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My Guinea was constipated

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Angelah

Angelah

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I check my Guineas all over every day i was giving Smudge a cuddle when i saw his bottom was rather bulgy i looked and saw he had a poo stuck so i rubbed his bottom area and a little came out but still more inside so i carried on rubbing and moving it and a lump of poo came out, did i do the right thing and do this?, also he has been eating his fresh food, hay and water and guinea selective food as normal only a few days he wanted more fresh food and we fed him more of his green beans and carrot so not sure if it was too much, he seems fine in himself but will keep a close eye on him
 
I have just put him on his soft cat bed next to me to keep an eye on him and he has done a poo and looks normal, going to keep him next to me for a little while longer but feel more reassured that he has done it on his own
 
It sounds like he has had a little of what is known as impaction. This only happens to boys and I've only ever had girls so will point some experienced members the way of this thread
 
I've had several boars in the past who suffered from impaction. Its not a fun job to clear, its smelly and vile but at the end of the day the animal needs assistance.
Some boars can go wheeks or even months without impaction, whilst some need clearing every few days or even every day!

I found applying some vaseline around the anus can help with lubrication, but wear gloves as the smell takes forever to wash off your hands! Well it did in my case.

Impaction is basically caused because their muscles have weakened and they struggle to push out the soft caecal pellets (that they usually eat), so they build up in their perineal sack, more common in older boars but one of mine developed it at 2 years old!


Please see this link below for pigtures etc on removal.
http://www.guinealynx.info/impaction.html
 
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Thank you, smudge was so good when i was helping him, he laid in my arms and let me take the poo out, he must have known i was helping him, he seems fine at the moment, hes been eating and done a few poos , I'm going to keep an eye on him and make sure i check every day his bottom is ok, thanks for the reply and the link.
 
I could always tell when my boar had impaction. He would be very quiet and I always have a sixth sense that he had one and nine times out of ten he did. He once did bloat because I'd been at work and he suffered a massive impaction that basically must of stopped him from 'releasing gases'. But that is usually rare.
 
I knew something was wrong as his bottom looked abit enlarged, now i know why, as soon as it came out it went back to normal
 
I have had boars that suffer from impaction before and like Hanwombat says, it's smelly and a bit nasty but usually they will lie still and let you help as they feel so much better afterwards.

Keeping a daily check is a great idea. Some boars need daily help keeping clean and some can go longer. Just keep an eye out. x
 
We decided to take both of the boys to the vet for a check up and as we was still unsure on Smudge, but both of them got clean bill of health and Smudge has been given a fibre booster we have to give him it twice a day for next few days, glad we took them and they are both good
 
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