Likely bloat or this normal?

[hannahs26]

We've had our girls for 3 months, but they are our first GPs, so we're unsure whether what we are seeing is normal. I've presumed it was normal all along as they've always been this way, but now I'm wondering whether it may be recurring bloat, and should be looked at :-/
They are 4yrs and 2yrs, appear to look and behave happily and healthily, eat Timothy hay and small amount of Burgess Excel pellets, along with half a cup of veggies each morning and evening (usually cucumber, red pepper, and sometimes a small bit of lettuce, small bit of carrot, occasionally tomato, apple, watermelon, radish, basil, coriander....and some garden greens).
Each morning they are moved from their warmer sleeping cage in the lounge, into their large run in the sunroom, and feel normal, but when brought in from their in the evening, and put into their lounge run, and later having lap time with veggies, their tummies are always swollen. They don't seem at all unhappy or different in anyway, just that they have larger bellies later in the day. After lap time, they are put into their sleeping cage, where they happily munch on more hay and seem happy still. They appear to drink plenty too.
So does this seem normal enough, or should I be changing their diet, introducing probiotics, or seeing a vet? I don't want to stress them unecessarily by taking them to a vet if it can be avoided.
Thank you, as always, for advice from experienced GP owners :-)

 

[Piggies&buns]

Maybe it’s after a full day of eating you may just be seeing a full belly. Bloat will make them poorly and can be fatal so if this is something which is ongoing for months but you aren’t seeing signs of illness at all in such a long period, then it likely isn’t bloat. However, we would always advise a vet check for any concerns. As i say, bloat can be life threatening so it isn’t something you hesitate about going to a vet for. A vet would rather see a worried owner and it turns out to be nothing, than leave it unchecked and end up dealing with an emergency.
Do ensure you don’t over feed sugary and acidic items such as tomato, carrot and fruits. They should be fed only occasionally.

 

[Wiebke]

if you are in doubt, please see a vet. You are clearly not dealing with sudden onset severe bloat but without being able to handle your piggies, it is impossible for us to tell whether they just have a full tummy or whether there is some bloating from too much veg.
As long as the tummy is still soft and there is no loud rumbling (the kind you hear from across the room), farting etc. then I would not worry too much. If in doubt, take your piggies off fresh veg for a couple of days and see whether that is making a difference. If it does, then please review whether you are overfeeding fresh food or whether they are sensitive to a veg you are feeding. Since veg should only make about 10% of the daily food intake, leaving out the veg temporarily is not harmful in any way.

I would recommend that if you see a vet to feed your piggies the kind of meal you notice an issue after at the same time span before the appointment that you notice a difference; this will then give the vet a handle. If you just take them, the vet will be unlikely to find anything.

 

[hannahs26]

.......
As long as the tummy is still soft and there is no loud rumbling (the kind you hear from across the room), farting etc. then I would not worry too much.

Thank you so much for your detailed reply. You have put my mind at rest, and as I don't feel I'm seeing any warning signs, will hold off from a vet trip. Thank you

 

[hannahs26]

..........Bloat will make them poorly and can be fatal so if this is something which is ongoing for months but you aren’t seeing signs of illness at all in such a long period, then it likely isn’t bloat. .........
Do ensure you don’t over feed sugary and acidic items such as tomato, carrot and fruits. They should be fed only occasionally.

Thank you, this puts my mind at rest. Perhaps I could do with cutting down on carrot, so will do that, thank you.

 

[Betsy]

Perhaps I could do with cutting down on carrot, so will do that, thank you.

Mine have 2 carrot pealings each every day along with other veg. There isn't much carrot on a pealing.

 

[Dottylesley]

Hi Hannahs26,
It’s a worry being a piggy-mum, isn’t it? I may be able to help you though..
Bloat is something that really scares me too! Broccoli can cause it but the other veges you mentioned seem to be ok for my 2 boys (of a similar age to yours). Have you discovered on YouTube, the American/Canadian vbloggers? There are three who I follow who are very experienced and give amazing advice. One in particular had a bloat problem with one of her girls and shows you how to help her. I think it will help you to watch it! She’s called “skinnypigs1” the pig is called ‘Butter Pecan’ and the video is called “Bloated Guinea pig”. The other two I follow are “LA Guinea pig rescue” and “Scotty’s animals”. Scott works at the rescue in LA and has his own channel. I’ve learned so much from all 3 of these piggy loving people.
Good luck with everything!
L x

