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Quick bloat question

Coco&Luna

Coco&Luna

Adult Guinea Pig
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Feeding loads of readigrass, giving toilet roll tubes stuffed with readigrass, messaging her belly and putting her in my foot spa wrapped in a towel lol. But I can't remember for the life of me if I should be giving or witholding vegetables?

Thank you
 
I would withhold veggies for now, particulary as some veggies can trigger bloat in sensitive piggies.
I think the key with bloat is fibre, fibre, fibre (so hay).
Also massage (which you are doing) and getting her moving around (so floor time).

Is she on any other meds for the bloat?
 
Coco&Luna said:
Feeding loads of readigrass, giving toilet roll tubes stuffed with readigrass, messaging her belly and putting her in my foot spa wrapped in a towel lol. But I can't remember for the life of me if I should be giving or witholding vegetables?

Thank you
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Here is our bloat advice. Please see a vet promptly for medication. Bloat is a serious condition. Do not feed veg, in case one of them has caused the bloating.
Bloat, GI Stasis ( No Gut Movement) And Not Eating
 
Swissgreys said:
I would withhold veggies for now, particulary as some veggies can trigger bloat in sensitive piggies.
I think the key with bloat is fibre, fibre, fibre (so hay).
Also massage (which you are doing) and getting her moving around (so floor time).

Is she on any other meds for the bloat?
Click to expand...
Yeah, took her to the vets yesterday. She's on ranitidine and painkiller. She's done quite a few misshapen poops overnight so I'm gunna put her back in the pig room with the girls tonight as long as she keeps popping throughout the day. She'll be sick of listening to me snoring in bed next to her lol
 
Bloat can come back so hang on to any left over meds just in case, but always phone the vet to check- often if you just phone to say, my bloaty pig bloated again, should I give the same meds, they will say ok and bring them in if they dont improve or get worse in the next few hours. Puggle had 6 or 7 bloaty episodes about once a week after her first bad acute bloat attack, and it really helped having the meds there when it came on late saturday night/early sunday morning- that happened 3 times! After the 6th or 7th weekly bloat she got prescribed enough ranitidine to last 3 months just in case it was a permanent thing, but typical awkward piggy she hasnt bloated at all since then and can even eat coriander now which we think was the trigger food... I still have the ranitidine just in case though, and I'm always watching her when she has coriander or broccolli or one spinach leaf too many just in case!
 
PigglePuggle said:
Bloat can come back so hang on to any left over meds just in case, but always phone the vet to check- often if you just phone to say, my bloaty pig bloated again, should I give the same meds, they will say ok and bring them in if they dont improve or get worse in the next few hours. Puggle had 6 or 7 bloaty episodes about once a week after her first bad acute bloat attack, and it really helped having the meds there when it came on late saturday night/early sunday morning- that happened 3 times! After the 6th or 7th weekly bloat she got prescribed enough ranitidine to last 3 months just in case it was a permanent thing, but typical awkward piggy she hasnt bloated at all since then and can even eat coriander now which we think was the trigger food... I still have the ranitidine just in case though, and I'm always watching her when she has coriander or broccolli or one spinach leaf too many just in case!
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I've got a good bit of the ranitidine and a full bottle of metacam so I'll hang onto it. I thought only gassy veggies like cabbage, sprouts etc caused bloat and otherwise it was just one of those things that happen. Didn't know corriander could cause it at all. I gave her butternut squash the other day and it was the first time they'd ever had it. So maybe it was that then...
Thanks alot.
 
Poop output is always good.
I’d avoid all veg until poop is back to normal. Then introduce a single veg in small amount and monitor effect. If no issue, then at next feed time add another single veg and again monitor. That’s how I found out that broccoli and grass were Connie’s key triggers. It’s an ongoing process while you work out what started it. Good luck.
 
Two of my pigs suffered from extremely bad bloat and the vet gave them infacol like for babies with colic and wind . You can buy it at the supermarket but do ask your vet about it first and for dosage. It really helped with my pigs.
 
Tabybim said:
Two of my pigs suffered from extremely bad bloat and the vet gave them infacol like for babies with colic and wind . You can buy it at the supermarket but do ask your vet about it first and for dosage. It really helped with my pigs.
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Hi! Please accept that we do no longer recommend infacol. It collects the gas in one big bubble instead of dispersing it, which can make things worse instead of better in some cases. The recommendation is from an experienced guinea pig keeping exotics nurse and parallels my own experiences.
Bloat, GI Stasis ( No Gut Movement) And Not Eating
 
The vet who prescribed the infacol was himself an exotics expert but I respect your opinion. It did help my pigs tremendously but I suppose every case is different.
 
I mentioned infacol to my vet when Puggle had acute bloat as I'd read about it as a possible treatment and she strongly advised against it, she said it could collect the gas in one place and rupture the gut. I guess it might depend on how severe the bloat and where the gas is though, Puggle had xrays and just had 2 enormous gas bubbles in a very narrow section of her small intestine...
 
@VickiA thanks alot for the food advice! That's really helpful.

@Tabybim thank you for the advice. I wouldn't use Infacol, I'm so glad it worked for your piggy though! I always keep some babies gripe water from the chemist on stand by which I used a few times with her before I got the ranitidine.

She seems alot better. Poops are staring to look normal. Phew! Let's hope it stays that way.
 
Coco&Luna said:
@VickiA thanks alot for the food advice! That's really helpful.

@Tabybim thank you for the advice. I wouldn't use Infacol, I'm so glad it worked for your piggy though! I always keep some babies gripe water from the chemist on stand by which I used a few times with her before I got the ranitidine.

She seems alot better. Poops are staring to look normal. Phew! Let's hope it stays that way.
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Just hang in there; severe bloat comes in waves so you are not fully out of the woods yet and won't be for the next few weeks.
But it is a very good sign that the poos are firming up and that things are moving in the right direction. Please read the advice in our bloat care guide.

Personally I have found gripe water better in dispersing gas. However, key to serious bloat treatment are zantac/ranitidine and emeprid, as gripe water is not strong enough on its own. And the other key is syringe feeding support to keep the guts moving and digestion running as much as possible. ;)

All the best for a full recovery!
 
It has been along time since any of my Guinea pigs suffered bloat and in fact the pigs I mentioned have since died (old age.)
 
Tabybim said:
It has been along time since any of my Guinea pigs suffered bloat and in fact the pigs I mentioned have since died (old age.)
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Aww I'm so sorry. Well at least they had a long life with someone who clearly loved them!
 
Coco&Luna said:
Aww I'm so sorry. Well at least they had a long life with someone who clearly loved them!
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Ooooohhhhhh myyyyy gawwwd.
I love him! I've never even seen a skinny pig IRL. I just wanna hold one for a minute! 😥 lol
 
Back in her hospital bed.
 

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