red urine in guinea cage

Question
Hello and thank you in advance!

I have 2 sows, both 3 years old.  I pick up their cage 2x day to discard dirty litter and noticed this morning a reddish urine stain on some newspaper.  I watched them for an hour this a.m. and saw one pee clear, the other I have yet to see pee.  The "non-pee-er" is acting fine, eating and drinking.  I wonder if the raspberries I fed them last night could be the culprit?  Vet charges $39 office visit and money is tight right now, I don't want to go in unless abs. necessary.  

Answer
Hello Heather,

I don't *think* the raspberries could color her pee but I suppose it's possible. However, they could andwould be in her poo and if she peed on a poo it would color the pee. I've had that happen with my crew before and worried me to no end until I figured out what happened. It could also possibly be a red ink run from the newspaper (assuming it's printed). I can totally relate to the money being tight issue. My advice is watch her close. Possibly seperate her and house her on something white (paper towels maybe) until she pees. That way you will know for sure if her urine is red or not. If it is, she will need to see a vet. If there is blood in her urine, she likely has a UTI or bladder stones, both of which can be deadly. Hopefully this is not the case and it was tainted in some other way (poo or ink). Even if the raspberries could have colored her pee, they should be passed now. I tend to think a red raspberry poo caused the discoloration but you need to be sure her pee is clear before you blow this off as nothing just to be safe. Keep watch over them both for the next few days just in case even if they are both peeing clear. Good luck with them. Hopefully it's nothing and they are both fine.

-kkat
www.geocities.com/abyssinianguineapigs