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Huge Clumpy Poo

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Law Ram

Law Ram

Junior Guinea Pig
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So I thought flipflops eye was the problem but it turns out it may possible be her gut.
I had her on my lap watching her and I picked her up to move her and this is what she produced.

The one furthest away (only measuring thing I had on me) is a 1ml syringe. It measures from 0.1ml to 0.5ml and is 0,1-0,2ml wide. As you can see its all clumpy. Its wet but I am not sure if its soft soft.

I really dont know what to do. I am going to the vets tomorrow at 11am but in the mean time, is there anything I can do to help her?

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Take her off any fresh veg for a couple of days; if it doesn't firm up and normalise (which it should) within 24 hours, then see a vet; also if it comes back or gets worse.

You can additionally offer some rough fibre in the form of rough brown cardboard or brown paper, which piggies love when trying to rebalance their guts.
If you have got a probiotic at home, give a pinch mornings and evenings or use fibreplex (which also contains a probiotic) if you have got that handy. That is also helping the digestion.
 
Took her to the vets yesterday. The vets thought that the poos were a red herring and wasnt sure what was wrong. They did an xray, thinking that there could be a blockage but there wasnt any. They gave her pain killers and gave me stuff to syringe feed her.
Today I took her back the vets as I wasnt happy. Another vets checked her over and was happier with her than yesterday. They have given her antibiotics (injectable one), carry on with the loxicom, cut down on the syringe feeding to see if she will start to eat normally again (luckly she loves the recovery stuff!)

She is still very quiet and she isnt eating still. They cant see anything but she started the antibiotics today, so hopefully they will start to kick in

I dont know what to do to help her get eating her hay again?
 
Keep syringe feeding her if she isn't eating on her own. They don't eat less because you are topping them up, they eat less because something is wrong.

I would monitor her weight too.
 
Law Ram said:
Took her to the vets yesterday. The vets thought that the poos were a red herring and wasnt sure what was wrong. They did an xray, thinking that there could be a blockage but there wasnt any. They gave her pain killers and gave me stuff to syringe feed her.
Today I took her back the vets as I wasnt happy. Another vets checked her over and was happier with her than yesterday. They have given her antibiotics (injectable one), carry on with the loxicom, cut down on the syringe feeding to see if she will start to eat normally again (luckly she loves the recovery stuff!)

She is still very quiet and she isnt eating still. They cant see anything but she started the antibiotics today, so hopefully they will start to kick in

I dont know what to do to help her get eating her hay again?
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Please continue with the syringe feeding if your guinea pig is not eating properly and feed as much as necessary to keep the weight, up to 40-60 ml in 24 hours to keep the guts functional and get it through the crisis. The less you are getting into it in one session, the more often you need to feed, little but often, including once or twice during the night. weigh daily at the same time.

A guinea pig is not a cat or dog with a capricious appetite; it cannot afford to starve in order to be tempted back into eating normally - it is simply going to starve!

A recovering appetite will reflect initially in its willingness to tuck in on syringe feed and in its weight. Once it is feeling better in itself, it is automatically starting to eat on its own again (for recovery, you are looking at an input of about 60-90 ml while a healthy guinea pig in its prime needs about the equivalent of 120 ml to keep its weight). Guinea pigs need to process a lot more (as nutritionallymuch poorer) food than carnivores; their instinct to eat is much stronger.

Antibiotics are always an additional appetite killer, as they not only work on the illness, but also on the good gut bacteria. Please continue to give probiotics for that reason.
 
I am now confused, as you can imagine. I am being told one thing from the vets and another on here.
I dont know what to do... other than just cry. I dont know what is causing flip to be like this. She is weeing ok, her poos are now small but normal shape.

What do I do?
 
Law Ram said:
I am now confused, as you can imagine. I am being told one thing from the vets and another on here.
I dont know what to do... other than just cry. I dont know what is causing flip to be like this. She is weeing ok, her poos are now small but normal shape.

What do I do?
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She is getting better, but the size of her poos means that she's not had enough food over the last day or two, so please continue to feed her as we have recommended! She is going the right direction, so don't panic.

Many general vets are not quite aware just how much piggies need to eat to keep going. Believe me, once she is feeling better, she will start eating on her own all by herself! You just need to get her there in her own time and syringe feed her as much as she will take until then. ;)
 
Can i make the recovery food a bit more watery?
 
@Wiebke is right, she will eat when she starts feeling better. It can take time, as poorly pig's don't eat until they start feeling better.
 
Law Ram said:
Can i make the recovery food a bit more watery?
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You can make it any consistency you like by adding a bit more water or more powder. I find that when it is a bit wetter it is easier to syringe. I would recommend using boiled, cooled water with piggies with tummy issues or frail piggies. You can also mix some probiotic if you wish to help prop up the guts.
If a guinea pig doesn't like the taste of the recovery formula, you can also mix it with mushed up pellets for a more familiar taste.

