Are occasional bad poops in an older piggie normal?

[morumotto]

I have a guinea pig who is a bit older (my guess is around 4 - 4.5 years old, unsure as she was adopted). Every now and then she'll have some inconsistent poops, some a little too small or a little teardrop shaped or soft or a little stinky. She also, maybe once or twice a week, has a bit of a noisy, gurgly tummy. I would say typically she'll have 90% good poops and 10% bad poops in a given day.

Of course, I thought she was having some gut issues. Several times I have taken her off vegetables for a couple of days and reintroduce slowly. Usually the poops get a little better then, but soon go back to the 90/10 ratio.

I also have taken her to the exotics vet (last visit was a couple weeks ago) and raised my concerns to them. My vet seemed not too worried about her issues. There was no abnormality detected in her fecal samples, and she had an x-ray done (for a different issue) that did not show anything out of the ordinary.

She does currently take medication (Cosequin for her bladder) and I've tried using bene-bac to help with her gut. I haven't seen any real change. I should also note that she eats and drinks normally and is pretty active throughout the day. I weigh her weekly, and while her weight fluctuates more than her companions, there has been no real decrease (in fact she's up in weight this week).

Is this just normal for an older piggie to have more inconsistent poops like this? Or is there an issue me and my vet are missing?

 

[Free Ranger]

I'm not an expert but I'll add a bit of a comment and bump you back up to the top It would also help if you could perhaps put at least your country in the location bit so it shows on the sidebar? It's just so we know which timezone you are in and what the local brands of international meds might be called!

I've had quite a few piggies and I've not seen this mixed pooping before. I've not used that medication though. She isn't really that old - I mean at that age sometimes things can go wrong for them but she probably doesn't look 'elderly'? Can you remember if this current poop situation came on at a certain age, or was triggered by something, or coincided with her starting the meds?

One thing I will say is that of my current trio one (who is a big fluffy chunker and was obvs bred for her looks) does have a more sensitive stomach than the others and I have to watch her despite them all being on the same diet! But I'm guessing that your lady hasn't always been like this?

My boar had oxbow joint support lozenges which contain 90mg glucosamine and are designed for small furries. He has them for day-to-day help with his arthritis - which isn't too bad - and he's doing great on them. But I know some piggies need more intensive glucosamine and the ones which I've seen pop up on here have been Feliway cystease and 4Joints (which I think is a dog one). Cosequin is a new one on me. Could you tell us a little more about it? Does is also contain chondroitin? And if there are different versions or strengths on the market could you maybe tell us which you are using and (if you know) how much glucosamine or chondroitin she is getting each day?

Other people will be along to have a look at this soon. Take care until them!

 

[morumotto]

I'm not an expert but I'll add a bit of a comment and bump you back up to the top It would also help if you could perhaps put at least your country in the location bit so it shows on the sidebar? It's just so we know which timezone you are in and what the local brands of international meds might be called!

I've had quite a few piggies and I've not seen this mixed pooping before. I've not used that medication though. She isn't really that old - I mean at that age sometimes things can go wrong for them but she probably doesn't look 'elderly'? Can you remember if this current poop situation came on at a certain age, or was triggered by something, or coincided with her starting the meds?

One thing I will say is that of my current trio one (who is a big fluffy chunker and was obvs bred for her looks) does have a more sensitive stomach than the others and I have to watch her despite them all being on the same diet! But I'm guessing that your lady hasn't always been like this?

My boar had oxbow joint support lozenges which contain 90mg glucosamine and are designed for small furries. He has them for day-to-day help with his arthritis - which isn't too bad - and he's doing great on them. But I know some piggies need more intensive glucosamine and the ones which I've seen pop up on here have been Feliway cystease and 4Joints (which I think is a dog one). Cosequin is a new one on me. Could you tell us a little more about it? Does is also contain chondroitin? And if there are different versions or strengths on the market could you maybe tell us which you are using and (if you know) how much glucosamine or chondroitin she is getting each day?

Other people will be along to have a look at this soon. Take care until them!

Sorry about that! I've added my location; I'm in the United States.

I honestly don't know how old she is really. I adopted her as part of a bonded pair about 10 months ago. She was listed as 2.5yo and her sister as 1.5yo. But when I looked at her, she did NOT look only 2.5yo to me. And on her previous owner's sheet she was listed as 3yo. I assumed when I got her she probably was closer to 3 - 3.5yo. She looks like how my old piggies did when they were almost 5yo, with the sagging neck, thick toenails and more pronounced hips. And I also think she may have mild cataracts. Since I've had her for 10 months, I just say we're 4 - 4.5yo now

She is definitely also on the chunky side. She was like that when I adopted her. I suspect she didn't have the healthiest of lifestyles with her previous owner. I have been trying to fine-tune all my piggie's diet lately as one cagemate has chronic gas issues and the other has reoccurring cystitis. Recently, to help out all of my piggies individual issues, I had them all taken off veggies for over 48 hours. Out of the three of them, her poops were the slowest to all return to normal. And then after it seemed fine to reintroduce veggies, her's has gone back to the mostly good, some bad poops. I'm still in the "reintroducing" phase and have only added back in bell pepper, cilantro and cucumber, taking two days to reintroduce a new veggie.

