Veg & Fruit for Bloat prone piggies?

Status
Not open for further replies.
Splat n Dexter

Splat n Dexter

Junior Guinea Pig
Joined
Jun 1, 2010
Messages
426
Reaction score
17
Points
0
Location
N.Ireland
Hi,

One of our piggies suffered a nasty case of bloat a few days ago. Thanks to a sachet of Critical Care and info from cavvy savy people online to pass onto our vet, she survived and back to normal again.

I'm putting it down to cauliflower leaves that the piggies were given that evening. They'd had them before and been fine, but I suspect the greedy madame chased off her cage mate and ate both portions all to herself before suffering the consequences.

Looking to the future and how to handle their diets, I will no longer feed cauliflower leaves, broccoli, cabbage or kale. I want to avoid anything which could contribute to bloat. Are there other foods I should avoid or a website I can look at offering good advice? Also foods that promote good digestive health. She's not keen on dill, we do occasionally feed fennel, but can't get a hold of it lately.
 
My little Paprika has had 2 bouts of bloat in the last 6-8 weeks and we couldn't pinpoint it to any particular veg. Although she now has broccoli but only in small amounts
and I tend to give her smaller portions of veg and salad than before. I've also increased her fibre intake by supplying lots of various forages. The only common factor that was around at the onset of her bloat was a primark bag so now I have banned the bags from the house. Just in case.
 
Stay off any brassicas and cruciferas in the future - all cabbages including spring greens and kale as well as broccoli or cauliflower. While these are generally perfectly fine to feed piggies, they can cause problems in the future with piggies that have had a digestive issue. Too much fresh rich grass can also cause problems.

Piggies with bloat can suffer a reoccurrence, so please be very careful with introducing veg only slowly. Best take your time about it and make sure that your piggy has plenty of fibre (C&C, hay and some cardboard to chew; some ill piggies like this very poor fibre to help balance their guts)
 
Thank you everyone for the replies.

Wiebke, only dill and parsley has been offered so far in small amounts, I'm planning on doing some veggie shopping this evening for the piggies so they have a little more variety on offer, as well as stocking up on some infacol!

We have a dust extracted meadow hay and Alfalfa Kings Timothy Hay for the piggies at the moment; going to see what else I can get locally as changing the hay each feed seems to get them excited about it and more inclined to keep munching. Unfortunately most online hay companies charge too much P&P for Northern Ireland. We stuff toilet roll holders with some of their hay to keep them busy (plus it means clean hay which hasn't been slept of peed on! lol). They get cardboard boxes or paper bags to play in as well, which of course get a good chew.

What is C&C?

Mine don't get out to nibble grass unfortunately; though we do bring some home to them now and again. I'm very aware that there's alot of spring growth, new grass, so will def take it easy with it. Thanks.
 
Poor Paprika. Hope you can figure out the cause. With Nutmeg I know it was def the cauliflower leaves, they only had hay and nuggets the rest of that day and no change of routine etc.

Mine regularly get Primark bags here (though none this last couple of weeks as I haven't been there), with no problems. But I guess different things set off different pigs.

I'm reducing the amounts of veg too, at least till we figure out what works and what doesn't for Nutmeg & co. Def avoiding the ones other people have mentioned though!
 
We have a piggie with long term bloat issues. Beware of green beans too they can be bloaty. We have invested in a vibrating massage pad, as gentle tummy massages help when they are bloated to shift the gas around.
Hope She gets better soon and has no more episodes.
 
Thanks for mentioning that, Sport Billy. I didn't realise they were gassy and are something the pigs get often as we eat them too. Will def cut back.
Where (UK) can I get a massage pad?

Came home from shopping last night and my (teenage) daughter proudly told me that she'd given the guinea pigs some pepper; I nearly had to be worked with, but she didn't give them too much. Have warned both kids to check with me first before feeding anything from now on and explained the importance of slowly reintroducing veg.

A wee slice of cucumber and some parsley for them this morning. I can see that Nutmeg has lost weight, poor girl. Hopefully she won't be long putting it back on.
 
Splat n Dexter said:
Thanks for mentioning that, Sport Billy. I didn't realise they were gassy and are something the pigs get often as we eat them too. Will def cut back.
Where (UK) can I get a massage pad?

Came home from shopping last night and my (teenage) daughter proudly told me that she'd given the guinea pigs some pepper; I nearly had to be worked with, but she didn't give them too much. Have warned both kids to check with me first before feeding anything from now on and explained the importance of slowly reintroducing veg.

A wee slice of cucumber and some parsley for them this morning. I can see that Nutmeg has lost weight, poor girl. Hopefully she won't be long putting it back on.
Click to expand...


Will try and find the link for you, we have one on order from a recommendation of flintstones, will ask her for the link as I'm having trouble accessing my emails at moment...
 
