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diarrhea on a large scale

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claremw92

claremw92

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does anyone have any experience of a viral diarrhea in guinea pigs...?
or some kind of bacteria or something that causes diarrhea...?

Over the last few days i have had 10 guinea pigs come down with the runs... there is no rhyme or reason to whom is being affected...

6 from the indoor guys have had it... and 4 of the out door guys...

the diarrhea usually last between 12 and 24 hours and the pigs are well through out... i syringe fed them critical care and bio-lapis and activated charcole... through out the bouts they were still active and eating...

but...
about 10 mins ago i lost mabel....
9 am this morning mabel was fine... eating and drinking... i got home from work to discover her lying in a pool of diarrhea and extremly lethargic... she was taken immediatly to the vets where she was put on intensive care... but she gave up the fight... she went quite peacefully... she was given pain killers so she wasnt suffering...

she had by far the worst case so far... being so incredibly ill with it...
fecal samples are being sent off for examinations aswell as a post mortem on her...

has anyone got any ideas on whats happening with my pigs...
I'm worried sick...!
R.I.P. Mabel...
x
 
Oh no Claire I'm sorry to hear about Mabel! :(

The only thing I can think of is its either food or water ralated....I have never heard of viral diarrohea.

I hope someone comes along soon to help.

How distressing!
 
Oh goodness so sorry to hear you lost Mabel. I really can't offer you any advice as I have no experience in this but wanted to say I hope all your pigs start to get better soon. Must be awful for you, RIP Mabel sleep well x
 
first_time_piggie_mum said:
Oh no Claire I'm sorry to hear about Mabel! :(

The only thing I can think of is its either food or water ralated....I have never heard of viral diarrohea.

I hope someone comes along soon to help.

How distressing!
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ive never heard of anything quite like this...
I'm totally stumped...
viral diarrohea was just a stab in the dark really... i have no idea what is causing the pigs to go like this...
just got to wait for the lab tests to come back...
poor mabel was only 6 months old...
x
 
what a horrible thing to be happening. :( it sounds like your doing a good job of keeping them on top. I'm sorry you lost mabel :( I've not heard of anything viral but I'm no expert
 
have they eaten anything new? something they haven't had before?
 
I am so sorry to hear about Mabel. I lost my Poppy in June this year with a similar thing, within 12 hours of being ill she died. She had nothing any different to eat, always bought good quality supermarket food. It was during the EColi scare from Spain at the time so was so worried it was that. Fortunately she was an only piggy (lost her friend some years before) so I couldn't lose any others, it must be very worrying for you.
 
Bacterial, viral and parasitic infections can all lead to digestive problems in guinea pigs, and thus diarrhea. A diet consisting of more grains and soluble sugars and little or no fiber can also cause diarrhea in guinea pigs, as it can upset the bacterial population and increase the harmful bacteria inside the animal's digestive system.

found this on here http://www.petmd.com/exotic/conditions/digestive/c_ex_gp_diarrhea
 
emmalala said:
have they eaten anything new? something they haven't had before?
Click to expand...

nope...
nothing has changed...
the hay they have been eating is out of the bale i have been using for abotu a week...
and its from the same suppliers as always...
nto changed the pellets...
at the moment they are not getting fresh food becuase of the up-set tums... but no new food...
nothing stands out...
x
 
emmalala said:
Bacterial, viral and parasitic infections can all lead to digestive problems in guinea pigs, and thus diarrhea. A diet consisting of more grains and soluble sugars and little or no fiber can also cause diarrhea in guinea pigs, as it can upset the bacterial population and increase the harmful bacteria inside the animal's digestive system.

found this on here http://www.petmd.com/exotic/conditions/digestive/c_ex_gp_diarrhea
Click to expand...


thanks for that...
there definatly has to be soemthing underlying.... just what...?
x
 
Personally if it was me, I would get fresh hay, there is a possibility it could be contaminated, unlikely but not worth the risk anyway in my opinion.

Start them on fresh hay as soon as you can, but severe diarrohea is a medical emergency as you know, so they may all need meds from the vet & fluids. The other thing if it is bacterial/viral you are going to have to quarantine the well ones away from the poorly ones or it will spread. Disinfect all the cages etc & maybe throw out any wooden houses & anything you can't hot wash. And of course anti bac etc your hands in between touching them so not to spread it & maybe use disposable gloves & aprons? I really hope you can get it sorted soon :(
 
:(

I assume you give your piggies tap water... maybe you could try giving them boiled cooled water for the next couple of days. I know it might not be that but you never know! :( *I'm so sorry about mabel, its devestating when you cant do anything more for them!*
 
Poppy'sMum said:
Personally if it was me, I would get fresh hay, there is a possibility it could be contaminated, unlikely but not worth the risk anyway in my opinion.

