Eating cagemates poop...a lot

Wiebke said:
The actual effectiveness of probiotics is still under discussion... At least I can guarantee you that properly made poo soup DOES work.
All the best for poor little J Rod and his big friend's underlying health issue.
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Wiebke said:
Hi


That is great news - please keep in mind that a full piggy bladder weighs about 10g and full tummy about 30g. The weight swings around 30-40g over the course of 24 hours depending on when you are weighing. I hope that that puts the weight gain into perspective.

As long as he is willing to take the syringe, you cannot overfeed him. Keep in mind that guinea pigs have a very fast metabolism.
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Is it normal for him to have some soft poop but then also be producing some normal poops? He’s been taking his probiotics and I’ve been trying to get fresh poops from his cagemate but the baby just WILL NOT POOP OUTSIDE OF THE CAGE,I have to try to find them around the cage but there’s no way for me to really know if they are fresh or not when I get off work,the vet said it’s signs that the antibiotic is working since there is harder poops but there’s been some soft ones yesterday and looking today there’s a soft stool in the side of the cage

edit:oh yeah he’s wanting to get water a lot as well,like I’m talking I’m giving him 20ml of CC and he wants 10ml of water to go with it,he’ll fight to get to the water syringe but the food he doesn’t really care about
 
Agashe said:
Is it normal for him to have some soft poop but then also be producing some normal poops? He’s been taking his probiotics and I’ve been trying to get fresh poops from his cagemate but the baby just WILL NOT POOP OUTSIDE OF THE CAGE,I have to try to find them around the cage but there’s no way for me to really know if they are fresh or not when I get off work,the vet said it’s signs that the antibiotic is working since there is harder poops but there’s been some soft ones yesterday and looking today there’s a soft stool in the side of the cage

edit:oh yeah he’s wanting to get water a lot as well,like I’m talking I’m giving him 20ml of CC and he wants 10ml of water to go with it,he’ll fight to get to the water syringe but the food he doesn’t really care about
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Things are gradually moving in the right direction. Your boy is kind of borderline now.

Hang on in there and keep topping him up with as much Critical Care as he will take and also as much water as he wants - winter indoors air is drier and he is not eating veg.
 
Wiebke said:
Things are gradually moving in the right direction. Your boy is kind of borderline now.

Hang on in there and keep topping him up with as much Critical Care as he will take and also as much water as he wants - winter indoors air is drier and he is not eating veg.
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Well he had to be taken off those antibiotics on Saturday too because it wasn’t helping him,he’s at 830 weight right now with 3 feedings of 15ml a day,I would do more but I have to work and also drive my S/O to and from work on top of that. He’s got super soft poops and I can see air bubbles in the poop along side with his stomach being firm at times. I rub his stomach as much as I can before and after work,I hear him letting gas out,he seems to want to stay around but at this point I don’t think he will make it out of will alone but I could be wrong. I have an appointment with the vet tomorrow to see if he should cross the rainbow bridge or not,if not I’m going to send out a culture which will take about 2 weeks...only time will tell how everything plays out.
 
Agashe said:
Well he had to be taken off those antibiotics on Saturday too because it wasn’t helping him,he’s at 830 weight right now with 3 feedings of 15ml a day,I would do more but I have to work and also drive my S/O to and from work on top of that. He’s got super soft poops and I can see air bubbles in the poop along side with his stomach being firm at times. I rub his stomach as much as I can before and after work,I hear him letting gas out,he seems to want to stay around but at this point I don’t think he will make it out of will alone but I could be wrong. I have an appointment with the vet tomorrow to see if he should cross the rainbow bridge or not,if not I’m going to send out a culture which will take about 2 weeks...only time will tell how everything plays out.
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Hi!

I am ever so sorry. Is he on gut stimulants to help with the bloating?
 
Wiebke said:
Hi!

I am ever so sorry. Is he on gut stimulants to help with the bloating?
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He isn’t,the bloating started Saturday AFTER the vets closed go figure,they are closed Sundays and today I have no one to pick him up after if I tried to drop him off
 
Wiebke said:
Hi!

