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Intermittent pain when pooping

stef.trg

stef.trg

Teenage Guinea Pig
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Kirchberg in Tirol, Austria
Pewter (approx. 10 months old) has been worrying me a little lately as she seems to intermittently experience pain when pooping. This has been going on on and off for about 6 weeks now but it‘s taken me until today to connect the dots. I feel awful for taking so long to realise, poor girl!

It‘s fairly quiet squeals most of the time; only the very occasional one seems to be a bit louder and more uncomfortable. She doesn’t have any other symptoms at all! She seems happy and not hunched, she hasn‘t lost any weight, she is peeing and pooping normally, there‘s never been any visible blood in her pee, and she doesn’t seem to be uncomfortable when peeing (I’m not 100% sure about that last one but will keep an eye on it). She also doesn’t always seem to be in pain when pooping. She maybe squeals anywhere between 3-7 times per day but I‘ve seen her do poops without making any noise.

I think it‘s only got marginally worse over the past few weeks; I‘m currently not sure if it‘s actually got worse or if I‘m just listening to it more carefully. She was on the Science Selective grain free but we‘ve taken her off those 2 days ago when I first realised that something didn’t seem quite right as I‘ve read that other forum members had some bladder issues with those. She‘s on a low calcium diet, her water is filtered and she doesn’t get any alfalfa based pellets.

I‘m a bit confused as I would’ve expected additional symptoms by now but there don’t appear to be any! Could it still be a UTI or maybe something worse like a bladder stone? I‘m going to call the vet first thing Tuesday morning but I‘m not really sure what examinations would be good at this point and I like to be prepared. Has anyone ever come across anything similar? Any advice or experience would be greatly appreciated! Sorry for the super long post!
 
stef.trg said:
Pewter (approx. 10 months old) has been worrying me a little lately as she seems to intermittently experience pain when pooping. This has been going on on and off for about 6 weeks now but it‘s taken me until today to connect the dots. I feel awful for taking so long to realise, poor girl!

It‘s fairly quiet squeals most of the time; only the very occasional one seems to be a bit louder and more uncomfortable. She doesn’t have any other symptoms at all! She seems happy and not hunched, she hasn‘t lost any weight, she is peeing and pooping normally, there‘s never been any visible blood in her pee, and she doesn’t seem to be uncomfortable when peeing (I’m not 100% sure about that last one but will keep an eye on it). She also doesn’t always seem to be in pain when pooping. She maybe squeals anywhere between 3-7 times per day but I‘ve seen her do poops without making any noise.

I think it‘s only got marginally worse over the past few weeks; I‘m currently not sure if it‘s actually got worse or if I‘m just listening to it more carefully. She was on the Science Selective grain free but we‘ve taken her off those 2 days ago when I first realised that something didn’t seem quite right as I‘ve read that other forum members had some bladder issues with those. She‘s on a low calcium diet, her water is filtered and she doesn’t get any alfalfa based pellets.

I‘m a bit confused as I would’ve expected additional symptoms by now but there don’t appear to be any! Could it still be a UTI or maybe something worse like a bladder stone? I‘m going to call the vet first thing Tuesday morning but I‘m not really sure what examinations would be good at this point and I like to be prepared. Has anyone ever come across anything similar? Any advice or experience would be greatly appreciated! Sorry for the super long post!
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Hi!

Please have her checked for a potential bladder or urethral stone or sludge and also have her reproductive tract checked; the lower gut wraps closely around both organs. In older piggies arthritis in the lower spine can also radiate into the gut. Piggies with very mild sterile cystitis can also exhibit those symptoms, as can those with a thickened gut.
 
Wiebke said:
Hi!

Please have her checked for a potential bladder or urethral stone or sludge and also have her reproductive tract checked; the lower gut wraps closely around both organs. In older piggies arthritis in the lower spine can also radiate into the gut. Piggies with very mild sterile cystitis can also exhibit those symptoms, as can those with a thickened gut.
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Thanks Wiebke! I‘ll get her booked in to check all of those next week :)
 
Hope Pewter’s appointment goes well :) It may be a good idea to take a urine sample with you for the vets to test when you take her, the vets can easily pop a dipstick in to test her pee then (my pigs never pee all over the table for vets to test like others!).

