Piggie with Soft poo's and spots of blood

[sport_billy]

Putt (5 and 1/2 year old girl )has been having soft poo's on and off for around 10 weeks.

She has Ovarian cysts and also long term bladder/bowel issues -ongoing for nearly a year -when she passes a poo she squeaks. In the past she has tested negative for stones and has had the occasional UTI, her bladder wall is thickened she is on Catrophen injections and also Metacam regulary for pain relief.

Over the past 10 weeks, every 10 days or so she has been doing wet poo's, when this has happened we have removed her off her veg onto a hay diet for 24 hours and it has corrected itself, we have also been fibreplexing her.

She had been fine all this week until last night then the wet poo's have returned. She has had 3 doses of Fibreplex but the poo is still wet and unformed, this morning 2 of the poo's also had blood spots in them. She is squeaking no more than normal and still wants to eat her veg... so her appetite is ok.

Unfortuantley our cavy savy vet is unavailable till next week, the blood is worrying me and the fact that the poo's don't seem to be firming up. We are taking her to another vet tonight.

Any ideas on what may be causing the soft poo's so frequently? I possibly think it may be cyst related and that we are going to have to look at hormone injections when my cavy vet is back. Could it be an infection causing soft poo's or maybe a parasite?

With Putt's medical history it seems so difficult to know fully whats going on...


I just want to go to the vets armed with some information. i just wish my normal vet was available as she is so knowledge.

Thanks

 

[Posiesparkles]

Can't help sorry Just wanted to say that Misty and I are sad that Putt is not well and Mists wanted to send her some special piggie kisseys xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

 

[MerryPip]

Sounds more like bowel things but not sure. Which vet are you taking her to?

Hugs & wheeks from the boys including Merry who can sympathise with the old piggy poo problems as he is a bit poorly of tummy too...

 

[Pebble]

Is this fresh blood on the surface of the poos or blood within the poos?

I have just come back from the vets after being up most of the night wth Carson who has been getting progressively worse at squawking when pooing and his poos are soft. His gut is full of gas which is porbably a reflection of him not eating enough as he is in pain. Carson has already been diagnosed earlier this week with a urinary infection (no stones/sludge) and leaves tiny little spots of blood everywhere. He can;t contol his poorly bladder at the moment so dribbles every time he poos and this softens his poos. The colon is situated very close to the bladder so pain/problems in one can affect the other.

Today the vet tested his poos and found blood in them - possibly suggesting either some type of stomach ulcer in the gut or parasites. He is now testing the poos for parsites and hopes to have a result later today. Vet has upped his zantac dose.

so Carson is now on cisapride (like metoclopromide - gut motility) and zantac (for gut motility/ulcer prevention), metacam (pain relief and anti-inflammatory) and septrin (antibiotic)

Given what you have said, whilst i can;t idenitfy what the cause is (and whether the cysts are contributing) I would suggest a microscopic analysis of the urine rather than just a dipstick test to confirm there is no infection present and possibly a poo exam for parasites. Sometimes it helps to narrow down what it isn;t before you have a reasonable idea as to the cause.

I think it would be worthwhile discussing giving zantac for relief of the symptoms with your vet. Normal zantac (ranitidine) dose is 2-4mg/kg however my vet prescribes up to 10mg/kg for small herbivores. It's not just an ant-acid....it's also a pro-kinetic, helping the hind gut move more regularly thus firming up the poos....and also, if there is some type of ulceration can help to clear that up too.

HTH - good luck at the vets.
x

 

[sport_billy]

Thanks for your replies, I am feeling very down about it today. Just wish she would have a break from all the pain and prodding etc...

Posiesparkles - Thank you x

Merrypip - We normally see Rosie but she is off so seeing her colleague, while she is not as cavy savy as Rosie see is lovely and very helpful. x

Pebble - Thanks so much for your reply, your knowledge is invaluable. The blood is fresh on the outside of the mushy poo. I will get a urine sample and a poo sample taken up with us.
Putt's tummy is always gurgling and has been for nearly a year, she doesn't present any other symtoms of bloat. In regards to zantac how is that delivered to the pig? Is the tablet crushed up? I never thought of an ulcer before... x

Sorry for the rushed reply if it doesn't quite read right, at work and trying to do 20 things at once....

x x

 

[Pebble]

Thanks for your replies, I am feeling very down about it today. Just wish she would have a break from all the pain and prodding etc...

