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Not pooing?

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Carolinemm

Carolinemm

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Hello! I noticed this morning that my little Pipkin has not pooed all night?! and still not, hes eating loads of hay as normal, has eaten all his veggies this morning and drinking and moving around normally..hes weeing normally. I'm baffled and I know this is not good, what should I do? I checked him for impaction as I'm paranoid about it although I'm still not sure I'm doing it right, hes still a bit scared of being handled. Hes approx 18months old.

Background is hes a rescue piggy, had him 3weeks, we were booked in for a vet check up last Friday (1st) to discuss neutering, just before I went I noticed him squeaking when he was peeing, so the vet gave me oral baytril to give him twice daily although she said she couldnt see anything obviously wrong he didnt seem tender or anything....no signs of stones etc, theres been no blood in his wee (he has a whits fleece bedding)....hes stopped now, but no poos!

Help!
 
I hope that he will poo soon, as he is still eating, which is a very good sign!

Did you do a poop scoop before he went to bed? he may have just enjoyed a good night's sleep. I often find few poos overnight when I clean them out just before going to bed - and I have 11 piggies living together!

Give it i a couple more hours to digest what he has eaten now, and if there are still no poos or he starts looking off, only then I would start to panic and take him to the vet.
 
Thanks Wiebke,
Yes he had a full clean out about 8pm last night but usually he has many many poos all day every day, but literally non still now but he really is still eating loads every time I go in! I have to leave to go away with work at 3pm and not back until the same time tomorrow, my boyfriend is back from work at about 6.30....I dont know what to do! I double checked impaction - I def checked him correctly, nothing there! so worrying...
 
Check again before you go to work, but as long as Pipkin looks and behaves perfectly healthy, I would frankly not worry overmuch.
 
Flipping heck thanks so much, I have critical care and anti-inflam in the cupboard but hes showing no signs of illness! Just triple checked, he had a mouth full of hay munching away and came out to get some spring greens from me all excited like usual! Maybe Ill just relax :) (and possibly get on with some work!)x
 
Sorry to hear about Pipkin...............HEALING WHEEEEEEEEEEEKS XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

have you got some probiotics......this will help his gut flora :) you get it from your vets.

awwwwwww that's good that he's eating and loving the smell of food droolx)

HUGS XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
 
Glynis said:
Sorry to hear about Pipkin...............HEALING WHEEEEEEEEEEEKS XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

have you got some probiotics......this will help his gut flora :) you get it from your vets.

awwwwwww that's good that he's eating and loving the smell of food droolx)

HUGS XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
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Ahh thank you Glynys still no poos! :{ xx
 
i'd have a chat to your vets then......... for peace of mind :)
Does he seem uncomfortable at all?

it's a bit unusual for a young piggie to be compacted........ have you checked his anal passage? it can get swollen when they're impacted, you need to gentley massage the poop ball to get it out...... oh and hold your breath unless you've got a good stomach it can be rather whiffy :)>>>
 
No not uncomfortable at all. Hes had loads of poos right up until last night, I had a good look impaction wise could see no blockage at all - just the white stuff thats a bit whiffy that from reading seems to be normal? Very confusing, wont have time to get to the vets now as the specialist vet is an hour away I need to leave asap for work, its not the sort of work I can just cancel - hotel booking etc.....my OH wont be too much longer home after me so I may need to send him! x
 
OK leave him a note, even if he can chat to the vets and let them know what's up.......
Have a good day at work...........all paws crossed XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXx
 
Not pooing can be dangerous for your little friend. It could be gut stasis and he needs vet's attention definitely, if he hasn't been pooing since last night. Do bring him in as soon as possible and hope everything is fine with him ;)
 
worldangel said:
Not pooing can be dangerous for your little friend. It could be gut stasis and he needs vet's attention definitely, if he hasn't been pooing since last night. Do bring him in as soon as possible and hope everything is fine with him ;)
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Absolutely if its that. I have it regularly with one of my rabbits but he normally immediately goes off food and stops eating within hours of him being fine. I'm worried it is that so have given him some anti-inflam which sorts it for my rabbit, hes normally fine again very quickly, but with Pipkin, the minute I put him back hes still gobbling hay?! So, if its stasis in guinea pigs, do the poos stop before discomfort and not eating? x
 
Sorry to hear your dealing with this.I know how concerning it would be. I am sorry I have no advice as I'm a learning pig Mommy too.


