Distended abdomen and clumping poop

[guinealove1]

Hi all, I think my guinea pig is sick- I will take her to the vet in the morning but I would like some advice for now. We just adopted one of our guinea pigs about 2 months ago, and were told she is prone is gas and bloating. They gave us some simethicone to give incase she gets gassy to prevent bloat. We hadn't really noticed any issues until this past week.

She developed a distended abdomen a couple of days ago (we tried giving her a small piece of carrot top for the first time, maybe this was the mistake?) and so we have given her simethicone as we were told to do by her previous owners. She was eating like normal, but we did notice her poop seemed a bit soft. We stopped giving her veggies and just fed her hay and her vitamin C tablets. She seemed to be doing fine and her abdomen seemed back to normal. Her poops turned regular firmness, but all different sizes (some short some very long).

Then to today, she is acting a bit off (shy, running away and hiding more than normal, fighting with cage mate), a bit less interested in food than normal, and clumping poops. She also looks bloated again. But then we took her out for play time and she is running around like normal... so I'm confused whether she is okay or not. I hate seeing her not acting like her normal self.

We haven't fed her anything but hay and tablets since we noticed the issue. Any advice on what to do while waiting to go for the vet? I'm so worried and feeling bad that we should have taken her to the vet sooner

 

[Wiebke]

Hi all, I think my guinea pig is sick- I will take her to the vet in the morning but I would like some advice for now. We just adopted one of our guinea pigs about 2 months ago, and were told she is prone is gas and bloating. They gave us some simethicone to give incase she gets gassy to prevent bloat. We hadn't really noticed any issues until this past week.

She developed a distended abdomen a couple of days ago (we tried giving her a small piece of carrot top for the first time, maybe this was the mistake?) and so we have given her simethicone as we were told to do by her previous owners. She was eating like normal, but we did notice her poop seemed a bit soft. We stopped giving her veggies and just fed her hay and her vitamin C tablets. She seemed to be doing fine and her abdomen seemed back to normal. Her poops turned regular firmness, but all different sizes (some short some very long).

Then to today, she is acting a bit off (shy, running away and hiding more than normal, fighting with cage mate), a bit less interested in food than normal, and clumping poops. She also looks bloated again. But then we took her out for play time and she is running around like normal... so I'm confused whether she is okay or not. I hate seeing her not acting like her normal self.

We haven't fed her anything but hay and tablets since we noticed the issue. Any advice on what to do while waiting to go for the vet? I'm so worried and feeling bad that we should have taken her to the vet sooner

Hi and welcome!

Please see a vet as an emergency with serious bloating. Simethicone is unfortunately not good for guinea pigs because it is collecting the gas in a big single bubble. Unlike dogs or humans, guinea pigs have a VERY long and very thin gut, which means that it is much harder to work one large gas bubble out. This can be a real problem if there is a lot of gas.

Please take the time to carefully read the guides below, which contain all the practical care tips and information, and step in with support feeding fibre in earnest. Make sure that you leave off any high sugar veg like carrots off the diet completely from now on; it is like feeding your piggies chocolate and it can indeed cause dysbiosis - i.e. an overgrowth of bad bacteria in the gut, which can represent as gassing or diarrhea or a mixture thereof. The poo output reflects what has gone into your piggy a day or two before and is an indication that there is too little fibre. In a temporary pinch until you can get hold of recovery formula powder, mushed up pellets will also do.

Here is our information re. bridging and emergency care, bloating and diet:
Emergency, Crisis and Bridging Care until a Vet Appointment (one stop guide which includes feeding improvisation tips and a link to support products)
Digestive Disorders: Diarrhea - Bloat - GI Stasis (No Gut Movement) And Not Eating
Complete Syringe Feeding Guide
Long Term Balanced General And Special Needs Guinea Pig Diets (includes a chapter on dietary tips for guinea pigs with longer term digestive issues)

PS: If a badly bloated piggy starts grunting with pain at any stage, please rush her to the vets for euthanasia as she is in total agony. It is usually a sign that the gut has turned as hard as concrete.

PS2: You do not have to feed extra vitamin C to a guinea pig on unlimited hay; they won't suffer from scurvy because the reason why they have never had the need to make their own vitamin C in the first place is because their main food (fresh and dry grass, i.e. hay which should make around 80% of the sdaily food intake) is rich in it. Add to that the vitamin C that is in their small bowl of veg and in their pellets, too, they are getting enough. It is also added to recovery formula and to some probiotics.
However, please don't stop suddenly giving it,or you can actually cause symptoms of scurvy even when the actual level of vitamin C is still above normal since the body adapts to constantly higher levels; just reduce it very gradually as your girl is getting better.
We have seen tens of thousands of piggies pass through this forum in nearly 15 years of existence, but not a single one on a good hay based diet has ever needed treatment for scurvy or has needed additional vitamin C supplementing. Most people are not aware that hay itself contains vitamin C because it is not part of the human diet and has for far too long been treated as a nutritional non-entity.

Fingers very firmly crossed!

 

[guinealove1]

Thank you so much for your message- very helpful reads. I am hoping she just has a minor case and doesn't develop severe bloat symptoms until we can see the vet tomorrow...

 

[Wiebke]

Thank you so much for your message- very helpful reads. I am hoping she just has a minor case and doesn't develop severe bloat symptoms until we can see the vet tomorrow...

All the best! Severe bloat is when the belly feels tight and sounds a bit like a drum when you knock against the tight area.