Bloat - I can’t win

[PiggyPack]

Hi!

So my guinea pig bea has been battling bloat for almost 5 months now. It’ll get better after weeks of emeprid, then all of a sudden she’s got those horrible stringy poops again. I’ve had so many trips to the vets it’s getting embarrassing. The cycle goes, bloat, meds, off meds, slowly introduce veg back, fine, bloat comes back.

It’s been like this for so long and I can’t go out anywhere for more than two days because she’ll need medicine. I feel like I can’t win and it’s becoming so debilitating. I love her so much but I just feel like I’m fighting a losing battle and it’s very depressing (

 

[PiggyPack]

I’m also so so terrified of them getting scurvy because I have been taking bea off her veg intermittently when the bloat flares up. It’s just a constant flurry of anxiety

 

[Free Ranger]

This is a really tricky one isn't it. Can I ask a little more?
How old is your girl? Has she had any other health conditions? Did anything change in her health or environment that triggered this in the first place - some can get an upset tum after a course of antibiotics for instance. Is she a single pig or does she have a friend? If she's indoors does she get any grass? And do you use any probiotics?

I ask the latter because I've seen a post before where someone talked about their pig being on probiotics permanently or they just got bloat straight off - but with the probiotics I'm pretty sure they lived a normal life. It might be worth thinking about...?

 

[PiggyPack]

This is a really tricky one isn't it. Can I ask a little more?
How old is your girl? Has she had any other health conditions? Did anything change in her health or environment that triggered this in the first place - some can get an upset tum after a course of antibiotics for instance. Is she a single pig or does she have a friend? If she's indoors does she get any grass? And do you use any probiotics?

I ask the latter because I've seen a post before where someone talked about their pig being on probiotics permanently or they just got bloat straight off - but with the probiotics I'm pretty sure they lived a normal life. It might be worth thinking about...?

She’s just over 5, has bladder stones but the vet says they’d be too tricky to remove and she’d likely suffer more. So we’re both just keeping an eye on her with emeprid at the moment. She’s got two friends. They’re indoors and don’t eat grass. She’s on emeprid right now, I have fibreplex, but only use it if the emeprid is running out, as I want to trust my vet.

I have yet to try gripe water. If I was to increase probiotics, how much should I administer?

Also what veg would you reccomend that’s hugh in vitamin c, but isn’t one for causing/provoking bloat? Sorry for all the questions I’m just really struggling.

 

[Free Ranger]

The way I use probiotics like Fibreplex or bio-lapis is actually a bit more frugal and it's partly because my pigs don't like it straight out of the syringe so I mix a tiny bit into some Critical Care (we use the papaya flavoured Fine Grind CC) and let it stand around a few hours so the yeasts multiply up a bit (it's just basically yeasts in there to bulk up the gut microflora poulation). We use syringe food as part of the bloat treatment for my Louise - she's mad for the stuff and we need food to go in the top end and push the gas through. Louise doesn't lose her appetite until she bloats right up but she's been 'puffy' on and off for about 2 weeks now - so she doesn't really need emeprid (a medication which stimulates the gut to move) until her eating drops off - but I give her a little probiotic-in-CC mix each day. With her we think it's the springtime grass being a bit rich - it happened the same time last year.

There is a link here to some probiotic info including how to make a'poop soup' from her healthy companions
Probiotics, Recovery Foods And Vitamin C: Overview With Product Links

So did you find out about the stones 5 months back when all this started? Did she have urinary symptoms? Was she treated for UTI? Does she still have any symptoms of squeaking while peeing, blood in pee or incontinence/wet bottom end?

If she had antibiotics and they wiped out her gut flora she may just be battling to get back on track in which case some poop-soup water and Fibreplex in a bit of Recovery food (she might just eat it off the spoon if she likes it) could sort her out over a week or so. But I'm tempted to think there might be that there's nothing wrong with her gut flora - if she's carrying stones she should really be on daily metacam for pain relief and anti-inflammatory - and at a decent dose. Pain can make their eating intermittent and it could well be that she has days where she just gorges on veg because she can't face hay and this is causing an erratic digestion. My George has been on a decent dose twice a day for two years - he's also currently living with a big stone (and its little friend) but he also has arthritis. He's 6. George is currently on about 0.35 ml twice a day and it's the stronger 1.5mg/ml dog version. And he loves it - it's not a chore to get him to take it.

