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Salvatore's Internal Poop Ball

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Pat Shields

Pat Shields

Adult Guinea Pig
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I hope this is the right forum; it's not really an illness but it might be a health issue.

For the most part his poops are normal, moist, and of a good quantity. However, twice now in two months as seen upon a general inspection the poop has formed a soft, shapeless, smelly mass inside him just before it gets to the outside. I have massaged it out, and after that things are back to normal. In fact, after the first removal the regular-shaped ones came spilling out.

It isn't hard and immovable like an impaction, and he does not appear to be in distress or pain, and would rather me leave his bum alone than to get the thing out. I am wondering what might be causing this. His diet has not changed. I am thinking that maybe since it is summer he gets too hot to move around even though he is in a large, cool space. I am thinking that as a result of sitting in one place the stuff gets mashed into a ball instead of coming out all over his cage as usual.

If anybody has anything to offer, I'd like to hear it. Salvatore is probably 3 years old now, if that makes any difference.
 
Thanks so much. About his being male, and having those boy bits - the bits are rather large, I think even for a guinea pig, and I have caught myself thinking as he sits and rests that sitting on them just HAS to hurt on some level. It was thinking about that which led me to the supposition that maybe the above-described condition is caused by him sitting on that area so solidly.
 
Hi Pat

Was thinking about you the other day and wondering where you had got to. Hope you;re well.

Think this article in guinea lynx answers your questions - they're the soft caecotrophs that are normally re-eaten but in older boars can get stuck as the muscles weaken. It oinly becomes hard if it is not removed over a period of several weeks. I check my older boars weekly and remove gently with a cotton bud and present it it them to eat (making sure they dont eat the cotton wool from the bud with it!)

http://www.guinealynx.info/impaction.html

x
 
Thank you for the link, Pebble. The "before" and "after" photos look exactly like what I find with Sal. I didn't realize he is an "older boar". Per the advice given in the article, I'm going to cut back on the carrots and push the hay. Today I took all the little catkin/seed heads of the timothy hay in Sal's cage and piled them all in one place. He really liked that and stayed there until he had eaten all of them.

I am doing just fine, thanks for asking. I've just been sans Internet at the house, and the library's Internet wouldn't let me log in here, something about social networking being evil. I finally got an affordable service so I'm back, even if only sporadically.
 
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