UTI Care and Advice

[PipSqueak20]

Hello, I am a new user here. However I have been lurking for Guinea pig advice for years. I have 3 Guinea pigs Peanut (female; 3 years), Pumpkin ( 3 years; male neutered) and Pip (2 years).

Peanut has had issues with her bladder for a month now starting the beginning of December 2024. I spotted drops of blood all over their home. I took her to the vet asap as I had a horrible experience with her sister Peach who died in 2023 who had similar symptoms. The vets that I go to are amazing but are not exotics as they are very limited in my area.

She has been on enrocare, anti inflammatory for a few weeks but the bleeding continued so I took her back. They did an ultrasound and a full body scan. They ruled out any stones but saw some slush or calcium crystals in the scan. They gave me potassium to break down the crystals and then frusal which is a diaretic to flush the sediment out.

She has not had any weight loss at all as I’ve weighed her every week and she’s stayed the same weight or put on weight. She has had no loss of appetite and has had no straining to go to the toilet (from what I’ve seen). Has been leaving gritty calcium deposits after taking the frusol diaretic.

I have been giving her a glucosamine joint support supplement from oxbow (I haven’t been able to get hold of the urinary support one). I’m taking out high calcium foods and giving her wet leafy greens. I’m also trying to make her environment not as stressful as possible.

Today 8/01/2025 I have seen blood spotting again and taking her to the vets again at 5.30pm. I’m going to ask about cystease and doing a urine analysis and perhaps another scan.

Any advice would be lovely!

Thank you

 

[fluffysal]

Hello and welcome to the forum. Have you looked at the Piggie parcels website as they now do a joint support pellet with added glucosamine. There is a thread about it but I can't link as my tech skills are non existent. @Guineautopia, runs piggies parcels.
I have a boy with bladder history and a satin. I have seen a difference in both of them since giving them the new pellets. If nothing else they are getting a high quality pellet with no nasty ingredients.
Would love to see pictures of your little herd.

 

[PipSqueak20]

Hello and welcome to the forum. Have you looked at the Piggie parcels website as they now do a joint support pellet with added glucosamine. There is a thread about it but I can't link as my tech skills are non existent. @Guineautopia, runs piggies parcels.
I have a boy with bladder history and a satin. I have seen a difference in both of them since giving them the new pellets. If nothing else they are getting a high quality pellet with no nasty ingredients.
Would love to see pictures of your little herd.

Thank you for your reply. I will definitely look into your suggestion. I’ve sent some pictures of my pigs. Picture 1 is Pumpkin, 2 is Pip and 3 is Peanut which is the one with UTI problems

 

[PipSqueak20]

Hello, I am a new user here. However I have been lurking for Guinea pig advice for years. I have 3 Guinea pigs Peanut (female; 3 years), Pumpkin ( 3 years; male neutered) and Pip (2 years).

Peanut has had issues with her bladder for a month now starting the beginning of December 2024. I spotted drops of blood all over their home. I took her to the vet asap as I had a horrible experience with her sister Peach who died in 2023 who had similar symptoms. The vets that I go to are amazing but are not exotics as they are very limited in my area.

She has been on enrocare, anti inflammatory for a few weeks but the bleeding continued so I took her back. They did an ultrasound and a full body scan. They ruled out any stones but saw some slush or calcium crystals in the scan. They gave me potassium to break down the crystals and then frusal which is a diaretic to flush the sediment out.

She has not had any weight loss at all as I’ve weighed her every week and she’s stayed the same weight or put on weight. She has had no loss of appetite and has had no straining to go to the toilet (from what I’ve seen). Has been leaving gritty calcium deposits after taking the frusol diaretic.

I have been giving her a glucosamine joint support supplement from oxbow (I haven’t been able to get hold of the urinary support one). I’m taking out high calcium foods and giving her wet leafy greens. I’m also trying to make her environment not as stressful as possible.

Today 8/01/2025 I have seen blood spotting again and taking her to the vets again at 5.30pm. I’m going to ask about cystease and doing a urine analysis and perhaps another scan.

Any advice would be lovely!

