Eating all her poops

[al34ex]

Hello -

So, one of mine, Cora, has always had softer poops, so I've been really conscious of how many veggies I give her (closer to 3/4-1/2 cup per day seems to help). However, recently I've been noticing that she is eating many of her poops directly from her bum, like more than the normal amount of cecal poops (e.g. from 11pm last night to 10am this morning, I have found zero poops in her cage).

Her poops continue to be somewhat soft when she does leave them, and she's had no notable fluctuations in weight. She continues to eat and drink water and seems her normal, sassy self. I'm bringing her to the vet on Thursday to get her checked out. Until then, I've been advised to syringe 10-15mL per day of critical care to supplement her food intake a bit.

I feel like something might be off with her gut biome... Any advice or good questions to ask my vet on Thursday? My vet is very cavy savvy and has been wonderful in the past, I just want to make sure I get what I need out of the 4 hour round-trip!

 

[Bradshaw Piggies]

Hi,

Glad you’ve got a vet appointment.
It may be worth discussing probiotic supplementation with your vet?

I have found fibreplex particularly useful when any of mine have had digestive upsets.

Hope all goes well at the appointment!

 

[al34ex]

Thank you!

Last time I asked about probiotics about a month ago, she said that she doesn't really recommend probiotics for guinea pigs because there isn't one specifically made for them (but I know that Benebac and Fibreplex can be pretty popular on here).

Any thoughts on me making some poop soup from one of my healthy pigs to give to Cora?

 

[Bradshaw Piggies]

Definitely!
Have you had a look at the poop soup guide on here?

Probiotics can definitely help piggies if there’s been some disturbance in natural gut bacteria populations. When mine have had digestive upsets I remove veg completely for a few days (and only reintroduce slowly). Some of mine can only have certain veggies (it’s very much trial and error in the beginning, to figure out which veggies upset their tummies). I find Pro C or Fibreplex very useful for aiding digestive recovery.

Probiotics, Recovery Foods And Vitamin C: Overview With Product Links

 

[Siikibam]

I would also consider taking her off veg entirely, until 24 hours after her poops are back to normal. And then perhaps try a process of elimination. But if it’s ongoing then definitely should be checked by a vet. I hope you get to the bottom of whatever is causing this.