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Discoloured Urine due to Beetroot, Carrot, etc.

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Abnoba

Abnoba

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I was wondering if anybody has a rough idea how long urine can stay discoloured from things like beetroot etc.?

Have just adopted a guinea pig, and she seems to have very pink / reddish urine. Now that sets all alarm bells ringing about a UTI, but I have contacted the fosterer the piggy was with and she has had carrot for breakfast. Now, it has been 24 hours since she last had any carrot etc. to eat, yet the urine is still stained. How long does the discolouration usually last?

Any ideas?
 
All I know is that beetroot makes urine red and carrots make it orange. Not sure of the time length but just lay off them and it should right itself. Did the new pig eat beetroot then and how is the urine now? Hope she is ok. x
 
On Friday morning she had some carrot. Now, Sunday morning, so 48 hours later, she has still very strongly discoloured urine :(

I was just wondering if there was a rule of thumb as to when it should generally start going back to normal...?
 
when i got heath he had it for about a month afer i got him.

but he had been fed entirely on a diet of dry food and carrots for 6 months with his previous owners
 
if its red and still after this time i'd get him to a vets just to make sure
odd that beetroot would stain for that long and yes carrots would make urine orange
Hope hes fine
Ron x
 
whats the normal color, cause my pigs urine is like this milky clear color
 
Milky can be a sign of too much calcium filled veg like carrots, spinach etc. :)
 
I would get her checked to be on the safe side. I would have through the colour would wear off by now.
How is she otherwise, does she seem well?
 
We have been at the vets today, and will collect a urine sample tonight, so they can check it out tomorrow morning and see if its just pigmentation in the urine or actual blood. O0
 
SunshineAndTwinkle said:
Milky can be a sign of too much calcium filled veg like carrots, spinach etc. :)
Click to expand...

thats weird, I give her a leaf of green leaf lettuce a day and thats about it :(

so should I stop giving her veggies to see if it changes?
 
you are feeding her entirely on dry food, hay, and lettuce? :o

Please correct me if this is a misunderstanding, surely you give her proper veggies and fruit? (tomato, broccoli, cucumber, carrot, apple...)

Most piggies love lettuce - but there is nothing much in them when it comes to nutrition. They are mostly water. Imagine you lived on rice cakes. I think that compares quite well to a piggy living on lettuce.
 
no I give her carrots, and cucumber, shes a picky pig she doesn't like all those other veggies ive tried it all, she like honey dew and watermelon as well but thats about it. I don't just feed her lettuce, I just ment what she gets most often.
 
After mine have had beetroot, their pee and poop goes back to normal colour in 2-3 days :)
 
Abnoba said:
Most piggies love lettuce - but there is nothing much in them when it comes to nutrition. They are mostly water. Imagine you lived on rice cakes. I think that compares quite well to a piggy living on lettuce.
Click to expand...

also if my pig wasn't getting enough nutrition I doubt she would be having this milky urine I described above, since it was pointed out to be the cause of to much calcium
 
There had been much improvement since May, and Trillian first had urine that was of a weaker colour, and then no discolouration at all anymore.

(See >>this post<< for pictures of towels with stains)

Our vet tested her urine back in May and said they could not find blood OR crystals. When I pointed out that she seems to have very bloaty looking sides the vet also felt her sides and said they couldnt feel any stones.

Now for the last few days she has started bleeding again - this time its a bright red colour, proper blood colour, not washed out orangybrown like back in May. It is nowhere near as much as back in May though, but pound- coin sized dots here and there.

OH will pop her into the vets again tomorrow so they can take another urine sample. If that comes back as "no blood in urine" again then what should I do? I have been thinking along the following lines:

a) Have an ultrasound done (what is more effective when dealing with possible stones? ultrasound or x-ray?)

b) What if it is not blood due to urinary tract infection or bladder stones, but an actual problem in the genital area that is causing her to bleed? So, not blood in the urine, but blood on its own, coming from somewhere.

Would cysts (thinking ovarian cysts here) cause bleeding? What should my first steps be if it WAS cysts of some kind? Is hormonal treatment always the first step?

Any help appreciated,

Ulrike and piggies
 
Also - as this is now clearly not related to her previous diet anymore and a health problem of some sort instead - could this thread please be moved into the Health and Illness section? Thank you :)
 
i took a pig to the vets a few months ago as her wee was pinky red, i thought she was bleeding but the vet says piggys wee is naturally this colour (how stupid did i feel), but its better to be safe than sorry, perhaps get it checked out
 
I hope she's ok Ulrike, can't be of much help having never had a sow with this prob. I have had a boy who bled an awful lot from his penis & he was treated for a UTI, finally cleared up after almost a month.

I think x-rays are done to detect stones if they cannot be felt.

Good Luck with her :)
 
When my sow was bleeding I took her to the vet who diagnosed bladder stones without giving an ultrasound or xray. The vet could feel them. I found this website which might help. It says that blood in the urine can be a result of kidney failure.

http://www.oginet.com/pgurney/kidneys.htm
 
I think this vet is not very clued up on gps.Their urine should be clear.Sometimes it will be a chalky white due to excess calcium.
If the urine is pink or red,unless the gp has been fed a lot of beetroot.it will be caused by bloodhaematuria)

Reasons for this could be a severe UTI, renal stones, or a tumour.
Has the piggy been crying when urinating or straining?..this would indicate the discomfort of infection or stones.

You need to find a more gp savvy vet,aand have an xray or scan done to see if there is a tumour or stones.
If it is infection,Septrin is the best anti biotic to use.
 
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