee has been orange - one has shown positive, another negative, for blood. So, again, some similarities there with both Connie and Eliza.

He is on septrin now, while we were waiting for the results of a urine test. He doesn't currently have an infection, but I've been advised to continue the septrin for another week.

So perhaps the sludge has something to do with it...?

You said that she was on Septrin for 4 weeks - did she have orange wee for all of this time, and did it just stop one day? Jerry's had it for a week now, and has been on Septrin since Tuesday.
 
Last edited:
I am so sorry that Jerry is having such problems :( I have just read your other thread.

I completely understand how worrying and stressful it is to be in this position especially when the vets are baffled too.

I am guessing that the sludge may have something to do with it. May be worth mentioning to your vet.

I hope that Jerry feels better soon xx
 
I have had this happen a couple of times with gunea pigs that are on medications - specifically septrin and VitB12 injections. Like you I was slightly shocked the first time but felt better once I realised that it wasn;t blood and got it confirmed by the vet.

Excess Vit B turns urine flurescent yellow. Septrin antibiotic is well known to increase prophyrin excretion in the urine which then turns dark orange on exposure to air. Both products also contain dyes (septrin is yellow and Vit B injections have a red dye) - which also end up in the kidneys and thence the urine.

These side effects can be reduced by ensuring the kidneys are flushed through more frequently so that more dilute urine is produced - so if Jerry isn;t drinking much it may help to syinge some water every now and again. His wee should in time go back to normal once the meds have worked ther way totally our of the system.

It's good he's on the mend
x
 
Thanks for this, Pebble. It is reassuring to hear that Jerry isn't such an enigma after all!

He didn't start the Septrin course until a few days after his urine had started changing colour, but it is a bit of a coincidence that it first happened the night that he had that awful Convenia injection. Perhaps that triggered something?
 
One my piggies has bladder issues and sometimes has orange urine... starts out yellow and turns darker orange when it hits the air. In her case, she generally tests positive for blood when her urine is like that. However, when he's on meds it's hard to tell because meds can change the quality of the urine as well. Hope he gets sorted out soon- he's been having a rough month!
 
Freela said:
One my piggies has bladder issues and sometimes has orange urine... starts out yellow and turns darker orange when it hits the air. In her case, she generally tests positive for blood when her urine is like that. However, when he's on meds it's hard to tell because meds can change the quality of the urine as well. Hope he gets sorted out soon- he's been having a rough month!
Click to expand...

Hi Freela. How long does the orange wee last with your piggy? Is it just a one off every now and again, or does it last for a few days? I'm trying to gather information to pass on to my vet!
 
Jerrybelly said:
Hi Freela. How long does the orange wee last with your piggy? Is it just a one off every now and again, or does it last for a few days? I'm trying to gather information to pass on to my vet!
Click to expand...

I know that you are not directing this question to me but with Connie, she had the orange urine every time she wee'd right up until she had her bladder flush. Sadly by that time, it was too late for Connie.

With Eliza, she had clear wee's in between the orange ones.
 
Claire W said:
I know that you are not directing this question to me but with Connie, she had the orange urine every time she wee'd right up until she had her bladder flush. Sadly by that time, it was too late for Connie.

With Eliza, she had clear wee's in between the orange ones.
Click to expand...

Thanks Claire! All info is incredibly helpful :)
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top