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New To Us Piggy With Loose Stool

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kufhorn

kufhorn

Junior Guinea Pig
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Jul 3, 2016
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Location
Kansas, United States
We just bought a piggy from someone else. When we brought her home, first thing I wanted to do was clean her case (they were using bedding and I wanted to use fleece). When I cleaning it out, I saw that she was given a "salad mix" that a human would eat. Including iceberg lettuce. I also noticed she was given hay cubs. The previous owner told my husband, they ran out of food the day before they sold her to us. She has loose stools, NOT diarrhea. We have had her four full days now. Her stools are still loose. She is not in pain when we poops. I offer her lots of hay and give her pellets. She ALWAYS seems to be hungry. When we go past the room she squeaks ( and then all the others start :nod: ) Besides going to the vet (it is a holiday weekend and won't be able to see someone for at least two more days), suggestions? I wonder if she was neglected and her tummy just needs some time to get used to good piggy food.
 
One of our knowledgeable piggy people will be able to help with your query later on when they log in, it's 6am here in the UK, so they will be having a Sunday morning lie in. ;)
 
I emailed the previous owner for a few details. He did not know how long the loose stools had been going on. He also told me that she like iceberg, so they fed it to her. :( She loves any food it seems. Well everything we offer but peppers.
 
I know iceberg lettuce isn't good for piggies, so that may be one of the reasons. ;)
 
Hello and welcome.

Piggies require a diet of more than 80% hay, then the rest made up of quality pellets then finally the smallest proportion is veg. Iceberg lettuce has no nutritional value at all for piggies and should not be fed at all due to its water content and lack of nutrients so please cut that out of the diet. If you can't get to a vet til Monday please try cutting all veg and fruit and grass for a few days, feed only hay and pellets with VIT C included and see if that improves things. As the piggy is new to you have you quarantined her from your other piggies? I think it would be wise to have her vet checked when the vets is open in any case to check general health.

Piggies are always claiming to be hungry as far as I can tell. Mine are always shrieking for food (even after they have been fed), so please don't worry about that! Just cut out fresh veg etc until you can see the vet this week


As we have members from all over the world, we find it very helpful if you please added your country and county/state so we can adapt any advice accordingly. Please click on your username on the top bar, then go to personal details and scroll down to location. In the same section you can also upload your avatar, that is the picture that appears with every post you make. Thank you!
 
kufhorn said:
We just bought a piggy from someone else. When we brought her home, first thing I wanted to do was clean her case (they were using bedding and I wanted to use fleece). When I cleaning it out, I saw that she was given a "salad mix" that a human would eat. Including iceberg lettuce. I also noticed she was given hay cubs. The previous owner told my husband, they ran out of food the day before they sold her to us. She has loose stools, NOT diarrhea. We have had her four full days now. Her stools are still loose. She is not in pain when we poops. I offer her lots of hay and give her pellets. She ALWAYS seems to be hungry. When we go past the room she squeaks ( and then all the others start :nod: ) Besides going to the vet (it is a holiday weekend and won't be able to see someone for at least two more days), suggestions? I wonder if she was neglected and her tummy just needs some time to get used to good piggy food.
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Hi and welcome!

I would recommend to have your piggy vet checked to make sure. The soft poos can be due to long term neglect/malnutrition and it may take a little while for them to correct themselves. You are doing absolutelty the right thing in giving her lots of hay to eat. It is a very good sign that she is hungry and tucking in, so her digestion is working and she is not feeling ill.

Could you get some probiotic from a pet shop to help steady the guts? Fibreplex is quite expensive, but even more effective as contains other digestion soothing stuff on top of probitiocs. I assume that your girl is an only pig at the moment, so you won't be able to give her water in which some fresh poos from a healthy piggy have been soaked in, which would be even more effective in re-seeding her guts with the right stuff.
Probiotics, Recovery Foods And Vitamin C: Overview With Product Links

I would strongly recommend that you start weighing her once weekly.

How old is your new girl? Because we have members and enquiries from all over the world, we find it very helpful if you please added your country, state/province or UK county to your details, so we can always tailor our advice straight away to what is available and doable where you are in terms of brands, climate, vet and rescue access instead of having to keep it as general as possible. Click on your username on the top bar, then go to personal details and scroll down to location. Thank you!
We have got a recommended UK vets locator on the top bar, but may be able to provide a link to recommended vets in some other countries.
 
