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Biting her own bum

M

MerryandPippin

New Born Pup
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Hello, my guinea pig Pippin was treated recently for a urinary infection last Monday, I took her to the vet because she was constantly wet on her backend which was strange for her, her generals were abnormally protuberant and she had lost a small amount of weigh, around 90g from 980g to 890g. They gave us Enrobactin and Loxicom to help with the infection and the pain. We finished the weeks round of medication on Sunday and on Monday we took her in for the all clear checkup, weight now 857g. Unfortunately on Tuesday I got home from work and found blood on around her anus. I rushed her to the vet because I thought she’d had a prolapse but closer inspection appears that there are two puncture wounds on either side of her anus. The vet gave us Leucillin to keep the wounds clean while they healed and Protexin to give her sprinkled on food. She refused to eat it on food so it dissolved it in water and syringe fed her the solution but we made sure to give her food after she taken it. On Wednesday monitored her on our piggy cam and got footage of her chewing her own anus during the day and when I got home, it was worse. I gave her a bath to clear away and any poo and disinfected the wound. I had her on my lap all evening to make sure she wasn’t chewing it anymore but I’ve woken up this morning and she’s been chewing it through the night again, and I don’t know what to do. Does anyone have any advice?
I set up a temporary pen for both of them where they separated in the middle, but can still see each other so I can monitor which poo is a Pippins and how much she’s eating and drinking. I’ve seen her eating and drinking and her poops are soft, thinner than normal and slightly tapered, there are less poos in her pen this morning then I would’ve expected. She still active and not sluggish. Her weight is 820g this morning.
 
If she is chewing her rear end she is in discomfort and needs to see the vet again. Do you have any pain relief for her? Please can you have her re-checked by the vet. Did she have an X-ray or scan last time to check for stones?
 
I’m sorry to hear this.

Please urgently step in with syringe feeding a recovery feed such as oxbow critical care or mushed pellets as the emergency measure. She is losing weight because she is not eating enough hay. You cannot monitor hay intake by eye, hah intake can only be monitored by daily weight checks. 50g of weight loss is the point at which you have to step in with syringe feeding and she has lost considerably more than that so she urgently needs help. You need to syringe feed as much as is necessary to stop her weight loss each day but you are looking at at least 60ml per day.

She is chewing because she is in pain: please have her seen by the vet again urgently.

Please do not separate your piggies. It’s stressful for them to be separated. It also doesn’t allow you to monitor her food intake because, as I said, hay intake cannot be monitored by eye: the only way to monitor hay intake is with the daily weight checks.
Emergency and Crisis Care as well as Bridging Care until a Vet Appointment
Wiebke

Thread 'How to Improvise Feeding Support in an Emergency'

1 Feed
- Important crisis management resources
- When is improvising necessary?
- Which food group am I replacing with my feeding support?
- How much and how often should I feed and water?
- What can I use that I have already got at home?
- Other possible easily available foods with their pros and cons
- How do I prep a syringe for rougher pellet fibre?
- What can I do without a syringe?
- The role of lukewarm water
2 Probiotics
- Probiotic products...
  • Like
  • Love
Wiebke

Thread 'Weight and Weight Loss Explained: BMI, Weighing, Poos and Feeding Support'

1 Weight and Weight Loss
- Why regular weight monitoring matters
- How weight changes over a lifetime
- How to weigh on your kitchen scales (with video)
- The weight loss rules
- How critical is the weight loss for my piggy?
- Possible causes for weight loss
2 Body Mass Index (BMI) or 'Heft'
- Why is understanding your piggy's weight so important?
- 'Average' weight vs. individual weight - the big trip up
- How to check for the BMI
3 The...
  • Like
Wiebke

Thread 'All About Syringe Feeding and Medicating Guinea Pigs with Videos and Pictures'

