Diarrhea!

[ameliacorbo]

my pigs have diarrhea, I know not given them veg for a few days will help but do I need to see a vet? What else can help them? Thank you xx

 

[Jesse's pigs]

If you do not know the cause for the diarrhea then a vet visit wouldn't hurt to see why it happened. Are they on any medication? Yes definitely withhold veg and keep hay topped up. Make sure the piggies stay hydrated as well with less veg and be prepared to syringe water in their mouths if you feel they are becoming dehydrated.

 

[Lady Kelly]

Get some probiotic for them. Add extra fibre. Put some brown cardboard in with them to chew on such as cut open toilet roll tubes or from a cardboard box. Watch our for signs of dehydration and other signs of illness (lethargy, loss of appetite etc). Weigh daily at the same point each day (either right before or right after feeding time).

I recently had this with daisy who lost some weight as it went on for a whole week. She was otherwise lively and didn't appear ill at all. I did go to the vet's but there was nothing they could do at that point. I was told if she started to go downhill they would inject fluids and if it carried on for a prolonged period then they would test poops for parasites etc. I now have it started up with willow today so will be taking her out at veggie time to allow the other two to have some veg while she gets better

 

[Wiebke]

my pigs have diarrhea, I know not given them veg for a few days will help but do I need to see a vet? What else can help them? Thank you xx

Hi!

If you have runny diarrhea in your guinea pigs, you always need to see a vet promptly!
You also need to see a vet if your guinea pigs have shapeless soft poos that do not start firming up again within 24 hours of stopping fresh food or if you have repeated issues. That means that something serious is going on.
Guinea Pig Vet Locator

Please weigh your guinea pigs daily at the same time and if necessary (if they lose over 50g), step in with syringe feed. In an emergency, you can make it from pellets soaked in water.
You need to make sure that your guinea pigs are not dehydrating with diarrhea. For that reason, you may want to mix the water with dioralyte (UK) / pedialyte (US) according to the instructions on the product. Give as much as water as the piggies want to take, but do not force it down and never give more than one mouthful (ca. 0.3-0.5 ml) at once to prevent water and food from going into the lungs and causing an infection.

If you syringe feed, you can add probiotics to that, otherwise syringe them dissolved in a little water. You can buy a tipless 1 ml syringe from a pharmacy.

It is vital that you support any guinea pigs that are not eating or not eating properly to make sure that they have the strength to fight whatever they are having and to keep the guts going. The more fibre they get, the better!
All the necessary information as to how to prepare a syringe, how much/how often to feed etc. is in our illustrated step-by-step guide, The guide also contains information on probiotics and recovery formulas: Complete Syringe Feeding Guide

 

[rome_italy]

maybe it is nothing serious, but I would call a vet if tomorrow the situation does not improve. Your piggies were bought at the shop, maybe their gut is not used to the vegs (shops feed them with pellets). @Lady Kelly gave us great info and advices. Hoping that you piggies have eaten only too much "watery" vegs. Some lettuce can make this effect, but also a good fresh pepper is made of 92-95% water...