Bloat GI Issues

[PiggyPoppa]

Our Girl Snickers has been dealing with bloat/gi problems for about a week and a half now. I posted on the forum a few days ago and got some great help from fellow members and the detailed threads on Her issues. Since then we took Her back to the vet who told us that the gas issues subsided a bit and She has more food going through Her system after looking at an X-ray. On our follow up visit the vet recommended giving Her Simethicone drops to help with gas. I have not given her any drops as I looked it up on the forum here and it was not recommended. She was only prescribed pain meds, which we've stopped giving at this point, and Critical Care after our initial visit. She seems to be eating hay and drinking water ok but She is losing weight every day. In addition Her limp, which was the initial reason for our vet visit, is still there. The vet said on our initial visit that the limp could be caused from stomach discomfort. We've been feeding Critical Care every couple hours until a few days ago when the vet said to try to take Her off it and see how it goes. We also started giving Her pellets again as well as vit c tablet, both of which are mashed up with water. After each feeding we do a gentle tummy massage as well. So have a few questions, any help is appreciated

Should we restart Critical Care feedings to help with weight loss?
Take away pellets again so She'll eat more hay?
Talk to vet about other meds maybe Cisapride?
Should I try and administer poo soup from our healthy Boar?
Advice on the efficacy of Gripe Water?

Thanks in advance

 

[piggl]

Hi, I am sorry to hear of the situation you are in, as someone who has dealt with bloat/GI issues a couple times I thought I would try my best to answer your questions based on my experience.

Yes, start the critical care again. Not only does it help with weight loss it is also a great help to keep the stomach/gut moving when stasis starts to set in.
Please have a look at the thread I am going to attach - All About Syringe Feeding and Medicating Guinea Pigs with Videos and Pictures - it has a load of great advice on how much to feed and how often (for how much you should be aiming for in a day, you can go straight to section 7, but I recommend taking the time to read the whole thread).
As for the nuggets, I think it would depend on how much you are feeding a day. Pigs should only get 1 tbsp per pig, of nuggets per day. If you are feeding more than that, then yes I would recommend cutting down on the amount of nuggets you are feeding. But if you are only giving 1 tbsp, I would probably leave them with it, especially as most piggies love their nuggets and eating those is better than them eating nothing. If you are feeding the correct amount of is a very small part of their diet, so should not affect their need/want to eat hay (in a healthy pig).
Long Term Balanced General And Special Needs Guinea Pig Diets

Painkillers and gut stimulants are a vital part of recovery from GI Stasis. So yes, I would recommend speaking to your vet about Emeprid and/or Cisapride (there are others, but these are the ones I know of). Emeprid and Cisapride together are a great combo as they work on different sections of the gut. Painkillers should also be continued at this time, as stasis and bloat are both very uncomfortable/painful experiences. I have also noticed in my own dealings with it that piggies without painkiller struggle to recover much more than those whos' pain is managed.

Yes, poop soup is a great (and cheap ) way to help your pigs when dealing with gut disturbance. Find more about how this helps and how to do it here - Probiotics Live Gut Microbiome Transfer ('Poo Soup'); Recovery Formula Foods And Vitamin C: Overview With Product Links and Transfer Recipe

I can not comment on gripe water as I have never used it personally, but there is also a section on this in the guide linked above.
Something I would recommend is Fibreplex, a carrot tasting probiotic that uses a high fibre content to help keep the gut moving. I find not only is it helpful in recovery, but it tastes good to piggies so can be a nice "treat" after their medication.

Good luck, I hope you can get on top of it.
Digestive Disorders: Not Eating - Diarrhea - Bloat - GI Stasis (No Gut Movement)

 

[PiggyPoppa]

Ok great thanks for the info. We are just giving Her a tiny handful of pellets, maybe the equivalent of half teaspoon twice per day so I'll continue with that. I couldn't find Fibreplex around us or online, we're in the states, but I did find Benebac I think it's called online so I may order that. Thanks for the great info cheers

 

[Piggies&buns]

Benebac is a good thing to use.

We don’t recommend simethicone.
I recall a thread recently which said that the issue with gripe water in the US is that it can contain an ingredient which is toxic to piggies. I’ve gone blank and can’t think what it was at the moment….

Please do restart the critical care. She is losing weight because she isn’t eating enough hay yet so critical care can’t be stopped this point.

She can have her pellets given you are feeding only a tiny amount.
We never recommend giving long term supplementation of vit c in any event. It’s not necessary at all. Only ever give vit c in a short two week course during a period of illness.
If you’ve long term supplemented then you can’t just stop giving it as it can cause scurvy.

 

[PiggyPoppa]

Oh wow I had no idea vit c can cause scurvy. We've been giving both Our Piggies a tablet per day for a while now, Oxbow brand. Is this cuz they're supposed to get enough c from fresh veggies? I guess I'll keep her on them for now since she is not getting any veggies, Thanks good to know

 

[Piggies&buns]

Oh wow I had no idea vit c can cause scurvy. We've been giving both Our Piggies a tablet per day for a while now, Oxbow brand. Is this cuz they're supposed to get enough c from fresh veggies? I guess I'll keep her on them for now since she is not getting any veggies, Thanks good to know

A piggy with a good balanced diet gets all the vit c they need from veg, hay and their fortified pellets.

Supplementing on top of the diet is at best a waste of money - excess vit c is simply excreted in the urine.
Long term supplementation (which tends to be commonly done in the US. You won’t find long term owners in the UK routinely supplementing) can mean their body gets used to abnormally high amounts. If that level then drops, even if the level it drops to is within normal range for any other piggy, their body responds will scurvy symptoms.
Any piggy who has been long term supplemented needs to be weaned off of supplementation very slowly.

 

[Wiebke]

Hi

Please do not stop the painkiller; there is quite obviously a pain issue involved somewhere - bloat in itself is painful, too. This will contribute to her comfort and helps to boost her appetite a little.

 

[fluffysal]

Benebac is a good thing to use.

We don’t recommend simethicone.
I recall a thread recently which said that the issue with gripe water in the US is that it can contain an ingredient which is toxic to piggies. I’ve gone blank and can’t think what it was at the moment….

Please do restart the critical care. She is losing weight because she isn’t eating enough hay yet so critical care can’t be stopped this point.

She can have her pellets given you are feeding only a tiny amount.
We never recommend giving long term supplementation of vit c in any event. It’s not necessary at all. Only ever give vit c in a short two week course during a period of illness.
If you’ve long term supplemented then you can’t just stop giving it as it can cause scurvy.

It's not just the gripe water in the U.S. some in the U.K. also contain sodium bicarbonate (bicarbonate of soda) which is toxic to all rodents.
I hope she gets better soon.