Unfortunately, I know very little about Cosequin. It's something prescribed by my vet to help her pass bladder sediment without irritation. On my receipt it's listed as "Cosequin DS - 90mg/ml". She had been getting two doses of 0.5cc per day for 30 days, but is now down to 0.5cc once a day. All I can find about it from a Google search only turns up results for dogs.

Also unfortunately, I don't have a clear timeline of when I started noticing her poops getting a little funky. It may have been going on for a couple or so months? Maybe more? For the past 18 months I have been in and out of the vet for one problem or another, so my sense of time is very warped haha

Either way, I really appreciate your replying and at the very least bumping up my post!

 

[Wiebke]

I have a guinea pig who is a bit older (my guess is around 4 - 4.5 years old, unsure as she was adopted). Every now and then she'll have some inconsistent poops, some a little too small or a little teardrop shaped or soft or a little stinky. She also, maybe once or twice a week, has a bit of a noisy, gurgly tummy. I would say typically she'll have 90% good poops and 10% bad poops in a given day.

Of course, I thought she was having some gut issues. Several times I have taken her off vegetables for a couple of days and reintroduce slowly. Usually the poops get a little better then, but soon go back to the 90/10 ratio.

I also have taken her to the exotics vet (last visit was a couple weeks ago) and raised my concerns to them. My vet seemed not too worried about her issues. There was no abnormality detected in her fecal samples, and she had an x-ray done (for a different issue) that did not show anything out of the ordinary.

She does currently take medication (Cosequin for her bladder) and I've tried using bene-bac to help with her gut. I haven't seen any real change. I should also note that she eats and drinks normally and is pretty active throughout the day. I weigh her weekly, and while her weight fluctuates more than her companions, there has been no real decrease (in fact she's up in weight this week).

Is this just normal for an older piggie to have more inconsistent poops like this? Or is there an issue me and my vet are missing?

Hi

This is not quite normal but it can be difficult to work out what is behind it. Gut problems can originate in the gut but they can also be a secondary issue from a problem impacting on the gut (most either pain or pressure).
You are looking at a sudden short term decrease in hay intake/mild dysbiosis. It can come from an unstable/disturbed gut microbiome but it could also be caused by pain that is coming and going. As the medication your piggy is on is not familiar to me, I cannot comment whether it does impact or not. Does the digestive issue predate the medication course or vice versa?

Please continue with the benebac and/or give some 'poo soup' (i.e. live healthy cavy gut microbiome transfer) if your girl has got a companion not on meds (especially not on any antibiotics).
Instead of the regular once weekly weigh-in, please weigh your girl daily first thing in the morning on your kitchen scales (cheap ones from a superstore or amazon are perfectly fine for the job) so you can step in with top up feed on the day to make up for the missing hay intake and don't have to wait a day for the abnormal poos to appear. It takes on average 22 hours for food to pass from mouth to anus; and then piggies eat part of their poos again.

Please take the time to read this guide here; it is very complete and includes chapters on weighing and gut support that will help you manage the problem a little better. what can sadly not tell you is what is causing it.
All About Syringe Feeding and Medicating Guinea Pigs with Videos and Pictures

You may also want review your diet and see whether you are feeding too much of the wrong groups, like fruit, root veg, grains etc.: Long Term Balanced General And Special Needs Guinea Pig Diets

 

[morumotto]

Hi

This is not quite normal but it can be difficult to work out what is behind it. Gut problems can originate in the gut but they can also be a secondary issue from a problem impacting on the gut (most either pain or pressure).
You are looking at a sudden short term decrease in hay intake/mild dysbiosis. It can come from an unstable/disturbed gut microbiome but it could also be caused by pain that is coming and going. As the medication your piggy is on is not familiar to me, I cannot comment whether it does impact or not. Does the digestive issue predate the medication course or vice versa?

Please continue with the benebac and/or give some 'poo soup' (i.e. live healthy cavy gut microbiome transfer) if your girl has got a companion not on meds (especially not on any antibiotics).
Instead of the regular once weekly weigh-in, please weigh your girl daily first thing in the morning on your kitchen scales (cheap ones from a superstore or amazon are perfectly fine for the job) so you can step in with top up feed on the day to make up for the missing hay intake and don't have to wait a day for the abnormal poos to appear. It takes on average 22 hours for food to pass from mouth to anus; and then piggies eat part of their poos again.