Introduction
1 Choosing the right place to medicate/feed your piggy
2 Guinea pig whispering and asserting your authority
3 Recovery products and emergency improvisation
4 Syringe recommendations
5 Weight monitoring: your biggest ally
6 Weight loss guidelines and when to step in with feeding
7 Syringe feeding amounts/frequency advice
8 Practical medication and syringing tips
9 Medicating and feeding cooperative guinea pigs (videos)
10 Medicating and feeding uncooperative guinea pigs (hold pictures and tips)
11 The line between life and...
  • Like
  • Love
 
VickiA said:
If she is chewing her rear end she is in discomfort and needs to see the vet again. Do you have any pain relief for her? Please can you have her re-checked by the vet. Did she have an X-ray or scan last time to check for stones?
Click to expand...
Hi, thank you for replying, Ive just got off the phone with the vet, they’re gonna call me back in a bit and have asked me to send a photo of the wound. when the wound starts healing, it’s gonna be uncomfortable anyway so they think that might be the reason for the continued biting. She hasn't had any scans yet.
 
MerryandPippin said:
Hi, thank you for replying, Ive just got off the phone with the vet, they’re gonna call me back in a bit and have asked me to send a photo of the wound. when the wound starts healing, it’s gonna be uncomfortable anyway so they think that might be the reason for the continued biting. She hasn't had any scans yet.
Click to expand...

A piggy who is in discomfort will bite at a wound, it’s not so much being uncomfortable due to healing (a healing wound with properly managed pain relief and a piggy will usually leave the wound alone) - it’s usually due to the fact that the issue has not been resolved and piggy is still in pain.

I added in links in my reply above with the information for syringe feeding. She has lost 160g so it’s important you stop her weight loss - as I say 50g of loss is the point at which you need to step in

Wiebke

Thread 'Signs of Pain in Guinea Pigs'

1 Symptoms of pain
- Loss of appetite and slow or reduced eating
- Eyes
- Ears
- Teeth clicking and grinding
- Skin biting, self-barbering and hair loss
- Fur standing up/puffed up coat
- Hunching
- Bunching up and stopping to sleep on the side
- Grunting
- Twisting/Fitting
- Squeaking when peeing/pooing; arching and straining
- Limping, hopping, swelling of foot or leg
- Partial or full back leg paralysis
- Screaming and whimpering
2 Life-saving practical how-to care and information...
  • Like
 
Piggies&buns said:
I’m sorry to hear this.

Please urgently step in with syringe feeding a recovery feed such as oxbow critical care or mushed pellets as the emergency measure. She is losing weight because she is not eating enough hay. You cannot monitor hay intake by eye, hah intake can only be monitored by daily weight checks. 50g of weight loss is the point at which you have to step in with syringe feeding and she has lost considerably more than that so she urgently needs help. You need to syringe feed as much as is necessary to stop her weight loss each day but you are looking at at least 60ml per day.

She is chewing because she is in pain: please have her seen by the vet again urgently.

Please do not separate your piggies. It’s stressful for them to be separated. It also doesn’t allow you to monitor her food intake because, as I said, hay intake cannot be monitored by eye: the only way to monitor hay intake is with the daily weight checks.
Emergency and Crisis Care as well as Bridging Care until a Vet Appointment
Wiebke

Thread 'How to Improvise Feeding Support in an Emergency'

1 Feed
- Important crisis management resources
- When is improvising necessary?
- Which food group am I replacing with my feeding support?
- How much and how often should I feed and water?
- What can I use that I have already got at home?
- Other possible easily available foods with their pros and cons
- How do I prep a syringe for rougher pellet fibre?
- What can I do without a syringe?
- The role of lukewarm water
2 Probiotics
- Probiotic products...
  • Like
  • Love
Wiebke

Thread 'Weight and Weight Loss Explained: BMI, Weighing, Poos and Feeding Support'