Hope he poos soon. Fingers and toes are crossed. Keep us posted.
 
Carolinemm said:
Absolutely if its that. I have it regularly with one of my rabbits but he normally immediately goes off food and stops eating within hours of him being fine. I'm worried it is that so have given him some anti-inflam which sorts it for my rabbit, hes normally fine again very quickly, but with Pipkin, the minute I put him back hes still gobbling hay?! So, if its stasis in guinea pigs, do the poos stop before discomfort and not eating? x
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Look at his tummy. Is it distended and if you tap lightly on it, does it give out a hollow sound? If yes, he could be having bloat: http://www.guinealynx.info/emergency.html#bloat

It's an emergency. Bring him to the vet as soon as possible. You might want to try massaging his tummy to see if it helps.
 
a) an anti-inflamm (metacam) will not cure gut stasis, it will merely reduce pain. You need a gut motility drug metoclopramide.
b) are you sure he isn;t eating all his poos at the moment - my piggies decide do this when they are on poo watch just for a giggle
c) the fact that it looks like his gut motiliy is compromised means there is also a chance of him getting bloat
d) if there have definitely been no poos now for 24 hours he needsvet attention tomorrow morning first thing to be checked for an obstruction/bloat/stasis and give appropriate medication. My vet also prescribes zantac 2mg/kg once daily for piggie that have mild gut motility problems such as mild bloat/squishy poos etc

The longest I have had a piggie go for without pooing is 48 hours - it took 20 hours for the metoclopramide to kick in once the vet had given him an injection. Any longer than that andyour piggie is running the risk of toxin build-up in the gut which is difficult to reverse.
 
Hello! So sorry for late reply, havent been back at a computer since yesterday at 4pm (stinky work) anyhooo, yes I did all the internet checks ie guinea lynx etc immediately, but ended up whisking him off to vets yesterday about 3hours after first posting (I was too worried altho experience with it in my bunny not with a piggie), when we got to vets she did think he seemed fine, no bloated tummy (but I it was a bit bloated/hard prior to me giving anti-inflam) so she gave me the metoclopramide as a precaution and to be honest its only since I have given him the second dose when I got home at 4pm today, so 24 hours after the first dose, the poos are coming through thick and fast! the floor is covered! YEEAAAHHH never been so happy to see his normal mountain of poo :)) She said give it along with anti-inflam for a couple of days. My OH was on poo watch last night and whilst there were 4 poos reported and he was continuing to eat it still wasnt looking good. But good to know it would take 20 hours to kick in anyway (thanks Pebble :) ) so hopefully he'll be ok now. The only thing that was different was a teeny tiny bit of broccoli the night before? could this have been it? or could the Baytril send him off?

Thanks so much for everyones advice, as always VERY much appreciated you are all brill xoxo x
 
Yes, broccoli can cause gas buildup, leading to bloat. I would take that out from their diet. Maybe they are not used to it.
 
worldangel said:
Yes, broccoli can cause gas buildup, leading to bloat. I would take that out from their diet. Maybe they are not used to it.
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No, they hardly ever have it (I dont give it to the bunnies since I knew it could be a cause of bloat with them generally), but it really was the teeniest amount! As you do with new veg etc but def will give it a complete miss from now on! Thanks :)
 
Yeah poo! What a relief! (in more ways than one!)
My vet recommends keeping them moving in you suspect the beginning of bloat to try and release the gas. A gentle chase around the room soon gets the tummy going. Obviously more than a very mild case needs vet attention.
 
Yay......Good to hear he's started pooing again (my piggie first produced a pile of shotgun pellets ....really tiny and hard...before his poos got back to normal) and good to hear he's on metacam atm.

Just to clear up a few points about the way piggie guts work and possible sequence of events:
The approximate transit time in the guinea pig gut is 20 hours if the gut is moving properly.

