Bloody urine

[mdcavymum]

Hello,
I'm having ongoing issues with bloody urine in my piggies. I have 5 total, and periodically every one of them have had bouts of unexplained hematuria. Urinalysis' are always normal, radiography normal.
They have each been on courses of Baytril and/or SMZ-TMP. (As much as 28 days at a time. (I also give them Metacam, and a month ago started Cosequin daily.
Diet wise they have unlimited Oxbow Western Timothy Hay, small amounts of Oxbow pellets daily. Vegetables usually are green pepper, cucumber, green leaf lettuce, celery stalks/leaves. Very seldom they get watermelon or cantaloupe rinds (the hematuria was present long before the fruit was introduced).
Their bedding is fleece, which is wicking the urine effectively. They very seldom are wet on their rear ends when I check them, so I don't think they are sitting in wetness often, but that's always a possibility, of course.
I have 4 females (3 are spayed) and 1 castrated male. They are not all in one cage.
Any thoughts on something I can do differently, or something I'm doing wrong, would be helpful.
Thank you!

 

[Suki&Indie]

Hiya! Sorry your piggies are going though this it’s quite odd that they all have random bouts!
Guinea pigs can get cystitis purely from stress - have you noticed any pattern to the hematuria occurring? Cosequin is great for glucosamine but I wonder if changing to a cat urinary supplement would help as they tend to contain stuff to reduce stress such a L-tryptophan (I don’t think cosequin has stuff like this in it but correct me if I’m wrong!)
I had a piggy develop cystitis from the stress of her cagemate passing and I filled the cage with hideys and tried to keep the area as quiet and chilled out as possible.
Honestly aside from stress I can’t think of a reason all your piggies would have the same issue especially as their diet seems great
You could also try urinary supplements such as the oxbow or sherwood ones and see if that helps.
Also I hope I don’t seem rude suggesting it might be stress! Guinea pigs are funny little animals and can get stressed even when living in the best conditions with the most loving owner

 

[mdcavymum]

Hiya! Sorry your piggies are going though this it’s quite odd that they all have random bouts!
Guinea pigs can get cystitis purely from stress - have you noticed any pattern to the hematuria occurring? Cosequin is great for glucosamine but I wonder if changing to a cat urinary supplement would help as they tend to contain stuff to reduce stress such a L-tryptophan (I don’t think cosequin has stuff like this in it but correct me if I’m wrong!)
I had a piggy develop cystitis from the stress of her cagemate passing and I filled the cage with hideys and tried to keep the area as quiet and chilled out as possible.
Honestly aside from stress I can’t think of a reason all your piggies would have the same issue especially as their diet seems great
You could also try urinary supplements such as the oxbow or sherwood ones and see if that helps.
Also I hope I don’t seem rude suggesting it might be stress! Guinea pigs are funny little animals and can get stressed even when living in the best conditions with the most loving owner

Hello,
Thank you for the suggestions. The Cosequin is a cat supplement, but it doesn't have stress reliever in it, so I will definitely look into that.
I have tried the Oxbow urinary supplements and they collectively were not impressed. I can always try the sherwood ones.
I really haven't figured out a pattern to it. I get all excited when I don't find blood on the substrate towels, then it will randomly show up again.
I am not all offended by the mention of stress. 4 (2 separate pairs) of them came to me from bad situations, 3 of those 4 are the most skittish pigs I've had in 25 years of owning them. My house is very calm, no kids, no dogs, no visitors. Just a couple of old cats who are indifferent to their presence. But it definitely could be stressful to be living in constant fear that the giant food dispenser person might touch them. They certainly don't enjoy that.
The 5th pig I've had since she was a baby, so she's more socialized and very confident. She has a myriad of medical problems, so she lives alone per the vet recommendations. Bloody urine in her is less frequent, but more understandable.
Thanks for your suggestions!

 

[Wiebke]

Hello,
Thank you for the suggestions. The Cosequin is a cat supplement, but it doesn't have stress reliever in it, so I will definitely look into that.
I have tried the Oxbow urinary supplements and they collectively were not impressed. I can always try the sherwood ones.
I really haven't figured out a pattern to it. I get all excited when I don't find blood on the substrate towels, then it will randomly show up again.
I am not all offended by the mention of stress. 4 (2 separate pairs) of them came to me from bad situations, 3 of those 4 are the most skittish pigs I've had in 25 years of owning them. My house is very calm, no kids, no dogs, no visitors. Just a couple of old cats who are indifferent to their presence. But it definitely could be stressful to be living in constant fear that the giant food dispenser person might touch them. They certainly don't enjoy that.
The 5th pig I've had since she was a baby, so she's more socialized and very confident. She has a myriad of medical problems, so she lives alone per the vet recommendations. Bloody urine in her is less frequent, but more understandable.
Thanks for your suggestions!

Hi

I am very sorry.

Sherwood is not any better than Oxbow. It is a wase

What we recommend in the UK is a cat bladder supplement called cystease in capsule form. You should be able to find a comparable brand for the USA.
You can easily mix the contents of one capsule with 2 ml of water, wait until it has dissolved, shake well and then either give 1 ml of the mix twice daily or all of it at once every 24 hours. You can shortly double the amount for 2-3 days during a flare in order to get it under control quickly. Cats are the other species prone to urinary tract problems and they also have an equivalent of feline sterile cystitis that is linked to modern mass breeding.

I have found that upping the glucosamine shortly is more effective than upping the metacam during a flare once the sterile cystitis has been brought under control; of course the combination works best.

If that is still not enough, then the next step would be cartrophen from a vet. Sterile cystitis can run the whole gamut from the very mild to the fatally severe so you and your vet will have to work out which level you are individually punching at and how much it takes to get it firstly under control and then secondly to get the flares down as quickly as possible.

Wiebke's Guide to Pees and Stones