Please take the time to read this guide here; it is very complete and includes chapters on weighing and gut support that will help you manage the problem a little better. what can sadly not tell you is what is causing it.
All About Syringe Feeding and Medicating Guinea Pigs with Videos and Pictures

You may also want review your diet and see whether you are feeding too much of the wrong groups, like fruit, root veg, grains etc.: Long Term Balanced General And Special Needs Guinea Pig Diets

Hey Wiebke! Thank you so much, you always reply to every one of my posts and I'm always so grateful for it.

One of my initial thoughts was also potential pain/pressure, but she had two x-rays done in the past two months (one done only a few weeks ago) and nothing abnormal showed up on them (other than very mild bladder sediment which she is being treated for with the Cosequin).

I will definitely reach back out to my vet and ask more about the side effects of the medication. Unfortunately, I don't clearly remember when this started. I think it started around two months ago, which is when she started this medication, but I almost want to say it started before then. I could very well be misremembering. She also started getting cucumber more frequently after starting that medication (something I did to help with my other piggies' cystitis) and I think I have heard before that cucumber can be upsetting on some sensitive guts? Or is that misinformed?

Frustratingly, both of her cage mates have their own health issues (one has cystitis and is on antibiotics, the other takes simethicone for his gas) so I have been unable to do the poop soup. But I will keep up the benebac.

Thank you again for your input. I will look over those links again and see if there's something I missed the first time.

 

[Free Ranger]

Never had any problem with cucumber - although do wash it first as veg can be sprayed with some weird stuff!

We are getting a few posts these days about recurrent cystitis (have just responded to another poster Natural Remedy? ) and this can either be bacterial (caused by infection, treatable with antibiotics and painkiller) or something called Sterile Interstitial Cystitis (SIC - unaffected by antibiotics as it is not caused by infection). I have no personal experience with SIC but have a look and see if this is ringing any bells for you or whether your girl just has a particularly stubborn infection.

The thing about the Cosequin is that it's not necessarily the active ingredients (the stuff you buy it for) that might cause problems. There will also be some sort of solution it's suspended in and a few preservatives, maybe some flavourings etc. Not saying these are bad - it's just that the things that make a medicine tasty for dogs might make it a bit... 'meaty' for piggies? I'm a relative newbie here but if @Wiebke hasn't heard of it then it's either very new or a bit of an unusual choice for pigs, if you see what I mean. But glucosamine itself has many fans on here. The cystease apparently comes in powder form and one of the members makes a little cucumber sandwich with these crystals hidden inside! I'd be tempted to find an alternative source of glucosamine for her to try out and see if that makes any difference. My chunky girl with occasional gritty pee likes the taste of George's arthritis lozenges so she gets half a one each day as a sort of prophylactic. Her problems were occasional and fortunately not too serious but if she got more serious bladder issues I'd probably look at the feliway cystease. For now a biccy treat suits them both. Have a ponder - speak to your vet if you like too. But personally that would be my next step - to try an alternative form of glucosamine x

 

[Wiebke]

Sorry about that! I've added my location; I'm in the United States.

I honestly don't know how old she is really. I adopted her as part of a bonded pair about 10 months ago. She was listed as 2.5yo and her sister as 1.5yo. But when I looked at her, she did NOT look only 2.5yo to me. And on her previous owner's sheet she was listed as 3yo. I assumed when I got her she probably was closer to 3 - 3.5yo. She looks like how my old piggies did when they were almost 5yo, with the sagging neck, thick toenails and more pronounced hips. And I also think she may have mild cataracts. Since I've had her for 10 months, I just say we're 4 - 4.5yo now

She is definitely also on the chunky side. She was like that when I adopted her. I suspect she didn't have the healthiest of lifestyles with her previous owner. I have been trying to fine-tune all my piggie's diet lately as one cagemate has chronic gas issues and the other has reoccurring cystitis. Recently, to help out all of my piggies individual issues, I had them all taken off veggies for over 48 hours. Out of the three of them, her poops were the slowest to all return to normal. And then after it seemed fine to reintroduce veggies, her's has gone back to the mostly good, some bad poops. I'm still in the "reintroducing" phase and have only added back in bell pepper, cilantro and cucumber, taking two days to reintroduce a new veggie.

Unfortunately, I know very little about Cosequin. It's something prescribed by my vet to help her pass bladder sediment without irritation. On my receipt it's listed as "Cosequin DS - 90mg/ml". She had been getting two doses of 0.5cc per day for 30 days, but is now down to 0.5cc once a day. All I can find about it from a Google search only turns up results for dogs.