 

[Wiebke]

Hi Hannahs26,
It’s a worry being a piggy-mum, isn’t it? I may be able to help you though..
Bloat is something that really scares me too! Broccoli can cause it but the other veges you mentioned seem to be ok for my 2 boys (of a similar age to yours). Have you discovered on YouTube, the American/Canadian vbloggers? There are three who I follow who are very experienced and give amazing advice. One in particular had a bloat problem with one of her girls and shows you how to help her. I think it will help you to watch it! She’s called “skinnypigs1” the pig is called ‘Butter Pecan’ and the video is called “Bloated Guinea pig”. The other two I follow are “LA Guinea pig rescue” and “Scotty’s animals”. Scott works at the rescue in LA and has his own channel. I’ve learned so much from all 3 of these piggy loving people.
Good luck with everything!
L x

Hi and welcome!

It is great that you have joined our forum and I hope that you will enjoy our friendly community. I would however like to appraise you of the way we handle our health and illness as well as our pregnancy sections differently to most online places. We specialise in giving individual ongoing support and are there to answer any specific questions.

This section is specially monitored by medically experienced members whose knowledge and ethos we fully trust (up to and including an experienced exotics nurse with a speciality in guinea pigs). Please do not give advice in here unless you can contribute a personal experience; otherwise keep it to moral support. It is our aim to concentrate our effort on helping the poster as best as we can without undermining their confidence by warring about differing opinions or by devaluating any previous advice by means of sending people off to other information sites straight away in one's first post in a new place without checking up on the place's own information resources and standard first (see our Guinea Pig Guides shortcut link on the top bar) to see whether they are adequate or not - and you may find that ours are pretty comprehensive!
Health and Illness - Important Information

Please note that by far not all bloating is related to specific foods. The causes for bloating problems can differ widely and need to be addressed as such. It is generally the introduction of a large portion of new foods on an unprepared digestive system that can trigger a veg related bloat, not necessarily the food item itself. This extends to cabbages (including kale!), cauliflower/broccoli, lettuce, cucumber and fresh grass etc. which can all cause bloat if not introduced carefully but can in fact all be fed safely as part of a veg mix to any healthy piggies.
General education places like the Los Angeles youtube channel and others concentrate on warning people off the most obvious mistakes, but they are not necessarily applicable for specific questions like we are dealing with in this section.

In this case, the poster (who is suffering from pet anxiety) simply wanted to make sure whether a small change immediately after a dinner was normal or not. They have been given diet advice in previous threads.

I hope that you can accept the way we are handling things in a unique way here; it has been one of the reasons why we have survived as a forum in the face of the rise of social media. I hope that you will come to enjoy our forum community for what it is - a supportive and friendly place were you can ask any question and be given an individualised answer.

 

[Eriathwen]

I may have missed this information somewhere, or it could be how I'm reading it, but I see you mention them eating their hay in their sleeping area, do they have hay available at all times, in all the runs they spend time in? If they're without hay during the day, this may be why they're getting a little swollen/gassy at those times.

 

[Piggylove82]

Hi and welcome!

It is great that you have joined our forum and I hope that you will enjoy our friendly community. I would however like to appraise you of the way we handle our health and illness as well as our pregnancy sections differently to most online places. We specialise in giving individual ongoing support and are there to answer any specific questions.

This section is specially monitored by medically experienced members whose knowledge and ethos we fully trust (up to and including an experienced exotics nurse with a speciality in guinea pigs). Please do not give advice in here unless you can contribute a personal experience; otherwise keep it to moral support. It is our aim to concentrate our effort on helping the poster as best as we can without undermining their confidence by warring about differing opinions or trying to devaluate any previous advice by sending people to other information sites straight away in one's first post in a new place without checking up on their own information resources first (see our Guinea Pig Guides shortcut link on the top bar) to see whether they are adequate or not - and you may find that ours are pretty comprehensive!
Health and Illness - Important Information

Please note that by far not all bloating is related to specific foods. The causes for bloating problems can differ widely and need to be addressed as such. It is generally the introduction of a large portion of new foods on an unprepared digestive system that can trigger a veg related bloat, not necessarily the food item itself. This extends to cabbages (including kale!), cauliflower/broccoli, lettuce, cucumber and fresh grass etc. which can all cause bloat if not introduced carefully but can in fact all be fed safely as part of a veg mix to any healthy piggies.
General education places like the Los Angeles youtube channel and others concentrate on warning people off the most obvious mistakes, but they are not necessarily applicable for specific questions like we are dealing with in this section.