Just give her as much as she likes with each session, always about half a syringe (i.e. one mouthful) at a time, so nothing can go down the wrong way.

Adjust the frequency of the feeding sessions to the amount she is taking in in one go. Less than 10ml in one go - feed every 2-3 hours, and at least twice during the night. 10-15 ml feed every 4 hours and once during the night. More: feed 3-4 times a day - by that stage, your piggy should be starting to eat hay and pellets again. You can give her a little syringe feed and then offer a little fresh coriander or parsley; they are often the first foods that a recovering piggy fancies. If necessary, top her up with more syringe feed, as much as she wants.
 
She ate two bits of lettuce after about 5ml of syringe feed and then didnt want anymore.
I put in some new flavoured hay (burgess one) and seemed to tuck into that.

Some times I can get about 15ml into her, no issues. Tonight she didnt want to know
 
Law Ram said:
She ate two bits of lettuce after about 5ml of syringe feed and then didnt want anymore.
I put in some new flavoured hay (burgess one) and seemed to tuck into that.

Some times I can get about 15ml into her, no issues. Tonight she didnt want to know
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I would be careful with giving her much in the way of veg for another day, so her guts can settle down again and stabilise. Introduce veg gradually over a couple of days afterwards. You judge whether she needs any topping up in the next couple of days by weighing her (always at the same time for a comparable result, either before or after their dinner), as it is very difficult to estimate the amount of hay they are eating during the day. The scales don't lie... ;)

As her tummy upset is only a minor one anyway, she should hopefully be right again soon.
 
So this morning i managed ti get only about 10ml in het. She was being very stubborn.
Cant work out if this is her being a madam like normal, so a good sign it what.
When i puther back she is sniffing around the hay and pulling a few strands out. I weighed her last night and she was 1017g
 
Law Ram said:
So this morning i managed ti get only about 10ml in het. She was being very stubborn.
Cant work out if this is her being a madam like normal, so a good sign it what.
When i puther back she is sniffing around the hay and pulling a few strands out. I weighed her last night and she was 1017g
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Just keep at it with the syringe feed. It is good that she has started nibbling at hay. Weighing her tonight is going to tell you whether she is eating enough on her own or not. The size and amount of her poos also can give you pointers as to the food intake and how well her tummy is doing. Continue to offer her little bits of green herbs and veg if the poos are firm, but not a full veg meal yet. Just seeing her nibbling at this stage can be deceptive, so the weighing and the poo patrol are improtant tools in making sure that she gets enough nourishment to fight any illness.
 
Wiebke said:
Just keep at it with the syringe feed. It is good that she has started nibbling at hay. Weighing her tonight is going to tell you whether she is eating enough on her own or not. The size and amount of her poos also can give you pointers as to the food intake and how well her tummy is doing. Continue to offer her little bits of green herbs and veg if the poos are firm, but not a full veg meal yet. Just seeing her nibbling at this stage can be deceptive, so the weighing and the poo patrol are improtant tools in making sure that she gets enough nourishment to fight any illness.
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Am i still looking at a plus 40g loss as a worry?
I weighed at 6am this morning and she was 1004/5 as she kept moving around
 
Law Ram said:
Am i still looking at a plus 40g loss as a worry?
I weighed at 6am this morning and she was 1004/5 as she kept moving around
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Yes, that would constitute as a small loss, especially if you know that you did last weigh on a rather empty tummy.

The difference between a full and empty tummy and bladder can make as much as 30g (a full bladder is about 10g more then an empty bladder). That is why I am going on about trying to weigh at roughly the same time for more comparable results.

Can you mix the recovery food with soaked pellets in order to see whether that is going down better? If she is still not eating, then she is still not well and you need to keep on syringe feeding.
 
However, don't panic, your girl is still a good overall weight. it is likely that the antibiotic is dampening the appetite additionally at the moment.
 
Can I ask something else

They think she has a sore throat as well, and are treating her for that, however she keeps pawing at her mouth.
Is this something that can relate to a sore mouth, or do you think she has something stuck?
 
Law Ram said:
Can I ask something else

They think she has a sore throat as well, and are treating her for that, however she keeps pawing at her mouth.
Is this something that can relate to a sore mouth, or do you think she has something stuck?
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It rather sounds like something stuck. Guinea pigs usually have got a lot of gunk in their mouths, so your vet needs to very gently clear it out with a cotton bud to get a clearer look at the back of the mouth.
 
I agree with Wiebke, I'm new to Guinea Pigs but have had lots of different species over the years, if /when you go back to vets ask them to have a good look at her teeth we had a house rabbit, Clumpy poos not eating much(especially hay & hard foods) messing with mouth it turned out to be a spur on a back tooth, it was cutting into her upper mouth, they anaesthetised & filed down her teeth might not be but another example was an old rescue ferret she was put on antibiotics for being unwell & no appetite I spotted a bad tooth & took her back, upon proper examination of her mouth it was dental issues , 5 teeth removed & a descale so its worth a thought just in case
 
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