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Small Poops But No Visible Impaction

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LilPiggyLulu

Junior Guinea Pig
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Hi, i am new to the forum and have never used one before, so please bear with me :)
One of by boars (4yrs old, un-neutered) has small but healthy looking poops, sometimes teardrop shaped or round, sometimes normal looking but mini. He is drinking normally and eating normally (he loves his food) so i don't think he is dehydrated. I have checked daily for impaction but his anal area is clear of any blockage.
He had dental surgery under anaesthetic 2 month ago as he became very unwell due to malocclusion of his molars. He stopped eating as much and lost a lot of weight. His poops at the time were very bad condition due to this, but since then, he is back to his cheeky self and is slowly putting the weight back on. I have been supplementing his usual diet with Oxbow Critical Care and he is currently 895g.
Can a boar have impaction higher up the digestive tract that may cause smaller poop? or could it be due to his small weight and being post-op?
Any help will be greatly appreciated, thankyou :)
 
Hello, Welcome to the forum. We are here to help best we can.

Have his poos been small ever since he has been recovering?
 
Hello, Welcome to the forum. We are here to help best we can.

Have his poos been small ever since he has been recovering?
Hi, thankyou for the welcome. yes they were normal up until his tooth problem started to affect his eating 2 months ago. At that time, he ate very little and was very poorly. He eats a bit slower now due to having his teeth trimmed but he is slowly gaining weight (i weigh both my boars everyday now) Poops now are smooth and not dry (sorry for all the poop detail!)
 
It will more than likely be caused by the amount of food going in. If there was a blockage you'd be seeing no poop.
Just tagging a few of our H&I experts into this thread
@helen105281
@Pebble
@Elwickcavies
@Abi_nurse

We have a piggy with jaw issues and she has to be fed separately to her friends, she eats really slowly too.

Could you add your location to your profile also if possible :)
 
I have (hopefully) added my location (Shropshire) Thankyou for the help :) I don't want to be missing any signs of illness again!
 
I agree that it is most likely related to the amount of food going in, though my smaller pigs do do smaller poos. If they are healthy looking though and he is not struggling to pass them I would not worry too much.
 
Agree with the above -Tear-drop or tapered poos are not normal in an un-neutered boar - suggesting not enough fibre is going through his gut on a daily basis at the moment. He is most likely eating less hay than he used to hence the reduction in poo size. I have observed this in my own dental pigs when they have a vastly reduced hay consumption compared to previously.

Carson has recovered well and (despite losing an incisor permanently) is back to eating his normal quantities of hay (and poo size has returned to normal). Valentine had a molar extraction 3 weeks ago and, despite still being on pain relief, is clearly still not happy eating hay. This is accepted given his issues (involving a permanent jaw deformity) are somewhat unique and will be a long term ongoing conidtion to manage. Currently, providing he has adequate pain relief, he can just about maintain his weight eating softened or liquidised nuggets (although he gets topped up twice a day by syringe feeding). He eats virtually no hay and his poos are small and very soft. If I add green veggies, the lack of dry fibre in his current diet from reduced hay intake means he gets diarrhoea very quickly.

Readigrass can be a good "half-way house" alternatvie to re-introduce a piggie to the delights of eating coarse fibre. You could also try including shredded kitchen roll or newspaper as pigs sometimes prefer this to hay when they are recovering from fibre imbalance. It may also be worth putting in a bowl of water (both my above pigs now refuse to drink from a water bottle)

As it's been 2 months since the dental, I would have expected his hay intake, weight and poos to have returned to normal I would therefore keep a watchful eye on him (and keep weighing daily) as it does suggest he is still finding it uncomfortable to eat and his dental issue may be more than just "a simple one-off spur removal". Often there is an underlying infection that takes time to show up. Has he been Xrayed?

If there is no improvement in his hay intake/poop appearance etc within the next 3-4 weeks (or if he starts giong downhill) I would be looking at further investigations. Depending upon the experience fo your vet, you may like to look at taking your piggie to see Simon Maddock at Cat and Rabbit in Northampton as he offers conscious oral exams/dentals and has a lot o experience with piggie dentition.