Thank you

UPDATE:

The vet said that her ultrasound and full body scan showed no signs of inflammation or infection anywhere else and that the bladder wall looked good. She said that the blood could be the result of the sludge not being flushed out yet which can take anywhere from a month to 3 months or more. She said that there’s always a chance of imbedded uti but she wanted to see if the bleeding stops after a few weeks to do a urine analysis etc.

Shes put her on anti-inflammatory until further notice, potassium citrate (I know there’s conflicting evidence with potassium in regards to gp but she believes that it could work) and she gave me more frusol (twice a day). I asked about glucosamine for Peanut and she agreed that it’s a great idea. She gave me nutracys 130mg, 1 capsule a day; which I’ve opened the capsule and put onto wet lettuce and she seemed to like it so far. She put some of these on repeat prescription so I can pick it up when needed.

I’ve ordered cystease from Amazon as I can probably use that after nutracys. I’ve got a list of low calcium veg to get. I’ve ordered low calcium pellets which I will just sprinkle a few on their hay and I’ve ordered a water filter.

 

[Bill & Ted]

Well d9ne you, she is a lucky little piggy with all your care. I hope the bleeding stops soon once her bladder becomes less inflamed

 

[PipSqueak20]

Well d9ne you, she is a lucky little piggy with all your care. I hope the bleeding stops soon once her bladder becomes less inflamed

I can only hope that this is short term. I would do anything for my pigs. I’ve had a really horrible experience with a previous vet with a similar issue (luckily the ones I have now are amazing) so I’ve done extensive research this time round

 

[Mr.chris]

I've just had a similar sounding issue with my little Lily. We have white bedding so was easy the red wee spots around the enclosure. It was quite abundant, with occasional little red "clots" around too.

Vets gave her some anti-biotics which eventually cleared it up. However, it did take over 3 weeks before we saw any improvement and a month before it was all clear wee. Hopefully it's a similar issue with your little one and just needs a little more time for the meds to work there magic

Your herd is gorgeous! And Pip reminds me of a short haired clover

 

[PipSqueak20]

I've just had a similar sounding issue with my little Lily. We have white bedding so was easy the red wee spots around the enclosure. It was quite abundant, with occasional little red "clots" around too.

Vets gave her some anti-biotics which eventually cleared it up. However, it did take over 3 weeks before we saw any improvement and a month before it was all clear wee. Hopefully it's a similar issue with your little one and just needs a little more time for the meds to work there magic

Your herd is gorgeous! And Pip reminds me of a short haired clover
View attachment 263239

Clover is so cute and does look a lot like my Pip. I’m glad Lily is well. Hopefully it’s just taking longer to flush out of Peanuts system. It’s been over a month now from the first signs of infection but I know it can take longer. Her blood spotting went and then came back a few days later.

 

[PipSqueak20]

The blood spots sort of look like these. Smudges of blood in 3 to 4 different spots where she’s lying down. I take the blood stains out when I see them so I know when a new one appears.

 

[PipSqueak20]

UPDATE:

The vet said that her ultrasound and full body scan showed no signs of inflammation or infection anywhere else and that the bladder wall looked good. She said that the blood could be the result of the sludge not being flushed out yet which can take anywhere from a month to 3 months or more. She said that there’s always a chance of imbedded uti but she wanted to see if the bleeding stops after a few weeks to do a urine analysis etc.

Shes put her on anti-inflammatory until further notice, potassium citrate (I know there’s conflicting evidence with potassium in regards to gp but she believes that it could work) and she gave me more frusol (twice a day). I asked about glucosamine for Peanut and she agreed that it’s a great idea. She gave me nutracys 130mg, 1 capsule a day; which I’ve opened the capsule and put onto wet lettuce and she seemed to like it so far. She put some of these on repeat prescription so I can pick it up when needed.

I’ve ordered cystease from Amazon as I can probably use that after nutracys. I’ve got a list of low calcium veg to get. I’ve ordered low calcium pellets which I will just sprinkle a few on their hay and I’ve ordered a water filter.

UPDATE 2:

I went and got a second opinion by a different vet. He was excellent and very honest. He couldn’t understand why the previous vet put her on potassium or frusol as in his opinion they don’t work. He also doesn’t recommend baytril unless it’s a last resort. So he’s put her on co-trimoxszole (0.8ml twice a day) for 20 days. I’m going to stop the potassium and possibly the frusol as well. He’s going to send the notes to my normal vet

 

[PipSqueak20]

Hello,

I’ve posted in a thread already about my Guinea Pigs suspected UTI. I took her to the vets again today as I saw an alarmingly large amount of blood. However this time, the blood was dark red compared to the small smudges that I have been seeing.

