It sounds like a urinary tract infection (but make sure to check that the blood isn't coming from the vagina, as that can indicate a very serious condition). With UTIs, there can be a lot of blood or only a tiny amount. And it does look like there might be a little blood in that pee.

The affected rat needs to see a vet ASAP so she can be put on antibiotics (Clavamox is usually the ab my vet prescribes for UTIs). If you're having trouble figuring out who the bloody pee is coming from, you can separate your rats and lay down paper towels so you can see their pee more clearly.

 

Just checked both my girls, it doesn't seem like the blood comes from the vagina. They also don't have any problems with me picking them up or touching their bellies. Shouldn't they exhibit signs of pain? A UTI seems like something painful, but both of them act the same as always.
I looked up some info and apparently mycoplasmosis can cause it. A little confused there, but okay..

I think I'll separate them tonight. In cases like these it comes in pretty handy that they don't live in one large cage, but two smaller connected ones. I just have to remove the connection and they're set. I already use toilet paper as bedding, so it'll be easy to spot. A little stupid I'll have to throw out the recently changed bedding, though..

But thank you for the reply Bananana I'll start looking for a vet appointment.

 

It's uncomfortable for them, but they won't necessarily react to having their bellies palpated. When my rats have had UTIs, they normally just get a little sluggish. I just took Charlie to the e-vet the other night for what turned out to be a UTI with atypical symptoms (she was straining to pee, so we thought it might be a stone), and she was acting pretty normal otherwise, just a tiny bit less energetic than usual.

I'd get in to a vet sooner rather than later. If it's a UTI, it can migrate to the kidneys and then it's really, really serious and can possibly be fatal. You don't want to risk it.

 

The problem is that I just started a vacation job for which I have to leave at half past 8 in the morning and only get back at 8 o'clock in the evening. But it shouldn't be a problem to get half a day off or leave an hour or two early, normally. I'll see to it. But it's a quarter to midnight over here, so that's for tomorrow.

I just changed the bedding and separated the two babes and boy, Foelie is not happy. She was frantically crawling across her cage looking for the usual exit.. Mar doesn't look to joyful either. She keeps casting longing glances to Foelie's cage. Poor thing. I hope they don't get too lonely this night. Though this might also be a good way to check how much either one of them actually drinks or eats.

 

You only need to keep them separated until you figure out who's pee is bloody, so it shouldn't be an all-night thing Hopefully, at least.

Try to feed lots of liquid-rich foods, like baby food and fruits/veggies. You can also try giving her a little cranberry juice (not very much at all, if she'll even drink it) and some yogurt. Just make sure she's really well hydrated. If you have baytril (enrofloxacin) on hand, you can start her on that, since you can give it at the same time as Clavamox and it's active against some of the organisms that cause UTIs (though not all of them) and will help cover the kinds of organisms that the Clavamox won't get.

Here's the ratguide page for UTIs: http://ratguide.com/health/urinary_renal/urinary_tract_infections_lower.php

 

Well.. I had to leave them separated overnight, it's now half past 7 in the morning and I couldn't really afford to stay up all night until they pee.

It's as I suspected, Foelie, my sickly rat is the one with the bloody pee. That rat really can't get a break. Just recovered from a rather nasty airway infection, and she gets a UTI.. I'll try to get to a vet as soon as possible, and make her eat watery things and drink a lot in the meantime.
Should I try and take urine samples for the vet, or is that not yet necessary? And thanks for the help so far.

 

I just came back from the vet. This time it actually came in handy that Foelie's such stressy rat, since she peed on the vet's table while being handled and we could test it right away. Apparently her pee has a rather high amount of protein and some blood in it. The vet gave me metacam. Both of us were a little confused as to how much I should give Foelie and were obviously not good at doing math..

Metacam has 0,5mg per 1ml. You're supposed to give 0,1mg per every 1kg your pet weighs. So that's 0,2ml per 1kg, right? Foelie weighs about 300gr. 1000:300 = 3,4. So we have to devide her dose with 3,4 too, which makes 200:3,4 = 59. So I have to give Foelie about 0,06ml of the fluid... Wow. I have to call the vet and let her know she made a gross mistake since she prescibed waaayyyy more than that.
If anyone's good at these things and detects a mistake in this calculation, please let me know since I don't want to give her the wrong dose!

Furthermore the vet advised me to cut back on her protein intake and make sure to get her enough vitamin A.
I hope this all goes well.

 

Ummm...metacam but no antibiotics at all? Metacam is a pain med with anti-inflammatory, but will not cure a UTI. Did the vet check for bacteria?

 

Nope, no antibiotics. It was only afterwards that I remembered that normally antibiotics are given.. Should I call her back and ask for them? I don't think she checked for bacteria, or I don't remember. She put a little paper strip through the pee, and the two things I most remembered were that there was some blood and protein in it. No white bloodcells though, for instance.

Do you maybe have an idea if my calculation is correct?

 

i just went through this with Bernard a few days ago... his was much more concentrated, though. i gave him 14 days worth of erythromycin and it cleared up wonderfully. if your vet doesn't think it's an infection, then what the heck do they think it is? because it's not normal, and you need to investigate its cause further before she ends up seriously sick.

 

Well, she agreed that it was a bladder infection, but I guess she thought metacam was enough to handle it.
Ugh, crapsicles, I paid 39 euros for a rubbish consultation? I'm just going to try the metacam if it won't hurt.. Maybe it has at least a small effect. The vet told me to use it once a day for 5 days. Foelie's urine was clear though, today, and the vet said the blood cells in her pee were 'old' red blood cells.

Buh.

 

Least the revisit should be cheaper (well, it is at my local). If it persists, push for clavamox, it's gold. (Sometimes, us rat owners have to teach the vet, if it makes you feel better, I spent over $300 Aus on an xray and a urine sample test trying to fix a problem that was ultimately fixed with clavamox. Lesson learnt, guess it helped me rule out the possibility of lumps and bought a sort of peace of mind).

 

Well, it's been three days and I have yet to see a pinkish coloured spot on their bedding. Either the medicine is working or she got lucky and it just passed on itself, if that's possible. I'm still going to treat her for 2-3 more days and give her extra fluids in the meantime.