I am ever so sorry. Is he on gut stimulants to help with the bloating?
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We decided that since he is active and trying that we will give him one more go around,he’s being given another antibiotic that is USUALLY meant to treat diarrhea,she’s not sure it will work for the soft poops but MAYBE it will work on the bad bacteria,we’re sending off a culture and it takes 2 weeks to complete. I’m not sure if he will make it till then or if he will hold on but I will help until he shows me he’s ready to give up or his body gives up. Hopefully the culture will either give me answers or closer in the very least
 
Agashe said:
We decided that since he is active and trying that we will give him one more go around,he’s being given another antibiotic that is USUALLY meant to treat diarrhea,she’s not sure it will work for the soft poops but MAYBE it will work on the bad bacteria,we’re sending off a culture and it takes 2 weeks to complete. I’m not sure if he will make it till then or if he will hold on but I will help until he shows me he’s ready to give up or his body gives up. Hopefully the culture will either give me answers or closer in the very least
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All the best and fingers firmly crossed!
 
Wiebke said:
All the best and fingers firmly crossed!
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Yesterday I saw solid poops and it’s continuing into today,they are small and are teardropped but I cried when I saw them and I woke up my girlfriend in happiness. He’s weighing in at around 900 grams! This is AT LEAST a 70 gram weight gain within 2 days! Apparently the first 2 types of antibiotics (I forget what they are called) treated a bacteria that can live in oxygen (?) but this new one treats bacteria that can live without oxygen. Fiberplex arrived today and I find it hard to deliver to my boy,it’s very gritty/sandy and the plunger doesn’t work well but he doesn’t seem to mind the taste. When my Benebac runs out I am considering plunging the Fiberplex into the Benebac syringe to try to make it easier for both of us. I think he might be a little gassy still but gripe water is given everytime he eats and it may not be gas it might be weight gain that I can’t gauge properly because he’s eating so much. Culture should come in within a week and hopefully that tells us that this med is what was needed and theres no other issues! Thank you for hanging in there with me! I will post more updates on his condition!

The new antibiotic I was given is Metronidazole at .34ml every 12 hours
 
That is good news - I was so concerned for you and your boy as he's really had a rough time but lets hope you've found a solution. My girl wasn't very fond of Fiberplex so I used to mix the dose into her syringe-feeding slurry. It is weird stuff! You've shown great perseverance and he's been very brave 💕
 
I am so pleased he sounds like he is improving. It's exhausing when piggies are ill, well done you for helping him.
I too have mixed Fibreplex in with the syringe food. I find it has sometimes dried out in it's syringe and is hard to push out.
 
Thank you all for the kind words! I think I will mix the fiberplex as it may work better,the stuff isn’t dried out it’s just...hard? To push the plunger down? Like I had to press on a solid surface to get the stuff to get flush with the top and get all the air out
 
Mine came in a big white syringe with mls printed on the side... but there is a white collar that you have to turn round and round and this goes up the mls to stop you dispensing too much. I'm not making much sense... you twist the collar until it goes up '1' and then you can dispense 1 ml... or turn it more until it goes up a couple of numbers then it dispenses 2. Is yours the same - are you twisting the collar?
 
Agashe said:
Yesterday I saw solid poops and it’s continuing into today,they are small and are teardropped but I cried when I saw them and I woke up my girlfriend in happiness. He’s weighing in at around 900 grams! This is AT LEAST a 70 gram weight gain within 2 days! Apparently the first 2 types of antibiotics (I forget what they are called) treated a bacteria that can live in oxygen (?) but this new one treats bacteria that can live without oxygen. Fiberplex arrived today and I find it hard to deliver to my boy,it’s very gritty/sandy and the plunger doesn’t work well but he doesn’t seem to mind the taste. When my Benebac runs out I am considering plunging the Fiberplex into the Benebac syringe to try to make it easier for both of us. I think he might be a little gassy still but gripe water is given everytime he eats and it may not be gas it might be weight gain that I can’t gauge properly because he’s eating so much. Culture should come in within a week and hopefully that tells us that this med is what was needed and theres no other issues! Thank you for hanging in there with me! I will post more updates on his condition!

The new antibiotic I was given is Metronidazole at .34ml every 12 hours
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Most piggies don't like fibreplex so prefer to mix it into their syringe feed.

My fingers are VERY firmly crossed that you have finally got to what is causing the problem.
 
Free Ranger said:
Mine came in a big white syringe with mls printed on the side... but there is a white collar that you have to turn round and round and this goes up the mls to stop you dispensing too much. I'm not making much sense... you twist the collar until it goes up '1' and then you can dispense 1 ml... or turn it more until it goes up a couple of numbers then it dispenses 2. Is yours the same - are you twisting the collar?
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Lol yes I am doing that,I’m actually using an old clean Benebac syringe to syringe feed that way I don’t over full his mouth and it’s basically the USs Fibreplex. The Fibreplex is just really stiff? For some reason?
 
