Advice on food/set up for guinea pig with diarrhea?

[peppa&pepe]

Hello everyone! My piggy has soft poops, slight diarrhea, and is overall lethargic I booked the vet for the earliest they could see her, which is tomorrow morning, but until then I'm seeking advice on what to do/feed her until I get professional help.

Right now I have her quarantined off into a separate space, her own hides, hay, pellets, and water are there of course. She's not eating or drinking very much, but what she does eat right now is only leafy greens. She won't eat any cilantro, bell pepper, cucumber, or carrot. My question is, is it okay to only let her eat the leafy greens? She still loves her spinach, but I don't want her eating too much oxalates or only eating spring mix and lettuce if its only going to upset her stomach further. Should I mist her food so she gets more water in? Should I put in a heating pad? What are other steps I can take to make her as comfortable and safe as I can until she can see the vet? Any input is greatly appreciated.

 

[Piggies&buns]

I'm sorry to hear she is unwell.

It can usually be best to keep poorly piggies with their friends as separating them from their friends can be stressful.

In terms of food, a piggy with soft poops or diarrhoea needs to have all fresh veg removed from their diet. Adding any fresh vegetables onto an unbalanced digestive system can make matters worse. Please do stop giving her all veg.

You will need to step in and instead syringe feed her either mushed pellets or recovery feed to replace her hay intake. Switch from routine weekly weight checks to instead weighing her every day (at the same time each day), so you can monitor food intake. If she loses weight, then she require more syringe feed. Obviously do continue to offer hay.

The guides below offer further information.

I hope she is ok

Emergency, Crisis and Bridging Care until a Vet Appointment
Not Eating, Weight Loss And The Importance Of Syringe Feeding Fibre
Complete Syringe Feeding Guide
Probiotics, Recovery Foods And Vitamin C: Overview With Product Links

Digestive Disorders: Diarrhea - Bloat - GI Stasis (No Gut Movement) And Not Eating

Weight - Monitoring and Management

 

[Wiebke]

Hi

I can't add to @Piggies&buns very comprehensive answer.

Please take the time to read the links; you will find lots of helpful practical advice tips and information in there.

All the best!

 

[peppa&pepe]

Thank you both! The articles are very useful, I truly appreciate your help and good wishes.

 

[Swissgreys]

Thank you both! The articles are very useful, I truly appreciate your help and good wishes.

I hope she gets on ok at the vet and it is something easily sorted.

 

[Piggies&buns]

That is so wrong.. any vet will tell you to separate so the other doesn’t get sick

Incorrect. A decent and knowledgeable vet will not blanket tell you to separate because they know that in the case of an infectious illness that cross infection has already happened; medical separation runs the risk of ruining bonds, the stress of separation further lowering the immune system and making illness harder to recover from; A working immune system in the companion will hopefully fend off any illness (you will find almost all members who have had a potentially infectious illness in their piggies will not separate their piggies and the companion has not become ill) but if it doesn’t then separating after exposure has already happened (which could even be before the first piggy was displaying noticeable symptoms given piggies hide symptoms) is completely futile. You certainly should not separate for something like a digestive upset as it is non-infectious and separation would serve absolutely no purpose other than causing stress, risk ruining a bond and removing the ability to repopulate the gut microbiome naturally by eating the companions poops

Once again and despite multiple requests from staff not to, you have yet again resurrected an old thread unnecessarily.