Small Poos but eating well?

[Milly Kennedy]

Hi,

My two female pigs recently (less than a month ago) had a URI and went on antibiotics but then a couple days later had a reaction to them and stopped eating so had to feed them critical care. They are a lot better now but have quite small poops (a little less then a cm) and are ever so slightly squishy. They are eating really well and finishing all there food as well as drinking water. They are active and normal I was just wondering if anything was obviously wrong and what i should do. I’m not overly concerned as the vet said they had good overall health so i was thinking are they just recovering? I have put them off veggies for a little less than 24 hours and have seen an ever so slight improvement, I would love some suggestions! Thanks

 

[Piggies&buns]

Antibiotics can affect their appetite so giving critical care is the right thing to do. Small poops can be a sign that not enough hay is being consumed. Giving probiotics while they are on antibiotics is advised as it can help stabilise the gut and replace gut bacteria.

As 80% of their food intake is hay but you cannot tell they are eating enough by eye, the only way to know they are definitely eating enough is by weighing them. Veggies and pellets jointly only account for 20% so eating those with vigour but not eating hay can mean their food intake has dropped considerably without any visible sign other than on the scales. Weight checks should be carried out weekly but when piggies are poorly you should switch to weighing them every day (at the same time each day). This also helps you adjust the amount of critical care you give accordingly during a period of illness to keep their weight stable

If their weights are not stable, then you should continue with critical care and see a vet

Weight - Monitoring and Management

 

[Milly Kennedy]

Hi, they are maintaining the their weight so otherwise should i be concerned?

 

[Piggies&buns]

That’s good
Give their system time to stabilise by being off veg and hopefully you will start to see an improvement in a few days.
See a vet if things don’t get better after a few days off veg