# Blood? everywhere, no visible wounds



## Forgetfulberry (Mar 21, 2016)

Okay so woke up today and was freaked out by a cage covered in dots of pink stains.I'll put the pictures of their house. I didn't find any wounds or scars on my ratties so i have no idea where is this blood coming from. They both seem fine, are active but didnt eat the whole bowl of food like they usually would. The pink substance doesnt smell like pee so i gues it didnt come from that end? I've had them for 4 weeks so i guess if they were pregnant they would have babies by now. Their cage was cleaned yesterday, and i use shreded paper for bedding. What could this be?


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## Fu-Inle (Jan 22, 2015)

Normally I would say porphyrin but I'm not sure because there's quite alot of it. Try and rule out some things: Have you given them any red food? Like strawberries, cherries, rasberries etc? Because the juice can stain things. Toys that have been coloured with ink can do the same. Too rule out bloody urine you could place some white paper on the bottom of the cage or any favoured pee spots.


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## Forgetfulberry (Mar 21, 2016)

I gave them strawberries 5 days ago, so its not food. They do have some dyed plastic but its mostly blue, realy small amount of red. I use shreded paper for bedding and thats how i noticed the pink stains. The stains are worse in their house, it looks like little dots in the cage.


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## Gribouilli (Dec 25, 2015)

Put a little water on a piece of litter that has the red stuff on it. If it is blood it should smell like it.


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## Kelsbels (Aug 12, 2015)

The color is so pink that it really doesn't scream blood to me. Dried blood would usually be thicker or brownish red if it's dry. Could they possibly still have pieces of Strawberry still in their cage? Rats do store fresh food to eat later on.


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## Forgetfulberry (Mar 21, 2016)

I put a little water on it and it doesnt smell like anything. Not blood or ammonia. Its impossible that there is strawberry left in the cage. It would have dried out by now, and I cleaned the whole cage thoroughly yesterday. What is this thing!?


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## Gribouilli (Dec 25, 2015)

Forgetfulberry said:


> I put a little water on it and it doesnt smell like anything. Not blood or ammonia. Its impossible that there is strawberry left in the cage. It would have dried out by now, and I cleaned the whole cage thoroughly yesterday. What is this thing!?


Do you have hydrogen peroxide at home? ($1 at the supermarket). Put a drop of HP on the stain, if it is blood it will bubble profusely. Blood contains an enzyme called catalase, which breaks down hydrogen peroxide into water and oxygen gas. The bubbles are the oxygen.


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## Gribouilli (Dec 25, 2015)

I would clean the cage entirely, and see if it comes back. Rats heal really fast and can bleed a lot at certain spots. You can simply have missed it when checking your rats for wounds.


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## Forgetfulberry (Mar 21, 2016)

Found the HP in home. It didn't bubble at all, so i guess its not blood? (The hp expires in 2017 so it could't have gone bad...it bubbled in the sink). I'll clean the cage again and hope that this never returns. 

Thank you all for your help


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## Gribouilli (Dec 25, 2015)

It is probably the strawberries then. It would have bubbled if it was blood. They ate it and the litter got moved around to the top where you were able to see it. Let us know if any more red stuff shows up.


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## lilspaz68 (Feb 24, 2007)

there's a small possibility it is also a UTI which would dilute the blood in the urine, but the color doesn't scream blood at me either.


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## Skyerobin (Mar 31, 2016)

i reckon it was probably just from the strawberry, but no harm in keeping an eye on them.
i've had a similar panic before, felt in the cage for them and found something wet and red. i got so anxious and panicked trying to find the two troublemakers, until i saw they were fine and upon looking closer realised it was a raspberry they'd been given the previous day. fruit should not look so much like blood.


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## Gribouilli (Dec 25, 2015)

Yep it happened to me too, except it was raspberries, lol. My heart skipped a beat!


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## Finnebon (Jul 15, 2013)

Could it be pyometria? I'm assuming they're girls since you mentioned pregnancy. If it's pyo, it would be blood mixed with pus usually so it wouldn't be straight blood either which would explain the lighter color. How are the girls acting? Check their vagina area frequently but it's likely they will lick off any blood when they feel it down there so it's hard to catch, maybe wake them up and watch them walk around a little and stop them if they lick down there and check them if they try to lick, and then just check them after a few mins of walking to see if any blood is coming out. Are any of their lower tummies slightly bloated? If you gently push all over their lower abdomen area do they squeak or does it seem sensitive?

I would clean their whole cage (use the white carefresh or light colored fleece, not sure what type of bedding you use) and shred up fresh papers for them that have as much white as possible. This way if they're bleeding, you hopefully will find blood on the bedding again soon. If it is pyo though, they need to see a vet asap as it's very life threatening. I had a girl who had vaginal bleeding last year and needed an emergency spay. There was no pus though, and it was straight blood, so the vet though it was a uterine myco issue. But since the possible blood you found isn't bright red, it could be pyo and blood mixed with pus.

Keep us updated please! I hope it's just strawberry juice, but do the cage clean and see if you find any more blood later.


