Bleeding from Rectal/Vaginal Area: SDA or owner paranoia?

[Steerpike]

He took a urine sample as well (that was the first thing he checked). When she peed at the vet's her urine looked normal, strangely. When he examined it the test said that there was blood there but there were things on it that should have been there but weren't (if it was blood) and it turned to out to be hemoglobin that was getting into her kidneys and from there her urine (which is what gave it the colour of blood).
The medicine she's on is called prediapred (unfortunately she hates it! It smells like human, cherry-flavoured medicine). She hasn't done the curling up in pain thing since before she started taking the medicine, so I imagine it's helping. She seems much more active and happy than she did a couple of days ago.

When he did her blood test he said her numbers (he did actually give me the specific numbers and explained everything to me using the proper scientific terms, but I'm not very good at remembering that sort of thing out of context, so unfortunately will fail at replicating it here. ): ), he said her numbers were on the higher end of low, which is a good thing for her.
I think the tests on Monday will partly be to make sure the medicine is working, but also to confirm the diagnosis, so I'll keep you posted!

I haven't seen her peeing blood again, but it was by chance that I actively saw it happening last time. I'm keeping an eye on the cage though, to look for new stains.

I did mention a UTI to him, but I guess he was sufficiently confident in his diagnosis (after the two tests: urine and blood) that he didn't feel other medications were necessary.

 

[jorats]

Hemoglobin is getting into the kidneys. Hemoglobin is pretty much blood. Carrying oxygen to all parts of the body.
Pediapred is prednisolone. It should not be given alone with no antibiotics...especially in this case. If there is foreign substance in the urine, she needs to be treated as an infection.
Did you see the vet draw blood for the blood work? How did he do that? The tip of the tail or jugular?
At least she's feeling better and that's what matters. My concern is that it comes back with a vengeance if not properly treated.

 

[Steerpike]

I'll mention the antibiotics to him tonight when she goes in for her blood work. They have baytril on-site, but it will take about a day to have the pharmacy make the doxycycline (if those are the recommended antibiotics). Thanks for the advice! He's supposed to be a very good rat vet, so I'm not sure why he wouldn't know that. It's also possible though that he planned to put her on antibiotics as well once he confirmed his diagnosis tonight.

I'm probably not the best person to explain what he said about her blood, etc, but he did seem to consider it not quite the same thing as if she were completely peeing blood (which is what it looked like the other night). I guess what he meant the difference was (perhaps, because I'm elaborating here) was that a little bit of hemoglobin could make urine look extremely bloody, just by colouring it.

I'm not sure where he took the blood from, as he did so outside the room.

She's still acting much better, but I did notice more staining in the litter box last night and a bit on the cage liners, so I'll bring that up with him tonight when I see him. I'm not sure what that would mean (whether it would be expected or if it's an indication that the medicine is not working/that she has something else.

At least she's perky and happy at the moment.

 

[EDK]

Some vets dont prefer to treat aggressively till they know exactly what they are dealing with. My first vet didn't treat my boy's URI aggressively and gave us one antibiotic, the new kind called Orbax, related to baytril from what i was told later on, but stil lnew on the market and theoretically not very good against URI's. This resulted in my boy being rushed to another vet 2 weeks later who i've stuck with today, only to have him pass away 1 week later. At the end of the day it all depends on what you feel is best for your pet.

 

[Steerpike]

I'll ask him for antibiotics tonight then, if he doesn't prescribe them himself. I just asked Renee (Ratty Momma on here) and she told me Dr. D usually doesn't think you need to use antibiotics with prednisone, but that you should and that I need to tell him, so it sounds like that's what I'll be doing!

 

[jorats]

I would probably try her on Baytril alone. It should cure up any infection. Please be sure to tell the vet that there is continued blood in urination. That is definitely not normal.
You could gently demand for antibiotics, tell him just in case, to cover all bases in case it is an infection. I would think he would agree to that.

 

[Steerpike]

Thanks so much for your help! I'll do that tonight when I go in.

Unfortunately, I've just noticed that her sister Dotty is acting very lethargic. When I cleaned out their cage today I found some pungent and strongly-coloured urine stains on the cage-liner, behind their litter box. Dotty really didn't want to go back in the cage and didn't move much during playtime. Since she didn't want to be in the cage I took her out and had her on my lap for a while.
I can't tell for sure, as she's always been a chubby rat, but her belly seems a bit distended to me. Like with Delilah, this sounds like a UTI, but shouldn't that have shown up on Delilah's urine test?

Anyway, I'm about to call the vet to let them know I'll be bringing Dotty in as well. ):

 

[mamarat]

Your poor girls. Good luck at the vet.

 

[jorats]

Your poor girls, something is going on for sure. Good luck and keep us posted.

 

[Steerpike]

Okay, so, Delilah's apparently doing quite well on the medicine (her numbers went from 22 to 33 in a few days). He said I should expect some coloured urine from her every now and then because she's still in the process of recovering. I got baytril for her as well and started giving it to her last night!

Dotty is quite sick, but he's given me baytril for her as well, and told me to give her some of the pred as well, just in case (he gave me a specific dose, and a much smaller one). Her temperature was a little on the low side and her myco was acting up. She still seems lethargic this morning but she's only had the one dose of baytril so far.

 

[lilspaz68]

I am a bit confused as to what the pred is supposed to do for a UTI? Metacam, I understand, for pain and for inflammation but pred?

 

[jorats]

The pred might very well help for Dotty's respiratory infection.
Are you still doing pred for Delilah's genital issues? I too wonder why the pred. Because normally pred is actually quite hard on the kidneys. Do you know what the numbers are for? something like creatinine?

 

[Steerpike]

Sorry about the late reply! As an update, both rats are doing very well at the moment. Dotty seems a lot better already.

I'm not sure, but what he said to me was it might be worth it to give her a little of the pred as well, and gave me a smaller dosage for her.

Delilah still has the pred (it seems to be improving her levels). The numbers were to do with her blood cells fully forming, or something to that effect. I'm sorry I'm not better at reporting things. ): My friend came with me this time, so he may remember more of what Dr. D said. Also, I found out that they took her blood from her leg. He said they only take it from the jugular when they need a larger amount.

 

[jorats]

All that matters is that your girls are doing better. :nod:

 

[Steerpike]

My friend can't remember either! ): I think he was too busy reading his pamphlet on ticks, haha.

The ratties are still doing well (sleepy this morning though). Webster's been doing well the past little while as well, and has put on some weight, which is excellent.

 

[jorats]

Great news!

 

[mamarat]

Yayy! so glad the girls are doing well.

 

[TheRatQueen]

I remember when my Sherlock had a UTI I literally found him in a small pool of blood (Boy did I freak out) and he didn't eat for almost 2-3 days until he started feeling better. The vet even took an XRAY from so much blood thinking that he had a stone in his kidneys. But he did recover fast. This was almost 2 years ago, so I don't remember if he was just on baytril or a mixture of some sort.

I'm glad they're feeling better though! That's fantastic.

 

[Steerpike]

Thanks for the good wishes, everyone! Dotty and Delilah are still doing well.
Chloe died just a few hours ago and we buried her in the garden next to Dingo and Numberwang. She had been quite active until yesterday, though she had an inoperable mass in her abdomen. She had a happy life and didn't seem to be in any pain.

 

[jorats]

I'm so sorry for your loss...good news for Dotty and Delilah.