1 Weight and Weight Loss
- Why regular weight monitoring matters
- How weight changes over a lifetime
- How to weigh on your kitchen scales (with video)
- The weight loss rules
- How critical is the weight loss for my piggy?
- Possible causes for weight loss
2 Body Mass Index (BMI) or 'Heft'
- Why is understanding your piggy's weight so important?
- 'Average' weight vs. individual weight - the big trip up
- How to check for the BMI
3 The...
  • Like
Wiebke

Thread 'All About Syringe Feeding and Medicating Guinea Pigs with Videos and Pictures'

Introduction
1 Choosing the right place to medicate/feed your piggy
2 Guinea pig whispering and asserting your authority
3 Recovery products and emergency improvisation
4 Syringe recommendations
5 Weight monitoring: your biggest ally
6 Weight loss guidelines and when to step in with feeding
7 Syringe feeding amounts/frequency advice
8 Practical medication and syringing tips
9 Medicating and feeding cooperative guinea pigs (videos)
10 Medicating and feeding uncooperative guinea pigs (hold pictures and tips)
11 The line between life and...
  • Like
  • Love
Click to expand...
Thank you for the reply, I’ve ordered some Oxbow and it will be arriving tomorrow, ill give her mashed pellets till them.

I’ve separated them temporarily so I can also see for sure how much she’s drinking and which poo are hers since they’re so sparse, they were separated by CNC grid cage so they can still see and smell each other. It was temporary for last night, they are back together now.

I’ve called the vet, they want me to send pictures and they will call me back soon.
 
MerryandPippin said:
Hello, my guinea pig Pippin was treated recently for a urinary infection last Monday, I took her to the vet because she was constantly wet on her backend which was strange for her, her generals were abnormally protuberant and she had lost a small amount of weigh, around 90g from 980g to 890g. They gave us Enrobactin and Loxicom to help with the infection and the pain. We finished the weeks round of medication on Sunday and on Monday we took her in for the all clear checkup, weight now 857g. Unfortunately on Tuesday I got home from work and found blood on around her anus. I rushed her to the vet because I thought she’d had a prolapse but closer inspection appears that there are two puncture wounds on either side of her anus. The vet gave us Leucillin to keep the wounds clean while they healed and Protexin to give her sprinkled on food. She refused to eat it on food so it dissolved it in water and syringe fed her the solution but we made sure to give her food after she taken it. On Wednesday monitored her on our piggy cam and got footage of her chewing her own anus during the day and when I got home, it was worse. I gave her a bath to clear away and any poo and disinfected the wound. I had her on my lap all evening to make sure she wasn’t chewing it anymore but I’ve woken up this morning and she’s been chewing it through the night again, and I don’t know what to do. Does anyone have any advice?
I set up a temporary pen for both of them where they separated in the middle, but can still see each other so I can monitor which poo is a Pippins and how much she’s eating and drinking. I’ve seen her eating and drinking and her poops are soft, thinner than normal and slightly tapered, there are less poos in her pen this morning then I would’ve expected. She still active and not sluggish. Her weight is 820g this morning.
Click to expand...

Hi

Please step in with feeding fibrous support asap. Over three quarters of what a piggy is eating in a day is hay, hay and more hay. You cannot control it with your eyes; the poos say clearly that she isn't eating enough and that the food intake in the last few days has been declining.
All the other food groups together (fresh veg and forage, pellets and dry forage and any treats) only replace the supplementary role that wild forage used to have. That is basically what you eat in terms of snacks and treats between the three main meals as a human.

Has your vet given you painkillers since this is clearly a localised major pain or irritation issue which is also impacting on the gut? Have they checked for a potential bladder or urethral stone stuck just before the exit? And in a sow, have they also checked for potential womb infection (pyometra)? Have they checked whether there could be a problem with the gut exit (more unusual but so is biting the anus).

Sheer bleeding (light red) can come from a stone (damage to the tissure of the bladder/urethra) or a cancerous ovarian cyst (much less likely) or a localised problem in the anus.
Intensely red, pophyrin coloured pees don't necessarily contain blood but they are a giveaway for the onset of either a bacterial (UTI) or a sterile (i.e. non-bacterial) cystitis (IC). The latter cannot be healed by antibiotics and at the best just temporarily suppressed.

