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Talk to me about poo!

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Tangle

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Specifically, how long is it OK for a piggy to produce softish poos of variable size and shape before taking them to the vet?

Monday night all was well on the poop front, but Tuesday evening I noticed that there were a fair few poos that were either very large, or much shorter than normal and with a little stalk on the end. And lots of them were much softer than I'm used to. Both girls seemed fine in themselves and were happily eating hay, so they got no fresh anything (at which point they became most indignant and started complaining at length - poor starving pigs :eek:) and left in peace and quiet. Last night a similar tale - a mix of size, shapes and textures were there to be found so they got dry food only and lots more hay.

From what I can tell, Fudge is fine and its Jemima that's responsible for the irregularities. They did get more pepper than normal on Monday night, so I'm wondering if that was responsible. Tuesday I frantically scoured the guides and the advice seemed to be to keep a watching brief - but how long do we wait before seeking medical advice? She's not obviously uncomfortable - still jumping up and down off the furniture, coming over to say hello and see if I've decided to feed her yet and doing the odd popcorn when I open the hay box, but her poos are definitely not back to normal yet.
 
It’s usually just a sign of a slight upset tummy. Keep them off all veg for 48 hours. When you start giving veg again, introduce one at a time and small quantities. Maybe avid the particularly watery ones to start with.

I’d say if you have to do this several times and it’s happening again, then I’d take them to the vet.

Hopefully it’s a one off and will resolve itself this time.
 
So they’ve been off fresh food for a little over 24 hours, is that correct? Given they are both eating well and with no obvious signs of a issue at present I’d leave off the veg for another 24 hours and see how things go. Obviously step in with veterinary care much sooner if either of them deteriorate. Poop output is a couple of days behind so if they’ve been off fresh for up to 48 hours with no improvement then see a vet.
 
Thank you both :)

They'd normally get veg in the evening, so they had some Monday night but nothing since. There's definitely been more abnormal poop since I gave them a good clean out yesterday evening, but whether its generally improving or not is hard to tell.

Thinking about it there's been the odd time I've seen smaller poos with a stalk before, but there's never been very many of them and they've always been firm. I couldn't tell you which pig they came out of!

Hmm. With the weekend coming up I might see if there's an appointment tomorrow and if they're OK for me to cancel it if all is well by then.
 
Sounds like a good plan. Hopefully nothing more than a dodgy tum.
 
Annoyingly, the only appointment the vet had tomorrow clashed with something else I really don't want to cancel - so I'm taking her down this evening instead (I was really hoping they'd have a day time appointment, but needs must). At least she'll get checked over and hopefully we'll get some more info on what's going on.

Should I gather up some poos to take with me?
 
I don’t suppose it will hurt to take some with you - at least you can show rather than have to explain!
 
Tangle said:
Specifically, how long is it OK for a piggy to produce softish poos of variable size and shape before taking them to the vet?

Monday night all was well on the poop front, but Tuesday evening I noticed that there were a fair few poos that were either very large, or much shorter than normal and with a little stalk on the end. And lots of them were much softer than I'm used to. Both girls seemed fine in themselves and were happily eating hay, so they got no fresh anything (at which point they became most indignant and started complaining at length - poor starving pigs :eek:) and left in peace and quiet. Last night a similar tale - a mix of size, shapes and textures were there to be found so they got dry food only and lots more hay.

From what I can tell, Fudge is fine and its Jemima that's responsible for the irregularities. They did get more pepper than normal on Monday night, so I'm wondering if that was responsible. Tuesday I frantically scoured the guides and the advice seemed to be to keep a watching brief - but how long do we wait before seeking medical advice? She's not obviously uncomfortable - still jumping up and down off the furniture, coming over to say hello and see if I've decided to feed her yet and doing the odd popcorn when I open the hay box, but her poos are definitely not back to normal yet.
Click to expand...

Hi!

As long as any poos still have some shape right up to 'cow pads' and are not runny, we recommend to take your piggies off any desh veg until at least 24-48 hours after the poos have normalised.

If the poos have not firmed up within 24 or at least have firmed up considerably, please see a vet promptly (i.e. ideally within 24 during regular opening times). See a vet asap with runny diarrhea (risk of dehydration), if there are no noises coming from the gut (GI stasis), if it is poorly and not eating - in the latter case you will have to step in with round the clock syringe feeding care to help get it through the crisis.

Also see a vet if milder problems keep recurring.
 
Well, we're back home. Armed with a bottle of Emeprid, a syringe and a warning we weren't going to be popular...

The vet had a good prod and poke and look and feel and said it was possible it was just too much pepper served too cold BUT there were signs she had reduced gut motility. Her molars aren't perfect, but may not be causing a problem. So first plan is to try the Emeprid over the weekend and hope that resolves things. Reintroduce veg slowly (and at room temperature) and weigh daily. Report back next week unless she deteriorates over the weekend.

So over all, feeling more worried than I did when we went in but also very relieved that I did. Now, how do we bribe a pig to take this stuff?!
 
You won’t be able to bribe with veg so you’ll have to use your charms I’m afraid 😁🤷🏾‍♀️

Sounds like the vet knows what they’re doing. Hopefully the emeprid does the job and no further issues. But if there are you (and the vet) sound like you’ve got it in hand. Healing wheeks from our four 💕
 
Sounds like you did the right thing going to the vet, and your vet sounds very knowledgable about piggies! Healing wheeks, and good luck giving the medicine- you and the vet have picked up any potential problems very early so hopefully this will stop it developing into anything more serious!
 
Going to the vets is more of an expedition than I'd like but they do have a very good reputation for dealing with piggies, and experience today says its well earned (they're already in the vet locator ;)) :luv:.

So, Jemima concurs with the majority verdict that Emeprid is foul muck that shouldn't be allowed near lovely guinea pigs - we got the first dose down her. Typically, the poos I've seen this evening have all been looking FAR more normal than the ones I took to show the vet. And they were definitely from the right pig as they appeared while she was being medicated - definitely making her feelings known :lol:.

They both got a bit of pepper. A small piece of (room temperature) pepper. Which made them very, VERY happy, until they realised there was no more... Oh dear. It may take a little while to earn forgiveness for all of this!
 
Feeling mightily relieved. Miss Jemima Pants is seemingly back in top form and being her mischievous self again - although I'm feeling somewhat guilty for not realising how subdued she'd become until I compare to her now.

Looking back, the biggest thing we did wrong was to not start weighing them when we first noticed the funny poos - put her on the scale last night and she was down nearly 70g from the weekend :eek:. Consolation prize being she's soooo much perkier now and has put 18g back on in the last 24 hrs :clap:.
 
It sounds like your vet was definitely on the ball..great outcome! Hehe Miss Jemima Pants!

Love it xx :)
 
OK, so I'm going to check in with the vet anyway but give me your views on this:

- her poos are now firm, but on short side c/w Fudge's
- her weight is still low (and was slowly dropping, although we finally twigged if we weren't giving much veg we needed to up the pellets and that's helped 😳)

Does this sound within normal after a squidgy poo episode? On the way back to all OK, or do we need to be considering a follow up visit with the vet?
 
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