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Pooping problems?

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Julesie

Julesie

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My boar Gilbert seems to have pooping problems. I'll hear a small squeal and he will have his butt up in the air as he squeaks, sort of hunched over.
He does get them out quite often but I am unsure why he is making this noise.

He eats and drinks and he doesn't look unhealthy. I have been taking him to the vets for possible mites and I have gotten him weighed weekly there. He has lost a bit of weight and I told the vets and they have told me to keep an eye on him.

The weight loss isn't drastic and I am not sure what is wrong. He seems pretty healthy otherwise. My mum has mentioned she thinks he's eating a little less and sleeping more though.

Does anyone have an idea what could be wrong? I hate to see him squeaking when he poos. I don't think he does it with each poo but its a few times a day certainly.

I have mentioned to the vets about it but no help there.
 
I just got my guinea pig weight book and here are the results of the last few wieghing sessions. Once a week:

1.38 kilos
1.35 kilos
1.34 kilos.

I know its not a drastic loss but I'm still worried about him. I will be weighing him again on wednesday to get another update on his weight.
 
when my girl Velvet did this she was diagnosed with UTI :(
It would be best to take Gilbert to be checked out.
Have you noticed any blood in his urine ?
If you can take a sample of his poops and if you get a sample of his urine you'll need to refrigerate it before taking it to the vets. It's easy for them to look at their urine and see if any probs whilst you wait.

WHEEEEKY LOVES FOR GILBERT XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
 
There's no blood at all. I've kept my eye out. He has white fleece so the red on white would show up very easily.

I'm wondering if maybe he has stones? I'm going to mention it to the vets when I go on wednesday but I'm a bit worried about them giving him the wrong diagnosis because I am not sure how in the know they are of piggies.
 
Yes well that could be it also..... hmmmm :{
If you're not sure of how piggie savvy your vet is i'm sure someone could point you in the direction of one that could help you :)
 
Yeah I'm definitely thinking of going to one after I've been to the vets. I'd rather make sure Gilbert certainly gets the correct diagnosis, he's too special to me.
 
Hi J, sadly blood in the urine isn't always visible, a urine test is often the only way to tell. A full check up by a cavy savvy vet is the way to go as there could be a few differing reasons for his discomfort.

One of the recommended vets in your area is Vets and Pets at Broxbourne, they have other practices but it is the one in Broxbourne that has the best staff.

HTH

Suzy x
 
Hey Suzy,

Thank you. I have plans to phone a local guinea pig specialist tonight at 8pm and hopefully get her to check my piggies over.

I'm certainly worried even though he is acting completely normal but I know guinea pigs hide it well.

I'll update on here later.
 
aww I don't have further advice to give but I just wanted to send poor gilbert all our love and hugs to make him get better soon

x
 
Sending healing vibes to Gilbert, worth taking a urine sample along as others have said.
 
Hi

Take him to a vet and ask for an x-ray.

That is EXACTLY what Rodney was like. The only sign that there was something wrong was him raising his back end and squeaking when pooping. Next to come was the squeaking while peeing.

No other symptoms.
Took him to the vet and they gave him anti biotics for a UTI. A month later I took him back for another check as he was still squeaking when toileting. More AB's,those never worked so I insisted on a X Ray and that showed bladder stone.

I lost him just after the surgery to remove it, he never made it home.

Please, dont mess around with anti biotics for a UTI go straight for the x-ray. Stones can develop and grow very fast, the time between me taking Rodney to the vet the first time and him dying was 2 months.

If I had of insisted on the x-ray first, he may still be here.

Good luck
 
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My piggie Sam does this too but only every so often.

He has been to vets and have done urine sample but it showed nothing. The vet decided an xray wasn't needed. I still keep a close eye and am currently looking into new vet practice.

Hope your piggie is ok and I will be watching this thread x
 
Suzygpr said:
One of the recommended vets in your area is Vets and Pets at Broxbourne, they have other practices but it is the one in Broxbourne that has the best staff.
Click to expand...

I know that this particular Vets practice used to work with a Rodentologist lady who ran guinea pig clinics there...not sure if she still works with them but she has been very highly recommended to me in the past.
 
I'm phoning a guinea pig specialist in a few minutes once I get her number from my sister.

Hopefully she can help Gilbert. I hope I don't lose him, he's only a year old.
 
Its a bit tricky...but how I did it was -

Sat Rod in a big bowl and fed him cucumber until he peed (!)...I had a small syringe handy and just syringed it up. You have to store it in a fridge until you get it to the vet.

Good luck!
 
Ohh that doesn't seem too hard. He's not overly fond of cucumber as he much prefers carrot. I cut that down once I heard it can cause problems but he used to demand it. I sometimse wonder if thats what caused the stones.

I'll see if I can do that after I've phoned this woman. My sister's just looking for the number and she's going to phone me once she's found it.
 
Julesie said:
How do I take a urine test?
Click to expand...

If you want to collect a sample to take for the Vet to test then get your piggy to wee in a container which is as clean as possible. (Some use the plastic base of a spare cage or a plastic pet carrier but you can basically use any plastic container which has been thoroughly cleaned.) Wait for piggy to wee - you can encourage this by feeding cucumber - then collect the wee and pop it in a sterile sample pot. The easiest way to collect it is to use a sterile disposable plastic syringe. If not needed straight away then keep the sample in the fridge.

....oh I see I'm too late and first time piggie mum has already posted!
 
I spoke to a specialist named Alison and she's told me to bring my two boars round on sunday to her. She's going to take care of them for a few days and administer the correct treatments.
She's also going to check my younger boars too. She was very helpful and lovely. =)
 
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