The anus area will stand out more in an underweight piggy but if it is puffy, reddened in ligher-skinned piggies or warmer to the touch than other areas, then there is an infection or inflammation somewhere; it can also be a stuck bladder stone if the area in front of the genitalia feels swollen and hard.

Weight monitoring and support feeding with all the practical how-to tips - please step in asap:
- Weight Loss Explained: BMI, Weighing, Poos and Feeding Support
- All About Syringe Feeding and Medicating Guinea Pigs with Videos and Pictures
-
Wiebke

Thread 'How to Improvise Feeding Support in an Emergency'

1 Feed
- Important crisis management resources
- When is improvising necessary?
- Which food group am I replacing with my feeding support?
- How much and how often should I feed and water?
- What can I use that I have already got at home?
- Other possible easily available foods with their pros and cons
- How do I prep a syringe for rougher pellet fibre?
- What can I do without a syringe?
- The role of lukewarm water
2 Probiotics
- Probiotic products...
  • Like
  • Love

Potential problems that can affect the relevant area:
- Wiebke's Guide to Pees and Stones
- Sow Problems 'Down Below' (Ovarian Cysts, Super-seasons, Womb Infection, Pregnancy & Mammary Tumours)
- Fly Strike
- Signs of Pain in Guinea Pigs
 
MerryandPippin said:
Thank you for the reply, I’ve ordered some Oxbow and it will be arriving tomorrow, ill give her mashed pellets till them.

I’ve separated them temporarily so I can also see for sure how much she’s drinking and which poo are hers since they’re so sparse, they were separated by CNC grid cage so they can still see and smell each other. It was temporary for last night, they are back together now.

I’ve called the vet, they want me to send pictures and they will call me back soon.
Click to expand...

I’m glad you’ve reunited them.
Her poop is sparse due to lack of food intake over the past 1-2+ days.
Poop output is unreliable to gauge food intake as there is such a delay between food intake and poop output of 1-2 days. This is why the weight checks are the only way to gauge food intake and it is the 50g of weight loss marker that is used to know when to step in with syringe feeding. (And why separating them doesn’t really give really useful information)
Water intake is very difficult to gauge because their own individual needs vary so much. The need to drink comes first so if a piggy is eating then they will be drinking. If a piggy is not eating then it’s a good idea to offer some water from a syringe with each recovery syringe feed.

You will need the cut the tapered end off of a syringe to use pellet mush as it more coarse than proper recovery feed
 
Update:

We’ve been to the vets and she’s back on the antibiotics and painkillers that she was on before for the urinary infection and we were referred to her specialist exotic vets surgery in my town. I’m just waiting for a phone call from them to set up an appointment. Until then, they’ve given me recovery food which I’ll be giving her every four hours going forward, she seems to really like it which is good. I’ll post another update for those interested when I know more. Thank you for everyone that gave advice.
 
MerryandPippin said:
Update:

We’ve been to the vets and she’s back on the antibiotics and painkillers that she was on before for the urinary infection and we were referred to her specialist exotic vets surgery in my town. I’m just waiting for a phone call from them to set up an appointment. Until then, they’ve given me recovery food which I’ll be giving her every four hours going forward, she seems to really like it which is good. I’ll post another update for those interested when I know more. Thank you for everyone that gave advice.
Click to expand...

I’m glad to hear she is back on pain meds and that she is being referred.
How often she needs to be fed depends on what each days weight check tells you and how much she takes per feeding ie the less she takes at each sitting the more often she needs to be fed (ie every 2 hours can be needed) to a total necessary to stop weight loss - a minimum of 60ml but more may be needed if she continues to lose weight

Do keep us posted on how she goes
 
Well done for getting her seen again and getting antibiotics and painkillers. you’ve been given great advice above about support feeding her. Please let us know how she gets on.
 
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