The gut stasis is unlikely to have been caused by the broccoli although it can cause gas in an already lazy gut. Bloat is normally a by-product of a lazy gut...or eating already fermenting (off) veggies...or an inbalance of gut flora combined with something specific in the diet (carbohydrate rich or particular veggies)

When a piggie is unwell/in pain this will cause a reduction in apetite/food intake so his gut is not getting enough. He may not stop eating altogether and so the gut just starts to slow down...the process goes unnoticed at first (although you may see slight differences in poo size/appearance) Once the piggie shows visible signs of illness and gets an antibiotic from the vet the gut is already suffering from lack of food and has sluggish movement. The situation continues to get worse if pain is the main reason for not eating and pain relief is not given (which is often the case as vets are happy to prescribe baytril but do not necessarily consider giving pain relief such as metacam at the same time). 3 days later and voila....no poos. ...and possibly bloat (and the poor antibiotic gets blamed as the cause of fthe upset- when in fact the situation has already been brewing for a few days previously).

The metcam you gave for the bloat probably reduced the pain and hleped him to start eating again ...hence why the vet didn;t find much gas in his tummy as things were slowly starting to move..but it was best to give the metoclopromide as well to kick start the gut again....and as transit time is 20hours plus it will take that length of time for things to start moving.


Be prepared for some funny poos over the next few days and it can take a few weeks for his poos to return to normal. You may find you get mucus-covered poos and runny poos alternating for a bit....and zantac 2mg/kg can help smooth this over rather than keep resorting to metoclopromide

HTH
x
 
Pebble said:
Yay......Good to hear he's started pooing again (my piggie first produced a pile of shotgun pellets ....really tiny and hard...before his poos got back to normal) and good to hear he's on metacam atm.

Just to clear up a few points about the way piggie guts work and possible sequence of events:
The approximate transit time in the guinea pig gut is 20 hours if the gut is moving properly.

The gut stasis is unlikely to have been caused by the broccoli although it can cause gas in an already lazy gut. Bloat is normally a by-product of a lazy gut...or eating already fermenting (off) veggies...or an inbalance of gut flora combined with something specific in the diet (carbohydrate rich or particular veggies)

When a piggie is unwell/in pain this will cause a reduction in apetite/food intake so his gut is not getting enough. He may not stop eating altogether and so the gut just starts to slow down...the process goes unnoticed at first (although you may see slight differences in poo size/appearance) Once the piggie shows visible signs of illness and gets an antibiotic from the vet the gut is already suffering from lack of food and has sluggish movement. The situation continues to get worse if pain is the main reason for not eating and pain relief is not given (which is often the case as vets are happy to prescribe baytril but do not necessarily consider giving pain relief such as metacam at the same time). 3 days later and voila....no poos. ...and possibly bloat (and the poor antibiotic gets blamed as the cause of fthe upset- when in fact the situation has already been brewing for a few days previously).

The metcam you gave for the bloat probably reduced the pain and hleped him to start eating again ...hence why the vet didn;t find much gas in his tummy as things were slowly starting to move..but it was best to give the metoclopromide as well to kick start the gut again....and as transit time is 20hours plus it will take that length of time for things to start moving.


Be prepared for some funny poos over the next few days and it can take a few weeks for his poos to return to normal. You may find you get mucus-covered poos and runny poos alternating for a bit....and zantac 2mg/kg can help smooth this over rather than keep resorting to metoclopromide

HTH
x
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Hi Pebble,

Thanks very much for that. The vet said as much on Monday, that it could have been the (suspected) mild cystitis that started him off not eating as much (so Thurs/Fri)...and the bloat being a result of that on Sun/Mon. Thankfully he never noticably stopped eating though, always munching hay and running out for veggies even Monday after no poos all sunday night, probably why the poos were pretty normal straight away I'm pleased to say :) Ill make sure I give pain relief as well as AB next time thanks Pebble xx

On another note, can anyone advise how long after an episode like this should I give it until I put him in for neutering? The vet originally said 2 weeks after the end of the anti-biotics which will be Thursday, before we had the bloat incident, and I'm guessing that might be enough time to ensure his guts are back to normal also? x
 
