Blood in Urine or Anus?

[Ritter]

Hello. I am completely new to guinea pigs/ care and maintenance. We are caring for my child's class pet who os approximately 5to 6 yrs old. She is an albino named Marshmallow. She has lost weight over the past week or two. I can tell when I hold her. (Not from weighing her)
I have her on fleece which I change daily because her feet get irritated if I don't. This morning I noticed blood on her fleece. After just 10 minutes I noticed blood on the new fleece. I washed her bottom bc it almost looked like it was coming out with her poo but I still can't tell. The vet cannot get her in until Tuesday and there is no other "exotics" vet in our town.
A friend suggested she may have a uti and to give her fish antibiotics- but I am not going to do anything like that without consult from people who know guinea pigs- and can say what they have tried in the past. I know no one can give me "medical advice". I just want to make sure Marshie is as comfortable as possible until I can get her care, or if she is leaving this world.

 

[Piggies&buns]

Please urgently step in and syringe feed her. Weight loss means she is not eating enough hay and she needs that replaced to keep her gut functioning and stop her from losing weight. If you can physically tell she is smaller, then she needs help immediately and has probably lost quite a bit of weight already.
Ensure you weigh her once every day so you can make sure you are syringe feeding her enough in each 24 hour period to stop the weight loss.

Only a vet can give you a diagnosis and prescribe the correct treatment and painkillers. Do not give her any medications unless a vet tells you to do so. I would suggest you call the vet daily to see if they have any cancellations and can get her in sooner.

The guide below explains weight checks and how to syringe feed.

All About Syringe Feeding and Medicating Guinea Pigs with Videos and Pictures

(for a bit of unimportant information, there are no such thing as albino guinea pigs. White piggies with red eyes are not albino, they are called red eyed whites. Albinism is caused by lack of pigment, but red eyed whites have pigment so are no different to piggies with dark eyes).

 

[weepweeps]

Hello and welcome to the forum. If you call your vets every morning they may have a cancellation. . I hope Marshmallow is soon on the mend.

 

[Ritter]

Please urgently step in and syringe feed her. Weight loss means she is not eating enough hay and she needs that replaced to keep her gut functioning and stop her from losing weight. If you can physically tell she is smaller, then she needs help immediately and has probably lost quite a bit of weight already.
Ensure you weigh her once every day so you can make sure you are syringe feeding her enough in each 24 hour period to stop the weight loss.

Only a vet can give you a diagnosis and prescribe the correct treatment and painkillers. Do not give her any medications unless a vet tells you to do so. I would suggest you call the vet daily to see if they have any cancellations and can get her in sooner.

The guide below explains weight checks and how to syringe feed.

All About Syringe Feeding and Medicating Guinea Pigs with Videos and Pictures

(for a bit of unimportant information, there are no such thing as albino guinea pigs. White piggies with red eyes are not albino, they are called red eyed whites. Albinism is caused by lack of pigment, but red eyed whites have pigment so are no different to piggies with dark eyes).

Thank you. I appreciate your very detailed response. As I said, I have no experience with this (from red eyed whites to how to know if she is sick) Daily calls to the vet won't get us in sooner as the exotics vet doesn't work everyday. We have no emergency or 24hr vet in our town. The closest is 2 hrs away. As a single mom with an infant as well, I am unable to do that.
I will go to the pet store today to buy a syringe and formula.

 

[Piggies&buns]

You can use normal guinea pig pellets which you mush with warm water if you cannot get a herbivore recovery feed.

 

[Freela]

No need for formula, if she is on a pellet food you can moisten the pellets and water them down to a paste and use that by syringe. We have a sticky at the top of the page that talks about how to syringe feeding techniques to help you feel comfortable with doing this.

Thanks so much for your willingness to care for this classroom pet. A lot of people might not do this. I hope that you get answers for Marshmallow and that it's a simple UTI or something else easily treatable. All the best.