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My piggy has diarrhoea :( advice please....

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lewpylew

lewpylew

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On wednesday morning I gave my guinea pigs 2 grapes each(they've not had them for months) and when I came home from work Wed evening I noticed Sammy(white pig) had loose stools. They were quite long and soft. She has been eating still and happy enough and had this ever since.

But this morning I noticed her bottom was dirty and cow-pat esque poos in the cage. I have been topping up the hay and not really given them much veg. She took a tiny piece of carrot and ate it fine as wanted to check how her appetite was.

She's been to the vets who has checked her over and said she feels a little bloated. She doesn't seem to be in pain. He has me worried by saying guinea pigs and horses don't deal well with diarrhoea and it can kill them.

She was given an injection of Colvasone and I have been given Protexin Fibreplex to give her 3 x a day.

I am now beside myself with worry at work, especially as I just googled Colvasone and saw it has killed people's piggies..... :(
 
hi there Colvasone, is a strange choice but I suppose he has is reasons, (does your pigs Wee smell? ) it should be OK as long as he didn't give more than O.1ml that's assuming your pig was 1KG, in weight

Yes diarrhea can be very dangerous especially if watery , but if their Poo's a loose,(pasty) then fibreplex, (excellent for this type of problem)

taking them off all green vegetables, and encouraging them to eat plenty of hay, will usually sort out the problem
 
I have no idea what Colvasone is I have never heard of it sorry.

Fibreplex will get fibre into her and hopefully help firm the poo's. Feed her lots of Hay and get some Critical Care in as you may neeed to syringe feed. Take her off veg for the time being also. Is the poo total water or does it have some form? If it has form then that is good, if it is complete water it is a medical emergency but from what you said they do have some form.

Where do you live, someone may be able to suggest a cavy savy vet near you.
 
The vet gave her 0.30ml and she weighs 1200g ish. It does smell a bit in the cage and she has had a couple of bladder infections over the past few months. Seem to be going in 5 week cycles and costing me lots of money but would rather have a healthy piggy.

Just hope she is ok when I get in.... I will just give them hay for a few days and pellets to calm her tummy down and hope she fights it as she does before.
 
lewpylew said:
The vet gave her 0.30ml and she weighs 1200g ish. It does smell a bit in the cage and she has had a couple of bladder infections over the past few months. Seem to be going in 5 week cycles and costing me lots of money but would rather have a healthy piggy.

Just hope she is ok when I get in.... I will just give them hay for a few days and pellets to calm her tummy down and hope she fights it as she does before.
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Please weigh her daily and montor poo output also. I have flicked through your old threads and noticed you are in hampshire... Where abouts? As there are a few recoemndations on vets in that area on the forum. I will find them for you.
 
I live in Eastleigh :)

Yes I will do...... I normally clean them out every 4 days, topping up hay twice a day but doing it every 2 days at the moment so I can monitor what's going on. The poos seem to be a mixture of soft and cow pat ones but that may be because Sammy or Peppa have been sat on them....

She has a dirty bum today so that could be as the stools are loser or due to sitting in it.

Just what I need the week my auntie died and also heavily pregnant :( Trying to stay calm and think positive x
 
Claire W said:
I would just like to add please make sure she keeps drinking. Piggies with soft poos need to keep hydrated.

I hope she feels better soon xx
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Yesterday I got home to find the water bottle had fell on the floor during the day but when I got in, I changed the water, popped it up and they were fighting over who took first go :)

Roll on 5.30 so I can go home and check her!
 
