Guniea pig has bloody nose!

[EilyStet]

My guniea pig Totoro had a bloody nose! She would sneeze sometimes but, tonight I was laying in bed to her constant sneezing. I walk over to the cage to see a lot of blood coming out her nose. I quickly took her out of her cage and wiped off as much as i possibly could and I checked on her about 20 minutes later and the bleeding and sneezing stopped. I will send her to a shelter but, I can not do this right away. Does anyone have any advice on what I could do in the mean time for her?

 

[Hetja]

Please See a vet as soon as possible.

 

[EilyStet]

I hope to but i can not for a couple of days considering the closest shelter is 5 hours away

 

[Freela]

First of all, the obvious causes include physical trauma, a hay poke up the nostril, etc. The nose has a lot of veins and this is a possible cause and a fairly harmless one.

One of my past pigs, Linney, developed recurrent, extensive nosebleeds in her old age (starting as she got close to six or so in age.) The first time she was actually with my mom as I was on vacation, and my mom thought she had somehow banged or poked herself. About a week later, she had another extensive nosebleed- sneezing blood everywhere, blowing bubbles out her nose to try to clear it so she could breathe easier, etc. We saw our vet, who did his best to look but really couldn't see much up through her tiny nostril. His opinion was that it could be a lot of causes, from something benign (a lesion or polyp that kept bleeding, etc.) to something more serious (like a malignant cancerous tumor up there.) He offered us an x-ray, but she would have to be sedated and there was no guarantee that soft tissue masses would show on x-ray. Because we would not have sought aggressive treatment if it was cancer (both because of her age and the fact that it was really costly and would have required extensive travel), we opted to monitor her for quality of life and to leave her be as long as she was happy, eating, and behaving normally. Ultimately, she had on-and-off nosebleeds for the next six months or so (usually in spurts- she would have one a week for three weeks, then nothing for three months, then several again in a row.) She passed away at about 6.5 years of age, about 7 months or so after the first nosebleed. I have no way of knowing whether her cause of death was in any way related to the nosebleed issue or not, or if she was simply elderly and it was unrelated. I did wonder retroactively if she had some version of leukemia or lymphoma or blood-related cancer that reduced her clotting ability and I think if I was faced with the same situation I would ask if there was blood work to rule that out. However, I'm not sure that it would have changed the course of treatment at all finding out for sure.

I guess my advice at the end of that story is to see a vet to get possible ideas, especially if the nosebleed recurs. Pay attention to her breathing, since there is a risk of her inhaling blood and you don't want her to develop a pneumonia. Be prepared, though, that the vet may have a hard time nailing down a cause for you. All the research I did when Linney had this issue led me to the impression that, although not unheard of, it's not that common a problem either (or at least I had a hard time finding information when searching and my vet, who is an exotics/small animal specialist, had limited experience.)

 

[Wiebke]

Hi!
Severe nose bleeds need to be investigated promptly, especially if they come from both nostrils. A minor nosebleed is often caused by a bit of hay stuck in a nostril, but with a more serious nose bleed there can be some nasties behind it. If you are lucky, it is a polyp (although they are rare in guinea pigs).

I have just had to have my Carwyn euthanised in October because his nosebleed turned out to be a burst brain tumour, which is fairly rare but not totally uncoomon. We see a about 1-3 cases every year.
Carwyn went from a one-off one nostril nosebleed in July to deteriorating very quickly and hemorrhaging down the nose and the back of his throat in the last night in October.

 

[EilyStet]

First of all, the obvious causes include physical trauma, a hay poke up the nostril, etc. The nose has a lot of veins and this is a possible cause and a fairly harmless one.

One of my past pigs, Linney, developed recurrent, extensive nosebleeds in her old age (starting as she got close to six or so in age.) The first time she was actually with my mom as I was on vacation, and my mom thought she had somehow banged or poked herself. About a week later, she had another extensive nosebleed- sneezing blood everywhere, blowing bubbles out her nose to try to clear it so she could breathe easier, etc. We saw our vet, who did his best to look but really couldn't see much up through her tiny nostril. His opinion was that it could be a lot of causes, from something benign (a lesion or polyp that kept bleeding, etc.) to something more serious (like a malignant cancerous tumor up there.) He offered us an x-ray, but she would have to be sedated and there was no guarantee that soft tissue masses would show on x-ray. Because we would not have sought aggressive treatment if it was cancer (both because of her age and the fact that it was really costly and would have required extensive travel), we opted to monitor her for quality of life and to leave her be as long as she was happy, eating, and behaving normally. Ultimately, she had on-and-off nosebleeds for the next six months or so (usually in spurts- she would have one a week for three weeks, then nothing for three months, then several again in a row.) She passed away at about 6.5 years of age, about 7 months or so after the first nosebleed. I have no way of knowing whether her cause of death was in any way related to the nosebleed issue or not, or if she was simply elderly and it was unrelated. I did wonder retroactively if she had some version of leukemia or lymphoma or blood-related cancer that reduced her clotting ability and I think if I was faced with the same situation I would ask if there was blood work to rule that out. However, I'm not sure that it would have changed the course of treatment at all finding out for sure.

I guess my advice at the end of that story is to see a vet to get possible ideas, especially if the nosebleed recurs. Pay attention to her breathing, since there is a risk of her inhaling blood and you don't want her to develop a pneumonia. Be prepared, though, that the vet may have a hard time nailing down a cause for you. All the research I did when Linney had this issue led me to the impression that, although not unheard of, it's not that common a problem either (or at least I had a hard time finding information when searching and my vet, who is an exotics/small animal specialist, had limited experience.)

I'm sorry for your lost and yes i do plan on seeing a specialist for her and i made the hard dissicision that if her violent nosebleeds continue, I should put her peacefully to rest. I do not know what caused the nose bleed but the amount of blood was not little, and frightened me all night.

 

[Wiebke]

I'm sorry for your lost and yes i do plan on seeing a specialist for her and i made the hard dissicision that if her violent nosebleeds continue, I should put her peacefully to rest. I do not know what caused the nose bleed but the amount of blood was not little, and frightened me all night.

HUGS!

It has certainly frightened me!

I had Carywn seen by a local vet first thing in the morning, but sadly the general vet I saw came up with the same diagnosis as I was suspecting.
We can unfortunately never choose what our piggies come down with or when they die or from. All we can do is give them as many happy todays as they have got and make any end as gentle on them we can. You sound like a very caring and loving owner. I am very sorry about the distances involved.

 

[Freela]

I'm sorry for your lost and yes i do plan on seeing a specialist for her and i made the hard dissicision that if her violent nosebleeds continue, I should put her peacefully to rest. I do not know what caused the nose bleed but the amount of blood was not little, and frightened me all night.

I'm not saying you should jump right to that... as I said, Linney did just fine for seven months, eating, running around, behaving normally, and only seeming ill (mostly just lethargic) on her last day. Quality of life is the most important thing... watch their behavior and they'll let you know when it's time. ((HUGS.))

 

[Merab]

I hope your pig gets better!

This thread dates from 2018 - there have been no posts since then