Hi guys, I'm new here. I have a 1 year 8 month old abyssian male. Basically, he had pneumonia and after baytril became constipated and we gave critical care and he was fine. But i feel like he still isnt pooping like he used to or I'm just paying too much attention. Is it normal for piggies to NOT poop 100 times?
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Pooping
- Thread starter ami10515
- Start date
Siikibam
Forum Donator 2022/23
Guinea pigs can’t be constipated so that’s out of the question. Do you mean he seems to be pooping less? If that’s the case then he’s not eating enough hay. Have you been topping him up with syringe feeds in the time he’s been ill with pneumonia? How has his weight been?
Poop output is 1-2 days behind so if he’s only just started eating well today then it won’t show until 1-2 days’ time. I would weigh him daily for now and top up with syringe feed (soaked pellets will do the job for now) until he’s able to maintain his weight and gain (if he lost).
Are you planning to bond him with another piggy once he’s back in tip top shape?
Poop output is 1-2 days behind so if he’s only just started eating well today then it won’t show until 1-2 days’ time. I would weigh him daily for now and top up with syringe feed (soaked pellets will do the job for now) until he’s able to maintain his weight and gain (if he lost).
Are you planning to bond him with another piggy once he’s back in tip top shape?
So he like had pneumonia a month ago, the vet gave antibiotics this pink one and Thurston, my guinea pig like couldnt poop or struggled. He was normal after three days and his doc said his infection and pneumonia was going down. Then, the wheezing still didnt go away so he prescribed baytril, immediately Thurston couldnt poop, he would try and it went on for a week and the vet just said oh hes fine just feed him greens since he wasnt eating hay or drinking water normally. So we gave critical care for one day and he was fine, he ate hay etc and is still eating everything and drinking normally. He isnt struggling to poop or anything but I just feel like hes not pooping as much but hes constantly eating hay.
As siikibam has said, piggies don’t get constipated. If they stop pooping it’s because food intake has dropped. It was not fine that he was only eating veg and not eating hay. It is essential that they eat hay constantly to be able to maintain normal gut function. hay needs to make up 80% of their daily food intake. They should only be given 50g worth of veg per day which makes up just 15% of the daily food intake. So you can see if he stopped eating hay then his food intake drooped dramatically - this is why there would have been poop problems. You also cannot judge how much hay they are eating by eye- the only way to know a piggy is eating enough is to weigh the piggy regularly.
Baytril can disrupt the normal gut bacteria so when a piggy is put on antibiotics they can stop eating enough and therefore stop pooping properly. The response to this is for you to syringe feed them for the duration of their time on the antibiotics but also give a probiotic alongside which can help settle their tummy and help combat the loss of appetite for hay.
Guinea pigs should be weighed weekly as part of lifelong routine care but when they are poorly, weighing needs to be stepped up and they should then be weighed every day during their illness. If a piggy who is ill is losing weight, then they need to be syringe fed multiple times a day (sometimes round the clock when they stop eating hay - as mentioned eating veggies does not help as it is such a tiny proportion of their normal food intake) to replace the hay they aren’t eating for themselves and stop the weight loss. You can then reduce syringe feeding once the illness has passed and piggy begins eating enough hay for themselves to start putting weight back on.
If his poops aren’t normal or he is doing less of them, then the reason is most likely because of reduced hay intake. Please weigh him daily and syringe feed if he is losing weight as that means he isn’t eating enough hay as you think.
Not Eating, Weight Loss And The Importance Of Syringe Feeding Fibre
Weight - Monitoring and Management
Baytril can disrupt the normal gut bacteria so when a piggy is put on antibiotics they can stop eating enough and therefore stop pooping properly. The response to this is for you to syringe feed them for the duration of their time on the antibiotics but also give a probiotic alongside which can help settle their tummy and help combat the loss of appetite for hay.
Guinea pigs should be weighed weekly as part of lifelong routine care but when they are poorly, weighing needs to be stepped up and they should then be weighed every day during their illness. If a piggy who is ill is losing weight, then they need to be syringe fed multiple times a day (sometimes round the clock when they stop eating hay - as mentioned eating veggies does not help as it is such a tiny proportion of their normal food intake) to replace the hay they aren’t eating for themselves and stop the weight loss. You can then reduce syringe feeding once the illness has passed and piggy begins eating enough hay for themselves to start putting weight back on.
If his poops aren’t normal or he is doing less of them, then the reason is most likely because of reduced hay intake. Please weigh him daily and syringe feed if he is losing weight as that means he isn’t eating enough hay as you think.
Not Eating, Weight Loss And The Importance Of Syringe Feeding Fibre
Weight - Monitoring and Management
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Thank you! He does eat hay I thought i me tioned that, he has gone back to pulling and eating all the hay in the world but just not pooping a lot. So i do not know. But i will definitely start weighing him regularly
Is he definitely not doing many poops?
Poop output is 1-2 days behind input, so what he poops today reflects what he ate yesterday, if he didn’t eat enough yesterday then he won’t poop much today etc
Generally though, lack of poop is because they are not eating as much as you actually think, as mentioned you cannot judge hay intake by eye, the only way to know is to weigh your piggy. If you haven’t been weighing him regularly up until now that you can’t know he has been eating enough - hence it may be the explanation for the low poop output - hay intake is very deceptive. Weigh him daily while you have concerns.