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Extreme Ongoing Bloat

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Beans&Toast

Beans&Toast

Adult Guinea Pig
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Toast has had bloat since March. It goes and comes back, but for the past month she's had it constantly. Grass seemed to be a big factor so she doesn't get any grass, and she's already on a diet of 95% hay (on vet's advice) so she only gets enough veg to get all her vit c etc.


Before the bloat issues her weight was 1130g. Since she's had bloat her weight has been 1220g, even going up to 1250g. Last night was the worst it's ever been, she ballooned up to 1280g, she was puffed up but still happy to eat and run around.

She's been on Emeprid, then Cisapride, Infacol, Gripe Water etc and nothing has made the slightest bit of difference. She also has access to my whole flat (piggy proofed) for at least 12 hours a day so exercise isn't an issue.

My vets are exotic specialists and extremely good with guinea pigs, but even they are now stumped as to why she keeps getting more and more bloated.

Today she's been put on;
Emeprid 0.5 x2 daily
Cisapride 0.2 x3 daily
Ranitadine 0.3 x2 daily
Gripe Water 0.3 x3 daily

She's also on;
2 Cystophan capsules daily
Locicom 0.2 x2 daily
Fibreplex 1ml 3x daily

My vet's going to speak to another exotic specialist to get another opinion on what's going on...

Does anyone have any ideas at all as to what is causing such severe, constant bloat? :(
 
I am very sorry for your problems. Have you tried taking her off any pellets with grains?

My Ffraid ended up with pretty much permanent bloating issues during the last few months of her life; she'd been struggling with on and off mild bloating since a very painful mystery episode, which caused temporary back leg paralysis and partial gut stasis for two years (she died aged 7 years). There was sadly nothing the vet could do with her, apart from the usual meds, which you have got, too.

@helen105281 @Adelle
 
She doesn't get many pellets as it is, but I do given her grain free, gluten free pellets.

My vet is getting really worried about her now as it's just not budging at all and there doesn't seem to be any pattern to it. I thought it may have been orchard grass causing it but I took her off that particular hay for a few days and it made zero difference so it wasn't that.

I'm seriously starting to panic, but I'm still hopeful as she still runs about all day and is still eating hay and begging for veggies, so that's really positive.

I've noticed her cystitis is worse the past few days also, she was put on Cystophan which stopped the squeaking whilst peeing but that has returned, I don't know if that is a coincidence or if it's related to the bloat?
 
If youve ruled out food being an issue (grain free pellets, stopping all veg then introducing one at a time) then the likely answer is something is slowing down her digestive tract causing bloat- this is more than likely to be the cystitis, especially since she is currently having another flare.

You need to be careful not to overdo the gut stimulants, its all about a balance to get both the upper and lower digestive tracts ticking over together.crunchie once had a stomach bulging with food.. And nothing in the guts, all due to an incompetant vet prescribing the wrong balance of meds. For a gas filled stomach iv found ranitidine every 8 hours with metacloprimide every 12 hours has got things moving and shifted gas. For gassy intestines, ranitidine and metacloprimide both every 12 hours.

Obviously every pig is different but the logic is there.

Any correlation between cystophan starting and the bloat starting?

Is this the piggy that was spayed?

What type of hay, pellets and what veg does she eat?
 
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Has she been checked for ovarian cysts? We had a pig years ago at clinic where a large ovarian cysts was pressing on the stomach and causing bloat. I can't remember if we have discussed that already though?

It is positive that she seems her usual self despite the bloat. You could try emailing the lady that runs Galens garden as I was recommended some products from there a few years ago but am no longer in touch with the person who told me about them to double check.
 
Also my late Moo used to benefit from the Oxbow digestive vitamin, used to have half a tablet each day. She was more gassy than bloaty though.
 
Adelle said:
If youve ruled out food being an issue (grain free pellets, stopping all veg then introducing one at a time) then the likely answer is something is slowing down her digestive tract causing bloat- this is more than likely to be the cystitis, especially since she is currently having another flare.