In this case, the poster (who is suffering from pet anxiety) simply wanted to make sure whether a small change immediately after a dinner was normal or not. They have been given diet advice in previous threads.

I hope that you can accept the way we are handling things in a unique way here; it has been one of the reasons why we have survived as a forum in the face of the rise of social media and that you will come to enjoy our forum community for what it is - a supportive and friendly place were you can ask any question and be given an individualised answer.

Personally I always feel wary of YouTube videos about any topic! That could just be me though. I like the bits and pieces of knowledge and advice I'm picking up from the forum. Keep up the good work!

 

[hannahs26]

Hi Hannahs26,
It’s a worry being a piggy-mum, isn’t it? I may be able to help you though.....
Good luck with everything!
L x

Thank you for your help Lesley! :-) It is a worry -such beautiful, lovely little souls which are so dependent on our knowledge to keep them safe and healthy and happy! :-) Thank you!

 

[hannahs26]

I may have missed this information somewhere, or it could be how I'm reading it, but I see you mention them eating their hay in their sleeping area, do they have hay available at all times, in all the runs they spend time in? If they're without hay during the day, this may be why they're getting a little swollen/gassy at those times.

Thank you. Yes, they have lots of hay in all three areas where they spend time, and even a handful available for their lap time too, although they prefer the veggies they are given then, plus just a nice chilled snuggle up and stroking! ;-)
After reading more in replies above, I do wonder whether their stomach bacteria may be unbalanced due to their unknown histories (rehomed from a rescue center), which perhaps may not have included them eating such a wide range of veg/fruit/garden stuff....I wonder whether a short course of probiotics may help them a little?
Thank you again!

 

[Wiebke]

Thank you. Yes, they have lots of hay in all three areas where they spend time, and even a handful available for their lap time too, although they prefer the veggies they are given then, plus just a nice chilled snuggle up and stroking! ;-)
After reading more in replies above, I do wonder whether their stomach bacteria may be unbalanced due to their unknown histories (rehomed from a rescue center), which perhaps may not have included them eating such a wide range of veg/fruit/garden stuff....I wonder whether a short course of probiotics may help them a little?
Thank you again!

It won't hurt to see whether probiotics could help; going cold turkey without veg for a couple of days and then slowly reintroducing them one by one more with every meal may also help.
The cause of the problem may be rather lying further back than the rescue, but it also depends on how good the rescue is from which you have adopted from. But please keep in mind that the problem is at the worst still in the mild range.

If you want to have control over the intake, it is always best to syringe a portion that you have dissolved in a multiple of 1 ml (i.e. 1 syringe full) so you can be sure that either piggy is getting exactly the amount you want them to.
any other method is less controllable; I have seen piggies of mine eat their favourite veg neatly around the probiotic without touching any surface it stuck to...

 

[hannahs26]

It won't hurt to see whether probiotics could help; going cold turkey without veg for a couple of days and then slowly reintroducing them one by one more with every meal may also help.
The cause of the problem may be rather lying further back than the rescue, but it also depends on how good the rescue is from which you have adopted from. But please keep in mind that the problem is at the worst still in the mild range.

If you want to have control over the intake, it is always best to syringe a portion that you have dissolved in a multiple of 1 ml (i.e. 1 syringe full) so you can be sure that either piggy is getting exactly the amount you want them to.
any other method is less controllable; I have seen piggies of mine eat their favourite veg neatly around the probiotic without touching any surface it stuck to...

That's very helpful, thank you. Will try the cold turkey for a few days, if we can bear the guilt of not giving them any when they wheak at us for them!
Will syringe the probiotics too - to avoid them being crafty and avoiding them! ;-)
They were from a very well respected local rescue, North Clwyd Animal Rescue in North Wales, and I've no doubt the care they received while there for the 2 months before they came to us was very good. Having visited their small animal section a few times, I felt that the volunteers did a fabulous job at caring for the rabbits and guineas they have there. They may not have had such a wide range of fresh foods available to them though, and previous to being there, who knows. I do know they came in to the rescue with a muesli/gerbil type of mixed food though, so perhaps weren't given the best diet earlier in their lives.