HELP! I dont understand, hes not pooing again! Its now been 20 hours. He has had the gut motility (metoclopromide), pain relief and anti-inflam (loxicom) (and his baytril of which the course is now finished) every day since Monday. His behaviour is absolutely normal even brighter than usual!, squeaking for more veggies, then gobbling them when given (not too much just tiny bits), running around, biting the bars! (a new behaviour not yet observed before!) and def weeing fine. Am I completely paranoid, is there something I could be missing? oh and his tummy is not swollen /hollow to tap....should I just stop stressing as hes on every possible drug to prevent any gut motility problems....or take him back to the vets (for the 3rd time in a week!) any advice very much appreciated :)
 
Oh my stars! Stop press - we have 1 poo everyone, 1 poo....! phew....well, still not sure whats going on why hes slowed so much again despite meds, will call vet anyway...thank goodness I'm at home after my (sort of) night shift at work! :) x
 
Carolinemm said:
HELP! I dont understand, hes not pooing again! Its now been 20 hours. He has had the gut motility (metoclopromide), pain relief and anti-inflam (loxicom) (and his baytril of which the course is now finished) every day since Monday. His behaviour is absolutely normal even brighter than usual!, squeaking for more veggies, then gobbling them when given (not too much just tiny bits), running around, biting the bars! (a new behaviour not yet observed before!) and def weeing fine. Am I completely paranoid, is there something I could be missing? oh and his tummy is not swollen /hollow to tap....should I just stop stressing as hes on every possible drug to prevent any gut motility problems....or take him back to the vets (for the 3rd time in a week!) any advice very much appreciated :)
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Doe you mean 20 hours since you;ve seena poo? If he is still on the motility meds then don;t panic...the gut still needs to get back to normal perstaltic motion so regular/constant poos may take a few days and at the moment will come in fits and starts. ...every few hours you may be presented with a sudden poo mountain :))(It can take a few weeks before his gut is completely back to normal function ref: poo shape/appearance/frequency)

What dose of metoclopromide are you giving him and how often? Are you also giving zantac?

And don;t forget - he may be eating a lot of his normal poos atm....(common in my piggies recovering from gut stasis issues)

If you don;t get an output by this evening (and he has already gone 20hours without) then he needs to go back to investigate the possibility of an obstruction (although given his history and what caused this, it is unlikely unless he has ingested something solid/plastic etc like the rubber end of a syringe)

Hope this helps set your mind at rest...


x
PS: Re: the neutering: personally I would leave it a good 6 weeks untill you are completely sure his gut is back to normal before putting him in as the whole procedure of GA/pain/restricted movement etc (plus the risk of adhesions to the gut 2 weeks following the op) can have a massive impact on gut movement in some pigs.
 
Pebble said:
Doe you mean 20 hours since you;ve seena poo? If he is still on the motility meds then don;t panic...the gut still needs to get back to normal perstaltic motion so regular/constant poos may take a few days and at the moment will come in fits and starts. ...every few hours you may be presented with a sudden poo mountain :))(It can take a few weeks before his gut is completely back to normal function ref: poo shape/appearance/frequency)

Yes it had been 20 hours almost exactly but 2 now :) (I think Ive got used to my bunny who gets stasis and returns to normal immediately thankfully) so thank you so much for that. We had a poo mountain tues night, and then a few, then from me leaving for work last night and to now only 2....

What dose of metoclopromide are you giving him and how often? Are you also giving zantac?

0.5ml once daily (hes weighs 1108g.. he needs feeding up still the girls are approx 1300g! :)) ), she didnt give me zantac at the time and Ive not been again since Monday..(I would worry about that as I know its messed my mum up as shes been on it for years because of drugs for arthritis!) but its meant to be ok for GPs? Id have to go back to the vets.....but if the metoclop is even worse then I should....The vet said give the meds for a couple of days, its been 4 days, any idea how much longer I should? Also with my bunny its strictly hay only for 2 days after, no veg or pellets. I'm assuming its ok for Pipkin to have his veg and pellets as its so important for guineas?

And don;t forget - he may be eating a lot of his normal poos atm....(common in my piggies recovering from gut stasis issues)
I remembered you said this and I think I saw him munch one, so they eat normal as well as the caecotrophs? well thats something that could explain it...

