Occasional Vaginal Bleeding

[Minnie Mom]

Hello All. I have a female piggie (Minnie), about 3yo, who has been bleeding vaginally every 14 days or so. This started happening to her about 5 months ago. I know that guinea pigs don't menstruate but it does seem to happen in a cycle of sorts. I have had her to several vets multiple times and she has been prescribed multiple courses of antibiotics and the vets suspect an infection in her reproductive tract. When she took the first course of antibiotics the bleeding stopped when she was on them and then restarted as soon as we completed the course, so I took her back to the vet and we were given another two week course. Again the bleeding was gone but came right back when we finished the second course...so then we got a third course of antibiotics. During the third course the bleeding returned right at the end of the course. Since it came back before we finished the course I started wondering if perhaps it wasn't the antibiotics causing the bleeding to stop but it just seemed that way because it was coming and going on the same 2 weeks schedule that the antibiotics were at play. I also remembered that the first time I noticed the blood on the blankets I thought it was due to one of the nails bleeding because it happened once and then didn't happen again for a couple cage changes. Then when it came back she bled in my hand so I realized where it was coming from and took her to the emergency vet. So anyway when I connected this I decided I would wait and see before putting her on more antibiotics. Sure enough she had a brief episode (maybe a day at the most) of bleeding (the second to the last day of the third course of antibiotics) and then it stopped for about 2 weeks. Then I waited another 2 weeks. She bled again for about a day approximately 2 weeks later. I am wondering is this indicative of a certain condition? Has anyone else has a pig experience this? The vet said if she continued to bleed like this she would recommend spaying her, but I have heard that they often don't survive surgery. I am wondering if this could be something benign that we can live with or whether it is critical and we should consider the spay. She is eating well, seems to be herself. When the actual bleeding is happening she does seem grumpy and picks on my other pig, so I think she might be in some pain (I have some anti-inflammatories from the vet that help if she seems to be in pain) When the bleeding is happening it is quite a bit of blood for such a little creature, so that is worrying. The vet has ruled out urinary or digestive issues...seems pretty confident this is coming from her reproductive tract (I have been to two different vets and they both said this). Please let me know if anyone has any experience with this. Thanks!

 

[Piggies&buns]

It does sound as if there could be an issue with the reproductive tract but only a vet can diagnose. Many sow owners on here have had to have their sows spayed, it’s not the case that they often don’t survive but having a knowledgeable and experienced vet is the key to any surgery.
I'm not a sow owner (although I do have and have had plenty of female rabbits so am very used to spays) but you will be able to get personal accounts of piggy spays when other members come online

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

 

[Freela]

Hopefully someone else who has had a spay done will be here to help you out soon. Although it is a major surgery, most guinea pigs seem to come through a spay safely, though you do want to find a vet who has experience with small-animal surgery. Honestly, I think it would be your best option, constant on-and-off blood loss is not a viable long-term option and that doesn't even take into account the unknown cause of the bleeding, which could be an infection, a tumor, etc. Best of luck to you and your piggie!

 

[Minnie Mom]

Thanks so much for this advice. I will follow-up with the vet we have here to find out about her experience with spays. Anyone know any good vets for this in Chicago, IL?