Questions After Vet Visit

[Siikibam]

My piggies now get their veg once a day (afternoon). So they get all above mentioned in one sitting. If I do give them lettuce in the morning, then they have a sprig if coriander in the afternoon along with the rest of the veg. But that’s not very often.

s @Piggies&buns said, whatever portion it is should be split between two feeds if you want to feed twice. But hay should make up the majority of the diet, and should be available to them at all times.

As long as you’re feeding them basics they should be getting enough vitamin c and multivits. I don’t feel there is the need for supplemental vitamins.

Can I ask why changed their hay and pellets again? What were they on previously? I’m not sure that doing so would lead to less pooping. Did it happen before they started on the antibiotics? When you say lack of poops how much is in the cage if you don’t spot clean till evening?

I mean this gently but I think you also need to stop worrying so much. If the fluctuation is only ~30g between days then that’s not bad. When you’d start to worry is a greater loss day by day. You should try to relax and enjoy your piggies. If they’re bumbling around like piggies do, then they’re fine.

 

[ashleemelda]

My piggies now get their veg once a day (afternoon). So they get all above mentioned in one sitting. If I do give them lettuce in the morning, then they have a sprig if coriander in the afternoon along with the rest of the veg. But that’s not very often.

s @Piggies&buns said, whatever portion it is should be split between two feeds if you want to feed twice. But hay should make up the majority of the diet, and should be available to them at all times.

As long as you’re feeding them basics they should be getting enough vitamin c and multivits. I don’t feel there is the need for supplemental vitamins.

Can I ask why changed their hay and pellets again? What were they on previously? I’m not sure that doing so would lead to less pooping. Did it happen before they started on the antibiotics? When you say lack of poops how much is in the cage if you don’t spot clean till evening?

I mean this gently but I think you also need to stop worrying so much. If the fluctuation is only ~30g between days then that’s not bad. When you’d start to worry is a greater loss day by day. You should try to relax and enjoy your piggies. If they’re bumbling around like piggies do, then they’re fine.

I originally used the Kaytee Timothy Hay that you can buy at Walmart due to limited resources and finances while being in-between jobs since shortly after I first got them in June of this year. After several instances where I was getting splinters while handling and refilling the hay, I became increasingly unnerved by its coarseness and decided to switch to Oxbow Timothy Hay/Orchard Grass Blend, but this did not occur until the afternoon after the first vet visit on December 2, so around the same time they started the Bactrim antibiotic. As for the pellets, I decided to switch because I read on here that guinea pigs need plain pellets, whereas I had been feeding them Wild Harvest's Advanced Nutrition which contains seeds, nuts, corn, artificial colorings, and other products that promote selective feeding. Yesterday morning was my first time feeding them strictly Oxbow Essentials, and after about 5-10 minutes of protest predominately from Rose, they realized they had no other option and took to it right away, finishing it all in about 20 minutes.

Before this all started, their poop (especially when I'd wake up in the morning) was more than I felt I could handle. Additionally, after I would clean their cage and put them back, they would immediately start pooping again. This has not been the case since about November 23. I have also seemed to notice that they don't really poop at all until the afternoon after their 3:30pm veggie feeding of cucumber, green leaf lettuce, sweet pepper, cilantro, green bean, and celery. Rose's poop output seems to have increased a bit, and has certainly returned to their typical dark brown color, but Moira's have not (nor has her poop output increased any more). I have been to the vet three times since November 23 and they have not been able to pinpoint an exact reason for this sudden change, especially since it has affected both of them at the same time and in the same way.

I have hay placed in several locations throughout their cage, but since shortly before this all began, have noticed Moira not taking to the hay as much and tending to prefer to eat (enough to sustain her weight but not to gain) while her sister Rose is not there (Rose has started exhibiting normal dominance behavior such as rumble-struting such being moved into a bigger cage three weeks ago). I have started separating them while eating hay, pellets, and veggies as a result but it does not appear to be helping Moira in increasing her hay intake despite being available to her at all times and topped off several times throughout the day, especially when I leave the house.

 

[Piggies&buns]

Have they always shared their pellets and veg quite happily throughout this whole time (prior to you starting to separate to feed)? If there has been no issue in their ability to share pellets and veg throughout this whole time, then separating them to feed those items isn’t really going to make much of a difference now - I mean that they will continue to share if they are happy to share. If rose is and has been hogging all food types and all food bowls, chasing Moira away, then that is a separate bond related issue.

If they share pellets and veg happily but the problem is that Moira won’t eat enough hay when rose is around, then you couldn’t possibly separate them long enough to give Moira enough of a chance to eat enough hay and given the need to eat more hay than anything else, here lies the issue - hay eating is constant throughout the day, it’s not that they eat their daily fill of hay in one or two sittings. How is your cage set up? Maybe a loft can help in this kind of situation as one piggy can get well away from the other and eat elsewhere.

If Moira won’t eat anything when rose is near then there is a possibility that there is something else going on - not health related, but bond related (but would potentially manifest as a health issue as reduced food intake results in reduced poop output, and reduced food intake, in the absence of an obvious medical problem, might be down to a tense relationship in some cases). You havent reported any of the typical warning signs of a problematic bond and the fact that this is coinciding with antibiotics (which we know can, sometimes, disrupt the gut) means that bond problems wouldn’t be something to be too concerned about, rather just bear in mind if there isn’t an improvement once their guts are rebalanced following medication. It’s more that in the absence of a clear medical diagnosis and if the problem persists weeks after medication is out of the system so that that can be ruled out, then you look to other possibilities.

An increase in dominance behaviour is perfectly normal after an environmental change - you say you have changed their cage size.

With all that said, I would not overly worry about any of this. From what your vet has said, there is no immediate or obvious health concern. I would say to feed them according to the guides and monitor them and give their guts time to rebalance after the antibiotics, but don’t worry if they appear to be otherwise healthy and happy

 

[Siikibam]

Have you also though about trying a different type of hay?