Hugs -

Putt's tummy is always gurgling and has been for nearly a year, she doesn't present any other symtoms of bloat. In regards to zantac how is that delivered to the pig? Is the tablet crushed up? I never thought of an ulcer before... x

Sorry for the rushed reply if it doesn't quite read right, at work and trying to do 20 things at once....

x x

It's unlikely to be an ulcer but if she has been on metacam for a while this might irritate the stomach so cannot be ruled out yet. I always feed some CC to my pigs now before giving their meds to make sure they're not given on an empty stomach.


Bloat is only one symptom of irregular/grumbly gut movement (vet term is "ileus") Given she's been gurgling for a year it would suggest there is some long term ileus going on (which could be because parts of the gut may be in contact with the cysts - could be sproadic reduced food intake because of pain....who knows!)

Zantac (ranitidine) at the very least should help to reduce the bouts of ileus and help her feel more comfortable. It is avalable as a veterinary oral suspension however my vet is happy for me to buy the human tablet preparation in the supermarket. I crush it in water and deliver the required dose (if your vet is happy for you to do this, find out the dose to be given in mg/kg to Putt and I will go through how to make up the solution and how much to give)

HTH
x

 

[sport_billy]

Thanks again, will print off your post if that's ok... Metacam usage has been probably 3 days out of 7 for quite some time, lesser of 2 evils really but a Putt's age it's all about quality of life...

Would CC be okay to feed or would that add to the runny poo's and stop them from firming up? I am fibreplexing 3 times a day at moment.
She like's hay but doesn't eat tons of it so is more than a little hungry after 24 hrs of veg....

Thanks again Pebble
x

 

[Pebble]

Fine to print off my post.

Re the CC - can you give softened nuggets/thick CC off a spoon rather than a very liquid form via syringe? Most of mine are happy to eat off a spoon as a treat before and after the meds.

Shouldn;t contribute to watery poos if zantac is being given to regularise the gut movement.

x

 

[Saysie]

Aw hun I'm sorry Putt is poorly. Hope the vet can do something to help her.
Re cysts have you tried Chorulon injections? It seemed to be quite effective with Thelma although to be honest she cysts was not a confirmed diagnosed.
Sending hugs and healing wheeks x

 

[sport_billy]

Aw hun I'm sorry Putt is poorly. Hope the vet can do something to help her.
Re cysts have you tried Chorulon injections? It seemed to be quite effective with Thelma although to be honest she cysts was not a confirmed diagnosed.
Sending hugs and healing wheeks x

Thanks, Will speak to my cavy vet about Chorulon injections when we next see her. I think it's getting to a point were we are going to have address the cysts rather than just watching them.. x

 

[Saysie]

Thanks, Will speak to my cavy vet about Chorulon injections when we next see her. I think it's getting to a point were we are going to have address the cysts rather than just watching them.. x

My vet said pretty much the same as you have. Even though no cysts came up on the xray and no cysts felt on palpation, we decided to treat anyway as she was in so much pain. Its a course of 2 injections a week apart and after the 2nd one the vet said it takes about 2 days and it should take effect. Coincidence or not after 2days she was a lot better.
Really hope she feels better soon, its awful when they are pain.
x

 

[Guinea pigs <3]

can't offer any advice but sending all my healing vibes to Putt and wheeks from Finley, Dottie and Mabel x Big hugs x

 

[gogoguineas]

aww sorry to hear Putt's not well, how is she doing now?
Fuzzy sends a massive boarish hug x x>>

 

[sport_billy]

Putt is doing better, poo's are firming up and blood has stopped. She is also much brighter in herself. Interestingly Putt squeaks less when passing mushy poos than normal pellets. We are booking an appointment with our cavy vet once she returns to go ahead with the hormone injections for the cysts.

The vet yesterday gave Putt a good check over, ruled out bloat and asked us to change her dry food to Wagg pellets as she thinks the mushy poo situation is diet related, I am not completely convinced but will follow instructions to cover all bases.

We have taken her off her veg, she is just on Hay and fibreplex and some CC till her pellets return to normal. If it isn't diet related based on current trends this will occur again in 5-7 days. I will then ask for a poo sample to be sent away (she said parasites are rare)

I will also speak to our cavy vet regarding Zantac. Putt an us thank everyone for their well wishes.. And sends Piggie Kisses xoxo x x

 

[Saysie]

Thamks for the update hun. So good to hear she is feeling a bit better this morning. Keeping fingers crossed she continues to improve x