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Advice needed asap!

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Roo3

Roo3

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Hi,

Could someone please help or give me some advice? I've just cleaned out all my pigs, but when I went to get Zippy out I noticed he had a lot of wet poo stuck to his bottom. I've managed to clean most of it off but it stank to high heaven.
I've had a bad back recently so my other half has been feeding them all everyday. He says that Zippy has been drinking, but we've noticed that he hasn't eaten much hay from his manger this week. Although he's been eating all his veggies every day. He's quite lively and isn't showing any other signs that he's poorly.
I also weigh them all every week, and he has lost 60 grams this week.
Zippy is nearly 4 years old and is a boar.

Is this diahrea (haven't got a clue how to spell that) or something else? How can I help him? Am going to give him a wash and shampoo this afternoon.

Thanks
 
Something definitely sounds not quite right here. The significantly softened poop is considered diarrhea, albeit probably not in the same league as the dangerous, liquid diarrhea that does cause major concern.

The 60g weight loss is a concern, as is the not eating hay. It could be a simple case of too many veggies, and perhaps this has led him to eat less hay. Not eating hay but still eating veg will also lead to diarrhea, so the cause of the upset tum and not eating much hay is quite debatable.

It is possible that he has some minor dental/oral problem, which he is getting around by eating softer foods and ignoring the hard foods that actually work on wearing his teeth down, but I would expect to see some other symptoms if this were the case.

Some rehydration fluids (Dioralyte) given by syringe will help, as will eliminating all veggies for a few days, just offering hay and dried food to increase the fibre intake.

ETA - Thanks Bonnie, I never thought of impaction! I think it's possible but I would still recommend treating for diarrhea first and see how that goes. :)
 
I've just checked him and he's done at least 2 formed poo. I'll keep a close eye on him.
 
Should I take him to the emergency vets or wait until our normal vets opens tomorrow?
 
Boots, lloyds chemist - maybe even a big supermarket (i'd ring first) it's quite common.

We use dioralyte here.
 
Is there a dosage I should use when syringing it? Sorry for all the questions- just don't want to do more harm than good.
 
It may be diarrhea - it depends how wet it is. If it is quite wet, you need to stop him becoming dehydrated - you can give him the same rehydration medicine you can get for people - dioralyte or equivalent. You need a 1ml syringe or pipette, which you can get from a pharmacy, to syringe feed him the drink. The more he continues to lose, the more he needs to drink.
If it doesn't get better quickly (1 day), you need to take him to the vet/redentologist.

Also, if he doesn't start eating hay within a couple of days, you would need to take him to the vet anyway. He may have a tooth problem.
 
As much as he will take is fine. Make it up as for humans and syringe whatever he's willing to go with. The important thing is that he is well hydrated.

As he has done formed poops and he is - for the most part - otherwise well, I don't think an emergency vet is necessary. It goes without saying that if you are concerned, do speak to a vet...
 
I hope the wee fellow is feeling better real soon hun, it is such a worry when they aren't feeling well.
 
I've given him some diaralyte. He took nearly 2 syringes worth which is really good as he's never had a syringe near him before!
I've also given him a bath which he hated and he struggled like mad. I've managed to wash off most of the poo on his bottom and he's done some more well formed poo's in the bath and on the towel.
I'll keep of him the veggies for the next couple of days- although I'll feel awful giving everyone else their veggies and not him. Especially since he's the loudest squeaker for his veg. 8...
He's currently drying off and trying to eat the towel although he's got hay in the box with him!
 
When you serve up the veggies for everyone else, you could try giving him some extra hay - it fools some pigs, althought not all. :))
 
Hi I never try and spell the d word as it is difficult to describe the various types I tend to stick to poo i.e.

A bad smelling watery poo usually indicates a very serious intestinal problem.

Sloppy and Pasty poos can very often be caused by too many fresh fruits or vegetables , or a sudden change in feed!.

but should be taken very seriously! ,

me I would replace all veg ect with a timothy hay (they love it)

you are keeping him hydrated that is good , but to bee honest I personally would not be overly concerned about the loss of 60g in a week ,

I would be more concerned about the bad smell you speak of , and I would most certainly take him to the vet tomorrow , may be worth asking him to do a poo float to check for parasites such as giardia and coccidia it is not an expensive test and you need to rule out parasitic infestation

Good luck
 
Since his bath there has been no more sloppy poo's. All I can see are formed ones which is surely a good sign. We'll keep an eye on him tonight and I'll get an appointment for him tomorrow at the vets. Poor little thing is going to have to watch everyone else eat their veggies tonight.8...
 
is he a long haired guinea?this could explain the matted hair around the bum and poss he was sitting in his own wee which was becoming even more matted and smelly and wet.it my be worth cutting his hair around his back end to help stop the poo from sticking in his hair also long haired guineas for some reason tend to sit in there own weemallethead,has for the weight loss i wouldn't worry to much about this small amount,really its possible he was stressed out with it all which can make them loose weight but defo trim his bum area..:)keep on weighing him every 3 days i would say unless he become noticeable unwell in the mean time ,,but it may just be worth a vet check up xx
 
I've checked on him a lot since I last wrote, and am happy to report all the poo's are well formed and he's eaten a fair amount of hay too.
We've weighed him again and he's put on 15 grams since this morning.

He's a sheltie so we do trim his rear end quite often. His bum is still nice and clean after his bath so I am really puzzled as to what happened this morning.
 
It could have just been "one of those things" - I've also had pigs who have something of an off day where they have very soft poops yet they are right as rain soon after.

Impaction is still possible, so do keep checking him for that, but I am glad the immediate problem seems to have cleared!
 
We've kept a close eye on him today and am pleased to report he's still got a clean bottom and his poo's are all still well formed. He's put on about 30 grams since yesterday.
Will keep our eyes on him over the next few day.
Thank you everyone for your help and advise.
 
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