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Bloat

  • Thread starter Thread starter DM06020
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DM06020

a few days ago my pig marmalade reacted badly to some veg and got bloated. he recovered. (: anyway, yesterday i started feeding him veg again. i went very slow and only gave him some pepper for vit c and some lettuce. not sure what it’s called but it’s definitely safe and he’s been getting it every day since august. he got a bit bloated last night again though. he’s pooping. not much but he is. he’s drinking plenty of water and eating lots of hay. aside from the bloat there’s nothing different about him. does anyone know why this could have happened? and what can i do? he’s back to normal now and my two other pigs who get the same didn’t get bloated
 
Some pigs are just more prone to bloat than others, I've had a very bloat boar before but not really any bloat pigs since. I wouldn't feed the letttuce. What lettuce is it? It would be a god idea to stop veg for 48 hours and just feed hay and pellets, hay is 80% of their diet anyway, fibre is their best friend always, hay hay hay, 1 tablespoon of nuggets per pig per day. They will get the vit c from the pellets
 
SkyPipDotBernie said:
Some pigs are just more prone to bloat than others, I've had a very bloat boar before but not really any bloat pigs since. I wouldn't feed the letttuce. What lettuce is it?
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Escarole. Its a type of endive and its ok to be fed daily (: hes had no problems with it. And ive fed it to him since i found him
 
After a bloat episode my vet advised me to stick to the most basic diet (a few pellets and unlimited hay) for 2 whole weeks.
Apparently once the symptoms are gone the tummy is still extremely sensitive for up to 2 weeks, which is why no fresh veg for that long.
If your boy is otherwise well i would just stop all fresh veg for a while.
 
Swissgreys said:
After a bloat episode my vet advised me to stick to the most basic diet (a few pellets and unlimited hay) for 2 whole weeks.
Apparently once the symptoms are gone the tummy is still extremely sensitive for up to 2 weeks, which is why no fresh veg for that long.
If your boy is otherwise well i would just stop all fresh veg for a while.
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Will he get enough vitamin c? I dont want to feed too many pellets because hes been gaining wait.
 
lettuce can be a source of upset to some piggies. He may have been fine on it before, but he may now be sensitive to it for a while given the bloat is very recent. Equally, it may not be the lettuce!

Hay and grass contains vitamin c (hence why guinea pigs don’t make their own vit c) so he will still get his vit c needs met by the hay

When reintroducing veg, it is best to start very gradually and herbs are often the best thing to start with. Coriander is safe to be fed daily and contains vit c.

Definitely don’t feed extra pellets. Keep to the recommended one tablespoon
 
Some piggies are just more bloat prone than others, did he see the vet and get treatment? I would definitely leave out the veg for about a week and mostly feed hay, then start with reintroducing red pepper and maybe a small amount of herbs, lettuce isnt needed in the diet. Perhaps you could syringe feed a probiotic that contains vit C like pro-C, that might help rebalance his gut bacteria too.
 
Honeybun said:
I feed him pellets but i dont want to feed extra
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Yes he will be fine in the short term with a small amount of pellets and lots and lots of hay.
With Lucy I started offering her one small slice of room temperature pepper after a week and slowly built up from there.
Try to feed the veg not straight from the fridge, as I have heard that cold veg can also trigger bloat (in piggies who are already prone of have just had an episode).
 
Piggies&buns said:
lettuce can be a source of upset to some piggies. He may have been fine on it before, but he may now be sensitive to it for a while given the bloat is very recent. Equally, it may not be the lettuce!

Hay and grass contains vitamin c (hence why guinea pigs don’t make their own vit c) so he will still get his vit c needs met by the hay

When reintroducing veg, it is best to start very gradually and herbs are often the best thing to start with. Coriander is safe to be fed daily and contains vit c.

Definitely don’t feed extra pellets. Keep to the recommended one tablespoon
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Okay thanks. will it be ok to feed coriander? he’s never had it before. how much do you recommend i feed to start with and when? is there anything else i can feed him.
 
PigglePuggle said:
Some piggies are just more bloat prone than others, did he see the vet and get treatment? I would definitely leave out the veg for about a week and mostly feed hay, then start with reintroducing red pepper and maybe a small amount of herbs, lettuce isnt needed in the diet. Perhaps you could syringe feed a probiotic that contains vit C like pro-C, that might help rebalance his gut bacteria too.
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sorry what is pro c? he didn’t go to the vet. my mum is a vet. and she checked him over. he’s fine now but what treatment would he have gotten?
 
