Soft poops again :(

[Sodapops]

I need some advice,

Ive got a little sow who a few weeks ago was having soft poops (they kinda looked like cow pats - if that makes sense) - i immediately removed anything that may have caused it (i removed the carrot and apple hay, blackcurrant and oregano pellets and all veg)

She was on a hay and pellet only diet for around 8 days - over the last week or so ive slowly been adding veg back in to her diet and carefully checking her poops daily.

for the last 4 days she's been having: 1 piece of cucumber, a slice of carrot, 1 green bean, a small amount of romaine lettuce and a small amount of sweetcorn - her poops have been fine until this afternoon when i took her out for a cuddle - my hands were covered in very soft poop (even softer than before). The last time she had her veg was around 10pm last night and as far as i can tell they've been ok till this afternoon.

Obviously as she's a longer-haired girl i bathed her and cleaned her up - again she'll be on a hay and pellet only diet - question is, how can see get a varied diet if she spends more time without veg than she does with.

This is exactly the same as before - she was going fine with her variety of veg and then out of the blue she had the soft poops - it's as if she's fine for a time and then it starts to upset her tummy.

I'm at a loss what to do :{

 

[Abi_nurse]

Instead of giving one piece of each veg, try just one at a time and only one type of veg a day. That way you might find out what upsets her tummy. If it persists it might be that she has a enteritis (gut infection) and you should see a vet to get some advice.

x.

 

[Sodapops]

Instead of giving one piece of each veg, try just one at a time and only one type of veg a day. That way you might find out what upsets her tummy. If it persists it might be that she has a enteritis (gut infection) and you should see a vet to get some advice.

That's what i did do {:|

The 1 piece of cucumber, a slice of carrot, 1 green bean, a small amount of romaine lettuce and a small amount of sweetcorn is the result of 2weeks of slowly adding the veg - 1 at a time.

When i first got her she was on carrot and cucumber for the first 5 days with no probs, so can safely say it's not that - the green bean she had by itself for 4 days - so again it can't be that - the lettuce and sweetcorn she had with no probs for 4 days - so i'm at a complete loss as to what's caused the runny poop....

Her pellets and hay are the same brand she's had since we got her nearly 7wks ago..

7wks on and she's still not on a regular diet of fresh veg....

 

[HairlessWillow7]

Have you tried giving her any probiotic when she gets soft poos? My Willow has digestive problems and probiotic helps her a lot!

 

[Sodapops]

Have you tried giving her any probiotic when she gets soft poos? My Willow has digestive problems and probiotic helps her a lot!

I hadn't thought of that - so just syringed her some now - will see how things progress

So how do you tell if a guinea pig has digestive problems? I did assume something to do with digestion because she goes fine for a week on the veg variety then gets soft poops out of the blue - rather strange.

How do you deal with willow's digestive problems? do you just give veg as normal and if you spot soft poops give a probiotic? How will a vet diagnose digestive problems?

 

[HairlessWillow7]

My vet has only told me to do what I've been doing with her digestive problems. I give her probiotic when she gets soft poo, diarrhea, and/or gas. I also stop her supply of veggies and give her only pellets and timothy hay. It's worked very well Of course, Willow would prefer to have veggies at all times

 

[Pebble]

"Cow patty" faeces over a prolonged period are not indicative of a "merely" greens-sensitive digestion problem.

Normally I would suggest withdawal of all veg and 2mg/kg zantac as per my vet....but this doesn't sound as though it applies to your case.

Personally I think you need your vet to take a faecal culture and send it away for analysis in order to ascertain what is causing the digestive uset. I'm sorry but you have tried a variety of measures to date and there are still "cow pats"....this means a real possibility of bacteral/parasitic digestive infection

Beter safe than sorry

HTH
x

 

[Sodapops]

Thanks for the replies

I'm sorry but you have tried a variety of measures to date and there are still "cow pats"....this means a real possibility of bacteral/parasitic digestive infection

Ive had her for around 7wks now and this is the second time she's had soft poops - a bacterial/parasitic digestive infection may be plausible if she's consistently had the soft poops. We'd had her around 3-4wks when she first experienced soft poops - by this time she's already been slowly introduced and was happily eating a wide variety of veg (including grass and dandellion leaves). At first i suspected the new Naturals Carrot and Apple hay was the cause since she'd never been given apple - so i automatically assumed it was this that was the problem. I then removed all veg and anything 'new' food wise for around 8 days.

For the last 2-3wks we have slowly been adding veg 1 type at a time and checking her poops daily. Just like before the first episode of soft poops she was pelleting fine - they were of a normal colour and shape.

My assumption was that an infection based illness didn't just go away and keep re-appearing every so often, but was there all the time regardless? Surely if she had a parasitic/bacterial type illness her poops would be soft all the time regardless of diet?

I appreciate all the replies - i'm sure i'll eventually get to the bottom of what's happening