I do hope that the dental sorted your piggie's issues and that it is just a case of him learning to eat again properly (which can take some time)
xx
 
Thankyou for your time in replying. That sounds very sensible advice.
I will continue monitoring him and will get some Readigrass to try him with. I have seen him eat little bits of hay but it is hard to tell if it is less than before the dental work as he shares it with his cagemate.
He has not had an x-ray as he did not take well to anaesthetic and so the vet just did the necessary dental work. I was told the malocclusion may return and i was looking for someone who has more experience with guinea pigs just in case, so thankyou for the suggestion of Simon Maddock :)
I'm a bit more reassured now and will keep a close eye on him. Hopefully he will get back to his normal pooping self soon!
 
Pebble has covered all the bases, I think, and I agree that it's probably throughput that is the issue. Another option might be Fibreplex, which you can get from your vet or cheaper on line. It is very high in fibre and also contains probiotic and so may just help to get things moving.
 
Hi, i didn't know whether to start a new thread but i thought i would post an update.

My guinea pig mentioned above (called Big Pig) became slightly withdrawn last week and lost a bit more weight. He was eating all types of food normally but maybe even less. My local vet examined his mouth and said his teeth were overgrown again. I was uncertain this was the cause as last time it occured, he was mashing food and spitting it out. I also felt like he never went back to normal after the malocclusion treatment in December.

I decided to take your advice and contact Simon Maddock. We took Big Pig to see him yesterday and it was completely worth the 2.5 hour drive! He gave him a full check over and immediately found an abscess on the tongue. His teeth were fine. Simon anaesthetised him to investigate and flush the abscess.

Big Pig is now eating small amounts of soft food and has been given strong antibiotics and painkiller/anti-inflammatory. I just hope he recovers fully, puts on weight and becomes a real big pig again! (Its very confusing as his cage-mate is called Little Pig but is twice the size!)
 
That is great news! I hope that Big Pig will recover well and smoothly!

You may need to top him up with hand feed and water for a few more days to make sure that he is eating enough. Weigh him daily at the same time to check on his weight/food intake.
 
Wow - Spooky!

I guess you were the people who went in to see Simon just before me on Tuesdsay ( I was the dishvelled mad woman with 3 pet carriers!)

So glad you got a definitive diagnosis and treatment .
Tongue abcess is very unusual . It was a good call you went to see Simon as these are the types oif cases where he really demonstrates his"value-added" knowledge/expertise etc
Keeping fingers and paws crossed that BP will now be on the mend
x
 
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I'm not sure how, but he seems to have hurt his leg and doesn't want to move around. He doesn't want to wash in the normal position, on his hind legs.

I have put him in a small cage and surrounded him with food and watery veg. I've also lowered the water bottle and made up a little pot of Critical Care.

Is there anything else i can do and do leg injuries usually heal fairly quick? I'm so worried as i have to go to work afternoons/evenings. I just hope he eats something in that time.
 
yes, he is on Metacam (and antibiotics) prescribed by the vet. It is 1.5mg/ml oral suspension. 0.2ml twice daily
 
That sounds a reasonable dose and should keep him comfortable. You could always call Simon to get his opinion?
 
Thankyou. I just hope he feels better soon as with the painful tongue and now this, i don't think he is eating as much. I will syringe feed him later after work and ring simon in the morning if there is no improvement.
 
Wow - Spooky!

I guess you were the people who went in to see Simon just before me on Tuesdsay ( I was the dishvelled mad woman with 3 pet carriers!)

So glad you got a definitive diagnosis and treatment .
Tongue abcess is very unusual . It was a good call you went to see Simon as these are the types oif cases where he really demonstrates his"value-added" knowledge/expertise etc
Keeping fingers and paws crossed that BP will now be on the mend
x

I don't remember seeing you. Had a 3.30pm appt and only just made it in time thanks to an incident on the M1 and roadworks. Have not long spoken to simon who has advised me to increase Metacam to 0.25ml. I am syringe feeding Critical Care as much as possible so fingers crossed he pulls through. He has been what keeps me going for the last 4 years along with Little Pig! x
 
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