Tender Tummy

[Florrieberry]

Hiya,
One of our piggies, sow aged 2, was a bit of her food one day at the beginning of the month so as I was off to vet with Harvey, she came as well. Slightly gassy tummy was all vet could find, but said that could even been due to travelling. So had injection to stimulate gut and was fine after that. Back to normal same day.
Yesterday similar thing happened, came for veg but sat looking at hay with no interest Off to vet, slightly tender tummy, possibly digestion sluggish, same injection then back to normal by end of day. No change in diet to account for it Any ideas please? Thanks

 

[Janice C]

Hiya,
One of our piggies, sow aged 2, was a bit of her food one day at the beginning of the month so as I was off to vet with Harvey, she came as well. Slightly gassy tummy was all vet could find, but said that could even been due to travelling. So had injection to stimulate gut and was fine after that. Back to normal same day.
Yesterday similar thing happened, came for veg but sat looking at hay with no interest Off to vet, slightly tender tummy, possibly digestion sluggish, same injection then back to normal by end of day. No change in diet to account for it Any ideas please? Thanks

Is there a particular veg that she’s eating that could be causing this? Could have even been a veg she’s had up to two days before. Did he suggest any Fibreplex or similar to keep her gut stimulated? Plus keeping her off any gas increasing veg such as cabbage and other brassicas. Hope she’s ok. Xx

 

[Wiebke]

Hiya,
One of our piggies, sow aged 2, was a bit of her food one day at the beginning of the month so as I was off to vet with Harvey, she came as well. Slightly gassy tummy was all vet could find, but said that could even been due to travelling. So had injection to stimulate gut and was fine after that. Back to normal same day.
Yesterday similar thing happened, came for veg but sat looking at hay with no interest Off to vet, slightly tender tummy, possibly digestion sluggish, same injection then back to normal by end of day. No change in diet to account for it Any ideas please? Thanks

Hi

There is obviously something underlying going on; the cause of which may not necessarily lie in her guts, but can press on the guts to cause mild bloating and loss of appetite that comes back with an injection of gut stimulants; these add as a patch solution, but do not address the real issue. Loss of appetite is usually connected with a pain issue somewhere or with the mechanical inability to process food.

Please have her checked out by a piggy savvy vet, if necessary with a scan for potentially dental problems, ovarian cysts, bladder/urinary tract issues or tumours; if your girl has noticeably thickened guts in one area, then she may suffer from irritable bowel syndrome, which can also cause symptoms like your girl is experiencing.

At the moment, problems are obviously not too serious yet but unless a vet can find the cause, symptoms are likely to return and get worse over time. Sometimes when the symptoms are rather vague like in your case, it can be quite some detective work by a vet to figure out what is going on.

Here are our tips on what to do when you are dealing with loss of appetite, acute bloat or GI stasis (slowing down/stopping of the guts). I would recommend that you have got support feed etc. at home so you can step in at any time of the day.
Bloat, Gi Stasis ( No Gut Movement) And Not Eating
Complete Syringe Feeding Guide

Guinea Pig Vet Locator

 

[Florrieberry]

Is there a particular veg that she’s eating that could be causing this? Could have even been a veg she’s had up to two days before. Did he suggest any Fibreplex or similar to keep her gut stimulated? Plus keeping her off any gas increasing veg such as cabbage and other brassicas. Hope she’s ok. Xx

No didn't suggest anything continuing. She was 100% normal by end of day and has had same diet since we adopted her at 3 months Romaine lettuce & bit of carrot for breakfast, usually Kale or spinach or spring greens for tea with cucumber and sometimes pepper.

 

[Florrieberry]

Hi

There is obviously something underlying going on; the cause of which may not necessarily lie in her guts, but can press on the guts to cause mild bloating and loss of appetite that comes back with an injection of gut stimulants; these add as a patch solution, but do not address the real issue. Loss of appetite is usually connected with a pain issue somewhere or with the mechanical inability to process food.

Please have her checked out by a piggy savvy vet, if necessary with a scan for potentially dental problems, ovarian cysts, bladder/urinary tract issues or tumours; if your girl has noticeably thickened guts in one area, then she may suffer from irritable bowel syndrome, which can also cause symptoms like your girl is experiencing.

At the moment, problems are obviously not too serious yet but unless a vet can find the cause, symptoms are likely to return and get worse over time. Sometimes when the symptoms are rather vague like in your case, it can be quite some detective work by a vet to figure out what is going on.

Here are our tips on what to do when you are dealing with loss of appetite, acute bloat or GI stasis (slowing down/stopping of the guts). I would recommend that you have got support feed etc. at home so you can step in at any time of the day.
Bloat, Gi Stasis ( No Gut Movement) And Not Eating
Complete Syringe Feeding Guide

Guinea Pig Vet Locator

Yes we go to a piggy savvy vet featured in your locator ( how I found them nearly 3 years ago) they did say if it continued we would have to see if there was an anatomical cause. I do have critical care at home already of which she had 2 feeds yesterday, tho not sure she needed them as she didn't have them first time around.

 

[Wiebke]

No didn't suggest anything continuing. She was 100% normal by end of day and has had same diet since we adopted her at 3 months Romaine lettuce & bit of carrot for breakfast, usually Kale or spinach or spring greens for tea with cucumber and sometimes pepper.

Be aware that daily high calcium veg for dinner like you are feeding can lead to bladder stones in the long term if it comes in combination with rather hard water; it is the overall calcium intake that counts, not just veg and pellets. Daily root veg can also post a problem (high in sugar and calories); lettuce can cause bloating in some guinea pigs, so if you have a piggy with digestive issues, I would recommend you to consider taking it off the menu.

I would strongly recommend a thorough health check if you see a recurrance of the same symptoms for the third time; twice can be a coincidence; three times is definitely something going on!

 

[Florrieberry]

Be aware that daily high calcium veg for dinner like you are feeding can lead to bladder stones in the long term if it comes in combination with rather hard water; it is the overall calcium intake that counts, not just veg and pellets. Daily root veg can also post a problem (high in sugar and calories); lettuce can cause bloating in some guinea pigs, so if you have a piggy with digestive issues, I would recommend you to consider taking it off the menu.

I would strongly recommend a thorough health check if you see a recurrance of the same symptoms for the third time; twice can be a coincidence; three times is definitely something going on!

Yes thanks. I've had the calcium convo with the vet already. Our piggies don't seem to like cabbage or spring greens so limited re leafy greens. Fussy piggies! They don't get much carrot... They have a little carrot stick by hand as this is how we got our first 2 piggies tame... As the rest joined the crew the habit remained, so they ask wait at the edge of the cage to share 2 carrot sticks (I only have 2 hands )