Also unfortunately, I don't have a clear timeline of when I started noticing her poops getting a little funky. It may have been going on for a couple or so months? Maybe more? For the past 18 months I have been in and out of the vet for one problem or another, so my sense of time is very warped haha

Either way, I really appreciate your replying and at the very least bumping up my post!

Hi

Sorry, I am currently rather busy and it was rather late in the evening for me.

I have googled it. Cosequin is a glucosamine and chondroitin based US brand dog joint supplement. The crucial element for you is the glucosamine, which helps to replenish the beleaguered natural glucosamine coating of the urinary tract that acts as the insulation layer to prevent highly corrosive urine from coming into direct contact with raw issue and basically minimise the stinging pain - this is what makes your piggy squeak whenever they pee. Sterile interstitial cystitis seems to specifically affect the glucosamine coating while the banging of stones and sediment in the bladder with every pee can also affect the coat through scratching.

Glucosamine is classed as a food supplement and not as a medication, so vets often have to resort to a suitable supplement they have in stock for another species; there is nothing guinea pig specific. Glucosamine is more commonly used in treatment for arthritis but it is the same thing as you need for your bladder comfort. The glucosamine powder we recommend for here in the UK is actually a cat bladder supplement but human joint tablets will also do in a pinch (they taste rather unpleasant, are more hassle to grind and give but are cheaper)...

Long term malnutrition from a less than ideal diet can age prematurely; especially if the diet was deficient in hay and too high in sugary veg/fruit and pellets. Just concentrate on your good care and a good diet.
You cannot undo what has happened before but you can make your girls happy with a good life and a good diet for as long as it is given you to have them. Guinea pigs don't have a concept for life expectancy; they measure their lives in happy days. As long as you give them that you are not failing your piggies in any way. Some of my most memorable piggies have been those I have adopted as oldies; their joy and renewed zest of life has been very special and has made my time with them seem much longer than it actually was.
You may find this link here helpful: Long Term Balanced General And Special Needs Guinea Pig Diets

You may also find our practical how-to and in-depth information collection helpful: Comprehensive Owners' Practical and Supportive Information Collection

 

[Princess Dustmop]

I will definitely reach back out to my vet and ask more about the side effects of the medication. Unfortunately, I don't clearly remember when this started. I think it started around two months ago, which is when she started this medication, but I almost want to say it started before then. I could very well be misremembering. She also started getting cucumber more frequently after starting that medication (something I did to help with my other piggies' cystitis) and I think I have heard before that cucumber can be upsetting on some sensitive guts? Or is that misinformed?

You could try cutting back her cucumber ... if it's helping her cagemate, maybe they could get different veggies at medicine time, so one could have cucumber while another had a green bean or a bit of lettuce or celery.

 

[morumotto]

Hey, it's been a while so I'd thought I'd update this thread. I personally dislike when I find a thread relevant to my concerns and it's unfinished, so I'm trying not to do it myself.

The bad poops ended up being the result of inflammation. Very suddenly one night when I was cleaning their cage, she started urinating large quantities of blood. It was very, very surprising. There was no obvious sign that this was about to happen, she didn't even squeak in pain. She just looked up at me as if nothing was the matter. I took her to the exotics vet the next morning and they took an xray and found a very large stone along with a bunch of sediment in her bladder. Fortunately, it was positioned in a way that they were able to take care of it with a bladder flush. She was then put on painkillers and antibiotic for the next two weeks.

Week one went very well. We adjusted her diet to get a better calcium-phosphorus ratio. Then in the middle of week two, I noticed a large drop in her weight during her daily weighing. She ended up dropping 100 grams in two days. I got her seen as soon as I could. She got another xray. Turns out, she already had another new stone formed in her bladder. So we do another bladder flush.

As of right now, she's home with me and I'm feeding her Critical Care around the clock, as much as I can manage. She's continuing with the antibiotic and painkiller. But we're at a point where I feel we're going to have to make a hard decision. I'm hoping very much that she can stabilize and another stone doesn't form. Wish us luck. We're now in "wait and see" mode.

Just wanted to provide an update for interested parties. Thank you everyone for having given me advice on this, I wish I had a happier update.

 

[Free Ranger]

Thankyou for your update and so sorry it's not better news for you and her. It's kind of you to think about how the thread ends and in truth that is very important for people in the future desperately searching for answers for their own pig. Whatever the outcome, it gives people hope to know that there is a treatment plan for a poorly boy or girl and that sometimes things do work out. It also helps a lot when you're faced with making the hardest decision for your beloved piggy and you realise that other people have had to do the same.

But she's still hanging in there for now so we're hanging in there with you!