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Bloat or just chubby?

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Elfyn&Hayley

Elfyn&Hayley

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How can you tell if a Guinea has bloat or is just a little chubby? I think I may have been reading up too much on guinea stuff lately and I'm automatically jumping to the worst conclusion!

Fudge has always been a really big piggy and a bit chubby, and he does waddle when he walks. He's quite pear shaped if you look at him from the top and his belly sticks out a bit on both sides. His belly doesn't have a 'hollow' sound when tapped. He's a lazy pig anyway, but when he gets floor time he runs about like a mad thing and loves to play. He also lays on his sides all the time so it doesn't seem to bother him. His appetite has definitely not changed and he drinks a LOT. He's a greedy piggy and eats very fast so he can steal Skunk's veg too!

Both pigs' diet is pellet (Burgess Excel Nuggets - Blackcurrant and Oregano), lots of Timothy Hay, and veg (mostly carrot which they get daily handfed, and also curly/round lettuce) - they're quite fussy with their veg and don't seem very interested in other veg or fruit. They'll eat peppers at a push, and they very rarely get cabbage.

Is there anything I change in their diet to make my pigs feel better, even if it's just a bit of chub?
 
You shouldnt give your piggies too many carrots because it can lead to liver problems.
when you introduce veg, its best to do it slowly. My boys wouldnt touch half the veg i gave them at first, but after putting small amounts in with their other veg they did eventually tuck in!
Try some parsley, pretty much all piggies seem to enjoy it and maybe some cucumber (my boys favourite!) :D
Hope this helps
 
Fudge sounds like a normal chubby piggie i wouldnt worry!
I also have a Fudge :D
hes my ginger in my picture!
 
Thanks :) I'll try to limit the carrot, I had no idea about the liver probs. Cucumber is something they actually like (which I'd completely forgotten about!) so I will get some of that in tomorrow rather than the carrot as well as some parsley which will be new for them!

Your Fudge is lovely!
 
A bloated guinea pig's abdomen will be distended (swollen) and painful. It will feel rather like an inflated balloon, usually quite tight and springy.

Acute bloat - characterised by the painful and distended abdomen, sitting fluffed up in a corner, not moving, not pooping, and not eating - is a medical emergency and the pig should be taken into the vets for a xray and treatment will follow according to the cause of the bloat - which can include gas or a blockage. Some vets may aspirate the trapped gas. Most vets prescribe a gut motility drug (usually metaclopromide) and advise syringe-feeding if a blockage is ruled out.

Milder cases of bloat may involve a painful and distended abdomen, but the pig is otherwise well - eating, moving around, pooping. The bloat must be dealt with though. Useful treatments include Buscopan (to relax gut spasms) and an anti- colic medicine like Gripe Water or Infacol. Abdominal massage is also important.
 
Thanks Laura - I definitely don't think it's acute bloat, but I'm going to keep a very close sign on him to see if he's in any pain. He doesn't like to be held and petted much anyway, but he isn't showing signs of discomfort. I did give him a little belly rub/massage last night and he seemed to like that, which I'll continue to do just in case.

I'm beginning to think he's just a little fatty pig though. I'm going to cut down on how much pellet they get and increase the amount of timothy hay and veggies.

I've just been to the shops and bought them lots of treats - cucumber, curly lettuce, curly parsley, curly kale, and baby leaf mix. They've just had kale for the first time and they wolfed it down! Usually they're very picky about new foods being introduced!

Thanks for the link Kimberlie :)
 
Hi Hayley,

The way you have described your Fudge, sounds similar to my Maisy. I adopted her & Daisy (RIP my lovely) and they were both quite porky, due to no exercise and just over fed with guinea pig wagg crunch.

I introduced fresh veg gradually and have cut down on certain pieces since joining this forum. I still don't know if I'm feeding too much or not enough of the certain types of veg, but either way, they or rather Maisy now seem to be much better since the introduction of the veg.

The pic you showed of the white piggy is very similar to Maisy. Though, like your Fudge, eats well, drinks plenty and waddles when walking, and can sure run really fast too, (when she wants too, lol). Here's a pic just for you to get the same idea. Piccy is one that says 'fatty Maisy', dark tan piccy looking overhead.

http://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=48480

Would love to see a pic of Fudge. :)
 
we found a little trick that works really well. They smell each others breath all the time to check if they been eating anything cos they always think they missed out on something. So if you eat a bit of something yourself and then let them smell ** breath they are likely to eat it. also means to them that your fine so its fine to eat it too. I had to give antibiotics to roxy a few months ago and i tried tricking her by putting it on a bit of tomato, she ate it but then realised it was tainted, ever since she checks any tomato i give her just in case. Its so cute. She got an amazing memory. Try getting them some spring greens, mine love them plus its cheaper than cabbage. Ours get quite a bit of cabbage as they love it so much, loui wont touch tomato or pepper tho, but they all love their cucumber and cabbage. curly kale is popular too. Try not to give them to much lettuce as its mostly water and they dont get a lot of nutrients from it. Its great if they wont drink but will eat lettuce as its a way of getting water into them. also good for filling them up if they already eaten loads and are pestering you for more. ours only get lettuce if its a bit of left over from something we had.

give the breath test a try and see if you can get them onto cabbage etc. good luck
 
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