She was on antibiotics etc for around 3 weeks and then stopped them and it returned.

The vet put her on a different anti biotic called Co-Trimoxazole 0.8ml twice a day for 20 days and Loxicom twice a day. My suspicions are a IC. I’ve got her on glucosamine as well.

She’s had ultrasounds and a full body scan and there was nothing of major concern but sludge in the bladder (I’ve made changes to her diet and water etc in regards to this).

She is eating, drinking and going to the toilet and there’s no obvious signs to me that she’s in pain (she might still be as she’s a very quiet pig)

I’m just very concerned about the bleeding. Any help please, I will be most grateful!

 

[PipSqueak20]

Hello,

I’ve posted in a thread already about my Guinea Pigs suspected UTI. I took her to the vets again today as I saw an alarmingly large amount of blood. However this time, the blood was dark red compared to the small smudges that I have been seeing.

She was on antibiotics etc for around 3 weeks and then stopped them and it returned.

The vet put her on a different anti biotic called Co-Trimoxazole 0.8ml twice a day for 20 days and Loxicom twice a day. My suspicions are a IC. I’ve got her on glucosamine as well.

She’s had ultrasounds and a full body scan and there was nothing of major concern but sludge in the bladder (I’ve made changes to her diet and water etc in regards to this).

She is eating, drinking and going to the toilet and there’s no obvious signs to me that she’s in pain (she might still be as she’s a very quiet pig)

I’m just very concerned about the bleeding. Any help please, I will be most grateful!

UPDATE:
She does seem to be in a little pain, I can hear small sharp squeaks from her and she won’t allow me to touch her bottom part

 

[Wiebke]

Hello,

I’ve posted in a thread already about my Guinea Pigs suspected UTI. I took her to the vets again today as I saw an alarmingly large amount of blood. However this time, the blood was dark red compared to the small smudges that I have been seeing.

She was on antibiotics etc for around 3 weeks and then stopped them and it returned.

The vet put her on a different anti biotic called Co-Trimoxazole 0.8ml twice a day for 20 days and Loxicom twice a day. My suspicions are a IC. I’ve got her on glucosamine as well.

She’s had ultrasounds and a full body scan and there was nothing of major concern but sludge in the bladder (I’ve made changes to her diet and water etc in regards to this).

She is eating, drinking and going to the toilet and there’s no obvious signs to me that she’s in pain (she might still be as she’s a very quiet pig)

I’m just very concerned about the bleeding. Any help please, I will be most grateful!

Hi

Dark red urine is usually caused a natural dye called porphyrin, which is characteristic for the flares that come with a sterile cystitis (or interstitial cystitis/IC) every few weeks.
'Sterile' refers to the fact that the infection is not bacterial and can at the best only be temporarily suppressed by antibiotics. It can unfortunately not be healed and has to be managed. At the milder end it will eventually go away on its own (but you are thinking in over a year or years). At the upper end (which you are thankfully not dealing with) it is fatal.

Sterile cystitis is a newish illness which is thought to be connected with the commercial for sale mass breeding of pets. It is similar to that of cats and treatment follows similar lines. Unfortunately, it is still not well known outside vet circles that deal with lots of of guinea pigs. It seems to mainly affect the natural insulating glucosamine lining of the walls of the urinary tract which prevents high stinging, corrosive urine from coming into direct with raw tissue.

Please take the time to read this link, which you and your vet hopefully will find helpful:

Thread 'Wiebke's Guide to Pees and Stones'

May 29, 2024

1 The Urinary Tract
2 Pees
- Water intake changes
- Pee discoloration
3 Infections
- Bacterial urine infection (UTI)
- Bacterial cystitis
- Sterile cystitis (interstitial cystitis or IC)
4 Stones, Sludge and Crystals
- Crystals, stones and sludge
- Stone and sludge removal
5 Kidneys...

• Wiebke
• Replies: 3
• Forum: Wiebke's Guides to the Body

All the best.