Swissgreys said:
Yes he will be fine in the short term with a small amount of pellets and lots and lots of hay.
With Lucy I started offering her one small slice of room temperature pepper after a week and slowly built up from there.
Try to feed the veg not straight from the fridge, as I have heard that cold veg can also trigger bloat (in piggies who are already prone of have just had an episode).
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i always chop veg in the morning and put it by their cage in a container. i feed it in the afternoon so i don’t think that was the reason
 
also i’m cleaning his cage now but is it ok for him to chew on paper bags and cardboard? or should i take that out?
 
What is the actually reccomended time to keep the Guinea pig off veg? 2 weeks seems a bit risky with the vit c, I doubt there's enough in grass and hay, and I think grass could possibly make bloat worse this time of year. 1 week? I put 48 hours because that's what I have learnt, but I don't actually know 100%

@furryfriends (TEAS)
 
SkyPipDotBernie said:
What is the actually reccomended time to keep the Guinea pig off veg? 2 weeks seems a bit risky with the vit c, I doubt there's enough in grass and hay, and I think grass could possibly make bloat worse this time of year. 1 week? I put 48 hours because that's what I have learnt, but I don't actually know 100%

@furryfriends (TEAS)
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Hay/grass contains vit c and this is the reason guinea pigs don’t need to make their own - if they had a high grass/hay diet, then they get a good amount of vit c anyway
 
Honeybun said:
Okay thanks. will it be ok to feed coriander? he’s never had it before. how much do you recommend i feed to start with and when? is there anything else i can feed him.
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Coriander is absolutely fine, mine get about two/three sprigs each per day. Definitely leave off the veg for now though to give his tummy time to settle properly
 
Honeybun said:
sorry what is pro c? he didn’t go to the vet. my mum is a vet. and she checked him over. he’s fine now but what treatment would he have gotten?
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Pro-C is a probiotic supplement for piggies and rabbits that you can buy online, it contains vitamin C and stuff to help promote healthy gut bacteria. Its not essential by any means but if he has an upset tummy and you are worried about his vit C levels it cant do any harm to give him a couple of mls in a syringe every day until his guts settle. I wouldnt recommend adding it to his regular drinking water though, some people do that but it can make the water taste funny and stop him drinking normally, but a couple of mls for him to drink from a syringe if he wants might be beneficial.
 
PigglePuggle said:
Pro-C is a probiotic supplement for piggies and rabbits that you can buy online, it contains vitamin C and stuff to help promote healthy gut bacteria. Its not essential by any means but if he has an upset tummy and you are worried about his vit C levels it cant do any harm to give him a couple of mls in a syringe every day until his guts settle. I wouldnt recommend adding it to his regular drinking water though, some people do that but it can make the water taste funny and stop him drinking normally, but a couple of mls for him to drink from a syringe if he wants might be beneficial.
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You can always add another water bottle, keep the original one plain water and the 2nd one pro c, but vit c does degrade quite fast in water, so probably wouldn't be getting much vit c from it
 
I’m a bit confused @Honeybun. If your Mum is a vet then why on other threads have you been taking your piggy(ies) to see another vet. Also, if your Mum is a vet how does she feel about you asking advice on this forum? As a lawyer I’d be peeved if my kids asked for advice on legal matters instead of taking my advice.
 
VickiA said:
I’m a bit confused @Honeybun. If your Mum is a vet then why on other threads have you been taking your piggy(ies) to see another vet. Also, if your Mum is a vet how does she feel about you asking advice on this forum? As a lawyer I’d be peeved if my kids asked for advice on legal matters instead of taking my advice.
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she was sick with cancer so she forgot some of the stuff she learnt. she still good but for other stuff it’s nice to go to a vet who knows the most updated stuff. she agrees it’s best (:
 
Honeybun said:
she was sick with cancer so she forgot some of the stuff she learnt. she still good but for other stuff it’s nice to go to a vet who knows the most updated stuff. she agrees it’s best (:
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oh gosh I’m so sorry your mum is sick. How is she doing?
 
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