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Discomfort going to the toilet!

R

RT03

Junior Guinea Pig
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Hiya, booked a vet appointment but thought I'd post on here to see if anyone can give advice. My 4 almost 5 yo piggy has started to squeal whilst pooping and peeing, it started a couple of days ago but seemed better this morning and now worse again. He seems to be uncomfortable. Also noticed he is stretching out whilst trying to poop which isn't normal for him (we have another piggy who stretches, rolls, yawns all the time!) His poops are a bit smaller than usual and I don't think he's passing as much pee as usual. Any ideas what it could be.
 
Definitely a vet visit in order so good job for booking that. There could be a bladder or kidney issue such as an infection or stones. Both my boys did this, one has a bladder stone and the other had a severely inflamed bladder. Your vet will be able to find out and hopefully your piggy will be feeling better in no time!
Don't forget to ask the vet for some painkillers 👍
 
Good luck at the vets. I hope it’s something easily treatable. Keep us posted. X
 
Late night update, starting to get more concerned. He seems to be really struggling, straining hard with little to no signs of poop. Seems very uncomfortable constantly moving in circles lying down jumping up etc. Given him some water via syringe since I'm not sure how much he's drank and given some pepper and lettuce. Appointment is first thing tomorrow so hopefully he can pull through until then. Strange as apart from straining and clearly being in pain and uncomfortable he seems relatively well. He snatched pepper and lettuce out my hand and gobbled it down, he's even washing and grooming himself! So I'm not sure :(
 
Sorry that your boy is having difficulties with peeing etc. It's good that you have a vet appointment first thing in the morning, I hope the vet can help him feel better quickly.
Sorry to hear he's looking quite uncomfortable now. Have you seen him wee at all? It might be worth checking that he is still peeing ok (put him in a plastic tub with some watery veg and wait a while to see if he pees) as a blockage preventing urinating becomes an emergency.
Good luck!
 
:agr:

If he isn’t peeing or not able to get much out then please see an out of hours vet before your scheduled appointment in case he has a blockage. Such a blockage would be an emergency and cannot wait.

I hope he is ok.
 
Update for everyone: saw the vet this morning who was quite concerned. His bladder was full to bursting with pee which he just couldn't pass. No signs of stones or blockages so we aren't sure what's causing it, she did find some almost cottage cheese like substance around his willy and flushed it out which she said could be inside causing the problem but didn't know for sure. She also suspected that the poo issue was because of the pee issue so it isn't 2 separate issues thankfully. He had an anti inflammatory and painkiller injections and sent home with metacam, baytril, something else and some special food. Monitoring him over the weekend and got a follow up on Monday. Vet also sent our details to the out of hours vet just in case but in the 12 hours since the appointment he seems better. Much more comfortable, not straining, better poops, pee is still not flowing and only little trickles but that was expected. So we'll see how he gets on over the weekend
 
Glad he seems more comfortable now. I hope the stuff round his willy was the problem - last year my boar got a "collar" of dried boar glue etc round his willy, I only found out because on a routine check it was popped out and badly swollen. A few minutes later he had retracted it, but fortunately my vet was able pop it out again and remove the dried stuff.
 
The vet didn't seem to know what it was, we do have an ongoing problem with what I think is cauliflower willy which the vet knew about but didn't say it was related. The last we saw also isn't our normal vet but he's not in until Wednesday so we'll see another different vet Monday and go from there!
 
Hi all, been given metacam by the vets for my piggy. They gave him a dose yesterday and told us to start with it today along with other medication. This morning my piggy has diarrhea which I suspect is the baytril he's on as that's the effect it usually gives. But the metacam says to stop in the case of diarrhea and sickness. Do we carry on with is since we suspect it's the baytril that's given him diarrhea or leave it? We've not given him any yet, he only had the one dose via injection at the vets yesterday.
 
What is wrong with your piggy? I guess it’s an infection of some sort given he has antibiotics.

Metacam does not usually cause diarrhoea (the warning, I suspect, is on the box as standard for cats and dogs who can be sick), it is possibly the antibiotics. Baytril is usually very well tolerated though without causing too much in the way of digestive issues so if your your piggy has full liquid diarrhoea and seems to be having issues because of it, you will need to speak to a vet. Diarrhoea is considered urgent.