Agashe said:
Lol yes I am doing that,I’m actually using an old clean Benebac syringe to syringe feed that way I don’t over full his mouth and it’s basically the USs Fibreplex. The Fibreplex is just really stiff? For some reason?
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Can you try to soften the fibreplex with a tiny bit of water? It is meant for larger pets but of course it works for piggies as well.
 
Wiebke said:
How is he with the change? Does it work?
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The change isn’t huge or anything,he didn’t really like or dislike the flavor so he took it well. He does have some teardrop snapped poops though but I give him plenty of water and no fruits/veggies so I’m not sure why he’s having that issue again?
 
Wiebke said:
How is he with the change? Does it work?
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Are there any guinea pig pros on here that you could tag for me besides yourself? He’s been on the Metronidazole at .34 ML every 12 hours for going on almost a month and he still hasn’t seemed to kick the infection. The culture said that THIS IS THE MED THAT SHOULD KILL IT,but it doesn’t seem to be putting the bacteria in its place? It works to keep his stool hard but theres also not a lot of other antibiotics that work on bacteria that can live without oxygen so we’re not sure where to go from here and my vet is now at this time referring me to a school that’s over 4 hours away and I work too much for that plus I have to get my S/O to and from work most days. I’m at a loss and so is the vet which is the scariest part for me.
 
Agashe said:
Are there any guinea pig pros on here that you could tag for me besides yourself? He’s been on the Metronidazole at .34 ML every 12 hours for going on almost a month and he still hasn’t seemed to kick the infection. The culture said that THIS IS THE MED THAT SHOULD KILL IT,but it doesn’t seem to be putting the bacteria in its place? It works to keep his stool hard but theres also not a lot of other antibiotics that work on bacteria that can live without oxygen so we’re not sure where to go from here and my vet is now at this time referring me to a school that’s over 4 hours away and I work too much for that plus I have to get my S/O to and from work most days. I’m at a loss and so is the vet which is the scariest part for me.
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Hi!

I am very sorry for your ongoing problems. Please accept that none of us is a trained vet and that we do have our limits; especially when even a trained exotics vet cannot get on top of an ongoing issue. We do have a collective pool of experience, seeing what approaches to the same problem have been made by a number of vets and seeing which approaches have worked and which not but that is as far as we can go unfortunately. Once you have explored all that we have seen, there is no more that we can do.

I can link in @PigglePuggle for you, who has professional knwoledge of parasitic issues but that is as far as we can stretch. Please accept that she is currently very busy in her job.
 
Wiebke said:
Hi!

I am very sorry for your ongoing problems. Please accept that none of us is a trained vet and that we do have our limits; especially when even a trained exotics vet cannot get on top of an ongoing issue. We do have a collective pool of experience, seeing what approaches to the same problem have been made by a number of vets and seeing which approaches have worked and which not but that is as far as we can go unfortunately. Once you have explored all that we have seen, there is no more that we can do.

I can link in @PigglePuggle for you, who has professional knwoledge of parasitic issues but that is as far as we can stretch. Please accept that she is currently very busy in her job.
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Oh no I totally understand that you guys aren’t vets and that I may go no closer to answers but I’m looking to see if anyone has had any similar experiences as myself. I just am at a loss and I’m trying to find things to throw at my vet for ideas
 
Agashe said:
Oh no I totally understand that you guys aren’t vets and that I may go no closer to answers but I’m looking to see if anyone has had any similar experiences as myself. I just am at a loss and I’m trying to find things to throw at my vet for ideas
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I know that; unfortunately, you kind of have reached the bottom of our barrel now. :(
 
Wiebke said:
I know that; unfortunately, you kind of have reached the bottom of our barrel now. :(
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I understand,it’s so disappointing but I will hold hope someone will join and have a magical answer for me lol I’m actually surprised this place doesn’t have vets on here but maybe they ARE on here but can’t legally say they are vets in fear of being sued which is understandable because people suck sometimes lol
 
Agashe said:
I understand,it’s so disappointing but I will hold hope someone will join and have a magical answer for me lol I’m actually surprised this place doesn’t have vets on here but maybe they ARE on here but can’t legally say they are vets in fear of being sued which is understandable because people suck sometimes lol
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It is always very disappointing for us, too.

This past year, any vets and nurses are all extremely busy and rather overworked because the social distancing measures mean that it all takes longer anyway... :(
 
Wiebke said:
It is always very disappointing for us, too.

