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Anal Impaction

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GeorgesHuman

GeorgesHuman

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My eldest boar, the lovely little Elliot has anal impaction. So far we have managed to remove the impaction successfully. It gets so big though and when it's coming out it must hurt my poor boy :( How often do you remove? The first time I did it the faeces weren't that firm and it was hard getting the whole thing out in one go. It was such a fiddle with the cotton wool and it came out in bits. Last night though, when it was time to do it again, I massaged the area, and after a few tries, out it popped. Bleeeurgh!

I read somewhere that the piggy may want to eat their poopies to maintain their wellbeing, so I offered the stinky lump of poo to Elliot. Him being a boy of a certain class, turned his nose up at it.

Should I be offering Elliot something else, like a vitamin in place of his nutritional poo? If so, where can I get such a thing suitable for my piggy from?

Thanks :)
 
Depending on the severity of the impaction, you need to clean out daily or even twice daily, not at all peasant, I know! :(
If you have got other piggies, I would recommend to make poo soup by soaking fresh poos from a healthy piggy in water and then syringing the water. That will give Elliot at least some of the right mix of stuff. It is difficult to steal some vita-poos from other piggies, as they are very protective about them.
You may find this video here helpful: https://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/threads/impaction-recovery-how-to-help-your-guinea-pig.120787/
 
Blocked poop only effects male piggies, it's the way they are built down there... It's more common in the older ones, but it can effect younger ones particularly after an upset tummy. You will need to clean the poop out often but it will stink, but it is worth it to make your piggy feel clean and comfortable ;)
 
I offer my 5 year old Rupert some of the impacted poo to eat. My vet said it was alright to do this. I hope this is OK @Wiebke. That is a great video on how to deal with the problem. I like the calming music in the background it seems to make it easier to accept what you have to do (if you know what I mean).
 
The frequency of removing will depend upon the pig. It could be weekly, daily, twice daily. You need to monitor Elliott and decide what is best for him.

If he is refusing to eat it, that means you are possibly waiting too long "between meals"
Don't expect to get it all out in one big lump....if you can then it suggests you may have waited too long and it is drying out too much.

With my elderly boars, I get a sizish amount out first and present it for eating. Behind that, it is more moist (smelly) and more difficult to extract. However I use several cotton buds per "op" and then present them very carefully (as some of my elderly gents will "wolf" the cotton bud on the stick as well as what's on it and therefore run the risk of gut obstruction.
Hope this hleps
My apologies to Forum Members if this is "Too Much Information"
x
 
this might be a silly question, but how do you know if they have impaction, is it just a case of checking? Can they still get it even if they poop a lot? Should it be a regular check in older boars, if so what kind of age? thanks.
 
doglovinpiggylover said:
this might be a silly question, but how do you know if they have impaction, is it just a case of checking? Can they still get it even if they poop a lot? Should it be a regular check in older boars, if so what kind of age? thanks.
Click to expand...

Please check your boy bits weekly anyway for build up of gunk in their pouch and semen rods/hair around the penis; that goes for all boars - ideally with a little ckeck-over and a weekly weighin. Impaction is usually first visible as a swollen looking pouch in the genital area. it generally happens age 4 plus, but younger boars can also get it, sometimes after a neutering op (although this is quite rare now that operation techniques have improved a lot).
 
Thanks Wiebke, i do check him regularly as he has a very over active grease gland. Sorry for hijacking the thread x
 
Thanks all for your replies. As we have gotten more into a routine, I have found that my Elliot needs 'emptying' once a week. It's stinky...very stinky...but as piggy mummies and daddies, we have these things to do!
 
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