Piggy is struggling to poo

[kuma]

Hello, I hope everyone is having a good day

Another newbie here, this is my first time posting and making an account on the forum.
Anyway, my guinea pig has been struggling to poop recently, her poopies aren't coming out as nice as they should be, instead they're coming out as little smudges if not, nothing at all. Its painful to hear her struggle, I'm getting worried. However, she does still eat and drink what she, can but i'm not sure what could be the cause of all this. She was fine three days ago, this just started recently and its only gotten worse.
Does straining have to do with anything like an infection or something?
she's three and has lost weight, I'm not sure that can be of any help? And I will try to get a visit with a vet soon but is there anything I can do to ease her belly pain a bit?

 

[Piggies&buns]

She needs to see a vet quickly.
If she is losing weight as well then it means she isn’t eating enough., even though it looks like she is still eating, her hay intake has likely dropped for her to be losing weight.
Emergency, Crisis and Bridging Care until a Vet Appointment

 

[Wiebke]

Hello, I hope everyone is having a good day

Another newbie here, this is my first time posting and making an account on the forum.
Anyway, my guinea pig has been struggling to poop recently, her poopies aren't coming out as nice as they should be, instead they're coming out as little smudges if not, nothing at all. Its painful to hear her struggle, I'm getting worried. However, she does still eat and drink what she, can but i'm not sure what could be the cause of all this. She was fine three days ago, this just started recently and its only gotten worse.
Does straining have to do with anything like an infection or something?
she's three and has lost weight, I'm not sure that can be of any help? And I will try to get a visit with a vet soon but is there anything I can do to ease her belly pain a bit?

Hi and welcome!

Please have her vet checked promptly. Guinea pigs don't suffer from constipation and as she is still eating and drinking, she doesn't have a gut blockage either.
Struggling to poop is most often caused by either a problem in the urinary tract (potentially a bladder stone or a kidney problem) or in the reproductive tract (ovarian cysts) where the pain has a knock-on effect on the gut which surrounds these organs. An x-ray or scan may help with the diagnosis.

Please switch from the life-long once weekly health monitoring weigh-in to weighing daily at the same time in order to monitor the food intake. Over 80% of what a guinea pig eats in a day should be hay; it is the food group that you can't monitor by naked eye. Less than 50g veg and 1 tablespoon of pellets should be seen more in the way of a daily treat rather than the mainstay of the diet. Unfortunately it is often the hay intake that impacted by illness is first and foremost.

Here are our emergency care tips until you can see a vet, including when to step in with top up feeding. if there are suddenly less poos this means that there has been less food intake in the last 1-2 days.
Emergency, Crisis and Bridging Care until a Vet Appointment
Weight - Monitoring and Management
Long Term Balanced General And Special Needs Guinea Pig Diets
Emergency Resources and Critical Illness Care - Contents list and subforum link

Which country are you in? Could you please add your country, state/province or UK county to location in your account details (accessed by clicking on your username on the top bar). This makes it visible with every post you make and allows us to consider climate, general background, vet and rescue access, medication (brand names vary from country to country) etc. and tailor any recommendations to what is relevant and available where you are straight away. Our default is UK based. Thank you!

 

[kuma]

Hi and welcome!

Please have her vet checked promptly. Guinea pigs don't suffer from constipation and as she is still eating and drinking, she doesn't have a gut blockage either.
Struggling to poop is most often caused by either a problem in the urinary tract (potentially a bladder stone or a kidney problem) or in the reproductive tract (ovarian cysts) where the pain has a knock-on effect on the gut which surrounds these organs. An x-ray or scan may help with the diagnosis.

Please switch from the life-long once weekly health monitoring weigh-in to weighing daily at the same time in order to monitor the food intake. Over 80% of what a guinea pig eats in a day should be hay; it is the food group that you can't monitor by naked eye. Less than 50g veg and 1 tablespoon of pellets should be seen more in the way of a daily treat rather than the mainstay of the diet. Unfortunately it is often the hay intake that impacted by illness is first and foremost.

Here are our emergency care tips until you can see a vet, including when to step in with top up feeding. if there are suddenly less poos this means that there has been less food intake in the last 1-2 days.
Emergency, Crisis and Bridging Care until a Vet Appointment
Weight - Monitoring and Management
Long Term Balanced General And Special Needs Guinea Pig Diets
Emergency Resources and Critical Illness Care - Contents list and subforum link

Which country are you in? Could you please add your country, state/province or UK county to location in your account details (accessed by clicking on your username on the top bar). This makes it visible with every post you make and allows us to consider climate, general background, vet and rescue access, medication (brand names vary from country to country) etc. and tailor any recommendations to what is relevant and available where you are straight away. Our default is UK based. Thank you!

Hi,
She hasn't poo'ed much but there hasn't been straining either, its still the same as yesterday although she has been eating a lot more. She wasn't as drained as she was, she was the same old piggy, I'm hoping that these are good signs.
I'm praying that it isn't what it could be, like you stated, but I'm really in the hopes that we'll be able to treat it.
Thank you very much for the information!

 

[kuma]

She needs to see a vet quickly.
If she is losing weight as well then it means she isn’t eating enough., even though it looks like she is still eating, her hay intake has likely dropped for her to be losing weight.
Emergency, Crisis and Bridging Care until a Vet Appointment

I'm trying my best to find someone within my reach, and i am keeping a close eye on her
She also seemed to have been doing a little better today though, I'm crossing my fingers she makes a little progress tomorrow

 

[Wiebke]

I'm trying my best to find someone within my reach, and i am keeping a close eye on her
She also seemed to have been doing a little better today though, I'm crossing my fingers she makes a little progress tomorrow

Glad that she is better in herself. The symptoms can cover quite a wide area.
Please make sure that you monitor her food intake by weighing. That gives you a much better idea as to what is going on and how much food she is actually eating. Normal cheap kitchen scales from a supermarket are perfectly adequate for this job as you are not calculating medical dosages and just observing relative weight changes.
How To Pick Up And Weigh Your Guinea Pig Safely

Here is a link to a list of recommended vets in Texas - I know that that still leaves a huge area!
Guinea Lynx :: GL's Vet List

Fingers very firmly crossed!