Start them on fresh hay as soon as you can, but severe diarrohea is a medical emergency as you know, so they may all need meds from the vet & fluids. The other thing if it is bacterial/viral you are going to have to quarantine the well ones away from the poorly ones or it will spread. Disinfect all the cages etc & maybe throw out any wooden houses & anything you can't hot wash. I really hope you can get it sorted soon :(
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i have went a bought some shop hay today... when mabel went in was one of the first things i did...
no one has had servere runs appart from mabel... its been small amounts and they have been well in them selfs though out the bouts... so i have treated myself with activated charcole which has sorted them out quite quickly...
all of the other 9 who had it are completely back to normal...
mabel was in with two other sows who i have brought in to the house for supervisation... neither of the two sows have had the diarrhoea... it seems to be at random...
x
 
That's good if it's under control.Poppy had loose poops the week before, we were advised to cut out her veggies for 3 days so she only had hay, pellets & water. She was fine then until a week later, the following Sunday I went to bed she was eating her pellets & acting normally, then by the morning she was all huddled up & had really bad runs. Despite getting medical treatment within the hour, she had died that night, she was full of gas & had stasis 8... we still don't know why & it's awful because we weren't with her at the end :(
 
Quite a few years ago I lost about three or four piggies in the space of a week to diarrhoea. A couple more piggies also had it, but recovered. Fecal samples were sent off but the results were inconclusive. These weren't piggies who were in the same cage either. It was just random piggies from a number of cages. I never got to the bottom of it.
 
Connie said:
I assume you give your piggies tap water... maybe you could try giving them boiled cooled water for the next couple of days. I know it might not be that but you never know! :( *I'm so sorry about mabel, its devestating when you cant do anything more for them!*
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yes i do... but surely the rabbit and hamster and me and my son would have had dodgey tums if that was the case... its totally bizzarre...
x

furryfriends said:
Quite a few years ago I lost about three or four piggies in the space of a week to diarrhoea. A couple more piggies also had it, but recovered. Fecal samples were sent off but the results were inconclusive. These weren't piggies who were in the same cage either. It was just random piggies from a number of cages. I never got to the bottom of it.
Click to expand...

how long did this go on for you...?
ive got two boarding with me untill tuesday... and I'm unsure of the best course of action with these boys... neither of them have showwed signs of the runs...
x
 
Amanda1801 said:
Do they go out on the grass? It could be giardia - if so, it should come back in the faecal analysis. For those who read the link and concerned, Panacur gets rid of giardia

http://www.addl.purdue.edu/newsletters/2002/summer/igiardiasis.shtml

Sorry to hear about Mabel :(
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they do go on the grass.... but mabel hadnt been on the grass for nearly 2 weeks so surely thats no longer valid in her case...
the 6 indoor guys were out on the grass very recently... the 4 outdoor guys again... have not been out in a while...
it litterally is at random...
x
 
claremw92 said:
yes i do... but surely the rabbit and hamster and me and my son would have had dodgey tums if that was the case... its totally bizzarre...
x



how long did this go on for you...?
ive got two boarding with me untill tuesday... and I'm unsure of the best course of action with these boys... neither of them have showwed signs of the runs...
x
Click to expand...

About two weeks. It was a dreadful time. At the time I kept all my piggies in a spare bedroom and it was winter time and I had heating on. I truly believe the warm atmosphere contributed towards this spreading. The piggies who were showing symptoms were moved into another room.
 
furryfriends said:
About two weeks. It was a dreadful time. At the time I kept all my piggies in a spare bedroom and it was winter time and I had heating on. I truly believe the warm atmosphere contributed towards this spreading. The piggies who were showing symptoms were moved into another room.
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okay...
i have most of my indoor pigs in the newly done shed....moved yesterday...
theres only the two that were kept with mabel that are inside at the moment...
mabel was an outside piggie...
x
 
claremw92 said:
they do go on the grass.... but mabel hadnt been on the grass for nearly 2 weeks so surely thats no longer valid in her case...
the 6 indoor guys were out on the grass very recently... the 4 outdoor guys again... have not been out in a while...
it litterally is at random...
x
Click to expand...

Giardia is commonly spread by the faecal-oral route - that being the faeces of an infected animal being ingested by another animal, so it *could* have come from your grass, but in reality it could have come from anywhere. You could have stepped in something and brought it in to your house unknowingly, it could have come in on vegetables etc.

Obviously you'll know more when all the results come back. I can't imagine how stressful it must be not knowing whats causing it, and thus how to prevent it!
 
Amanda1801 said:
Giardia is commonly spread by the faecal-oral route - that being the faeces of an infected animal being ingested by another animal, so it *could* have come from your grass, but in reality it could have come from anywhere. You could have stepped in something and brought it in to your house unknowingly, it could have come in on vegetables etc.