I won't go into the ins and outs of stones here but if you had a copy of your x-ray and wanted to add it so we could get a squizz and see how big they are etc it can be useful. George's large stone bothers him when his guts move after the morning veggies so not eating could be related to her stones in that way.

A bit of daily probiotic (esp in the form of a poop soup) would be a cheap harmless way to support her gut. But have they given you any metacam or loxicom? If not this could be one way forward.

 

[PiggyPack]

The way I use probiotics like Fibreplex or bio-lapis is actually a bit more frugal and it's partly because my pigs don't like it straight out of the syringe so I mix a tiny bit into some Critical Care (we use the papaya flavoured Fine Grind CC) and let it stand around a few hours so the yeasts multiply up a bit (it's just basically yeasts in there to bulk up the gut microflora poulation). We use syringe food as part of the bloat treatment for my Louise - she's mad for the stuff and we need food to go in the top end and push the gas through. Louise doesn't lose her appetite until she bloats right up but she's been 'puffy' on and off for about 2 weeks now - so she doesn't really need emeprid (a medication which stimulates the gut to move) until her eating drops off - but I give her a little probiotic-in-CC mix each day. With her we think it's the springtime grass being a bit rich - it happened the same time last year.

There is a link here to some probiotic info including how to make a'poop soup' from her healthy companions
Probiotics, Recovery Foods And Vitamin C: Overview With Product Links

So did you find out about the stones 5 months back when all this started? Did she have urinary symptoms? Was she treated for UTI? Does she still have any symptoms of squeaking while peeing, blood in pee or incontinence/wet bottom end?

If she had antibiotics and they wiped out her gut flora she may just be battling to get back on track in which case some poop-soup water and Fibreplex in a bit of Recovery food (she might just eat it off the spoon if she likes it) could sort her out over a week or so. But I'm tempted to think there might be that there's nothing wrong with her gut flora - if she's carrying stones she should really be on daily metacam for pain relief and anti-inflammatory - and at a decent dose. Pain can make their eating intermittent and it could well be that she has days where she just gorges on veg because she can't face hay and this is causing an erratic digestion. My George has been on a decent dose twice a day for two years - he's also currently living with a big stone (and its little friend) but he also has arthritis. He's 6. George is currently on about 0.35 ml twice a day and it's the stronger 1.5mg/ml dog version. And he loves it - it's not a chore to get him to take it.

I won't go into the ins and outs of stones here but if you had a copy of your x-ray and wanted to add it so we could get a squizz and see how big they are etc it can be useful. George's large stone bothers him when his guts move after the morning veggies so not eating could be related to her stones in that way.

A bit of daily probiotic (esp in the form of a poop soup) would be a cheap harmless way to support her gut. But have they given you any metacam or loxicom? If not this could be one way forward.

Yeah she was on Meloxidyl cat for a while but the vet suggested that may be upsetting her stomach so we stopped it and it seems to have slightly worked? The probiotics sound great I’m deffo gonna give her some fibreplex.

The stones are about the size of a very small marble. They’re fairly big but nothing ridiculous.

I may ring the vet to ask about pain relief again because it seems strange to just stop them if he knows she has the stones.

Also what veg would you recommend, the thing I’m most worried about is I keep having to take her off it and she’s getting slightly lethargic, I’m worried about scurvy now lol. Gosh it just never ends.

 

[Piggies&buns]

If she has stones then I’d think she needs to be a on a good dose of dog metacam. Cat metacam is fine but it depends on the dosage given it is three times weaker and stones are painful. Metacam doesnt usually upset their tummies. Equally, being bloated is painful so I would also think she would need pain relief for that.