You need to be careful not to overdo the gut stimulants, its all about a balance to get both the upper and lower digestive tracts ticking over together.crunchie once had a stomach bulging with food.. And nothing in the guts, all due to an incompetant vet prescribing the wrong balance of meds. For a gas filled stomach iv found ranitidine every 8 hours with metacloprimide every 12 hours has got things moving and shifted gas. For gassy intestines, ranitidine and metacloprimide both every 12 hours.

Obviously every pig is different but the logic is there.

Any correlation between cystophan starting and the bloat starting?

Is this the piggy that was spayed?

What type of hay, pellets and what veg does she eat?
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No it was Beans who was spayed, and the bloat issues started a while after she had already been on Cystophan.

For pellets, she only gets about 5-10g of them a day and it's a mix of P@H nuggets (her absolute favourite) and Vetcare Multi Modal sticks which are grain and gluten free.
Veg she gets pepper, coriander, chard. Occasional celery, cucumber, blueberries, carrot.

She gets Meadow and Timothy hay from Dust Free Hay and Oxbow Orchard Grass hay.

When she's really gassy I massage her tummy and it really seems to help, she also poos as normal despite being really gassy/bloaty.

helen105281 said:
Has she been checked for ovarian cysts? We had a pig years ago at clinic where a large ovarian cysts was pressing on the stomach and causing bloat. I can't remember if we have discussed that already though?

It is positive that she seems her usual self despite the bloat. You could try emailing the lady that runs Galens garden as I was recommended some products from there a few years ago but am no longer in touch with the person who told me about them to double check.
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She's had several x-ray's recently and no cysts or anything appeared, she's also been thoroughly examined and had her teeth checked and everything seems fine. My vet did mention possible worms/parasites, is that likey?

I haven't heard of Galens Garden... what kind of products do you mean?

I'm hoping this specialist has some kind of answers as nothing seems to be working.
 
They are herbal supplements. I would link but my work pc blocks the site for some reason. Worms are definitely worth considering though there are mixed opinions on it.
 
As pigs age and health conditions occur, they really can become more sensitive to foods. This is the case with fudge and crunchie, things they used to eat now cause bloat or diarrohea. Id suggest stopping all veg, adding in one at a time once her gassyness has settled.

Id try her off orchard grass altogether, as its more towards the grass category than it is hay.

The fact she still poos normally throughout suggests a gassy upset rather than bloat.

If none of this works i would think its her cystitis slowing down her system, causing gas. Crunchie has proper bloat continuously from her ovarian cysts. She had been fine since we rectified that problem.

Another way of trying to get her IC uder control and hopefully stop the bloat would be to temporarily increase her metacam under vet advice, in the hope one problem being sorted also helps the other x

Crunchie is on the urinary support tincture from Galens Gardens.. So far so good x
 
Toast is still really bloaty/gassy despite taking Cisapride/Emeprid/Ranitadine/Gripe Water and Loxicom since Tuesday morning...

She's now also really straining and squealing whilst doing the toilet. She has recurring cystitis and it seems to flare up when she's spent a lot of time at the vets, it really stresses her. Apart from the squealing and straining to do the toilet, she's eating and running about okay but I'm getting quite worried about how much pain she seems to be in right now..

I phoned the OOH there to see if I could increase her pain relief for tonight and I got a locum vet who said increasing it from 0.4mls could be very dangerous and she wouldn't recommended it. Toast has been on 0.8mls Loxicom before so I'm not sure how that could be..