Obviously you'll know more when all the results come back. I can't imagine how stressful it must be not knowing whats causing it, and thus how to prevent it!
Click to expand...

ohhh.... i understand it now...
sorry i skimmed that page musnt of taken it all in...
well... i'll know in 48 hours... god... this is going to be a long 2 days...
x
 
There are lots of intestinal bacteria's and viruses, some spread through tap water, others grass and vegitation where wild animals have been. The list is so endless i just wouldnt know where to start to be honest. I'm so sorry for your loss, it must be heartbreaking for you. :0 I really hope the feacal sample comes back with something (not that i want your pigs to have something) but it would help get to the bottom of things and sort it all out. Do you worm your piggies? Its just an idea?

x
 
Abi_nurse said:
There are lots of intestinal bacteria's and viruses, some spread through tap water, others grass and vegitation where wild animals have been. The list is so endless i just wouldnt know where to start to be honest. I'm so sorry for your loss, it must be heartbreaking for you. :0 I really hope the feacal sample comes back with something (not that i want your pigs to have something) but it would help get to the bottom of things and sort it all out. Do you worm your piggies? Its just an idea?

x
Click to expand...

i know what you mean... i'd rather the sample comes back with soemthing so i know how to treat and where I'm heading with this...
i've never bothered to worm my pigs if I'm honest... not really something i'd do... a bit like i dont regualy treat for mites... if one had come in to contact with mites i would treat everyone... same for worms really... i wouldnt treat for worms unless i suspected something was going on with them...
I'm just at a total loss.... i will keep worming in my head just incase.....
x
 
I can find no reference to enteroviruses in guinea pigs (viruses that primiarily infect the gut) so I think it would be more likely to be either
a) environmental shock e.g. from the drastic change in the weather or some sort of poisoning or
b) bacterial infection.

The fact it is transient in some animals yet poor Mable went to the Bridge would indicate bacterial infection with poor Mabel succombing to a generalised septicaemia hence why she departed so suddenly. :(
Popcorn free little Mabel

What colour is the diarrhoea...is ther any pus, blood or green slime in it?
Have there been any respiratory or other signs/behaviour changes at all?

Salmonella could be the most likely cause as some seem to have recovered from their symptoms and salmonella infections are not always manifested by profuse diarrhoea in guinea pigs but rather a sudden malaise. Could also be E coli, Clostridium (not necesarily Tizzers), Yersinia pseudotuberculosis but some other pathogens such as Pasteurella, Pseudomonas, Strep and Staph not only cause the more common respiratory infections but can instead infect other areas and also cause symptoms of diarrhoea so a faecal cuture and post mortem really is the best way forwards.

Protozoal infections include Cryptosporidium, Giardia, Eimeria, Tritrichomonas and Balantidium but these are rare

Sources of any infection are either from contact outside with wild rodents/birds/cats/dogs/foxes or from inadequatey washed or unfresh veg (watch out for organic stuff in view of the liquid manure sometimes used)..or possibly from contaminated hay (I had a batch last week that smelled of dry manure - it went straight in the compost bin)

The worst affected pigs may need supportive care and those who seem to have recovered will still need very careful monitoring since despite the fact they have had diarhhoea it could prompt the gut to go into stasis. I have been nursing a piggie intensively for three weeks showing alternate diarrhoea and then gut stasis/extremely dehydrated crumbly poos... - diarolyte 5-6ml hourly, critical care 20ml every 3hours and zantac (3mg/kg) twice daily plus 3-4 days daily subcut fluids at the vets is what got him through

I'm sorry this has happened Claire - unknown outbreaks in colonies are an absolute nightmare - hopefully you will get a positive ID/PM results soon and there will be an approprite treatment available.

Obviously extremely careful hygiene measures are required and keep any kids away from the piggies for now. Stop the green veggies for now (unless that is all the affected ones will eat) and feed extra Vit C

Keeping my fingers crossed for all your piggies
x
 
Pebble do you mind me asking (for future reference) about how you measure the Zantac dose if it only comes in tablet form? Thanks :)
 
with mabel there was blood in the diarrohea...
with the others it was more like long saussages of very soft poo... was very close to being runny...
with mabel it was a massive puddle of it... and it smelled disgusting and very offensive...
where as with the otheres there wasnt really a smell...
no changes in anyone when they got the runs... still eating drinking and running round like normal...one had like noisy farts...(?) but she recovered in just over 24 hours... where mabel was litterally collapsed in her own excrement...
no extreme weight losses... most one pig lost was 22g..... so nothing really...
no one is having any fresh veg.... they are having there vit. c. topped up...
mabel is the only one to have the runs today... but I'm going to go check on everyone now...
I'm just worried this is going to escelate out of controll.... and with another 16 pigs in close proximity I'm freeking out at how extreme this could get...
thanks...
x
 
Sorry for the questions

(i know this is an awfull question, and i hope knowone minds me asking)

How soft is soft? soft like you could squeze it and it would give but not liqify,(so not hard like normal poo but still fully formed, same colour/size,)

Or soft like falling appart and barely in shape?
 
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