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Is anyone awake? Should I take Opal to the vet?!

Hannah_xx

Hannah_xx

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Such a pain being the other side of the world to most of you!

I’ve just got up and noticed some sloppy poo’s In the cage. I could see a bit of poo around opals butt yesterday but just thought maybe she’s just say in one during floortime. So seeing these this morning I knew straight away it must be her. And her bottom is Very slightly messy and she has poop on her feet.
She’s eating well, tucking into her pellets right now. Ate veg dinner last night. No new veggies.
They’ve recently had some new quite lush hay (as well as more dried stuff) but they’ve had that for a week now.

I was going to go and see a pig at the RSPCA 2.5 hours away today to adopt, called Mardhmallow.. looks super cute.

But of course I’m now worried about Opal, should I try and book an appointment for the vets now?
B62FB5FF-A3D5-480D-8D17-FB0E6C40F3B1.webp
 
I can't advise you but hopefully someone will be along soon who can. Sending Opal healing vibes.
 
I can't say don't see a vet, because she might need it, but this wouldn't be worrying me too much straight away, I would try giving some poop soup and taking her off of veg until it clears up, but that's if it's nothing serious
 
Hannah_xx said:
Thank you!
I'm Just so paranoid now after loosing spike.

She’s acting fine which makes me think I could see how she does off the veg etc. But the poops are so sloppy maybe it’s a case of going to the vet ASAP?!
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Go if you are very worried, she may be getting dehydrated, I would syringe some water. I'm not discouraging you from going vet, after all if in doubt always get to the vet
 
Hannah_xx said:
Such a pain being the other side of the world to most of you!

I’ve just got up and noticed some sloppy poo’s In the cage. I could see a bit of poo around opals butt yesterday but just thought maybe she’s just say in one during floortime. So seeing these this morning I knew straight away it must be her. And her bottom is Very slightly messy and she has poop on her feet.
She’s eating well, tucking into her pellets right now. Ate veg dinner last night. No new veggies.
They’ve recently had some new quite lush hay (as well as more dried stuff) but they’ve had that for a week now.

I was going to go and see a pig at the RSPCA 2.5 hours away today to adopt, called Mardhmallow.. looks super cute.

But of course I’m now worried about Opal, should I try and book an appointment for the vets now?
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Hi!

Take Opal off any fresh food for at least 48 hours until the poos have normalised again. If the poos are not back to normal or looking a lot better, then please see a vet promptly within 24 hours. See them asap if the poos are getting worse and if you are dealing with (runny) diarrhea.
If in any doubt, have her vet checked, especially if she is looking unwell.

Switch to weighing daily at the same time to monitor her food intake and if necessary, top her up with recovery formula.

You may want to bookmark these links as they provide guidance in any emergency while we are out of sync (it is midnight here in the UK)
Emergency Resources and Critical Illness Care - Contents list and subforum link
Digestive Disorders: Diarrhea - Bloat - GI Stasis (No Gut Movement) And Not Eating
 
I hope she is ok 👍🤞. Its 1.10am here lol I better go sleep. Let us know how she got on at the vets. I left a comment on one of you're youtube videos earlier, a bird one 🐦
 
Wishing you all the best at the vets today Hannah. Hopefully it’s something minor and Opal will be pooping normally again soon. You’re a great mum being so vigilant. Do let us know how you get on
 
Good luck with the vet today.
You might also want to ask about some probiotics to have on hand.
I always have them in the house as Ruby occasionally suffers with an unexplained upset stomach, and removing all fresh veg and popping her on some probiotics usually does the trick.
 
Thank you everyone!
We got back from the vets a little while ago, had a lovely vet I’d never seen before. Will definitely book her again!
She’s not too concerned with Opal as she’s still acting completely fine. She’s sent us home with a strict diet, no veg for 5 days and back to the boring hay (I bought them some nice stuff a couple of days ago). And none of the new pellets (I bought some burgess as I’ve never seen it out here before, although they’ve only had a tiny amount of them so I don’t that would have upset her)
A little slither of capsicum (pepper) is fine each day.
No medication needed for now as it’s best to let her belly settle down naturally if possible.

So hopefully we’ll see an improvement over the weekend :)
 
I can see why that piggy is named Marshmallow! Glad to hear Opal has been checked over, I hope she is on top form again soon.
 