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## Forgetfulberry (Mar 21, 2016)

Just a little update: they're still acting normally, and I haven't found any blood again. Could it really be pyo? They're 9 weeks old, is it really possible at such young age? I was checking their privates for blood or pus but never found any. Their abdomen looks preety normal, a little big but it has always looked this way. They're not completely tame right now and are wiggling out of my hand, but when i was feeling their lower abdomen there was no squeaks or apparent discomfort.
Im 99.99% sure it wasnt the strawberries. I gave it to them 5 days prior to the accident and I cleaned the whole cage with diluted bleach the day before the pink ooze.

One more question: I weighed them in today and they are both about 150 grams. Isn't that a bit on the skinny side?


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## Gribouilli (Dec 25, 2015)

Forgetfulberry said:


> Just a little update: they're still acting normally, and I haven't found any blood again. Could it really be pyo? They're 9 weeks old, is it really possible at such young age? I was checking their privates for blood or pus but never found any. Their abdomen looks preety normal, a little big but it has always looked this way. They're not completely tame right now and are wiggling out of my hand, but when i was feeling their lower abdomen there was no squeaks or apparent discomfort.Im 99.99% sure it wasnt the strawberries. I gave it to them 5 days prior to the accident and I cleaned the whole cage with diluted bleach the day before the pink ooze.One more question: I weighed them in today and they are both about 150 grams. Isn't that a bit on the skinny side?


Probably not if no blood or pus came since then and none of the other signs as listed on site below are present. In doubt you could bring them to a vet for an X-ray. If you got them from a breeder, ask her if they are similar issues with their littermates. http://ratguide.com/health/reproductive/pyometra.php


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## Forgetfulberry (Mar 21, 2016)

The "breeder" said that it's completely normal for rats to bleed a little bit during their estrous cycle. So um I don't really trust him... He also said that he never had any similar health problems with babies.


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## Fu-Inle (Jan 22, 2015)

Female rats don't menstruate at all, what is he doing breeding rats? Anyway, if you haven't come across any more blood (or whatever it was) then I wouldn't worry about it. Ans I highly doubt they're pregnant, rat pregnancies last for only 20-24 days so they would've givin birth already. 150 grams sounds fine for 9 weeks.


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## Gribouilli (Dec 25, 2015)

Forgetfulberry said:


> The "breeder" said that it's completely normal for rats to bleed a little bit during their estrous cycle. So um I don't really trust him... He also said that he never had any similar health problems with babies.


Is he a reputable breeder or not really? Does he breed for health and temperament or is he a feeder breeder?


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## Gribouilli (Dec 25, 2015)

None of my 3 unaltered girls ever had blood during when in heat. Looks like he is saying bs to you or don't know much at all.


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## Kchilson02 (Jan 20, 2016)

Do u by chance have a red chew toy? I have discovered when the colored.toys get wet the color comes off and looks a lot like that so if they had the chew toy wet and ran around with it that could be it


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## catty-ratty (Feb 21, 2016)

You said that when you put peroxide on the red stains that it didn't bubble. Peroxide reacts with body fluids, not just blood. If it was puss or anything else from your rats, it would have bubbled up, even if it was dry. 

I'm guessing that the red fluid was from something harmless in the cage. What will probably happen is that one day you'll realize what it was and think to yourself, 'Duh! How could I not realize that's what it was???'

Happens to me all the time!


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## lilspaz68 (Feb 24, 2007)

Sadly yet another breeder whose basic knowledge of health is incorrect. Anyone can put 2 rats together and call themselves a breeder. Sigh.

Your girl's weight is just fine, especially since each rat is different, depending on their build and bone structure. If there's no more issues I wouldn't worry about it.


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## Forgetfulberry (Mar 21, 2016)

Alright, thanks everyone, I feel a lot less paranoid right now . 
The dude i got my rats from is a feeder breeder. I honestly didnt'espect him to know anything. There are no real breeders near me, so it was either the feeders or the pet store.


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## Gribouilli (Dec 25, 2015)

Forgetfulberry said:


> Alright, thanks everyone, I feel a lot less paranoid right now . The dude i got my rats from is a feeder breeder. I honestly didnt'espect him to know anything. There are no real breeders near me, so it was either the feeders or the pet store.


That's the problem with feeder breeders, most don't know anything and couldn't care less about long term health of their rats. A pet store isn't better. Maybe a good breeder will be there next time you want to add rats to your mischief. Even a 5 hours drive to a great breeder would end you costing you way less than a rat with health issues. I know it isn't always an option though, as some people don't have a car. I hope your rats will be ok from now on. Keep us updated.


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## catty-ratty (Feb 21, 2016)

Just to reitterate...

The red stuff looks like some kind of dye that got moisture on it causing it to bleed on the paper shredding. There was no fizzing would you put peroxide on it. In my personal experience, no fizzing indicate that the stains were not bodily fluids. Your rats are acting normal and there no changes in appetite that should cause concern. 

No matter where you got your rats, right now they are healthy and that is the important thing. People and animals get sick. It's a fact of life. 

Don't let the idea of your rat coming from a feeder bin keep you from enjoying, loving and spoiling your rats to the fullest while you have them.


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