If she is bloating each time you reintroduce veg then it sounds like her gut flora isn’t functioning properly.
What veg are you trying? Herbs are best as they tend to be milder on the tummy but also contain a good amount of nutrients.
I would second giving a probiotic or poop soup routinely.
Dont worry about scurvy - there is vit c in hay and pellets so as long as she is eating, then she will be getting some.
How is her weight each day?

 

[PiggyPack]

If she has stones then I’d think she needs to be a on a good dose of dog metacam. Cat metacam is fine but it depends on the dosage given it is three times weaker and stones are painful. Metacam doesnt usually upset their tummies. Equally, being bloated is painful so I would also think she would need pain relief for that.

If she is bloating each time you reintroduce veg then it sounds like her gut flora isn’t functioning properly.
What veg are you trying? Herbs are best as they tend to be milder on the tummy but also contain a good amount of nutrients.
I would second giving a probiotic or poop soup routinely.
Dont worry about scurvy - there is vit c in hay and pellets so as long as she is eating, then she will be getting some.
How is her weight each day?

Her weight never really goes above or below the normal 40g fluctuation. It’s just her poops I’m worried about, they have that horrible pinched pointy tip and she seems to be sleeping more.

I’ll ring my vet about the pain killer fs.

 

[RosieLily]

No advice here, just support! This must be so stressful

 

[PiggyPack]

If she has stones then I’d think she needs to be a on a good dose of dog metacam. Cat metacam is fine but it depends on the dosage given it is three times weaker and stones are painful. Metacam doesnt usually upset their tummies. Equally, being bloated is painful so I would also think she would need pain relief for that.

If she is bloating each time you reintroduce veg then it sounds like her gut flora isn’t functioning properly.
What veg are you trying? Herbs are best as they tend to be milder on the tummy but also contain a good amount of nutrients.
I would second giving a probiotic or poop soup routinely.
Dont worry about scurvy - there is vit c in hay and pellets so as long as she is eating, then she will be getting some.
How is her weight each day?

She’s eating fine, not losing or gaining, maintaining a great weight actually, just sleeping a lot more than eating which I’m a bit worried about (

 

[Swissgreys]

We had a simile battle with Lucy who definetly became more prone to bloat as she got older too.

Firstly I would insist she is put on daily Metacam at a pretty reasonable dose as others have already said.
I would also be giving daily probiotics.

And honestly I would not stress at all about the veg part of her diet.
If she has a small amount of pellets and unlimited hay then she will not get scurvy - there is enough Vitamin C in those to keep her at a healthy level.
Lucy rarely had any veg at all for the last 6 months of her life because she just did not tolerate it well.
A few things that did work would be herbs (coriander or parsley - a sprig 2 - 3 times a week), a small strip of pepper a couple of times a week and the occasional slice of apple.

You have my heartfelt sympathy - it is difficult, but I found that pretty much cutting out most veg, keeping on top of pain, and adding in daily probiotics really did help.

 

[PiggyPack]

We had a simile battle with Lucy who definetly became more prone to bloat as she got older too.

Firstly I would insist she is put on daily Metacam at a pretty reasonable dose as others have already said.
I would also be giving daily probiotics.

And honestly I would not stress at all about the veg part of her diet.
If she has a small amount of pellets and unlimited hay then she will not get scurvy - there is enough Vitamin C in those to keep her at a healthy level.
Lucy rarely had any veg at all for the last 6 months of her life because she just did not tolerate it well.
A few things that did work would be herbs (coriander or parsley - a sprig 2 - 3 times a week), a small strip of pepper a couple of times a week and the occasional slice of apple.

You have my heartfelt sympathy - it is difficult, but I found that pretty much cutting out most veg, keeping on top of pain, and adding in daily probiotics really did help.

Thank you so much!

 

[Free Ranger]

George's stone x-ray:
... he had it removed in Jan but unfortunately got another within a month, similarly massive. Really annoying - more so for George obvs. But he's doing OK enough for now - as long as we can keep him UTI free his pee doesn't have visible blood. Presumably because these stones are so round... it was like a massive ball bearing!

 

[Lisanjake]

How are you getting on with the bloat issue? (Currently going through the same thing at the moment)