Thanks for all the advise. I am from Kansas in the United States (I just added that to my profile) She is in her own cage away from the rest of the piggies. We have two boys from my daughter's school for the summer. We loved them so much we wanted to get our own. We also have another girl, also in her own cage. We bought a few days before Snickerdoodle. We want to eventually put the girls in a bigger cage together. But we need to get Snickerdoodle (the one with the poop problems) healthy before we can introduce them. We will keep her on a strict hay and pellet diet until we can get her to the vet. She is drinking, which I am trying to keep a close eye on.
 
kufhorn said:
Thanks for all the advise. I am from Kansas in the United States (I just added that to my profile) She is in her own cage away from the rest of the piggies. We have two boys from my daughter's school for the summer. We loved them so much we wanted to get our own. We also have another girl, also in her own cage. We bought a few days before Snickerdoodle. We want to eventually put the girls in a bigger cage together. But we need to get Snickerdoodle (the one with the poop problems) healthy before we can introduce them. We will keep her on a strict hay and pellet diet until we can get her to the vet. She is drinking, which I am trying to keep a close eye on.
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As you have got other healthy guinea pigs, you could consider syringing your new girl some water in which you have soaked fresh poos from a healthy guinea pig. Even the poos that are not intended for redigestion contain gut bacteria and stuff to help re-stock your girl's guts with exactly the right things. It is a bit gross, but it mimics the natural behaviour of recovering guinea pigs.
 
Wiebke said:
As you have got other healthy guinea pigs, you could consider syringing your new girl some water in which you have soaked fresh poos from a healthy guinea pig. Even the poos that are not intended for redigestion contain gut bacteria and stuff to help re-stock your girl's guts with exactly the right things. It is a bit gross, but it mimics the natural behaviour of recovering guinea pigs.
Click to expand...


That was funny because I was just going to ask if I could put the other girl's (Lollipop) poop in her cage. I was just down in their room to make sure all four have food and hay and was thinking I need to clean out their cages. Is there any instruction on how to do this? Can I just put pieces of Lollipop's poop in Snickerdoodle's cage, so do I have to put it in a syringe? Snickerdoodle does not really like it when I hand feed her anything other then veggies. I tried to hand feed her hay and she closes her mouth. :(
 
kufhorn said:
That was funny because I was just going to ask if I could put the other girl's (Lollipop) poop in her cage. I was just down in their room to make sure all four have food and hay and was thinking I need to clean out their cages. Is there any instruction on how to do this? Can I just put pieces of Lollipop's poop in Snickerdoodle's cage, so do I have to put it in a syringe? Snickerdoodle does not really like it when I hand feed her anything other then veggies. I tried to hand feed her hay and she closes her mouth. :(
Click to expand...

Soak some fresh, moist poos with 5-10 ml of water in a small dish, then syringe the water. Piggies usually love it. Don't put the poos directly into the cage; they won't get eaten. Normally, recovering piggies would dig for the redigested caecotrophs in healthy guinea pigs' bums.

By the way, here are our quarantine recommendations: Importance Of Quarantine

You can find lots of bonding tips at the top of our bonding and behaviour section when it comes to that stage or open a thread in there.
 
Wiebke said:
Hi and welcome!

I would recommend to have your piggy vet checked to make sure. The soft poos can be due to long term neglect/malnutrition and it may take a little while for them to correct themselves. You are doing absolutelty the right thing in giving her lots of hay to eat. It is a very good sign that she is hungry and tucking in, so her digestion is working and she is not feeling ill.

Could you get some probiotic from a pet shop to help steady the guts? Fibreplex is quite expensive, but even more effective as contains other digestion soothing stuff on top of probitiocs. I assume that your girl is an only pig at the moment, so you won't be able to give her water in which some fresh poos from a healthy piggy have been soaked in, which would be even more effective in re-seeding her guts with the right stuff.
Probiotics, Recovery Foods And Vitamin C: Overview With Product Links

I would strongly recommend that you start weighing her once weekly.

How old is your new girl? Because we have members and enquiries from all over the world, we find it very helpful if you please added your country, state/province or UK county to your details, so we can always tailor our advice straight away to what is available and doable where you are in terms of brands, climate, vet and rescue access instead of having to keep it as general as possible. Click on your username on the top bar, then go to personal details and scroll down to location. Thank you!
We have got a recommended UK vets locator on the top bar, but may be able to provide a link to recommended vets in some other countries.
Click to expand...


I am not sure how old she is. All the previous owner told me was that they were not the first ones to own her. I looked up Fibreplex online and it seems to be a UK product. Does anyone know what is would be called in the States?
I feel so awful for her. She is so happy and lively and loves humans. I hope she gets better soon. My son (8 year old) who is her owner is really concerned.
I hope we can take her to the vet on Tuesday when they open.
 
*UPDATE* went to the vet today. She said that everything looks good except she does have loose stool. Probably because of what the previous owner fed her. She is small, probably because she wasn't feed healthy foods, so she couldn't put on weight. We are now only suppose to give her hay (no pellets) for one week and then reintroduce the pellets and fresh veggies after that.
 
