• Discussions taking place within this forum are intended for the purpose of assisting you in discussing options with your vet. Any other use of advice given here is done so at your risk, is solely your responsibility and not that of this forum or its owner. Before posting it is your responsibility you abide by this Statement

Clustered poo with mucus

A

aredgrave90

Junior Guinea Pig
Joined
May 13, 2020
Messages
65
Reaction score
86
Points
220
Hi All

Sorry to bother you on Christmas day. I wonder if you can advise me. My still new-ish piggie who I've had for about six weeks has produced some very strange poo today. The poops were very small, passed in clusters, and covered thinly with mucus. She always produces slightly smaller poops, but this was definitely abnormal. I have also found ordinary poos today, however, so I'm not sure what to think of it... I have posted about her poos in the past as well because they're always on the small side, but I'm confused as to whether this is now a progression, or caused by something else entirely... I want to add that I recently changed them to fleece, and I noticed this evening that the guinea pig in question has been having a little nibble at the puppy pads beneath. Could the puppy pads be the culprit, or is this a symptom of illness? Her appetite this evening is great.

Thanks
Amy
 
aredgrave90 said:
Hi All

Sorry to bother you on Christmas day. I wonder if you can advise me. My still new-ish piggie who I've had for about six weeks has produced some very strange poo today. The poops were very small, passed in clusters, and covered thinly with mucus. She always produces slightly smaller poops, but this was definitely abnormal. I have also found ordinary poos today, however, so I'm not sure what to think of it... I have posted about her poos in the past as well because they're always on the small side, but I'm confused as to whether this is now a progression, or caused by something else entirely... I want to add that I recently changed them to fleece, and I noticed this evening that the guinea pig in question has been having a little nibble at the puppy pads beneath. Could the puppy pads be the culprit, or is this a symptom of illness? Her appetite this evening is great.

Thanks
Amy
Click to expand...

Hi

Please step in with feeding and watering support. Small poos with mucus means that your boy has hardly or not at all eaten or drunk in the last 24 hours and urgently needs to your support if he is to make it through.

Please follow the very detailed advice on how to improvise syringe feed in an emergency and switch from the weekly weigh-in to weighing daily at the same time, ideally first thing in the morning. Your feeding and watering support can make all the difference.

Here is our very comprehensive and practical support feeding care guide link which includes a chapter on emergency improvisation and round the clock care:
All About Syringe Feeding and Medicating Guinea Pigs with Videos and Pictures
Emergency and Crisis Care as well as Bridging Care until a Vet Appointment

If you are in the UK, please see an out-of-hours vet for rehydration (sub-q fluids) or otherwise a vet as soon as they open again.

Please remove the puppy pads if you are worried and return to the previous bedding.

It could be from puppy pads but only a vet visit and a scan or x-ray can show what exactly is going on. We cannot tell you.

All the best.
 
Thanks for your reply. It's possible her appetite was lower today, but she was definitely eating veggies and hay last night, and she took veggies from me twice today, too. This evening (since she passed the strange poos) she has been eating hay almost constantly. She was actually eating lettuce when I looked in the cage and found the strange poos in her hidey. The two strange poos were also interspersed with normal-looking bowel movements, and I've just been back to check again and haven't found any that are unusual. Either way, I think a vet check is in order, so fingers crossed there's no major problem! 🙂
 
aredgrave90 said:
Thanks for your reply. It's possible her appetite was lower today, but she was definitely eating veggies and hay last night, and she took veggies from me twice today, too. This evening (since she passed the strange poos) she has been eating hay almost constantly. She was actually eating lettuce when I looked in the cage and found the strange poos in her hidey. The two strange poos were also interspersed with normal-looking bowel movements, and I've just been back to check again and haven't found any that are unusual. Either way, I think a vet check is in order, so fingers crossed there's no major problem! 🙂
Click to expand...

OK, so it doesn't sound as bad as at first.
Please still switch to weighing daily on your kitchen scales first thing in the morning for best day to day comparison to make sure that your girl is eating enough hay and is holding her weight. That is the important health monitoring bit you cannot to do by eye and the only reliable up to date feedback you have. Any weight changes will also very much help your vet to put things into the appropriate perspective during their hands-on assessment. If the weight and the poos remain stable you can afford to wait until after the holidays.
 
Absolutely, I'll switch to daily weight checks in the morning, and book her in at the vets after the holidays. If her weight is dropping, or there are any more strange poops, I'll get her booked in as an emergency 👍
 
So an update. I barely slept last night night because I had a gut feeling that something wasn't right. When I got up this morning her poops were tiny - about a third of the size they should be, though without any mucus. I don't understand because she seems to be eating normally, but I've booked am emergency appointment at the vet. I'm not taking any chances.
 
The mystery deepens. The vet agrees that there's a digestive upset, but can't find any indication of what has caused it. Her teeth are fine, as are her eyes, ears, nose, chest and abdomen. Her temperature is normal, there are no signs of discharge from anywhere, she is eating hay, her weight is fine... It's baffling. They sent me away with meds for internal parasites, just in case. Other than that I have to take her off veg and weigh her and monitor her for a couple of days.
 
You'll often see people saying that 80% of a piggies diet *should* be hay, but tbh if they're feeling tippity-top all we need to do is provide that hay and they sort out the percentages themselves! If they're not feeling right they don't eat hay so much and you start to see the smaller poops and maybe some weight loss because the bulk of fibre is falling. George is currently not eating much hay at all and I can tell because the other two are constantly chewing day and night. But they're all eating veg with equal gusto - it's tricky. He actually seems keenest for veg, probably because he's hungriest from less hay!