How To Collect A Urine Sample

Hope she feels better soon x
 
alpacasqueak said:
Hope Pewter’s appointment goes well :) It may be a good idea to take a urine sample with you for the vets to test when you take her, the vets can easily pop a dipstick in to test her pee then (my pigs never pee all over the table for vets to test like others!).

How To Collect A Urine Sample

Hope she feels better soon x
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That’s a great idea! She’ll be at the vets most of the day as he’s doing scans and everything but I‘ll still take one; takes a small bit of work off their hands.

Thank you xx Pewter says she doesn’t feel too bad at the moment but it‘s quite an inconvenience if the thing you do most (aka pooping) is uncomfortable!
 
stef.trg said:
That’s a great idea! She’ll be at the vets most of the day as he’s doing scans and everything but I‘ll still take one; takes a small bit of work off their hands.

Thank you xx Pewter says she doesn’t feel too bad at the moment but it‘s quite an inconvenience if the thing you do most (aka pooping) is uncomfortable!
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1617528079414.webpMy poor Rupert had a good few mornings in the washing basket trying to get a sample before our appointments, thankfully a little veg and he’d let it all flow quickly most of the time!
Bless her poor girl, yes definitely not good when it’s your number one thing to do all day apart from munch! Hope it goes well, keep us updated :)
 
alpacasqueak said:
View attachment 172320My poor Rupert had a good few mornings in the washing basket trying to get a sample before our appointments, thankfully a little veg and he’d let it all flow quickly most of the time!
Bless her poor girl, yes definitely not good when it’s your number one thing to do all day apart from munch! Hope it goes well, keep us updated :)
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Awww look at the little cutie! I can already imagine the stink eye I‘m going to get on Tuesday morning when the princess has to sit in a plastic tub :))
Thank you, I‘ll update as soon as I know more on Tuesday! :)
 
I find a few dandelion leaves along with the watery veg helps, dandelion leaves are a diuretic!
Good luck for Tuesday. I hope it's nothing serious and easily treated.
 
piggieminder said:
I find a few dandelion leaves along with the watery veg helps, dandelion leaves are a diuretic!
Good luck for Tuesday. I hope it's nothing serious and easily treated.
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Thank you, that’s really good to know! I wasn’t aware that dandelion leaves are a diuretic; she loves them. She‘ll be very glad to swap the celery out for some dandelion leaves :)) x
 
Had Pewter out for a little bit of lap time tonight; she‘s definitely also in pain when peeing. And she pees A LOT, much more than usual. Poor girl did 3 pees in 20 minutes! It definitely seems to be getting worse - very glad I got her booked in for Tuesday.
 
On top of the pain we also appear to have soft poos now. Most of her poos are still formed (these were the only 2 odd looking ones I could find) but I thought they seemed softer the past couple of days as quite a few were squished from her standing on them. She‘s had a bit of courgette and maybe a quarter of a strawberry in the last few days which is new to her diet and a handful of grass at some point last week (can’t remember when exactly). Gosh I‘m glad it’s nearly time for the vet appointment!

016792A7-0A3F-4341-969F-E274CA366559.webp
 
stef.trg said:
On top of the pain we also appear to have soft poos now. Most of her poos are still formed (these were the only 2 odd looking ones I could find) but I thought they seemed softer the past couple of days as quite a few were squished from her standing on them. She‘s had a bit of courgette and maybe a quarter of a strawberry in the last few days which is new to her diet and a handful of grass at some point last week (can’t remember when exactly). Gosh I‘m glad it’s nearly time for the vet appointment!

