UTI/Urinary Tract Infection Do I need to take piggy back to vet if already on Baytril

[wheeksandwheeks]

I had to take my piggy Gibby in to the vet yesterday morning as he had a runny nose and was sneezing. He had perfectly fine the night before. The vet listened to his chest and deduced he had a respiratory infection and sent me home with some Baytril to be given for 14 days. By the late afternoon, his runny nose was already gone and his breathing was clear. But, as I was doing their daily cage cleaning, he was on the top level and I saw him pee and it came out pink.

I don't know for sure when it started-the stain it left was very light and because we use fleece, it sunk through the fleece so it was harder to see-and their fleece is usually pink, but I had just changed it to white when cleaning. I inspected his genital area, and I did not see any residue of calcium sludge, and he hasn't shown any signs of being in pain when peeing or pooping.

Just wanted to know what any of you would do in this situation. My vet is closed tomorrow, but they are reachable by phone 24 hours a day.

Also, if they wanted to do a test for a UTI, how much does that run? To give an idea of how much my vet charges, it's $40 for a checkup for a guinea pig, and they didn't charge extra for the medicine.

Thanks in advance!

 

[PiggieWigglies]

Have you been giving him lots of calcium filled veggies? Sometimes when guinea pigs eat certain vegetables that are red, their urine turns red

 

[Guineapigpro]

Did it literally "come out pink?" When guinea pig urine is released, it oxodises and turns pink. But, if it came out pink, then you DEFINITELY need to go back to the vet for a visit for a possible stone or other issue. I just recently lost a pig due to a bladder stone.

to tell if it is coming out pink, place them in a clear plastic box and watch them. See what color it is as it comes out.

Also, if he is on baytril, feed a probiotic such as bactrim for small animals.

 

[wheeksandwheeks]

Have you been giving him lots of calcium filled veggies? Sometimes when guinea pigs eat certain vegetables that are red, their urine turns red

No, I try to keep the veggies on the low end as far as calcium goes. We have hard water with a lot of calcium in it,and they get pellets, too. I haven't given them any red veggies(I think beets and cherries are some that do that).

Did it literally "come out pink?" When guinea pig urine is released, it oxodises and turns pink. But, if it came out pink, then you DEFINITELY need to go back to the vet for a visit for a possible stone or other issue. I just recently lost a pig due to a bladder stone.

to tell if it is coming out pink, place them in a clear plastic box and watch them. See what color it is as it comes out.

Also, if he is on baytril, feed a probiotic such as bactrim for small animals.

Yes, he was peeing and it came out pink. I can't get a hold of anyone now. I know they have people there every day to take care of the boarded animals, so I will try first thing in the morning. I will also get some bactrim.

 

[daisy1cow]

to save from the vet having to collect urine and ours charges for that, we put our piggies in a clear plastic container, wait til they pee and pour into a paper cup and take to vet and he tests it. saves money.

 

[Rywen]

My gp peed pink Thursday night and the vet saw him Friday and said it's from the antibiotics he is on (Baytril and Doxycycline).

 

[wheeksandwheeks]

My gp peed pink Thursday night and the vet saw him Friday and said it's from the antibiotics he is on (Baytril and Doxycycline).

Eureka! Thank you, Rywen! Did your vet say why it makes the urine pink? Is there a dye in the antibiotics that does that? I swear I keep a darn good eye on my pigs(they are a few feet from me most of the day), and it seemed weird that I only saw the pink pee after he started on the Baytril(they're always peeing in front of me). I will call anyway, but I bet they will say the same thing. I wish to gosh they'd tell people some antibiotics do that, especially when they can get UTIs.

It's so funny, because my husband said "It isn't the antibiotics, is it?"

I will still get the probiotics, though. Want to stay away from any further problems.

 

[Rywen]

She didn't say why antibiotics would turn his urine pink, but the Doxycycline is pink so maybe it's the fruit flavoring they put in?

You should probably still call your vet though, every piggie is different.

 

[wheeksandwheeks]

Actually, the Baytril is brown, which brown is made up of green and red, so there'd be red in that, too. Also, if you just Google something like "Baytril urine" you'll find a lot of mentions of red/pink urine after starting on Baytril-cats, bunnys, and other animals. I left a message, and am waiting to hear back from the vet,

 

[daisy1cow]

Also, we had girl who had redish urine and our vet said it was from the red pepper we were feeding her, her culture was negative. If it is a UTI, she is on a antibiotic anyway so it should be treating it if it is but Im with everyone else, I'll bet its dye. Glad you call just to make sure though!

 

[wheeksandwheeks]

It was both the Baytril and the fact that I was giving him red leaf lettuce-and he especially likes the tops, where it's reddest. I had totally forgotten about the lettuce. So I switched to regular leaf lettuce, and now the urine is barely off at all.

 

[daisy1cow]

Good thing it wasn't an UTI. Ours did it with red pepper. But after feeding for a while, the system got used to it and it doesn't happen now. It was a new food and now all is good. Glad it was something like that! Way to be a good piggie parent and going to the vet