This past year, any vets and nurses are all extremely busy and rather overworked because the social distancing measures mean that it all takes longer anyway... :(
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So it’s been quiet awhile since I’ve posted but I wanted to let everyone know how things have turned out for my boy. I was HOPING by now that he would be cured but unfortunately that’s not the case. He’s still here with us though thank goodness but the vet is probably going to be keeping him on the antibiotic “Cyproflocin” (I think that’s how it’s spelled) for the remainder of his life. We are not sure why but it’s the only thing that seems to be helping his issues and we’ve tried bringing him off it SEVERAL times after several different trials of weekly to even monthly doses. Everytime he comes off the meds his poop is normal for 3 days to a week and then they start to teardrop again,we have no idea why this is happening and the culture done shows this message should be killing the bacteria but for whatever reason it’s not. The vets don’t want to keep him on it for life but they are losing options as this case is bizarre and they have little to no other options and the options available I’m not sure I want to do since it would involve injections into his skin and the med is hard on the kidneys to boot. He has been maintaining his weight on his own and he is sometimes gassy on this med but this is now his and my life 0.2 of Cypro every 12 hours and 2 hours after every dose is benebac (America’s fiberplex). It’s not the update I had hoped but I figured I would update you guys and give someone else hope incase they read through all the forums like I did hoping for some news,any news that would give them hope to keep trying. Thank you guys for everything and I will update y’all if anything changes further!
 
Thanks for letting us all know, and you are right that there are a lot of people that search the forum when they have a piggy problem that we might never have contact with so it all helps. You've done so much for your boy and it looks like modern medicine has reached the limits of our knowledge. As long as he's happy and comfortable that's all he cares about - they don't look to the future and worry like we do. How are your two guys getting on together? If I remember they were pretty tight when one was a baby - did it stay that way?
 
Agashe said:
So it’s been quiet awhile since I’ve posted but I wanted to let everyone know how things have turned out for my boy. I was HOPING by now that he would be cured but unfortunately that’s not the case. He’s still here with us though thank goodness but the vet is probably going to be keeping him on the antibiotic “Cyproflocin” (I think that’s how it’s spelled) for the remainder of his life. We are not sure why but it’s the only thing that seems to be helping his issues and we’ve tried bringing him off it SEVERAL times after several different trials of weekly to even monthly doses. Everytime he comes off the meds his poop is normal for 3 days to a week and then they start to teardrop again,we have no idea why this is happening and the culture done shows this message should be killing the bacteria but for whatever reason it’s not. The vets don’t want to keep him on it for life but they are losing options as this case is bizarre and they have little to no other options and the options available I’m not sure I want to do since it would involve injections into his skin and the med is hard on the kidneys to boot. He has been maintaining his weight on his own and he is sometimes gassy on this med but this is now his and my life 0.2 of Cypro every 12 hours and 2 hours after every dose is benebac (America’s fiberplex). It’s not the update I had hoped but I figured I would update you guys and give someone else hope incase they read through all the forums like I did hoping for some news,any news that would give them hope to keep trying. Thank you guys for everything and I will update y’all if anything changes further!
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Thank you for the update.

I am very sorry that all you can do is life-long antibiotics to stabilise the problem. Concentrate on cherishing every day he has with you and turning it into a happy day - that is how piggies measure their life by; so whatever happens, you know he has had the happiest of lives. ;)

The more vets are pushing the horizons medically, the trickier the issues that are coming up unfortunately. We can do so much more than half a century ago when I met the first guinea pig in my life but it doesn't mean that we are even halfway through on the medical journey of discovery... We are seeing more and more novel issues on here.
 
Free Ranger said:
Thanks for letting us all know, and you are right that there are a lot of people that search the forum when they have a piggy problem that we might never have contact with so it all helps. You've done so much for your boy and it looks like modern medicine has reached the limits of our knowledge. As long as he's happy and comfortable that's all he cares about - they don't look to the future and worry like we do. How are your two guys getting on together? If I remember they were pretty tight when one was a baby - did it stay that way?
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Yes,he is still bonded with his cagemate and they live together still very happily!
 
I have this same situation , 2 wks getting my 2 year old girl thru GI stasis, (dehydration that got her into to this). She is drinking and eating and pooping , I'm still doing critical care with Harrisons Flora(probiotic) but she too is chasing her cagemate(7.5 year old senior) and screams so loud if he want let her at this butt…2nd adjacent cage , has a Male 3 year old, and she has both boys a stressed mess. I have ordered a divider, as night time is a night mare for all….I'm doing motility and gas meds but she seems fine, not sure what this is about, why her tummy still hurts!?
 
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