Curly is peeing normally now but no poop in the cage?

[a.don84]

So just to bring everyone up to date. My guinea pig Curly developed a bladder stone in May and from May 13th to the 19th she was on antibiotics (Meloxicam - .18ml for 4 days, Baytrill - .2ml two times daily for 7 days, Tramadol - 1/4th of a tablet 2 times every day for 3 tablets & baby colic drops - .1ml daily as a probiotic) which were perscribed by my main vet. Curly after having antibiotic treatment to help flush out backed up food and attempt to break down the stone (from may 13th to may 19th) has had a surgery date scheduled for June 11th as of May 29th (as the stone is still present). In the meanwhile I am working on getting her back to 900g's since at some point from the 24th onwards she lost 100g's as prior to the surgical vet consultation my current vet was focusing on reducing calcium intakes and clearing out food in her. She weighed in at 907g's prior to antibiotic treatment on the 13th and during the consultation on the 29th she weighed in at 800g's.

From the 19th to the 29th of May her poop slowly transitioned from air bubbles with poop strings -> varying size poops with air bubbles & poop strings holding it together -> very soft poop with a better formation than the stringy poop -> the same poop but with a green texture. For the same timeline she wasnt eating much of her poop within that timeline until after the 29th. For her urine because of the bladder stone (within the same timeline) went from the typical stream of urine followed by light red drops of blood with Curly straining when urinating -> only red drops of blood with Curly straining when urinating -> clear opaque urine with no traces of blood and no straining (I still have to check for white residue on her black play mat). after the 30th of May. However since the 30th while the uirne has pretty much improved I haven't seen any poops around the cage, but at the same time I will often see her curl up to eat her poop as guinea pigs do, but beacuse of the lack of poop I'm seeing i'm wondering if she is actually pooping at all!

I've already contacted my vet about this, but I was wondering if anyone would be able to fill me in on what could be causing this. Is her gut slowing down? Is it because of all the food being cleared out? Is she actually eating all of her poops to make up for the missed ones or is she just trying to eat even though nothing is coming out? Is she bloated? Currently diet wise she will drink water, eat cilantro, most of her leattuce and hay as well as a small bit of grains. I'm trying to do around 10-15ml of critical care daily as she can be rathe picky when being fed and I found going at her pace works better. Her eating patterns have improved from the 19th onwards so thats positive progress.

Thanks to everyone that responds, Curly is only 2 years old and its unforutinate that she happens to be one of the few piggies that just develop's bladder stones compaired to other pigs (including my past 2 with essentially the same diet, regular calcium/oxilates intake but no stones).

 

[Siikibam]

Poo output is usually 1-2 days behind. If there is none she’s not eating enough. Are you syringe feeding her?
@Wiebke @VickiA @furryfriends (TEAS)

 

[a.don84]

Yea I'm using a syringe, I'm trying to feed her around 10-15ml of critical care. I've been trying to do 20 but most times she won't like the stuff so it's a bit of a challenge to get her to have 10ml for example in a 3 hour session with her eating most of the stuff I syringe without much leftover

I've tried spacing out her feedings to 5ml 3-4 times per day although yesterday I gave her just 5ml just to see if that would change anything. I should probably add that she is mostly eating hay right now and will eat some cilantro, leattuce and little grains

 

[VickiA]

Can you weigh her daily to check her weight and increase syringe feeding to ensure she maintains nutrition and keeps guts moving? Not sure what recovery food you can get in Canada. My piggies prefer Emeraid to critical care, it is high in calories so you need less volume compared with critical care. There is also Science recovery and Burgess Dual care. Or you could just making a syringe feed with her usual pellets and warm water so that the taste is familiar. Sometimes a can help encourage them to eat more of the syringe feed.

 

[a.don84]

I might have an old weight scale lying around so I'll see if that still works. I'll increase the critical care as much as I can but if that doesn't work I guess I'll just have to find a different product, sucks too because a few times she would actually eat any of the leftovers but then stopped

BIG NEWS SHE JUST POOPED. I was feeding her as I was typing this response but I didn't hit send yet. I just put curly aside for a break and she let this out (another one afterwards) and she didn't strain either which is good news. But yeah I'm gonna try to feed her as much as possible, I'm giving her 10-15ml at the moment and then I'm gonna give her another 10ml later on so hopefully she starts to poop more!

 

[a.don84]

Just an update that after giving her around 10-20ml yesterday, earlier today she has released quite a few poops. I'm actually starting to suspect that exercise is helping her to pass more because once I let her run around while cleaning her cage a few hours later she let out a large amount of poops in her cage all of a sudden and is still passing poop

They are still soft but I'm guessing that's because of the stone. But anyway I'm gonna stick to the 10-20ml and also add exercise! Can't believe I didn't realise all this time her not running around often was also a factor lol

 

[Siikibam]

How is her weight?

