Teardrop poops improve with Critical Care?

[EllaJape]

Hi all,
Longtime lurker, first time poster. We have 2 piggies, sisters, both 1.5 years old. I’ll start by saying we’ve been to an exotics vet and she’s stumped.

About 6 months ago, they both started having weird poops - clumped together, some unusually large, a lot of tear-shaped ones, some crumbly. This began after a change in hay from silky soft (rye grass and meadow) to just meadow (due to supply issues).

I tried everything to eliminate the cause:
- removing certain veggies for over a week
- removing all veggies for over a week
- removing any cardboard chews
- doubling water available
- removing any hay treats / pellets
- removing Megazorb in case they were eating that

On the vet’s recommendation I added some probiotic pellets and switched hay to a different company, giving them a taster box so I could identify which hays they like best, and ended up on a mix of Rye Grass and Meadow. Due to human hay allergies, we’ve stuck with just Meadow for now.

They have plenty of hay access, a full 2x1 C&C section topped up to the brim so they can rummage and hide in it.

After weeks of this stripped back regime, no change, so I bought some EmerAid Critical Care and a paste Probiotic. Together, those two cleared up the problem - great, ok, it was an imbalance, sorted.

Then a few weeks later, the weird poops came back - some teardrop ones and some occasional large ones, crumbly ones. I broke out the EmerAid and the Probiotic again and that is clearing up the problem again.

So what is it that they’re missing from their diet that is causing this issue? It must be something they’re NOT eating that they need, isn’t it? That they’re getting from the EmerAid.

They currently have
- bell pepper (green, yellow, red on rotation)
- Romaine and red cos lettuce on rotation
- occasion parsley, carrot, cucumber, kale, broccoli leaves, apple slices (very rare the last one)
- Science Select pellets
- occasional vitamin treats (science select and oxbow)
- dandelion forage from Excel
- meadow hay
- water from two bottles
- an L-shaped C&C cage over recommended size, floor time twice a day
- bath mats in their cages washed in a small amount of Persil non-bio liquid

The vet wants to do scans and bloods but since it’s both of them, it feels like it’s environmental, and I don’t want to put them through that unless it’s a last resort, as they’re very nervous little rescues already.

They’re both fine in themselves, no signs of illness, just the weird poops!

What am I missing please? Any advice welcome! Thank you o wise ones

 

[Piggies&buns]

Pointed poops indicate a minor tummy upset - not enough good gut bacteria. This might explain why it improved when they were given probiotic, and the issue returned when they stopped having it.
Crumbly poop can indicate not enough water intake.

Did you stop giving the probiotic as soon as the poops returned to normal?
Can you try giving the probiotic for a lot longer (for several weeks) and see that if that helps settle it enough so you can stop it, and then see what happens once stopped
Did you reintroduce veg slowly and one at a time? (I note you say it took a few weeks before poops went wrong again so there may not be a connection though - usually if veg is reintroduced too quickly then you would expect to see the upset happen again much sooner

Wiebke's Guide to Poops

 

[weepweeps]

Hello and welcome to the forum. I’m sorry your girls are having poop issues. I hope you can get to the bottom of the issue.

 

[EllaJape]

Pointed poops indicate a minor tummy upset - not enough good gut bacteria. This might explain why it improved when they were given probiotic, and the issue returned when they stopped having it.
Crumbly poop can indicate not enough water intake.

Did you stop giving the probiotic as soon as the poops returned to normal?
Can you try giving the probiotic for a lot longer (for several weeks) and see that if that helps settle it enough so you can stop it, and then see what happens once stopped
Did you reintroduce veg slowly and one at a time? (I note you say it took a few weeks before poops went wrong again so there may not be a connection though - usually if veg is reintroduced too quickly then you would expect to see the upset happen again much sooner

Wiebke's Guide to Poops

Thank you. I kept up with the probiotic for an extra week, so it was probably a fortnight the had it.

I introduced lettuce first then bell pepper.

Will keep on with probiotic and critical care and see how they go

 

[Wiebke]

Thank you. I kept up with the probiotic for an extra week, so it was probably a fortnight the had it.

I introduced lettuce first then bell pepper.

Will keep on with probiotic and critical care and see how they go

Hi and welcome

Have you considered giving a course live healthy gut microbiome transfer from a healthy companion not on antibiotics themselves? When correctly it is more effective than any probiotics even though it goes by the moniker of 'poo soup'; however it mimics natural behaviour in recovering guinea pigs ('bum digging') and is one of the few home care remedies that has stood the test of time.
Give it twice a day, 3 ml of the poo soaked water from totally freshly dropped poos as the microbiome dies off very quickly once out of the body for several days. Ideally you take the companion out of the cage and give them something to eat, which usually triggers the bum end. From then on in you are on the ticker; ideally you want the dissolved microbiome containing fluid to get into the ill piggy's gut within 5-10 minutes for optimal effectiveness but you need to give the poos a bit of time to start leaking microbiome into the small amount of water you are soaking them in.
Unlike probiotic powder, the microbiome contains tailor-made natural and not stabilised/encapsulated standard gut microbiome that works for several species.
Probiotics & Live Gut Microbiome Transfer ('Poo Soup'); Recovery Formula Foods And Vitamin C: Overview With Product Links and Transfer Recipe

PS: When re-starting veg, it is always best to start with something like the fresh herbs in a piggy's diet (for all the little trace elements that are not in pellets) as they won't upset the gut microbiome, unlike lettuce.

 

[EllaJape]

Hi and welcome

Have you considered giving a course live healthy gut microbiome transfer from a healthy companion not on antibiotics themselves? When correctly it is more effective than any probiotics even though it goes by the moniker of 'poo soup'; however it mimics natural behaviour in recovering guinea pigs ('bum digging') and is one of the few home care remedies that has stood the test of time.
Give it twice a day, 3 ml of the poo soaked water from totally freshly dropped poos as the microbiome dies off very quickly once out of the body for several days. Ideally you take the companion out of the cage and give them something to eat, which usually triggers the bum end. From then on in you are on the ticker; ideally you want the dissolved microbiome containing fluid to get into the ill piggy's gut within 5-10 minutes for optimal effectiveness but you need to give the poos a bit of time to start leaking microbiome into the small amount of water you are soaking them in.
Unlike probiotic powder, the microbiome contains tailor-made natural and not stabilised/encapsulated standard gut microbiome that works for several species.
Probiotics & Live Gut Microbiome Transfer ('Poo Soup'); Recovery Formula Foods And Vitamin C: Overview With Product Links and Transfer Recipe

PS: When re-starting veg, it is always best to start with something like the fresh herbs in a piggy's diet (for all the little trace elements that are not in pellets) as they won't upset the gut microbiome, unlike lettuce.

Unfortunately I only have the two and they both seem to be affected.

Thank you for the tip re: herbs - will keep in mind!

 

[Wiebke]

I would recommend to leave out all fruit and sweet veg like carrots (which are like feeding block chocolate.

Something has obviously unbalaced their gut microbiome during the hay change, which may have happened to abruptly. Unfortunately, it can sometimes happen. The guinea pig digestive system is much more delicate than you'd think.

Do you know somebody with guinea pigs in your neighbourhood who may be able to help you out with lending you their piggies for a day for three portions of fresh poos? Or could a vet nurse help?