Guinea pig isn't eating or drinking, weird poop

[naguya]

I posted a while back that I had got another pair of boars to add to my pack current pack (Momo and Bijou). This was in mid-December, the new member, "Xuxu", who is not in the photos, quickly adapted, eating vegetables, hay and drinking water and accepted his mate in the cage "Mimiu" the white one (he is on the photos). They both came from the same place, they were together when I got them with other guinea pigs.

The problem is that I've noticed that "Mimiu" doesn't drink water, at least I've never seen it, he eats very little, despite being very active and very vocal (he is the louder from the pack). About 2-3 days ago I noticed he became less active, not screaming out loud for food anymore. I also noticed, his urine is staining the fleece in white (I suspect it's a kidney stone, and it's getting worse because he doesn't drink water). Only Mimiu and Xuxu live in the enclosure, so it is difficult to monitor whose urine and poop are whose.

Yesterday's night I decided to separate Mimiu and put him in the old cage that Momo came in (I don't know if I did it right). To my surprise, I realized that his poop is minuscule! And he is not eating or drinking a single drop of water. I weighed him last week, and I weighed him this morning. He weighed 488 grams (before eating in the morning) and today he weighs 472 grams (he ate a little piece of cucumber so that may have influenced because I weighed him afterwards). Both, Xuxu and Mimiu are the same age (~6 months old) Xuxu weights ~700g while Mimiu 472g!

The diet of the four boars consists of vegetables in the morning, corn husks and green pepper in the afternoon, and a few pellets 8-10 pellets. (Fresh hay available the entire day).

I'm going to start monitoring his weight every morning. Do you guys think I should start "the poo soup"? Should I keep him separated from his mate or put him in the cage with him again? I contacted the vet online and told everything and he prescribed a medicine to open his appetite and he said for I don't worry about kidney stones. But I'm not confident.

Thank you very much in advance.

 

[fluffysal]

Please put them back together before their bond is broken. Poo soup won't do any harm if given unnecessarily. Some pigs seem to never drink, it's not always cause for concern. Personally as well as daily weighing I would support feed too.

 

[naguya]

Please put them back together before their bond is broken. Poo soup won't do any harm if given unnecessarily. Some pigs seem to never drink, it's not always cause for concern. Personally as well as daily weighing I would support feed too.

I will put him back in his normal enclosure. And start poo soup I hope he will be alright, do you think should I start water syringe too? Or isn't necessary? Should I follow the vet's recommendation about appetite medication?

 

[naguya]

Please put them back together before their bond is broken. Poo soup won't do any harm if given unnecessarily. Some pigs seem to never drink, it's not always cause for concern. Personally as well as daily weighing I would support feed too.

I put him back in his normal enclosure, everything seems okay between the two. I am waiting for some poop from Momo or Bijou to start the poo soup.

The vet didn't prescribe any painkillers, do you think should I give to him along with poo soup? I have it at home.

 

[Minnou]

As fluffysal said, I wouldn't worry about water too much... Some guinea pigs get enough from their diet.

My girls don't seem to drink very often but they get a huge pile of fresh, green grass every day, which I always wash first so it is also a bit damp, so they probably get a lot of their water content that way. But if your guinea pig isn't used to getting fresh grass, I'd only give it small amounts at first.

Other tasty food like sweet bell peppers may stimulate his appetite and increase his fluid intake at the same time.

The white stain suggests maybe there is too much calcium in his diet. Check the calcium content of all the veg and pellets they eat and limit the veg which has a high calcium content to once per week. Is the hay alfalfa? Alfalfa is rich in calcium.

If you can't say for certain that he is in pain (does he cry when he urinates? does he sit all hunched up, looking miserable?) and the vet hasn't prescribed them, I wouldn't give him the pain medicine in case he doesn't need it or it is the wrong one or wrong dose.

 

[naguya]

As fluffysal said, I wouldn't worry about water too much... Some guinea pigs get enough from their diet.

My girls don't seem to drink very often but they get a huge pile of fresh, green grass every day, which I always wash first so it is also a bit damp, so they probably get a lot of their water content that way. But if your guinea pig isn't used to getting fresh grass, I'd only give it small amounts at first.

Other tasty food like sweet bell peppers may stimulate his appetite and increase his fluid intake at the same time.

The white stain suggests maybe there is too much calcium in his diet. Check the calcium content of all the veg and pellets they eat and limit the veg which has a high calcium content to once per week. Is the hay alfalfa? Alfalfa is rich in calcium.

If you can't say for certain that he is in pain (does he cry when he urinates? does he sit all hunched up, looking miserable?) and the vet hasn't prescribed them, I wouldn't give him the pain medicine in case he doesn't need it or it is the wrong one or wrong dose.

