My Guinea Pig Had a Nose Bleed

[guineapignosebleed]

I had just checked the cage about 30 minutes prior to this incident and everything was fine. When I returned back to the cage to give them their dinner pellets, I saw blood all over the food bowl and around the hay feeder. One of my guinea pigs was just chilling in a corner of the cage, acting normal, but my other one was hiding in the house. I eventually managed to get him out of there with some gloves, just incase there was an open wound to not touch it. Once I got him out I saw there was a large amount of blood coming from his nose and his front two white paws were stained red. Immediately I thought maybe he somehow cut his paw and wiped it on his nose when he was itching but after cleaning him up I saw no scratches, cuts, or outward physical trauma. He did sneeze a lot some a blood droplet did shoot out one of those times, but other than that he was okay.

It took about 30 minutes for the bleeding to come to a halt. I didn't hold the paper on the bleeding because it's his nostril that it's coming from and also I wanted to avoid breathing issues. I just kept gently dabbing it with a wet cloth. In the moment I was so shocked and worried that I didn't search up how to take care of this issue, and now so I'm worried that I didn't help him the way I was meant to for a nose bleed.

But beyond that, he was fairly calm. He didn't like that I had him resting on a cloth for so long and didn't like me dabbing the blood off of him but he never made any concerning noises at any point. He was a bit too quiet at one point but once I offered him some bits of celery, he immediately ate it. So there were no behavioural problems yesterday and even today. He's chilling around as if this didn't happen, which I'm hoping means he wasn't hurt from the nose bleed too much.

I want to preface by letting you know that I will 100% take him to a vet once I locate one but I'm afraid it might take a while because all of the vet care areas around me do not accept guinea pigs. I've ever searched places about 1 1/2 hours away and only then did I find a guinea pig care service, but it is out of someone's house and does not have any reviews yet. On top of that, the guinea pig vets I found have all had polar reviews, either saying they scam your money / do not give good care for guinea pigs / are mercy vets or that they're really great and helped their guinea pigs a lot / let them be with their pets in their last moments.

So with that still being sorted through, I searched it up for now and saw a few main possibilities for nose bleeds:
1. Physical trauma

• Seems unlikely because of there being no visible injuries, though anything is possible unfortunately.
• Also I know that hay up the nose may be a possibility but he didn't seem distressed and there was no injury to the nose as far as I could tell, but it's hard to see. I did consider this because there was blood around the hay feeder but the amount coming out did not seem to be feasible for this option.

2. Malignant tumor

• I have to wait until I get to the vet to rule this out, but for what it's worth I did check him for any lumps/bumps and found nothing. The bump could be inside his actual nose, so I have no idea but I really hope it's not this.

3. Seizure:

• He didn't cry out and he doesn't seem hurt by what had happened so I'm also hoping it's not this because it sounds painful.

4. Poisoning:

• I am very particular about their diets. I read forums, compare what I've learned from each one + other guinea pig related websites, and then feed them based on what I've learned, so I've never given them onions, garlic, etc... I think I can rule this one out.

5. Blood clotting:

• Unfortunately I do think this is the reasoning. Blood clotting includes scurvy, which I have been very aware of and attempting to avoid with my guinea pigs because of how common it is, but this one makes the most sense.
• My guinea pig is overweight, which is a symptom of scurvy. I thought that since my other guinea pig had the same diet yet is a normal size, that maybe he just liked to relax more and not exercise as much, which caused weight gain. But now I think that was not the reason. I honestly might've been trying to convince myself that he didn't gain much weight when I knew he did. I feel bad for not hunting down a vet sooner. I thought more kale and other vitamin C greens would help him and I was wrong for that.
• The amount of blood was a lot, so I honestly think clotting is a valid reason.

I made this post to ask for the advice of all of you as I actively search for a vet and book an appointment. I've read on this forum about how some guinea pigs pass away a few months after their first nose bleed and I'm honestly not ready for that. He's only 4 1/2 years old. I've had him since he used to fit on one hand. If you have any advice on what I can do to make him feel as comfortable as possible, or any general aftercare advice for noise bleeds, or any suggestions of my assumption being wrong, please let me know.

