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Persistent soft poops, help!

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hot fox

hot fox

Junior Guinea Pig
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My Amber is now on her second bout of persistant soft poops following what I can only imagine was a bag of farm bale hay I tried my pigs with instead of their usual bagged dust extracted Pillow Wad hay. This is only an idea, it could well have a different cause.
She is being treated with two doses of zant ac a day, prescribed by Simon Maddock, three syringed pro biotic mixed with a little critical care and a fresh healthy poop, plus two doses or fibre plex. It appears to be helping and sometimes the poops dry up for a couple of days then squidge right up again, even when i have just tried her with a tiny grate of carrot and v thin slice of cucumber.
So my question is, has anyone else encountered such persistant soft poops? Simon is reluctant to treat for a parasite until we have a positive result from poop analysis, i will take some over tomorrow.
If and when they dry out, which veg are safest to try and which must be avoided? I have radically cut down how much veg I give my guys as I realized I was over feeding them. My girls have been on hay and dry food only whilst this eposide has been occuring, which is three weeks so far.
Any similar experiences would be gratefully received and read, as most of my piggy chums have not encountered such persistant gloopy poops! Simon is on holiday this week so I have made an appointment for Amber to see him next week.
Thanks in advance.
 
If I have a pig with soft poo I cut it right back to meadow hay, probiotics and dry food until it settles completely. If it reoccurs after the slow introduction of veg (grass first, then a bit of carrot, and building to kale or similar over a week) and there is no indication of infection etc then I remove veg from their diet completely. Treat hays are given for variety and interest, but I do try to intro veg/grass again every now and then to see if the sensitivity has diminished.

I have a pig that is highly sensitive to veg/grass and he gets none what so ever as his bloat is very dramatic (arrived as a heavily pregnant female but a swift look up his skirt proved he wasn't expecting anything more than a lot of gas).

I always have a very good sniff of the hay before giving it - any musty smell and it gets binned, any signs of thistles and it gets binned too. I do get funny looks at the equine stores when I plunge my arms into the bales and then stuff my face in too.

Suzy x
 
We have a piggie 'Megan' that has had wet poo's after eating veg. We have now managed to get her eating a small amount of either Green Beans, Spinach, Parsley with sucess, this was after a lot of trial and error and sloppy poo's. Anything else or any larger amount then it's all wet and sloppy. She has been wormed and a poo sample is away at a lab (the last one we sent was lost :( )
Due to the lack of veg in her diet she is eating more hay, we always make sure she has 4 types available at all times to encourage interest in it, it's costing alot but she is worth every penny.. I feel really bad depriving her of veg and worry about her Vit C intake but hoping that the small of veg she has in the evening is giving her enough. Hoping the lab work will show up something..
Megan has lot's of health issues but this wasn't one when she arrived to us. Just hoping she can get back to her veggies in the future.

Good luck with finding out what is causing Amber's poo ****'s and lots of healing vibes her way..

@SuzyGPR - With your bloaty pig, how do you make sure he's getting his Vit 'c' intake? Due you syringe a supplement or a crushed tablet?
 
The pigs get the vit C intake they require from the dry food, I've not found the need to supplement them in any way once they are eating good quality guinea pig food.

Suzy x
 
Suzygpr said:
The pigs get the vit C intake they require from the dry food, I've not found the need to supplement them in any way once they are eating good quality guinea pig food.

Suzy x
Click to expand...

Cheers for that - We have to turn Meg's pellets into a mash with hot water, for her. Would this affect the vit C or do you think it'd be fine? They are Burgess Excel.
 
If it's warm rather than hot water then there's no problem - heat does destroy Vit C. I use warm water and leave to stand for 10 mins - if the pig is poorly I do add Vit C as their body's demand for it during illness can be higher.

Suzy x
 
Suzygpr said:
If it's warm rather than hot water then there's no problem - heat does destroy Vit C. I use warm water and leave to stand for 10 mins - if the pig is poorly I do add Vit C as their body's demand for it during illness can be higher.

Suzy x
Click to expand...

Thanks.

We normally boil the kettle, pour it on and wait for it to cool, before poping it in Moo's home.
I think I might start trying it with cold water to soften the pellets so it won't kill the Vit 'c' just to make sure Moo is getting her Vit 'C'
It's typical the only food that doesn't cause the sloppyness are high in calcium but at least she is still able to have some veg. Plus side is she's lost no weight, since been on veggie restrictions.

@hot fox - sorry to hijack your thread!
 
@mr sb, you can't kill vit c it is not alive.
Have just made pellets with cold water and it's mushed up fine.
 
@mrs sport_billy - that's what you scientists think, but me and my Vit C army know better.... Soon we will take over the world.....
 
Amberoooooni is seeing Uncle Simon tomorrow morning. Her poops are just the same, malformed, wet, soft, sticky and lovely! Poo analysis so far shows no parasites, hoping for full results tomorrow. She is getting through probotic tub scarily quickly. I think it is a bloating issue and so am not sure if cc and pro biotic and fibre plex is actually helping at all. My gut feeling (pardon the pun) is we will have to continue with zan tac indefinitely. But we'll see what
Mr M has to suggest. Report back tomorrow x
 
If it helps I noticed one of mine is very sensitive to cucumber she always seems to have a slightly soft poop after, so maybe cut the cucumber out of her diet completely would help a little as long as she is drinking well. Good luck for tomorrow :)
 
We saw Simon's gorgeous wife Kim yesterday. She was so very sweet, we were in there for about 45 mins. She could see Amber was bloaty and could feel inflammation of her bowel. She said we are doing all the right things, and this is unlikely to be curable. So we are to manage it as we are now and I am going to keep a diary of food, syringy, poops etc.
If Ambs were a dog or cat they would biopsy and treat with st eroids, both of these are very tricky and life threatening in a piglet.
I appreciate Kim's honesty and am now not expecting improvement, so shall not get stressed if I find a giant Amber Pat. We are going to do our uptmost to maintain her weight and continue with the meds, with the introduction of infacol too, and just take one day at a time.
I need to get some vitamin C tablets, can anyone recommend a source?
 
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