Bertha is weeing blood :-((((

[Curlybrunette]

Hey everyone,

We lost our pig Betty a few weeks ago and her pal Bertha seemed to be doing ok, quiet (she doesn't sqeak anymore ) but eating and drinking, and getting tons of cuddles from us.

Over the last couple of days when we're holding her she's nibbled our arms. Not full on biting but nibbly as if to tell us she's unhappy about something. Yesterday morning when I cleaned her cage there was quite a lot of bloody wee. I cleaned it all out and since last night there hasn't been anymore but we're going to the vets later.

We're all so worried that it's something really bad and there'll be nothing they can do (she's 6, so an old gal). Before school this morning DS sat and cuddled her and said goodbye, he is so worried about her and thinks she might not come back from the vets.

I'm worried that she has something horrible and painful in her tum which was why she nibbled us when we held her. I hate to think she might be in pain.

Oh dear...

Oh poor love
Is she hunching or squealing when she pees (signs of peeing distress)

She might have a bladder stone or it might be an injury (if it's ongoing you know there's something in there, be it stone, growth , tumour), bit TMI but was there anything passed like chalky or gravelly pieces?

Your vet will probably suggest a scan , but if you have to sedate the piggie you have to weigh up the pros/cons and then what do you do with the results?

Good Luck at the vets, BerthaPig ,

Ahhh thank you 70

I've haven't noticed any signs of pee distress, I'll keep her with me (hopefully) all evening and look out for her peeing.

It didn't look chalky/gravelly, just really red.

We're at the vets at 3 so not too long to wait

Hope it's gone okay at the vets. Poor Bertha - can't be nice for her.

Well we've got antibiotics and a painkiller so hoping everything will settle down. 5 days of each, should hopefully do the trick.

Bertha has done clear wee's today, including one on the vets table, a lovely big clear one!!!

I think I just panicked when I saw the blood, better to get it checked though I suppose.

The vet weighed her and called her 'a tiny one', she was 800g, I don't think that's tiny do you? I must confess I don't weigh her (but will do from now on) but I've googled it and one site (Guinea Pig Corner) says the average for a female is 700-900g.

Thanks for your support
x

Just as further reassurance, one of my previous piggies had this. It was basically a type of cystitis. It cleared up completely with the vet treatment and never came back. Fingers crossed your girl makes a full recovery too

Oh poor Bertha. We hope she feels better soon.
I know it isn't the same but about a month after old Sophie died, Mollie developed an awful chest infection. She sounded like a rusty boiler. Numerous visits to the vets before she was back to her old self. Vet and I decided the stress of losing her v best friend made Moll - might also have been us getting her young Sadie, who in the early days was very bouncy and somewhat trying😃

Stress of losing Sophie made Mollie ill, previous post lost the world ill

Get well soon to Bertha. All my female pigs are over 1kg and would look a bit scrawny at 800g. Maybe they all have big bones. One of my lovely lardy boars topped the scales at 1.3kg. He was a real fatso though. His favourite thing was to lie down resting his head on his chin rolls.

Well that's just typical! You go through all the worry and hassle of taking a sick pig to the vets because of blood in her urine and just as you've explained all this to the vet, the pig produces a big clear puddle just to make you look daft. I had a similar incident with a badly limping bunny who, once at the vets, charged around the room like Usain Bolt!

Hope the meds work for Bertha and she's fully better soon.

BTW was that perhaps my vet you saw? That would explain why she thought Bertha was scrawny, if she's used to seeing my lardy boys. Chin roll pillows here as well

Ha ha, lardy boys!!! I always think it's good to have enough meat on your bones to survive a harsh winter!!!

She seems ok today, is happily taking the meds, it smells like honey so maybe she has a sweet tooth. She's quiet anyway so it's hard to tell but I think she's ok.

And yes, typical to do a big clear wee. It's like I wanted to throw £42 the vets way...

Ah, good result , I know they flipping plan it dont they

At least your mind is at rest , it's always best to get them checked , they are complex little mammals.

We weughed our pigs this week, the lightest is 1112g (GP5) I always think of her as being tiny
GP5 scoffs at GuineaPig Corners 700g (though I know my pigs are still carrying a bit of Winter Flab)

Opps 1012g not 1112 (just larded another 4oz on my piggie there )

Just weighed my boys. Scruffy weighs in at 1190g and Ginger at 1295g. I don't,think they've seen 700g since birth!

Curly- my boys agree that it's essential to have a little extra on the hips (chins and tummy) to get you through a harsh winter, or indeed a harsh 20 minutes when hay supplies have run low. It's a philosophy they take very seriously. Hope Bertha is feeling better today and enjoying her meds. Just be careful she doesn't exploit this and prolong her illness to get more meds. A previous pig loved all meds so much I'm convinced he faked illness several times - he would come running with his mouth open every time he saw a syringe.

GP3 thought it was well worth being castrated when he got his painkillers.
When the sows told him to "Grow a pair" he wished he could so he could legitimately have more post-surgery guinea drugs

A previous pig loved all meds so much I'm convinced he faked illness several times - he would come running with his mouth open every time he saw a syringe.

One of mine faked a limp for metacam.

How's Bertha doing?