Not sure what to do now. When she gets painful cystitis she ends up not eating which makes her bloat worse and causes dental issues :eek:
 
Also ask your vet to add in Tramodol for extra pain relief if they are willing to, it really made a difference to one of mine. Sending healing wheeks to Toast, I know exactly what you are going through xx
 
Poppy'sMum said:
Also ask your vet to add in Tramodol for extra pain relief if they are willing to, it really made a difference to one of mine. Sending healing wheeks to Toast, I know exactly what you are going through xx
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Thank you :hug: he did mention tramadol but said he wouldn't want to give it as she's prone to gut stasis and bloat. Something about tramadol can slow down the guts? It's a vicious cycle, stress sets off her cystitis, which makes her bloat worse, which puts her off her food which causes dental issues.. and she reacts badly to GA and ABs..so it's a nightmare :blink: x
 
I would try to steer clear of Buprenorphine as well unless absolutely necessary, although it is great for instant pain relief it had a bad affect on one of mine, I only accept the vet uses it as a last resort. What does she weigh? My Ziggy is on 0.3ml dog Metacam twice a day at the moment, she weighs 920g & has the 1.5 dog Metacam xx
 
helen105281 said:
I think I have dosed every 8 hours before when needed and also given an additional 0.1ml when needed. Maybe ask about that?
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My normal vet has had her on 0.8 before (short term) so I'm not sure why the locum vet wouldn't advise more than 0.4. She didn't seem to be piggy savvy to be honest so possibly that's the reason. I'm going to phone tomorrow morning to ask about the pain management but I think I will give an extra 0.1 tonight
 
Poppy'sMum said:
I would try to steer clear of Buprenorphine as well unless absolutely necessary, although it is great for instant pain relief it had a bad affect on one of mine, I only accept the vet uses it as a last resort. What does she weigh? My Ziggy is on 0.3ml dog Metacam twice a day at the moment, she weighs 920g & has the 1.5 dog Metacam xx
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She's had Buprenorphine before and it caused gut stasis... she really is so sensitive to everything! She normally weighs 1030g but for the past while that she's been gassy and bloaty she's up at 1220g.. she gets 0.4 dog Loxicom a day normally, I'm going to give an extra 0.1 tonight to top it up... she looks in so much pain trying to do the toilet x
 
I don't advise you to do this without your vet's say-so, but when Petal had UTIs she was on 0.7ml twice a day at times & weighed a chunky 1.3 kg, so I am sure an extra 0.1ml tonight will be no problem, but tomorrow you need to ask your vet about upping the dosage for her xx
 
Poppy'sMum said:
I don't advise you to do this without your vet's say-so, but when Petal had UTIs she was on 0.7ml twice a day at times & weighed a chunky 1.3 kg, so I am sure an extra 0.1ml tonight will be no problem, but tomorrow you need to ask your vet about upping the dosage for her xx
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0.7 twice a day? Poor thing must be painful. I'd never normally just change any medication without discussing it with my vet, but it's a locum who's on OOH tonight and she didn't seem to know much about piggies. As Toast has been on 0.8 loxicom before I'm fairly confident 0.5 will be okay just until tomorrow morning.

I hate when I can't get my normal vet :td: x
 
Me too, mine is off on Wednesdays & I needed to speak to her today, but luckily the vet nurse managed to get hold of her on her day off to ask what I needed to know. Thankfully I have plenty of experienced advisors on hand on here or I'd be in a right mess xx
 
Mine is off Wednesdays too.. how dare they have days off :lol!:

I know, this forum has been a massive help on so many occasions with my 2! Xx
 
Just had a phone call from my vet, he's spoke to some other specialists, some vets that only deal with rabbits, Guinea pigs etc and they've came up with the few ideas as to why she has constant bloat.

Ovarian disease
Kidney issues
Urinary pain

She has recurring cystitis and bloat and it's just trying to work out which is causing which...

He'd like to do scans and take blood. I'm happy to go ahead with the scans but I'm quite reluctant for blood to be taken as it has to be done under GA, which has resulted in gut stasis in he past. It's got to the point where we're both questioning Toast's quality of life and what's the best thing to do for her..

Anyone got any ideas?
 
Could you opt for the scans and see if they show anything and then think about bloods after that?
 
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