I would also suggest Dioraltye for rehydration, mix it up as per the sachet and give by syringe little and often. I usually use the plain flavour for pigs. Hope she's ok.
 
helen105281 said:
I would also suggest Dioraltye for rehydration, mix it up as per the sachet and give by syringe little and often. I usually use the plain flavour for pigs. Hope she's ok.
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Being silly is that the human variety? thank you for the tip x
 
Just to add to my post earlier done some digging around on lunch and tt may be worth speaking to Wheek and Squeak Guinea Pig rescue they are near your area and may be able to suggest a experienced vet if needed http://wheekandsqueak.webs.com/ They are a piggy bank recoemnded rescue

Let us know how your little girl is later, hoping she is feeling a bit better x
 
Well got home and there doesn't appear to be much change which is good. Sammy still seems alert if not a little hot and bothered(like me!). In the cage were poos squished together which look similar or a little better to this morning.
I have topped up the hay, give her the fibre medicine and a cuddle. Just seen her having a drink and a few pellets and she had some hay when I topped it up so she's fighting and hopefully will be ok in the morning and on the mend.

Thanks for all your advice xx
 
Bruce our old boy has been 'off' today, snappy with his wifepigs which is not like him :(
This evening, he wasn't interested in food and had very soft poo's so immediately got the Critical Care and probiotics down him. Within minutes, he was munching on hay, put him a sprinkling of Timothy in too and he began nibbling the veggies - I'm satisfied he's eaten enough and he'll eat CC from a dish so have put some in his pen.
Not certain if the weather has upset him, too many dandelion leaves last night etc. etc. or if he's just getting old...we lost his wifepig this year so I'm particularly cautious with him to the extreme :(
It's horrible when they're unwell and hope Sammy feels better soon. Hugs x
 
lewpylew said:
Well got home and there doesn't appear to be much change which is good. Sammy still seems alert if not a little hot and bothered(like me!). In the cage were poos squished together which look similar or a little better to this morning.
I have topped up the hay, give her the fibre medicine and a cuddle. Just seen her having a drink and a few pellets and she had some hay when I topped it up so she's fighting and hopefully will be ok in the morning and on the mend.

Thanks for all your advice xx
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Hi there,As long as her Poo's have not gone watery and she has an interest in food, I'd be inclined to just do what you doing now, TLC fibreplex and plenty of hay

if she's prone to bladder infections that may answer the Vet injecting Colvasone, question is there any sign of cystitis type problems now, things that she might not have presented before , example patches of Hair Loss ? If the vet felt that there was bladder or tummy inflammation, that would explain the Colvasone, though even so it is a bit of a heavy weight anti-inflammatory ,


The problem with treating Guinea pigs is a lot of it is open to interpretation , what may have worked for one keeper may not necessarily be the problem at hand ! "Open to interpretation"

Personally if she was my pig, and she eating by herself/ was not losing weight/ , and only presented pasty Poo's
NO "watery Poo's" ,

and there was no sign of dehydration see photo , before I started giving her rehydration fluids and syringe paste, and chancing stressing care out, and even upsetting her tummy more, I would just simply carry on with the fibreplex, cut out all green vegetables including grass, and feeder as much hay as she'll eat ! , and closely monitor her weight

NB do not throw the empty fibreplex syringe away, they are worth their weight in gold, if you do ever need to syringe feed, store the barrel and syringe inside each other to prevent drying out,

and keep bums as Dry as possible, to avoid bacterial infections in the bladder,




One of the first signs of dehydration, is seen in the eye, this is a bad case that needed immediate sub cut fluids
t
 
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Well Sammy seems happy enough still which is a good sign. Eating lots of hay and some pellets and regularly seen her drinking. Bought some pro-biotic powder at Pets At Home yesterday so put that in their water. Cleaning out the cage every other day to keep an eye on things.

Both piggies have some poo on their back but guessing they've stood in it and had a scratch! Not out the woods yet but going in the right direction so fingers crossed with some careful attention and cuddles all will be ok. Poos seem to be not as squinty but just not quite right yet and sure heat not helping.

Thanks for all the kind words and positive vibes xx
 
Well today we still have pasty poos and albeit I clean cage out daily at the mo, she today has a dirty nose and pooey back where she has stood in it and itched her back! How is the best way to clean this? And apart from a tiny bit of carrot they have only had hay and pellets.
Should I be feeding Peppa veggies by separating her for feeding? And think I will go back to vets tomorrow as it will be day 6 but don't know what they can do? Apart from hating the heat she is happy, cheeky and alert.
 
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