 

[a.don84]

@VickiA @Siikibam

Sorry for the super late response but good news! As of today Curly passed the stone and she's now at 930g's. What happened was that once I brought her to the vet for the surgery, I got a call back from the doctor saying that in there x-ray the stone was gone! Good thing that doctor does x-ray's prior to surgery

That plus her poop is looking much better, good shape although they are slightly soft but they don't smell at all (which I assume is just from her gut recovering) and she's pooping fairly often now. She's also is eating alot more now so I'm going to lower the critical care to about 5-10ml per day or 5ml per day and keep lowering it untill she's back to eating normally! I also need to invest in a weight scale so there's that too lol

The only thing I wonder about is where did the stone end up after she passed it. But then again I probably removed when I was cleaning her cage last weekend and didn't notice lol. It was a fairly small stone after all

 

[VickiA]

Well, we all love a happy ending. Good to hear she is doing well.

 

[Roselina]

How lovely that Curly is doing so well now ! Yes we DO love happy endings

 

[Siikibam]

Glad to hear she passed it. Onwards and upwards for her.

 

[Zinnypig]

That's made my day. Such lovely news. Go curly

 

[a.don84]

Thanks everyone! One last concern I have is her poop. It's getting better but Curly tends to strain when pooping so I was wondering if because of the pain from the stone that pooping might be painful for a bit for her since she just passed the stone?

I also attached a pic of how they tend to look now, a bit larger than when she was pooping normally but the colour is good and they don't smell. They are a bit soft too since when she steps on them they compress a bit.

But pretty much my main concern is if the straining and softness just from her gut recovering?

 

[Dorota Kasiak]

@VickiA @Siikibam

Sorry for the super late response but good news! As of today Curly passed the stone and she's now at 930g's. What happened was that once I brought her to the vet for the surgery, I got a call back from the doctor saying that in there x-ray the stone was gone! Good thing that doctor does x-ray's prior to surgery

That plus her poop is looking much better, good shape although they are slightly soft but they don't smell at all (which I assume is just from her gut recovering) and she's pooping fairly often now. She's also is eating alot more now so I'm going to lower the critical care to about 5-10ml per day or 5ml per day and keep lowering it untill she's back to eating normally! I also need to invest in a weight scale so there's that too lol

The only thing I wonder about is where did the stone end up after she passed it. But then again I probably removed when I was cleaning her cage last weekend and didn't notice lol. It was a fairly small stone after all

Please keep an eye on her for the first three days. My Popi went through something similar and was recovering normally before suddenly becoming extremely unwell and dying suddenly at the vet. I don't wish to frighten you, and it seems like Curly is making a full recovery thankfully, but this is one piece of advice I wasn't told and I thought it would be best to pass it on just in case.

 

[Dorota Kasiak]

Thanks everyone! One last concern I have is her poop. It's getting better but Curly tends to strain when pooping so I was wondering if because of the pain from the stone that pooping might be painful for a bit for her since she just passed the stone?

I also attached a pic of how they tend to look now, a bit larger than when she was pooping normally but the colour is good and they don't smell. They are a bit soft too since when she steps on them they compress a bit.

But pretty much my main concern is if the straining and softness just from her gut recovering?

It seems like everything is returning to normal.

 

[Siikibam]

Thanks everyone! One last concern I have is her poop. It's getting better but Curly tends to strain when pooping so I was wondering if because of the pain from the stone that pooping might be painful for a bit for her since she just passed the stone?

I also attached a pic of how they tend to look now, a bit larger than when she was pooping normally but the colour is good and they don't smell. They are a bit soft too since when she steps on them they compress a bit.

But pretty much my main concern is if the straining and softness just from her gut recovering?

That pointy end can indicate a very mild tummy upset. Perhaps take her off veg until her poo is back to normal for 24-48 hours. I’m not sure why she is straining though, I’ll tag in @VickiA @Piggies&buns @Piggle

 

[VickiA]

I would take her off all fruit veg and grass for 24-48 hours and only reintroduce veggies once her poop has returned to normal. And introduce them slowly. It sounds like she is still in some discomfort if straining. When is she due for a vet re-check?

 

[a.don84]

Thanks for the advice, it's better to be prepared for any possibilities!

 

[a.don84]

Okay I'll try that and see how she does, I guess pretty much just her grains and critical care then. By the way when you say grass does that include hay and would to be okay to still give her half of a vitamin c tablet? I haven't scheduled a re-check yet but I was going to call my main vet on Monday to update him and have him to a checkup just to ensure everything is all good and to figure out what parts may be healing from the stone passing

 

[Piggies&buns]

Okay I'll try that and see how she does, I guess pretty much just her grains and critical care then. By the way when you say grass does that include hay and would to be okay to still give her half of a vitamin c tablet? I haven't scheduled a re-check yet but I was going to call my main vet on Monday to update him and have him to a checkup just to ensure everything is all good and to figure out what parts may be healing from the stone passing

Take her off fresh veg and dont give any fresh grass either, but you must never stop giving hay - it is the most vital part of their diet, and is the thing there keeps their guts working properly.