Under normal conditions I'd be wary of upping the pellet intake but with George I put a bowl of soaked pellets in his snuggle tunnel overnight which he'll go for sometimes, although he won't give up his tunnel to get to the regular bowl. We have to watch out for calcium of course, but in the short term soaked pellets which are easy to slurp up and reasonably high in fibre will keep the gut ticking over. Monitor her weight... daily if you are able. It'll give you and your vet a much clearer idea of what is going on in terms of her eating hay. If you need to step in with syringe feeding to get her over any humps, so be it. George currently favours brown packet Critical Care (papaya flavour!) with a squidge of Fibreplex probiotic mixed in (thanks Amazon!) even though he's not on antibiotics or anything.

It's hard when it's at Christmas I know... I'm so sorry. Well done on getting to the vet. Internal parasites are not common in the UK but they do happen. I can respect the approach that the medication will either make a difference or it won't and that'll tell you whether she has anything or not. Good luck little girl x
 
Have you been weighing daily to see whether the weight is normal and he is eating enough by himself? Please always do that immediately with a piggy you have concerns about and for as long as needed.

Taking your piggy off any fresh food is normal approach for a mild tummy upset in order to give the gut microbiome time to sort itself out.
Digestive Disorders: Not Eating - Diarrhea - Bloat - GI Stasis (No Gut Movement)

You can help that along a live healthy microbiome transfer from a companion on medication, which goes by the descriptive name of 'poo soup' although it is not quite as gross as it sounds. It needs to be done correctly through in order to ensure that the healthy microbiome is still live when it reaches the gut.
You can find the 'recipe' for it in our syringe feeding guide; when done properly, it is more effective than bought probiotics and it is free and instantly available. You can find how to go about it in chapter 3, as well as more information on recovery products: All About Syringe Feeding and Medicating Guinea Pigs with Videos and Pictures

As long as your boy is still eating fully hay, then a few days without veg won't harm him, as little as a few days without breakfast will harm us; he will just eat a little more hay. Do not overdo the pellets grossly for any length of time since they take away from the grass fibre that is needed to rebalance the gut microbiome and will in the long term impact on the teeth, which are ground down by the silica in hay and fresh grass. Fibre content in most pellets is actually only around 10%; the rest is just calorific fillers.

If there is a developing pain issue in the body at the the bottom of your problem, then it will show up on the scales. What we cannot know at this stage - as it is too early - whether the problem is in the gut itself or whether it is secondary, caused by something radiating into/impacting on the gut. Keeping an eye on his weight is a good way of collecting data should the second option need to be considered at some point.
 
Hi All,
Sorry for the delayed reply! Thanks so much for your comments and advice. So I think my plan is to remove veg from her diet until after her tummy returns to normal. I have also softened her pellets slightly and moved them close to her tunnel. I switched to daily weight checks as of this morning, so hopefully I will know if she isn't eating. If she does drop weight, or seems to stop eating, I will feed her Critical Care and take her back to the vet as an emergency. As of tonight her poops are soft and clumpy, but there aren't any tiny or teardrop shaped ones, and definitely not any mucus. She has been eating hay and is currently chewing a ball made of natural fibres for guinea pigs.
I'll keep you updated!
Thanks again,
Amy
 
Now found blood in urine. Booking another emergency appointment. Can't believe this.
 
Any ideas?
 

Attachments

  • 20221227_114139.webp
    20221227_114139.webp
    38 KB · Views: 2
  • 20221227_114128.webp
    20221227_114128.webp
    27.9 KB · Views: 2
My only experience of blood in urine was caused by a bladder stone. But my piggy was also squeaking whilst weeing and pooping. All you can do is get another vet appointment to see what’s going on. Good luck. I hope it’s a UTI and not stones. 🤞🏻
 
Thank you. The vet scanned her with a probe, and her companion too. He also did a physical examination. He couldn't see or feel any stones, and she isn't squeaking when pooing or peeing. He thinks it is likely a UTI and has given me antibiotics. He also asked me to keep checking her poo, which has actually improved quite a bit, and to continue to weigh her daily. If any of the problems recur, or she loses weight, he wants her to go back again and get a scan to check for any reproductive problems. Fingers crossed it's a simple infection!
 
Yes, fingers crossed! If antibiotics are going to work they typically show improvement within a day or two so hopefully by now she's feeling a lot better and her guts will be more normal. Perhaps an underlying UTI was putting her off her hay. We'll be thinking of you x
 
I would also advise a probiotic if you can. You can order pro c at Amazon for next day delivery and they sell in pets at home if you are in the UK xx
 
Hi, just wondering if you could update me with what happened? My girl is the same, mucousy small poops and she also has cow-pat poops when she's fed veg. But she's still spritely and eating fairly well. Did antibiotics help? Vet visit tomorrow.
 
Charlottibiscot said:
Hi, just wondering if you could update me with what happened? My girl is the same, mucousy small poops and she also has cow-pat poops when she's fed veg. But she's still spritely and eating fairly well. Did antibiotics help? Vet visit tomorrow.
Click to expand...

I’m afraid you are not likely to get a response. The OP of this post hasn’t logged onto the forum for over 18 months.
Please do create your own post and we can offer ongoing support and advice specific to your case
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top