Hiya I had this issue with one of our ex-breeding sows we rescued. She was neglected before and when we started feeding her fresh veg, hay etc she got squishy poo. It took about 2 weeks for them to go normal and during that time we only gave her fresh food twice a week
 
kufhorn said:
*UPDATE* went to the vet today. She said that everything looks good except she does have loose stool. Probably because of what the previous owner fed her. She is small, probably because she wasn't feed healthy foods, so she couldn't put on weight. We are now only suppose to give her hay (no pellets) for one week and then reintroduce the pellets and fresh veggies after that.
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Wishing you all the best! I suspected this, but it is better to make sure that you are not overlooking anything. Hopefully, her guts will settle down.

Please continue with giving probiotics to help build up the guts, 1-2 pinches a day. I would also recommend to continue with giving extra vitamin C.

When you eventually start introducing veg, please do so slowly and gradually, only one new veg at a time and in small quantities at first to let the digestive system accustom to them. It pays to take your time, as you can then go full throttle later once her guts are fully up and running.
 
Thanks for everyone's help! We go back in two weeks to make sure she is doing better. They weighted her today, I wonder if she will put on some weight next time we go in. They did do a check of all her tummy and felt nothing obstructing there. Only some gas. The vet was happy when she gave us what do to for her. She said most the of time she has to give bad news.
 
kufhorn said:
Thanks for everyone's help! We go back in two weeks to make sure she is doing better. They weighted her today, I wonder if she will put on some weight next time we go in. They did do a check of all her tummy and felt nothing obstructing there. Only some gas. The vet was happy when she gave us what do to for her. She said most the of time she has to give bad news.
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Your piggy will start putting on weight once the guts are working normally. You may see a sudden huge increase in weight some weeks in once the full range of nutrients filters down into the body. Just be patient and hang in there. Has your vet given you a gut stimulant for gassiness?
 
No she didn't give us anything for that. She said she looks very healthy other then the soft stool. She was "fighting" when she tried to so an exam, which the vet said that was really good. I guess most of the guinea piggies she probably sees are really sick.
 
Sorry to hear about the stool problem. Haven't got a solution but I have a piggie who has had loose stool syndrome for over a year now. He has had his poos examined, been on prebiotics, antibiotics, etc. One type of pellet probiotic the vet gave me to mix with his food did seem to help a little. He's only fed a handful of veg a day and I'm careful on what veg he gets. Celery certainly makes it worse and any more watery things like tomatoes.
I haven't found out why he is the way he is but I think it's more to do with water content in things.if he's on the grass for a while his poos are awful!
Hope you get a solution and let me know if you do. Its horrible managing loose poos.
 
Now Snickerdoodle is refusing to eat hay. I put lots in before I went to bed last night. It has been over 14 hours and it looks like maybe a little of it is gone. :( Should I give her pellets? Vet doesn't open until tomorrow.
 
kufhorn said:
Now Snickerdoodle is refusing to eat hay. I put lots in before I went to bed last night. It has been over 14 hours and it looks like maybe a little of it is gone. :( Should I give her pellets? Vet doesn't open until tomorrow.
Click to expand...

if a piggie stops eating they can go downhill very very quickly. I would syringe feed them mushed up pellets or some critical care if they arent eating enough. But first try pellets and see if they go down at all.
 
Snickerdoodle had her first almost normal poop! It was still a little soft but pellet size instead of longer. so exciting!
 
UPDATE *sigh* Snickerdoodle has blood in her stool. We realized it at the vet today. They wanted to take her temp and she kept pooping. The vet also noticed a heart arrhythmia. She is not on antibiotics and some critical care supplement. But on the plus side, she has almost normal poop.
 
kufhorn said:
UPDATE *sigh* Snickerdoodle has blood in her stool. We realized it at the vet today. They wanted to take her temp and she kept pooping. The vet also noticed a heart arrhythmia. She is not on antibiotics and some critical care supplement. But on the plus side, she has almost normal poop.
Click to expand...

HUGS! I am really sorry that you are so up against it, considering the great job you are doing with her!
 
kufhorn said:
Ooops that was suppose to say she is NOW on antibiotics!
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Which antibiotic?
Please give probiotics 1-2 hours after the antibiotic. You may have to brace yourself that any antibiotic is to an extent an appetite dampener or even killer as it also works on the gut bacteria that are essential for the digestive process. Some brands are also more prone to cause soft poos/diarrhea. Please contact your vets promptly if that happens.
 
We had a long conversation about all this. I hope that she makes it through. Snickerdoodle's heart rate was 170 when the vet checked it today. I feel so bad for her. My son, who is her owner, is really concerned and talks about what happens if she dies. :(
 
kufhorn said:
We had a long conversation about all this. I hope that she makes it through. Snickerdoodle's heart rate was 170 when the vet checked it today. I feel so bad for her. My son, who is her owner, is really concerned and talks about what happens if she dies. :(
Click to expand...

All you can do is ride the tiger! Whatever happens, you have given her every chance to make it and be VERY proud of that. We cannot control the outcome of an illness, all we can do is our best and to make any life, whether it is short or long, worthwhile and filled with love on a daily basis - that is what counts!

HUGS
 
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