View attachment 172500
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They can get squishy, irregular poos if they have a UTI etc from the squeezing/straining to urinate so try not to worry too much. Hopefully it’s something easily treated and she’ll be feeling a bit better soon. What time’s your appointment? x
 
alpacasqueak said:
They can get squishy, irregular poos if they have a UTI etc from the squeezing/straining to urinate so try not to worry too much. Hopefully it’s something easily treated and she’ll be feeling a bit better soon. What time’s your appointment? x
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That's really reassuring to hear; I was already worried she's got an upset belly on top of everything now too. I dropped her off at 8:30 this morning - he said he'd probably give me a ring at some point in the early afternoon to go over what he's discovered. x
 
stef.trg said:
That's really reassuring to hear; I was already worried she's got an upset belly on top of everything now too. I dropped her off at 8:30 this morning - he said he'd probably give me a ring at some point in the early afternoon to go over what he's discovered. x
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I saw a lot of it with my Rupert as he was a bladder pig that had stones and on/off UTIs for a few years when he got older.
Bless her, well I hope it all goes well and you don’t worry too much all day, at least she’s there and can hopefully start on some treatment if she needs it to help now. Then home with her mum for cuddles later!:hug:x
 
Just heard back from the vets; her x ray came back clear for bladder stones and sludge which is such a relief! However, he‘s not super happy with how everything is moving through her guts - he‘s going to have a chat with the other vet at the practice about the x rays & I can pick Pewter up at 4:40 where I‘ll get more info :)
 
Well, we're home again! Pewter is a bit drowsy as they had to sedate her to get her to sit still for the x ray (clearly her freeze reflex is not strong enough) but otherwise good. They couldn't find anything definitely wrong with her, though. She doesn't have any bladder stones or sludge and no UTI. She did appear a bit gassy on the x ray, however. We got 0.6ml Emeprid twice a day, 0.3ml cat Metacam once a day, and some Fibreplex. Does that sound about right? The Metacam dose does seem a bit low but I'll see how she gets on.

They don't really know why she is gassy but she said it might be a prolonged thing caused by her diet. She did mention that it might be that she's getting too much veg and not enough hay & that's causing it but I don't really believe that. She's had the same hay/veg ration since we got her a year ago and never had any problems. So if it's actually the diet that's the problem, I'm wondering if the problem was actually caused by the soy in the SS grain free pellets she's been on since December. I can't think of anything else that could have caused it.

It was the female vet at the practice who looked at her - she's lovely but I don't like her as much as Mike (our usual vet). She's sent the x ray off to an exotic specialist for a second opinion and will give me a call tomorrow as soon as she's heard back from them.
 
I am so pleased it wasn't a dreaded stone. Fingers crossed the fibreplex and emeraid do the trick and she's back to her old self in no time.
 
piggieminder said:
I am so pleased it wasn't a dreaded stone. Fingers crossed the fibreplex and emeraid do the trick and she's back to her old self in no time.
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Me too, I‘m very relieved we don’t need any surgery. She‘s very quiet tonight which isn’t a big surprise after being sedated and she definitely has an upset belly. We‘ve had poops in all shapes and sizes but at least there were some!

She‘s had her first round of meds and a good amount of recovery food which she took from a spoon. She‘s also had a bit of a nibble on some hay which I put in front of her hidey but not a lot. I‘ll offer her some more recovery food before we go to bed but I‘m very relieved that she hasn’t lost her appetite. I hope the meds kick in soon and she‘ll feel a bit more comfortable.
 
Just a little update: Pewter is much brighter today & hasn’t squealed once when peeing/pooping. Her belly is also much softer than it has been in a while! She was never severely bloated but, judging it now, I‘d say she has been mildly bloated for a while. I‘m wondering if she has a bit of a sensitive digestive system and we might have been given her too much veg. She‘ll still be off veg until Friday evening, but I‘m going to try reducing the amount a little bit in the future and see if it helps.

She‘s refusing syringe feed and eating hay although I don’t feel like she‘s eating as much as she usually would. She hasn’t lost any weight during the day but we‘ll see tomorrow morning if she‘s eating enough. I’ll try again to top her up before bed tonight. If she’s still losing weight, I‘ll make sure to step up the syringing game tomorrow. She’s only lost 50g/60g in total and she was at 1230/1250g before so I’m not super worried about her weight. She‘s also spent 10 minutes on the vibrating massage pillow and got a little tummy massage. That sedation‘s really been hard on her, poor girl!
 