 

[a.don84]

Ah okay thanks for confirming that.

Also @VickiA the vet re-check is scheduled for November, I just saw it after reading the receipt from the vet. Although is it me or does November seem a bit too long?

 

[Dorota Kasiak]

Ah okay thanks for confirming that.

Also @VickiA the vet re-check is scheduled for November, I just saw it after reading the receipt from the vet. Although is it me or does November seem a bit too long?

Not sure, Popi had a vet appointment booked for the first three days after her surgery

 

[Siikibam]

Ah okay thanks for confirming that.

Also @VickiA the vet re-check is scheduled for November, I just saw it after reading the receipt from the vet. Although is it me or does November seem a bit too long?

Are you sure? Must have been a typo...

 

[Piggies&buns]

November can’t be right at all.

 

[Dorota Kasiak]

Are you sure? Must have been a typo...

Think so, of course if you have any worries please contact your vet,

 

[a.don84]

It says November on the receipt but I'm gonna call my main vet and see what he say's about the follow up date.

Although I might just call the vet that does surgery to request an earlier date anyway. 5 months seems way too long to me

 

[a.don84]

*update*

So I got a date for July 6th although I'll have to reschedule if it doesn't work it my new job.

So far after eliminating her leattuce for 2 days her poop went back to normal, although when I started reintroducing I may have given her too much on top of what my mom gave her so I'm doing another two days which was accompanied with some teardrop end poops. What I've noticed is that without the leattuce her poops are pretty much normal, however with the poop going back to normal size and form her tummy tends to gurgle not alot but it is noticeable.

Her eating is good though, she eats her hay and pellets now and drinks lots of water. Plus I give her critical care every now and then too.

Should I try and massage her tummy? I'm wondering if that will help with the gurgling or not

 

[Piggies&buns]

You should always be able to hear gut sounds when you listen to their tummies - it is what you need to be able to hear. In fact not hearing gut sounds is a bad sign.

 

[a.don84]

*update again*

So after the two days I started to give her the same amount as last time, small amounts of leattuce and one serving per day for two days. But before I started that my dad gave her two leafs of spinach (which I already told him like 2+ time in the past spinach has a high calcium content but it seems like he dosen't listen when I mention that... Ugh). But Even with that I wanted to see if she would eventually return to normal after the two days of just leattuce (I also gave her half of a Kaytee Timothy biscuit, which has some apple in it. Might also be the culprit)


Well.... I was wrong, today when I came home from work, I saw a lot of poop in her little hideout plus a majority either had good shape with a teardrop tip to some that were straight up teardrop shaped poops & even some small diarrhea. Honestly I feel like it's the spinach (which.... Ugh why couldn't he just ask me what to feed her ), but anyway I'm going to call the vet and see if I can get them for Friday because I really want her poos to go back to normal


in the meantime would colic drops help her with this issue she seems to be having? Either way I was going to stop veggies until she goes back to the vet but I wanted to know if that would help in any way. At this point I really just wan to do what I can to fix this issue because I'm getting worried that if it stays like this for too long some other issue might come up

 

[a.don84]

*update again*

So after the two days I started to give her the same amount as last time, small amounts of leattuce and one serving per day for two days. But before I started that my dad gave her two leafs of spinach (which I already told him like 2+ time in the past spinach has a high calcium content but it seems like he dosen't listen when I mention that... Ugh). But Even with that I wanted to see if she would eventually return to normal after the two days of just leattuce (I also gave her half of a Kaytee Timothy biscuit, which has some apple in it. Might also be the culprit)


Well.... I was wrong, today when I came home from work, I saw a lot of poop in her little hideout plus a majority either had good shape with a teardrop tip to some that were straight up teardrop shaped poops & even some small diarrhea. Honestly I feel like it's the spinach (which.... Ugh why couldn't he just ask me what to feed her ), but anyway I'm going to call the vet and see if I can get them for Friday because I really want her poos to go back to normal


in the meantime would colic drops help her with this issue she seems to be having? Either way I was going to stop veggies until she goes back to the vet but I wanted to know if that would help in any way. At this point I really just wan to do what I can to fix this issue because I'm getting worried that if it stays like this for too long some other issue might come up

*EDIT*

I figured that I should note that I didn't give her critical care for around 2 days since she was poking frequently without it as she's eating a lot of hay and grains now