SkyPipDotBernie said:
I hope she is ok 👍🤞. Its 1.10am here lol I better go sleep. Let us know how she got on at the vets. I left a comment on one of you're youtube videos earlier, a bird one 🐦
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Oh did you! I can’t find them comment, what video was it? :lol:

Swissgreys said:
Good luck with the vet today.
You might also want to ask about some probiotics to have on hand.
I always have them in the house as Ruby occasionally suffers with an unexplained upset stomach, and removing all fresh veg and popping her on some probiotics usually does the trick.
Click to expand...

Thank you! Unfortunately I forgot to ask about probiotics to the vet. Is there anything I can get from a pet shop?
 
Hannah_xx said:
Thank you everyone!
We got back from the vets a little while ago, had a lovely vet I’d never seen before. Will definitely book her again!
She’s not too concerned with Opal as she’s still acting completely fine. She’s sent us home with a strict diet, no veg for 5 days and back to the boring hay (I bought them some nice stuff a couple of days ago). And none of the new pellets (I bought some burgess as I’ve never seen it out here before, although they’ve only had a tiny amount of them so I don’t that would have upset her)
A little slither of capsicum (pepper) is fine each day.
No medication needed for now as it’s best to let her belly settle down naturally if possible.

So hopefully we’ll see an improvement over the weekend :)
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Phew! Thank goodness for that . Hope your tummy feels better in a day or two Opal
 
Hannah_xx said:
Oh did you! I can’t find them comment, what video was it? :lol:



Thank you! Unfortunately I forgot to ask about probiotics to the vet. Is there anything I can get from a pet shop?
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Make poop soup, get good freshly layed poops from one of you're healthy pigs, and mix it with warm water, mush the poos into it like a soup, and feed it through a syringe. It's the best way of doing it. Mother nature and all that. I think it was the video of you're bird taking off a lid of a little China pot with his beak
 
Ted has these poos at the moment because he is not eating enough fibre (hay), make sure she is eating plenty of hay x
 
Hannah_xx said:
Thank you everyone!
We got back from the vets a little while ago, had a lovely vet I’d never seen before. Will definitely book her again!
She’s not too concerned with Opal as she’s still acting completely fine. She’s sent us home with a strict diet, no veg for 5 days and back to the boring hay (I bought them some nice stuff a couple of days ago). And none of the new pellets (I bought some burgess as I’ve never seen it out here before, although they’ve only had a tiny amount of them so I don’t that would have upset her)
A little slither of capsicum (pepper) is fine each day.
No medication needed for now as it’s best to let her belly settle down naturally if possible.

So hopefully we’ll see an improvement over the weekend :)
Click to expand...

Taking a piggy off fresh food is usually all that is needed with a mild tummy upset. Please be aware that 'boring' hay should make over 80% of the food intake and that it is needed to help realign the natural fermentation process that has been disturbed (dysbiosis). What most people don't know is that grass is very high in vitamin C, and that hay also contains it - this is the reason why guinea pigs have never had the need to produce their own in the first place!

When you read the chapter on diarrhea in the link I have given you, you will find that it recommends using 'poo soup' in order to transfer live healthy gut microbiome from a perfectly healthy companion. this mimics natural behaviour and is the most effective way of balancing out the guts and restocking them with the 'right' stuff if done properly. the 'recipe' with tips are in the guide link. It is more effective than probiotic powder.

All the best!
 
Wiebke said:
Taking a piggy off fresh food is usually all that is needed with a mild tummy upset. Please be aware that 'boring' hay should make over 80% of the food intake and that it is needed to help realign the natural fermentation process that has been disturbed (dysbiosis). What most people don't know is that grass is very high in vitamin C, and that hay also contains it - this is the reason why guinea pigs have never had the need to produce their own in the first place!

When you read the chapter on diarrhea in the link I have given you, you will find that it recommends using 'poo soup' in order to transfer live healthy gut microbiome from a perfectly healthy companion. this mimics natural behaviour and is the most effective way of balancing out the guts and restocking them with the 'right' stuff if done properly. the 'recipe' with tips are in the guide link. It is more effective than probiotic powder.

All the best!
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Thanks Wiebke!
When I say ‘boring hay’ I meant that the bales of hay we have at the moment isn’t the best quality, it’s a bit dry and bland looking lol, but It’s always available to the pigs 24/7 but I recently bought them a fresh pet shop bag of hay for a treat, they’ve been eating the new stuff in the upstairs hay tray rather than the ‘boring’ stuff in the downstairs hay tray :)) They have a constant supply of fresh hay forever available to them. In fact, Opal was in the hay just a moment ago.

I’ve just given her some poop soup from one of her cage mates.
I’ll keep you updated tomorrow, thanks again :)

Here they are napping and eating in the hay!..
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And here’s Opal having her teeny tiny bit of pepper tonight
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