Glad it wasn’t anything scary like stones and she’s doing ok @stef.trg :)
Certain foods can cause bloaty/gassy problems, my Rupert was fine with spring greens for years but at about 5 he developed bloaty issues with them and within an hour would get very gassy and bloaty, so we stopped them obviously! Maybe there has been something recently she’s been having that could be disagreeing with her a little?
Hope she’s back to normal today and enjoyed her massage pillow! x
 
alpacasqueak said:
Glad it wasn’t anything scary like stones and she’s doing ok @stef.trg :)
Certain foods can cause bloaty/gassy problems, my Rupert was fine with spring greens for years but at about 5 he developed bloaty issues with them and within an hour would get very gassy and bloaty, so we stopped them obviously! Maybe there has been something recently she’s been having that could be disagreeing with her a little?
Hope she’s back to normal today and enjoyed her massage pillow! x
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Oh that’s interesting! They get a bit of spring greens every day so maybe that’s the culprit! Other than that, they get a bit of pepper (usually red or yellow), cucumber, some green beans or mangetout, coriander, and occasionally half a baby corn. What did you replace spring greens with? I‘ll definitely try switching those out for something else!
She‘s not 100% back to normal yet. Still subdued and spends most of her day in her hidey. Her appetite is also not fully back yet; doesn‘t seem to be as interested in hay/pellets as usual but I‘m assuming that might still be from the sedation. Her weight is mostly stable, she‘s lost 15g since yesterday which isn‘t really anything to worry about but I‘ll try to see if she wants some recovery food later. She just had quite a good go at her hay for the last hour. I worry way too much! x
 
stef.trg said:
Oh that’s interesting! They get a bit of spring greens every day so maybe that’s the culprit! Other than that, they get a bit of pepper (usually red or yellow), cucumber, some green beans or mangetout, coriander, and occasionally half a baby corn. What did you replace spring greens with? I‘ll definitely try switching those out for something else!
She‘s not 100% back to normal yet. Still subdued and spends most of her day in her hidey. Her appetite is also not fully back yet; doesn‘t seem to be as interested in hay/pellets as usual but I‘m assuming that might still be from the sedation. Her weight is mostly stable, she‘s lost 15g since yesterday which isn‘t really anything to worry about but I‘ll try to see if she wants some recovery food later. She just had quite a good go at her hay for the last hour. I worry way too much! x
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I’m sure we all do about these piglets, I’m a terrible worrier with my bubs! :doh: Glad she’s munching on her hay and seems ok, yes 15g isn’t much to worry about. It can take a few days for the anaesthetic meds to get out of their systems so hopefully she’ll be feeling better and more herself very soon bless her :)
I give lettuce mainly and don’t give spring greens to anyone these days after Rupert (he made me paranoid!), normally little gem or romaine which they love, occasionally mixed lettuce leaves in salad bags etc. (as I don’t have any bladder piggies now). Yes it could be worth a try and seeing if it helps, cabbages can be gassy things for humans and pigs! x
 
alpacasqueak said:
I’m sure we all do about these piglets, I’m a terrible worrier with my bubs! :doh: Glad she’s munching on her hay and seems ok, yes 15g isn’t much to worry about. It can take a few days for the anaesthetic meds to get out of their systems so hopefully she’ll be feeling better and more herself very soon bless her :)
I give lettuce mainly and don’t give spring greens to anyone these days after Rupert (he made me paranoid!), normally little gem or romaine which they love, occasionally mixed lettuce leaves in salad bags etc. (as I don’t have any bladder piggies now). Yes it could be worth a try and seeing if it helps, cabbages can be gassy things for humans and pigs! x
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It‘s awful how much these little furries can worry us, isn‘t it? :doh: Fingers crossed she‘ll soon get over it! There‘s a lack of poos today but she‘s been to the vets on Tuesday and, judging by how much weight she lost in these 24hrs, she didn’t have any food that day. So I guess the lack of poos today is not massively surprising.
That’s great, thank you so much. I‘ll definitely switch them all over to lettuce, not taking any risks haha! x
 
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