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Han And His Mushy Poo.

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Jeniva

Jeniva

Junior Guinea Pig
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Posted a few times about this but now have updates. Still baffled as to what is wrong with him.

He's had a dodgy tummy for a very long time. I think long ago it was an on off thing, seemed more to do with the veg than anything. Now the veg only makes it worse if I give him lots of watery things - but I don't over feed him in general.
An example of what I give him is: a slice of pepper, some coriander or perhaps another herb, a green bean or two. Occasionally gets a bit of tomato, lettuce, cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli etc.

So far I took him to one sucky vet that gave him a vit boost, obviously that did nothing.
Next I went to gpig specialist vet who did a poo test - came back clear. Whilst awaiting the poo test results the vet had given me some pro-biotic pellets to mix with his own pellets. I THINK they did actually some what help, but the amount I had to last a week was very very small and I don't think he had enough for it to make much of a difference. He had a good poo day then went back to mushy poo.

The vet then decided we could just treat for parasites just in case it was missed in the test, but he didn't seem to think he did have parasites. I was given panacur (spelling right?) for 5 days. This made 0 difference what so ever and I actually gave him 6 days as I lost track of days.

In the mean time I also bought nicer timothy hay and bought pellets recommended on the forum that doesn't contain wheat and has probiotics. He's now been on said pellets for roughly 2 weeks.

Now Han has been neutered Saturday and was given metronizadole to help ward off an infection. This has been day 5 and I'm now out of metronizadole. Strangely yesterday evening he had normal poos! Although he did end up with one clump of lots of poo's stuck together as well. However before he even got his morning veg he reverted back to sloppy mess poo! This evening he's had smelly sloppy poos again although he did a couple of random normal ones as well.

Now I'm not sure what else to do. I don't know if the metronizadole made a difference, or if it is the pellets or what. Because I don't know why it got better then worse again when nothing changed in the space of that time - nor was he suddenly off the antibiotics.

I can hear his tummy making funny noises when I'm holding him and he does a fair bit of smelly farts. He always has poo oozing out of his butt even after I clean him. Generally when it comes out it's just soft and mishapen. But if he's been on the grass in the run it's almost liquid and horrendous. He get's it all over himself and it's pretty nasty to clean up. I've really had enough!

EDIT:
I forgot to mention he had a side-cage mate, and they could touch noses etc. The guinea pig next to Han (Chewie), never had poo problems. He died randomly a couple of months ago (Han had already had poo problems for a long time), I don't know why he died but as I said no poo symptoms.
 
Yes Helen that's the pellets he's now on.
They contain prebiotics but I'm not sure how much. The package is all foreign.
When I gave him powder pro biotic before it didn't do anything.
He does munch these pellets a fair bit but he's never emptied the bowl. They're quite large though
 
I would think it is not the pellets causing the issues, though you can never be 100% sure as all pigs react differently. Just to let you know I am having trouble ordering my latest bag as Zooplus are not stocking them at the moment. Looks like a supplier issue.

I would speak to your vet and explain that his symptoms have come back and see what they suggest.
 
Hm I want to get to the bottom of this but I'm getting fed up with the vets not getting far either. It's a 20 min drive and then they're always 20 min late at least...he's a good vet but the rest of the staff there and the time keeping does my head in.
Would it be worth changing his diet any more to see if it makes a difference at all?
 
I assume you've tried taking him off all veg for a while? It may be worth trying that in combination with a good probiotic like bio lapis (from a vet). Although the nuggets contain probiotic, the levels may not be high enough for a disrupted digestive system to get the benefit. The metronidazole shouldn't have improved things regarding poop, so that's a bit of a mystery.
 
I've only really tried taking him off veg for a couple of days as I give in and feel guilty. How long should I stop it?
I might not take him off until next week as he only has his op on Saturday and probably needs the veggie goodness
 
Jeniva said:
I've only really tried taking him off veg for a couple of days as I give in and feel guilty. How long should I stop it?
I might not take him off until next week as he only has his op on Saturday and probably needs the veggie goodness
Click to expand...