If you don;t get an output by this evening (and he has already gone 20hours without) then he needs to go back to investigate the possibility of an obstruction (although given his history and what caused this, it is unlikely unless he has ingested something solid/plastic etc like the rubber end of a syringe)

Hope this helps set your mind at rest...

You would not believe how much this helps :) you are a legend!
x
PS: Re: the neutering: personally I would leave it a good 6 weeks untill you are completely sure his gut is back to normal before putting him in as the whole procedure of GA/pain/restricted movement etc (plus the risk of adhesions to the gut 2 weeks following the op) can have a massive impact on gut movement in some pigs.
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I had started to think today it was going to be a long time before even thinking about having him in for a GA now I know his guts are not 100%. Been looking at alternative accommodation that I can put near my girls now we know we're free of skin issues (its been over 3 weeks and no signs so should be ok I think?) he must be so lonely on his own without another piggie to talk to!

Thanks you loads!! x
 
You are right to be worried about the lack of poos given how long he has been on gut stimulants. Has he by chance had anymore bloaty episodes that could have stopped him eating/pooing?

So he's had 4 doses of metoclopromide...I think you should ring the vet tomorrow (unless you are due in anyway) and discuss whether you should continue or stop it now as normally just a couple of shots should resolve matters. I'm slightly concerned that continuing with it might interfere with the gut getting back its normal rhythm My vet normally puts mine on met for 2-3 days and then swaps over to zantac. Zantac short term is fine for piggies (even with metacam) and more vets are now using it to help with gut motility problems. 2mg/kg once daily is the dose and this can be given for a week. I think(but can;t find the reference for it at the moment to check) that metoclopromide and zantac work on different parts of the gut so it could be that a change of meds might help his gut over the final hurdle...again discuss with your vet.

Edit: according to the Merck Veterinary manual, met doesn;t stimulate the colon whereas zantac (ranitidine) does.

If your vet agrees to zantac, mine lets me buy the normal tablets in the supermarket (75mg) .,,,PM me for dosage/reconstitution details

Pellets and hay are fine - I also feed mine either critical care or mashed up nuggets off a spoon as a supplement (with added Vit c) As for veggies - it's a difficult call as they can cause bloat...however my vets philsophy with gut stasis is to give them whatever they want to eat to get food into their system. I tend to concentrate more on lettuce/parsley/grass/dandelions rather than opting for the brassicas or carrot/sweetcorn/fruit. I only withdraw veggies if bloat or dairrhoea occurs. I also find fibreplex helps poo production for a few days as this contains a probiotic and high fibre.

Yes, they do eat normal poos - we have had other threads on the forum in the past where recovering piggies follow others around and hoover up their poos. I'm wondering if feeding him some poop soup from your girls might help?

As for the skin issues - it's your call but do onsider the fact that your wee chappie is under the weather at the moment. so more susceptible to skin problems. ..It might be better if he could be on the other side of the room but still hear/talk to them rather than being side by side/nose to nose ? (Bailey my single boar has a whale of a time chatting up Bandit's girlfriend on the other side of the room :)))

x
 
Thanks so much Pebble. Thankfully my work tonight is called off so Ive been able to get him in at 17.30, hes still as perky as anything and eating, weeing and drinking normally which is why I havent rushed him in, but I dont want to take any chances. I will see what they say and then mention the zantac. Still no poos since Wednesday 5pm only seen 2! They are an exotic specialist vets and always seem brilliant so fingers crossed theyll know what to do...guessing it might be an xray to be sure no blockage and poss given his squeaking when weeing last wknd too I think I want to know if that was anything more serious before it gets too serious...?

Thanks on the advice of not putting them too close it wouldnt be possible actually theyd have to be a bit of a distance apart so may try it, Ill wait till hes totally better though now as hes only really coming out of his shell these past couple of weeks, and moving him would def cause him a bit of stress I think. I treated him as if he had mites when I first got him anyway (spot ons 2 weeks apart, following advice) and bathed him in the gorgeous guineas stuff for fungal etc but I'm still paranoid when he scratches after all the girls issues! (who are very healthy now touch wood, finally!)

Right wish us luck! will keep you posted x
 
What a lot of difficulty for them to go through; I would never have known they could have such intestinal problems OR urinary tract infections. I sure hope this little guy resumes normal motility very soon.
 
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