Boar has diarrhoea.

[_Zippys_Adventures_]

Please help! New GP mum and have health issues with my little guy. This is the storyline so far, to break things down.

Sunday 15th August -
I bought Zippy from a farm, and introduced him to his new home.

Sunday - Wednesday -
He was still new and I still didn’t see him drink or eat. He was pooping and weeing as normal and he was munching down on the veggies we gave him.

Thursday -
His poop had got dry and tear shaped. I trained him to use his water bottle but still wasn’t taking to it. So he’s got 3 sources of water in big cage, 2 bottles and a dish. I put him on the grass for a few hours too.

Friday -
zippy had diarrhoea. Still no water intake that I could see, so I put him on the grass again and just kept cleaning him.

Saturday -
It has cleared but still had soft poop, it wasn’t watery. He had been taken on veggies and I placed him onto the grass for a while.

Sunday -
The diarrhoea is back.

Monday -
Still the same. And he squeaks a little bit if you touch his butt.

Tuesday/Today -
Still the same. Not as bad. I think his genitals have swollen a little bit, unless I’ve just never noticed him to have a bit of a buldge. So tried syringing a little bit of water which he took. I let him go on the grass a little bit, putting him back I noticed he has a bit of white discharge coming from him genitals.

Eating - he has been eating veggies fine. As soon as I cut the veggies, I think he’s been nibbling pellets but mainly grass. He’s not interested in hay (I’ve tried both Timothy and meadow) he doesn’t go for it. And today he was like searching round his cage for food almost, but avoiding his pellets and hay.

Drinking - I’ve not visibly seen him drink, only a few times on the Thursday. When I was training him. And today when I syringed it.

he was pooping and urinating normally until Thursday. I’ve not see him urinate but he could have in his hutch I just can’t see it.

his personality and life within him is fine.
Although today I noticed he’s keeping hunched together when he walks.

Please help me figure what’s wrong I love him to pieces.

 

[VickiA]

Please take him to see a vet for a full health check and to identify what is wrong with him. Having diarrhoea and being hunched are signs of illness and pain that require a vet to examine and diagnose.

If you bought him less than 14 days ago you do have rights under consumer law. I’m attaching a link to a guide that contains information about your rights. New guinea pigs: Sexing, vet checks&customer rights, URI, ringworm and parasites

 

[Claire W]

Hi, please take Zippy off of fresh veg and grass for 24-48 hours or until the poo firms up just feeding him hay and pellets. Reintroduce veg slowly 24-48 hours after the poos firm up. If the soft poos turns in to diarrhoea and the pain persists after taking him off veg and grass, please see a vet.

Don't worry about the drinking. He's probably been getting enough water from his grass and veg but I am sure he will drink when he's thirsty

 

[Piggies&buns]

Please do not give a piggy with diarrhea any grass or veg as it will make it worse

As he isn’t eating any hay you must step in and syringe feed a fibre rich recovery feed. Weigh him daily so you can monitor his syringe feed intake. Eating pellets independently isn’t enough as pellets are only 5% of the daily food intake whereas hay is 80%

As he has diarrhea please see a vet as it is considered an urgent situation

Emergency, Crisis and Bridging Care until a Vet Appointment
Not Eating, Weight Loss And The Importance Of Syringe Feeding Fibre
Complete Syringe Feeding Guide

Digestive Disorders: Diarrhea - Bloat - GI Stasis (No Gut Movement) And Not Eating

Weight - Monitoring and Management

 

[_Zippys_Adventures_]

Thank you everyone. I’ve left him with a chunk of carrot, and the read these replies when I got to work. There’s no one to take it off him, hopefully he doesn’t feel like eating it and goes for his pellets instead. I might be able to get a hold of someone to remove it for me before he nibbles it all up.
When I get home I will syringe a bit of water and just add lots and lots of hay.
In the morning I will try a fibre stringe. Thank you for your replies it means so much x

 

[Piggies&buns]

Thank you everyone. I’ve left him with a chunk of carrot, and the read these replies when I got to work. There’s no one to take it off him, hopefully he doesn’t feel like eating it and goes for his pellets instead. I might be able to get a hold of someone to remove it for me before he nibbles it all up.
When I get home I will syringe a bit of water and just add lots and lots of hay.
In the morning I will try a fibre stringe. Thank you for your replies it means so much x

If he isn’t eating hay then he needs to be syringe fed fibre tonight. Syringe feeding replaces the hay a piggy isn’t eating for themselves. Mush up his normal pellets with some warm water and syringe that to him until you can get a recovery feed and see a vet. It’s the emergency measure when recovery feed isn’t available.
Ensure you weigh him daily while he is unwell so you can monitor hay and syringe feed intake.
Be very careful if you syringe water to him as you don’t want him to aspirate

 

[Siikibam]

You’ve had some good advice above. I just had one question. Had he been used to grass at the farm? As in, was he being put out on the grass at the farm?

If not, that could be one of the triggers. They need to build up a tolerance for grass. I hope he’ll be sorted out soon. Hay, hay and more hay is what you want him eating. Pellets need to be limited to a tablespoon a day. I hope he’ll be sorted out soon and start feeling better.

As advised above, he needs to see the vet sooner rather than later. Perhaps try ringing a local vet when you get home and see what their out-of-hours coverage is. Good luck and let us know how you get on.
Recommended Guinea Pig Vets

 

[_Zippys_Adventures_]

Thank you so much. I will fibre syringe him tonight then and follow your advice.
About the grass I have no idea. I’ve tried ringing up the seller but nothin to answer or anything. It’s a little suspicious. But again thank you so much for the advice honestly can’t get enough of it. Truly helps x

 

[weepweeps]

Hello and welcome to the forum. I hope you can your piggy in at the vets soon. I think maybe the grass has upset his tummy. Keep us posted what the vets says.

 

[_Zippys_Adventures_]

Thank you everyone x

 

[Siikibam]

Do get him booked in with the vet as well. Remember to weigh once daily, preferably morning.

 

[jennag446]

Hi! Does your pig happen to have “satin”, meaning shiny, fur? My pig had the same exact symptoms (diarrhea, not drinking, hunching). We took her to the vet and found out she had osteodystrophy. Sadly, we caught it too late and she didn’t make it. My point here is: please take your pig to the vet! Insist on getting x-rays, too. The only way you can find out if a pig has osteodystrophy is by x-rays. It’s always better to catch whatever you pig has sooner than later!