We had the same problem with one of our piggies. She is the "squeakest "of them all in the room. I felt/feel so bad not giving her veggies. It is hard to stick with it. I felt guilty that I would sit there and feed her the tops of the hay that she likes while the other three (in different cages) ate veggies. I told my kids when they feed the others, don't let her see. Now after a week off veggies, her stool is starting to get back to normal.
 
kufhorn said:
We had the same problem with one of our piggies. She is the "squeakest "of them all in the room. I felt/feel so bad not giving her veggies. It is hard to stick with it. I felt guilty that I would sit there and feed her the tops of the hay that she likes while the other three (in different cages) ate veggies. I told my kids when they feed the others, don't let her see. Now after a week off veggies, her stool is starting to get back to normal.
Click to expand...

Oh really? It's good shes improving.
I had a look online and you can get the bio lapis online, so is it necessary to see the vet to ask about them?
Should I wait until he's more recovered from his op before cutting out his veggies?
 
I don't know about the questions. Sorry. Only owned piggies for a few months. Trying to give you some support. :) It is really hard to not give them what they want.
 
Elwickcavies said:
I assume you've tried taking him off all veg for a while? It may be worth trying that in combination with a good probiotic like bio lapis (from a vet). Although the nuggets contain probiotic, the levels may not be high enough for a disrupted digestive system to get the benefit. The metronidazole shouldn't have improved things regarding poop, so that's a bit of a mystery.
Click to expand...

i was so amazed and happy when he had normal poos for that evening...but I had my suspicion it wouldn't last. Just strange it went to mush before I had even fed him or anything, literally makes no sense.
I had a look online and that pro-biotic is available to buy. Does it contain enough nutrients if he's off veg? Especially as he only had his OP sat - I don't want to cut out his veg and then he fall ill from missing some nutrients.
 
As long as hes eating hay and pellets then he should be fine with no veg for a while. U can top him up with extra vit c if u are worried. Staying off veg for at least a week should give u an indication if it will help.

Fudge (my 7 year old heart piggy) has the occasional upset tummy with no change in diet. Zantac seems to help her, although the cause is unknown. Usually after 1 dose things return to normal, i usually keep her off veg and on zantac for a couple days depending on the extent of the problem x
 
I read about zantac actually. Been researching non stop! always amazes me what meds guineas can have.
I've ordered two packs (6 sachets in each) of the probiotics mentioned. when they arrive i'll take him off veg for 7 days to start with and start him on the probiotics, see how he goes and if some improvement towards then end then extend for another 7 days perhaps. then slowly re-introduce his veggies. i'll put him back on his normal pellets when they arrive too so he's not getting too much probiotic.

How much of the sachets to water do piggies usually have?

I realllly hope this sorts him out. I'm getting girls when he's fully healed and safe to be with them, and I don't want him smearing poo all over them!
 
I wouldnt worry about the probiotic in food as well as the probiotics ul be giving him. U cant realy give too much (obviously unless u gave him it nonstop!) especially in his current condition. This is obviously a long term issue for him so the probiotc pellets may be a good idea, but remember to introduce gradually so to not upset his tummy then you will think the other stuff isnt working. If theres a holdup with the pellets from zooplus, i can post you some- is it the vitakraft emotion? I dont use them anymore so they are going to waste. If you need some too @helen105281 to tide you over, give me a shout.

When u reintroduce the veg, do it one veg at a time, giving it at least 48 hours before adding another. Certain veg may be triggering this. I found romain lettuce to give fudge horrendous bloat!