Sorry, I meant Critical Care, which is fibre based. Good that you had some at home!

If you have a car, sometimes the vibrations when driving can also help in an emergency. Vibrations and massaging help if the bloat is caused by trapped gas, but not in those cases when there is a blockage.

Peter Gurney's article about bloat is still valid and has been updated: http://www.oginet.com/pgurney/bloat.htm
 
I have also been told in the past that cucumber can make them gassy, don't know if this is the case or not...

We found it very difficult when we had to do a low calcium diet for our older pig Willow & then he started getting episodes of bloat too. I felt very restricted about what veggies to feed! I used the guinealynx chart to try to balance the calcium / phos ratio ok here's the link http://www.guinealynx.info/chart.html it might be useful for you to have a look.

The best advice I had was to do what you are already doing; re-introduce veg slowly & watch out for a reaction. Bloat seems to be one of those things that can pop back up in piggies who may be prone to it so I would make sure to have a 'bloat first aid kit' as part of your regular guinea first aid kit at all times just in case. We found that Willow lost weight rapidly with every episode of bloat & then regained some of the weight but never went right back to his original weight again. I would advise regular weighing of your girl.

The best thing to aim for is plenty of good fibre going through the gut in terms of good quality hay. We feed 75% hay, 20% veg & 5% pellets or mix as advised by our exotics vet.

A good trot around the room is useful for a guinea to keep the GI system moving too, maybe try to add in some more frree-ranging time. We find our hall is great for this as we can shut all the doors & piggies can gallop around as much as they like :)

Hope your piggie is ok now xx
 
Wiebke said:
Sorry, I meant Critical Care, which is fibre based. Good that you had some at home!

If you have a car, sometimes the vibrations when driving can also help in an emergency. Vibrations and massaging help if the bloat is caused by trapped gas, but not in those cases when there is a blockage.

Peter Gurney's article about bloat is still valid and has been updated: http://www.oginet.com/pgurney/bloat.htm
Click to expand...

Yes, I was so glad I had it to hand, must order a fresh sachet now!
It was that very article I read up on that night with Nutmeg, we used the rennie with 2.5ml of water which helped her through the night along with the Critical Care. :)
 
Also, I know this may be thinking into the future and hopefully you won't have another bloats episode. Treacle our bloaty girl is on a daily dose of metachlopromide (emeprid) which is a gut stimulant to keep her system pushing everything through. So it's worth knowing that things can be done for reoccurant bloat - Without it Treacle bloats several times a month. But hopefully diet will control it for you.
Cuddles to Nutmeg x
 
shiny said:
I have also been told in the past that cucumber can make them gassy, don't know if this is the case or not...

We found it very difficult when we had to do a low calcium diet for our older pig Willow & then he started getting episodes of bloat too. I felt very restricted about what veggies to feed! I used the guinealynx chart to try to balance the calcium / phos ratio ok here's the link http://www.guinealynx.info/chart.html it might be useful for you to have a look.

The best advice I had was to do what you are already doing; re-introduce veg slowly & watch out for a reaction. Bloat seems to be one of those things that can pop back up in piggies who may be prone to it so I would make sure to have a 'bloat first aid kit' as part of your regular guinea first aid kit at all times just in case. We found that Willow lost weight rapidly with every episode of bloat & then regained some of the weight but never went right back to his original weight again. I would advise regular weighing of your girl.

The best thing to aim for is plenty of good fibre going through the gut in terms of good quality hay. We feed 75% hay, 20% veg & 5% pellets or mix as advised by our exotics vet.

A good trot around the room is useful for a guinea to keep the GI system moving too, maybe try to add in some more frree-ranging time. We find our hall is great for this as we can shut all the doors & piggies can gallop around as much as they like :)

Hope your piggie is ok now xx
Click to expand...

Didn't know that about cucumber, though she only had a small piece this morning, I will keep a close eye on her.
Thanks for the link, I need to totally rethink how I used to feed them veg now to ensure the balance is right whilst avoiding the gassy stuff!
We have limited space for floor time. They do get it, but spend most of the time hiding. But do have a large cage and are active in it. Pellets are in a ball rather than bowl also to keep them moving and they enjoy getting on the double bed with the kids to run between the two of them for veggies and treats. :)
 
sport_billy said:
Also, I know this may be thinking into the future and hopefully you won't have another bloats episode. Treacle our bloaty girl is on a daily dose of metachlopromide (emeprid) which is a gut stimulant to keep her system pushing everything through. So it's worth knowing that things can be done for reoccurant bloat - Without it Treacle bloats several times a month. But hopefully diet will control it for you.
Cuddles to Nutmeg x
Click to expand...

Thanks good to know. Thanks. :)
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top