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Repeated Bloat

Ali P

Ali P

Junior Guinea Pig
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My poor pig is with the vets tonight after a second bout of acute bloat. She pulled through last time after having burp medication and having excess air removed by needle :yikes: She has been fine for a month but again has the same symptoms today. Does anyone have any ideas what could be causing this? I have avoided an 'bloat related ' veg i.e brocolli,cabbage , etc since the first episode and she has been ok until today. When she was at the vets last time they did an xray and could find no masses or obstructions which they were expecting. Does anyone have an experience of bloat-prone g piggies and how to manage this?
 
Sometimes bloating can be associated with gynaecological issues. One of my sows was bloaty. After she was spayed for ovarian cysts she was much better. Once a piggy has had bloat they are more prone to getting it again. I identified that grass, broccoli and carrots were triggers for my bloaty sow.
 
Thank you how did the vet identify the gynaecological issue?...I do give a fair bit of carrots but she has been ok for a month and now I am avoiding so much veg as the other pig can't have veg high in calcium!
 
Ali P said:
Thank you how did the vet identify the gynaecological issue?...I do give a fair bit of carrots but she has been ok for a month and now I am avoiding so much veg as the other pig can't have veg high in calcium!
Click to expand...

Behavioural issues such as constant rumbling, aggression towards her cage mate, seeming to be in permanent state of season. Ovarian cysts were confirmed on examination and on ultrasound scan.
 
Ok thanks doesn't sound like Fidget...she is the laid back one. Will just have to see what the vet comes up with.
 
@Ali P Has there been anything different that you've fed your pig recently? Have you prepared the food differently? Has she been acting differently?

Although a reaction to a certain food is the usual suspect there are various other causes.

I've heard of pigs with breathing issues sometimes getting a bit bloated from swallowing too much air.

I had a pig get bloat from medication, and one became bloated when I'd rushed to feed them and gave them cold veg! Odd as no other pig ever reacted to cold veg.

One of my current boys gets a bit bloaty if I feed him too much veg. His cagemate can eat veg all day long and be fine but a normal portion size for him upsets his stomach.
 
Thanks I am wondering if she now just has a sensitive digestive system and I need to reduce veg. As you say my other pig can eat it all day and is constantly wheeking for more ...maybe I have given in too much :(
 
Perhaps his gut isn't quite working right, and he has an excess of one of the usual gut bacteria which is producing more gas eventually than he can get rid of. If something like that were the case, you could have some of his poop tested to find out which bacteria is causing the issue and which medicine would sort it out.
 
Yeah, @Qualcast&Flymo makes a good point. A poop test is always good, even if it just rules out gut bacteria issues.

I have a pig with digestive issues, but thankfully he never bloats. A poop test showed a fungal issue which we treat with medication.

That may be worth a try @Ali P . It's possible to go direct to the lab for tests if your vet doesn't want to try it.

Also, have you given/are you giving your piggy probiotics?
 
Ongoing bloating is a difficult one, most of the time we never come to the conclusion of what's actually wrong with them sadly. The most common problem in rabbits and occasionally guinea pigs is either a partial blockage (perhaps a small amount of hair or other debris eaten) which is causing gas build up in the stomach. Or sometimes disbiosis which is an imbalance of bacteria in the guts, it's not caused by veg usually, more likely a overfeeding of carbohydrates such as too much muesli, oats or bran for example. These can turn into sugars and cause overgrowth of clostridium and imbalance the gut bacteria growth causing gas to build up. Bloat sometimes goes hand in hand with an illness so if your little one is under the weather she may be getting bloat episodes. Sadly all you can do is manage it. Drugs such as metoclopramide will help the stomach empty and other drugs such as Zantac and cisapride will help with the gut movement. Pain relief if also really vital is its painful for piggies. Other things you can do is encouraging exercise to help with gut movement and syringe feeding high fibre food. The fibre in the food will help hormones be released to improve gut motility.

Sorry your little one is poorly. Hope she feels better soon.
 
Thank you for all the advice she is still at the vets as she has not started eating again this time so they are syringe feeding and hydrating. They are trying stronger pain relief and some gut motility meds as well. Just hoping she can pull thru again :(
 
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