All the best
 
Adelle said:
I wouldnt worry about the probiotic in food as well as the probiotics ul be giving him. you cant realy give too much (obviously unless you gave him it nonstop!) especially in his current condition. This is obviously a long term issue for him so the probiotc pellets may be a good idea, but remember to introduce gradually so to not upset his tummy then you will think the other stuff isnt working. If theres a holdup with the pellets from zooplus, i can post you some- is it the vitakraft emotion? I dont use them anymore so they are going to waste. If you need some too @helen105281 to tide you over, give me a shout.

When you reintroduce the veg, do it one veg at a time, giving it at least 48 hours before adding another. Certain veg may be triggering this. I found romain lettuce to give fudge horrendous bloat!

All the best
Click to expand...

thank you! I have plenty of the pellets right now. Just waiting on the sachets to arrive. He gets through the pellets slowly, munches them quite a bit but seems to just prefer throwing them around and taking one bite out then getting another one out the bowl and throwing it around some more.
what's a gentle veg on the stomach that i could start him back on when the time arises?
 
No worries. I'd say pepper, a little coriander. Start one at a time. Try to avoid the rich fruits and watery veg like cucumber x
 
So I stopped his veg today and only gave him a small amount yesterday. His poo's aren't perfect but they seem less mushy! So slight improvement already.
 
Ok so I stopped his veg for a week and put him on probiotics.
Sometimes his poo was still misshapen but not as mushy then suddenly all hell would break loose and he'd get mushy gross messy poo again. Hes back on his veg and I'll continue a little probiotics but I didn't see any improvement. Some days he's not so bad. Other days he's awful. I know if he goes on the grass he gets really bad.
I guess it's just something we will have to manage as me nor the vet can really understand why he is this way. :(
 
Id still keep him off veg for the meantime and supplement vitamin c. I know it hasnt helped, but veg will make any soft stool issue worse regardless of the cause.

What hay and pellets does he eat? It may be worthwhile sticking to strict timothy hay, staying away from grass and grass forages like dandelion mixes etc. Opt for a grain free pellet, as grains can sometimes cause gut issues.

Have you tried him on zantac?

What probiotics is he on? It may be worth trying a different type. Iv found avipro plus and fibreplex to be pretty good. X
 
I had this problem with Margot's poo. I initially thought it was the fresh spring grass but have since discovered that radishes just don't agree with her. I cut out ALL fresh food for 3 weeks straight. It was hard BUT to compensate I got them all sorts of lovely dried herbs and treats such as dried apple leaves, plantain, blackberry leaves etc. They had lots of different treat hays as well. I added a vit C supplement to their water and swapped them onto a grain free pellet.

After 3 weeks, I gave them a TINY amount of one type of veg at a time. So things I'd previously given them that didn't seem to cause a problem, ie. brocolli, green beans, red peppers etc. I kept a list pinned to the fridge so I knew what I'd given them. I also started to let them back on the lawn BUT I put the run on the path and overlapped it on the lawn so they only had about a square foot of access to the grass. As that didn't seem to upset her, I gradually increased the area of grass they had.

After about a fortnight, I reintroduced radish and low and behold, Margot had the runs again. I stopped giving it to her for about a week, then gave it again just to see and you guessed it, runny poo! We have our culprit! Her poos are still huge and slightly softer compared to Jerry's so I'm guessing her digestive system is not as robust as his. But by eliminating all veg for several weeks, and then very gradually reintroducing them one by one, you can often work out which ones are causing a problem.
 
How is Han @Jeniva ? I had some great success with a herbal product for easing diarrohea in my elderly sow fudge. She had an inflamatory gut upset which lasted a few weeks.

Just wondered if Han is still having problems?
 
So update.
Han now has 2 sows with him. His stomach went from being utterly awful to perfect. However I've now noticed a pattern. He seems to get a bad stomach if he's been on the grass outside! There's nothing on the grass and the girls have been fine. It's very odd.
I think hes a lot happier with the girls and that also helped his stomach, so I thought it was perhaps stress related. But twice now when he's been on the grass he's had bad poos again.
 
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