You can give a commercial probiotic such as pro-c or Fibreplex and/or poop soup to help stabilise the gut.
 
We aren't really sure. He has a blockage causing him not to pee but the vet didn't know what was causing it. We've had lots of trouble with baytril before, my piggy really doesn't get on with it, he always has diarrhea stops eating and drink when he's on it. So they gave us some special food and I think something to help his gut to try and stop that is time
 
What is the special food?
Do you give a probiotic?

(I’ve found your other thread and merged it with this new thread so all the information is kept together)
 
The food is science selective, recovery food. We aren't giving him anything that the vet hasn't since we don't want to upset him more.
 
A probiotic is a supplement (not a medication) which can help combat the effects of an antibiotic.
Poop soup is made by soaking the just produced poops of a healthy companion in water for 10/15 minutes and then syringing the water to the poorly piggy. This helps directly replenish the gut bacteria killed off by antibiotics and helps keep the gut functioning normally. It would be recommended to use this, and is standard advice when a piggy is on antibiotics.

Syringe feeding the recovery feed is important if he is struggling with the effects of the antibiotic (along with daily weight checks). He may no longer be eating enough hay so syringe feeding replaces the hay/fibre intake and keeps his gut moving.
 
Ok thank you, he has just passed poop which looks better it's coming out more in lumps than proper poop but not runny. He's also not passed mich in the pass couple of days so it's good to see something actually coming through. We are keeping up with the feeding until the baytril has finished so hopefully will help him
 
He seems pretty much the same today, not touching pellets or water but enjoying veggies. We are giving him recovery food as well don't worry and water from a syringe. His poop is now coming properly formed and normal colour. We noticed pee dripping out his willy but nothing in large quantities. However this evening he has done a wee (not drips) out his bum? Never seen it happen before but it's definitely wee and it definitely came out his bum so I'm not really sure what's going on there. But at least he's passing it I guess? Vet appointment tomorrow booked for a check up
 
So a month and a bit on a little update on Joey. After a few more vet appointments we had an ultrasound which found a stone. Vet was happy to operate but at almost 5 years old I was a bit hesitant. We went with the op and he did great! Back to normal within a few days. Been fine since. However came home from holiday Saturday and Sunday we found him peeing blood again and seeming slightly uncomfortable. Eating and drinking normally but lost a little bit of weight. Nothing changed much today, he enjoyed the garden earlier but we did ring the vet this morning how is going to ring us tomorrow. We’re thinking maybe a water infection?
 
I’m glad Joey did so well with the stone surgery. Good luck with the vet call.
 
A disappointing trip… after 3 weeks since the other one was removed a new stone is now in his bladder. We have the option to operate again or to keep him comfortable. He’s completely himself at the moment loving veggies and cuddles. Only discomfort when he pees. Not what we wanted to find. Has anyone had stones reappear this quick before? First stone was around 0.6cm and this one is 0.66cm!
 
RT03 said:
A disappointing trip… after 3 weeks since the other one was removed a new stone is now in his bladder. We have the option to operate again or to keep him comfortable. He’s completely himself at the moment loving veggies and cuddles. Only discomfort when he pees. Not what we wanted to find. Has anyone had stones reappear this quick before? First stone was around 0.6cm and this one is 0.66cm!
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Oh no 😔 so sorry your going through this with your piggie. My piggie has bladder issues though turned out to not be stones. And my vet said stones can develop within weeks.
 
I am so sorry you and your boy are going through this. I had a boar who had another stone 2 weeks after his operation, my vet said it is quite common.
 
RT03 said:
A disappointing trip… after 3 weeks since the other one was removed a new stone is now in his bladder. We have the option to operate again or to keep him comfortable. He’s completely himself at the moment loving veggies and cuddles. Only discomfort when he pees. Not what we wanted to find. Has anyone had stones reappear this quick before? First stone was around 0.6cm and this one is 0.66cm!
Click to expand...
I’m so sorry. That’s not the news you wanted. ❤️
 
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