I am not attempting to get him diagnosed. I just want to prepare myself and seek the advice of others before I manage to find a decent vet willing to take him in. Sorry this is so long, I'm just still in shock. Nothing like this has ever happened to them over these 4 years.

 

[Claire W]

I am very sorry you had to witness that and I would have done the same as you if I were in your position.

If there is no physical trauma to the nose, ie he hasn’t been in a fight with your other piggy, a hay poke up the nose could be quite possible.

For now, I would keep a close eye on him but if it happens again, you will need to take him to the vets for the correct diagnosis. Lots of blood coming from the nose could be a tumour but that’s just me speculating.

 

[Freela]

One of my past pigs used to get nosebleeds in older age... they were real gushers but didn't seem to bother her (other than her huffing blood all over us to clear her nose so she could breathe better.) We did see the vet, but could never get a firm diagnosis. The fact that it was intermittently recurrent seemed to rule out an injury or hay poke. Nothing could be seen looking up the nose, the vet was unsure if any soft-tissue masses would show up on x-ray of the skull and since there wasn't much to do as far as treatment went if she had a tumor, we didn't pursue imaging. She passed away about six months after the first nosebleed (she had them on and off during those six months), but as she was an older pig, about 6.5 years, we have no way of knowing whether the nosebleeds had anything to do with her death. I suspect not, as her symptoms leading up to her death seemed like an intestinal obstruction and not something do with her head or with clotting. I hope that this was just a one-off and that you can find a vet that is experienced with guinea pigs. Where are you in Canada? If you're in the Greater Toronto area of Ontario I can recommend some vets.

 

[guineapignosebleed]

One of my past pigs used to get nosebleeds in older age... they were real gushers but didn't seem to bother her (other than her huffing blood all over us to clear her nose so she could breathe better.) We did see the vet, but could never get a firm diagnosis. The fact that it was intermittently recurrent seemed to rule out an injury or hay poke. Nothing could be seen looking up the nose, the vet was unsure if any soft-tissue masses would show up on x-ray of the skull and since there wasn't much to do as far as treatment went if she had a tumor, we didn't pursue imaging. She passed away about six months after the first nosebleed (she had them on and off during those six months), but as she was an older pig, about 6.5 years, we have no way of knowing whether the nosebleeds had anything to do with her death. I suspect not, as her symptoms leading up to her death seemed like an intestinal obstruction and not something do with her head or with clotting. I hope that this was just a one-off and that you can find a vet that is experienced with guinea pigs. Where are you in Canada? If you're in the Greater Toronto area of Ontario I can recommend some vets.

I live a bit further out from there but I can get a ride there. Could you please let me know of any good vets you know of? I got so scared reading some of the reviews of a few downtown vets just because of how polar they are.

 

[Freela]

I live a bit further out from there but I can get a ride there. Could you please let me know of any good vets you know of? I got so scared reading some of the reviews of a few downtown vets just because of how polar they are.

If you're in the Toronto area, the Links Road Animal Hospital is really good (or at least they were when I lived in Toronto and they still have good word of mouth.) They see guinea pigs and other exotics (I used to take my hedgehogs there.)

A little further east, my current vet is Millennium City in Pickering. I'm new to this practice but I'm liking them so far.

Further east than that, Clarington Animal Hospital is my previous vet. I had very good experiences there, only left because they stopped having weekend hours in the pandemic and it was very hard for me to get appointments without those weekend slots.

Sorry, I don't know anything further west than Toronto, but I hope this helps!

 

[guineapignosebleed]

If you're in the Toronto area, the Links Road Animal Hospital is really good (or at least they were when I lived in Toronto and they still have good word of mouth.) They see guinea pigs and other exotics (I used to take my hedgehogs there.)

A little further east, my current vet is Millennium City in Pickering. I'm new to this practice but I'm liking them so far.

Further east than that, Clarington Animal Hospital is my previous vet. I had very good experiences there, only left because they stopped having weekend hours in the pandemic and it was very hard for me to get appointments without those weekend slots.

Sorry, I don't know anything further west than Toronto, but I hope this helps!

Thank you so much! I'll definitely look into those vets asap!