Blood in urine stream of my rat

Question
My pet rat is acting normal, eating and drinking normal but seems to have
some blood in her urine. She always has dribbled little bits of urine when she
walks around on us and has, ever since we got her. I assumed this was what
they call "scent marking" but the other day I noticed the urine stream was a
faded red color. I watched it very closely, gave her some cranberry juice and
the next day her urine was a normal color. Her abdomen doesn't seem to be
tender to the touch and she is acting normal. Everything I have read points to
a UTI. Do you know of anything I can give her. I know I should take her to the
vet, but I feel as though the vet is basically guessing anytime they make a
conclusion dealing with rats. They are so small and our own vet said it is very
hard to definitively diagnose a rat. We spent over $300 dollars 3 weeks ago
on our other rat only to find out later she needed to be put down, what can I
do now without spending a ton of money at the vet on our existing rat? Is this
common in rats?

Answer


Urinary tract infections do cause blood in the urine and demand prompt attention. It is commonly seen in rats and easily treated. The vet that told you there is no way to really diagnose a rats ailments is only because he doesnt know how to properly treat and diagnose a rat. These non exotic vets say whatever they want just so they dont have to admit that they just dont know.  Your wasting time and money on a vet like that. He may be top notch with dogs and cats but with other animals the buck stops there, yet they think they can "figure it out" and cause more harm than good.

I can help you find a vet that can properly treat your rat because she needs antibiotics in order to get better. A UTI only responds when the bacteria is killed. Please let me know where your nearest city is and I will gladly give you names of good vets.