Arched Back

[karleighhh]

My guinea pigs back has been arched for the past few weeks. He is a five year old male and his behavior has been totally normal other than that. Sometimes he will cry when he poops. Should I go to the vet or is this common for older male guinea pigs?

 

[Betsy]

If he doesn't usually arch his back and cries when he poops then a vet visit is in order to find out the cause of his problems. Let us know what the vet says.

 

[weepweeps]

Bless him. It sounds like there is some pain somewhere. I’d get him checked over. Maybe it could be arthritis. Some piggies on here are on daily painkillers for it. Good luck keep us posted.

 

[VickiA]

Oh poor thing sounds like he is in pain. Please do get a vet to check him over.

 

[Wiebke]

My guinea pigs back has been arched for the past few weeks. He is a five year old male and his behavior has been totally normal other than that. Sometimes he will cry when he poops. Should I go to the vet or is this common for older male guinea pigs?

Hi!

Please have him vet checked. He has got a pain issue that is impacting on his pushing out poos - this can be the urinary tract (bladder stones or infection; the latter less likely as you'd report more symptoms), the reproductive tract (something stuck in the penis shaft), impaction (ca. 10% of older boars increasingly struggle to push out poos, which build up in a mass in the anal sac), arthritis in the lower spine etc. etc. Guinea pigs don't suffer from constipation so the problem is usually located outside the gut.

Caring for Older Piggies and Facing the End - A practical and supportive information collection (also contains a list of the most common health issues in older piggies)