Female Guinea Bleeding from Bottom

[kensnh]

Alright fellow Guinea pig owners. My 3 year old female Guinea pig started showing signs of bleeding a couple days ago. We have already had her checked by our vet and they ran tests and did an X-ray and found no infections or stones. We also sent a sample of her waste and those tests came back negative for any tapeworm, etc. When we first noticed the spotting the blood was bright red like it was fresh. Now fast forward to today, the blood that she passes is darker and older looking. She shows no signs of pain or discomfort. Her appetite and habits are normal. She does not wheek or squeal when she urinates or poops. And her poops are normal size and pee shows no difference in color. The only option now for the vets are to perform an ultrasound. I’ve read that bleeding in Guinea pigs should not be ignored so that’s why I’m so persistent to finding answers but at the same time I’m not sure if this is something that we should just leave alone. I guess my question is is that could there be any other reason why Guineas bleed that mean no harm to them? Or should we continue the vets orders and get an ultrasound. I’m hoping that whatever is going on is not terrible and going to need surgery.

 

[Wiebke]

Alright fellow Guinea pig owners. My 3 year old female Guinea pig started showing signs of bleeding a couple days ago. We have already had her checked by our vet and they ran tests and did an X-ray and found no infections or stones. We also sent a sample of her waste and those tests came back negative for any tapeworm, etc. When we first noticed the spotting the blood was bright red like it was fresh. Now fast forward to today, the blood that she passes is darker and older looking. She shows no signs of pain or discomfort. Her appetite and habits are normal. She does not wheek or squeal when she urinates or poops. And her poops are normal size and pee shows no difference in color. The only option now for the vets are to perform an ultrasound. I’ve read that bleeding in Guinea pigs should not be ignored so that’s why I’m so persistent to finding answers but at the same time I’m not sure if this is something that we should just leave alone. I guess my question is is that could there be any other reason why Guineas bleed that mean no harm to them? Or should we continue the vets orders and get an ultrasound. I’m hoping that whatever is going on is not terrible and going to need surgery.

Hi and welcome

Has your vet considered/checked the reproductive tract? If the bleeding coming is from there it could point towards potential cancer in an ovarian cyst, which would require a full spaying operation to save her life.

From what we have seen on this forum over the years, ovarian cancer can happen from about 2 years onwards; its first sign is often bleeding from the anus unless it is picked up otherwise (pre-cancerous ovarian cysts tend to be hard to the touch when palpated or they are discovered incidentally on a scan). Cancerous cysts are thankfully the least common variety but that doesn't help you when your sow is one of the unlucky ones.

An ultrasound would show up ovarian cysts, so that is indeed the next logical step. I am very sorry; it is going to get rather expensive if my guess comes true.

Sows: Behaviour and female health problems (including ovarian cysts)

 

[Wheekallweek]

I agree with @Wiebke, if she is still comfortable whilst peeing I'd be thinking reproductive. I would go with the ultrasound and see what happens.
Best of luck, hope piggy is feeling better soon!

 

[kensnh]

Update: our vet sent over the X-ray for another exotic vet to exam and they said they do see some inflammation going on in her uterus. So it’s either an infection or a cyst. I was hoping it wouldn’t be any of those options but there’s nothing left to do but go with the best treatment options. She’s having an ultrasound tomorrow to see which one of the two issues it is. I feel like it’s a cyst unfortunately thank you so much for the quick replies!

 

[Wiebke]

Fingers very firmly crossed that it is just an infection that could be cured with an antibiotic.

Please let us know.

 

[Wheekallweek]

I hope it's easily treatable and she's on the mend soon!