Noticing Blood….

[NewGuineaLad]

Hello, I was wondering if anyone has any insight.

I have a male guinea pig named Peanut and today I brought home another male guinea pig, Zion, and I currently have them in a neutral territory and am giving them time to bond. They are both a little over a year old.

So far it has all been normal dominance behavior as I have observed them, nothing of major concern. The worst has been Peanut continually humping Zion’s face.

I went to add more hay, however, and noticed blood inside the playpen. I picked both up individually to examine them and saw blood on Zion’s fur as it was white, but no visible wounds or sources of the bleeding. I did the same to Peanut and it was the same, until I looked at his butthole and saw some blood there and began to think that might be the source. I started to freak out and called the vet. I am able to take both in at 1:00pm tomorrow, which is about 19 hours away……….

I hadn’t noticed anything at all prior to this.

Should I see if I can find a vet that can take them in sooner? Does anyone know what this might be or anything I should do? Any advice or information would be very much appreciated.

 

[Wiebke]

Hello, I was wondering if anyone has any insight.

I have a male guinea pig named Peanut and today I brought home another male guinea pig, Zion, and I currently have them in a neutral territory and am giving them time to bond. They are both a little over a year old.

So far it has all been normal dominance behavior as I have observed them, nothing of major concern. The worst has been Peanut continually humping Zion’s face.

I went to add more hay, however, and noticed blood inside the playpen. I picked both up individually to examine them and saw blood on Zion’s fur as it was white, but no visible wounds or sources of the bleeding. I did the same to Peanut and it was the same, until I looked at his butthole and saw some blood there and began to think that might be the source. I started to freak out and called the vet. I am able to take both in at 1:00pm tomorrow, which is about 19 hours away……….

I hadn’t noticed anything at all prior to this.

Should I see if I can find a vet that can take them in sooner? Does anyone know what this might be or anything I should do? Any advice or information would be very much appreciated.

Hi

Please take a deep breath. Peanut may either have the very beginnings of a urinary tract infection (which takes about 5 days to develop fully and symptoms can be very on and off at first) or as he has been in Zion's face a lat, it could be that Zion may have given him a nip on his penis (check this by expressing his penis).

But a vet appointmen tomorrow should be perfectly fine since you are reporting neither squeaking when pooing and peeing (the next stage of urinary tract problems) or Peanut digging a lot in his own bum if he was in major pain with his penis.

Our boar care guide also contains tips on how to express a penis: Boar Care: Bits, Bums & Baths

Hopefully, it is just a minor issue; especially when it is not impacting on your boys' interaction.