He eats the same food of the other three boars. But his poop is so different, light color and so very small compared to his mate of the same age, with a bit of white stains on it, the other boar's poop don't have any white stain or different poop shapes. He isn't crying but he seems a bit of lethargic like when you notice when a person is ill, you know? He wasn't like this one week ago.

They hay is Coast Cross hay.

 

[GuineaDobbin]

I would do the pinch test to check hydration level.

As others have said, not all pigs use the bottle much but it is best to check.

When you pull up the skin at the spine, does it return rapidly into position?

We have found a change in hay and pellets has helped with calcium pigs, and we limit strictly their intake of high-calcium veg

 

[naguya]

I would do the pinch test to check hydration level.

As others have said, not all pigs use the bottle much but it is best to check.

When you pull up the skin at the spine, does it return rapidly into position?

We have found a change in hay and pellets has helped with calcium pigs, and we limit strictly their intake of high-calcium veg

The pinch test is a bit delayed on him, differently from the three other boars. Reading the other posts from the same subject (and poop) leads me to believe it's either dehydration or he's not getting enough hay.

All their vegetables are very low in calcium (green pepper, cucumber, purple lettuce/lollo lettuce and chayote), I make sure the pellets are few, less than the recommended and I am reducing it even more.

I think I will need to take him physically to be seen by the vet.

 

[CTWC]

If you are weighing him each day in the morning ideally this will let you know if he is eating enough as his weight will stay around the same or go up of course I'm no expert at all though but do believe weight checks are the best indicator I will keep you both in my prayers

 

[Piggies&buns]

Please don’t worry but instead monitor him.

Please put them back together. There is no need nor benefit to separating them.
The cage you had separated him into is
inappropriate in any event - it’s far too small.

From 488g to 472g he is not yet considered to have lost any weight at all.
Weight loss is only considered loss once it is 50g or more. He is simply, at this point, in a normal fluctuation with no concern.

He is small but you cannot compare him to his cagemate - , birth weights etc all vary and that carries on.
His poop is most likely going to be smaller because he is physically smaller. The poops themselves look plump.

White staining is the normal way of excreting calcium. You only worry if it is gritty and happens frequently.
You would need to adjust their diet.

Some piggies don’t drink much but the need to drink comes before the need to eat, so if he is edging then he is definitely drinking and getting enough fluids for his needs.

So monitor his weight daily to check he doesn’t lose 50g or more, but at this point try not to worry.

 

[naguya]

Please don’t worry but instead monitor him.

Please put them back together. There is no need nor benefit to separating them.
The cage you had separated him into is
inappropriate in any event - it’s far too small.

From 488g to 472g he is not yet considered to have lost any weight at all.
Weight loss is only considered loss once it is 50g or more. He is simply, at this point, in a normal fluctuation with no concern.

He is small but you cannot compare him to his cagemate - , birth weights etc all vary and that carries on.
His poop is most likely going to be smaller because he is physically smaller. The poops themselves look plump.

White staining is the normal way of excreting calcium. You only worry if it is gritty and happens frequently.
You would need to adjust their diet.

Some piggies don’t drink much but the need to drink comes before the need to eat, so if he is edging then he is definitely drinking and getting enough fluids for his needs.

So monitor his weight daily to check he doesn’t lose 50g or more, but at this point try not to worry.

I just checked for impaction and he was full of VERY hard poop stuck inside his "bag"! Omg, I needed to remove everything with a clamp, it was really A LOT. Could this be the problem?

Thank you for clarifying! He is already with his mate in the cage. I picked him just now to evaluate him again and I remembered to see his "bag"!

 

[fluffysal]

It would be good to get him vet checked as he's very young for impaction.

 

[naguya]

It would be good to get him vet checked as he's very young for impaction.

That's a great point. I admit that since they arrived I haven't checked any of the 4 on their bags. Since I noticed this incident with him, I checked the other three and everything is normal, nothing stuck on the three other ones. But to him, it was incredibly dirty, large weird poops inside and smelled horrible when I was removing everything!

Now I have a question for myself, when, he came from the place where I got him, was he already like that and I didn't notice? I know it was my negligence not to have checked him and his mate when both arrived.

 

[Piggies&buns]

That's a great point. I admit that since they arrived I haven't checked any of the 4 on their bags. Since I noticed this incident with him, I checked the other three and everything is normal, nothing stuck on the three other ones. But to him, it was incredibly dirty, large weird poops inside and smelled horrible when I was removing everything!

Now I have a question for myself, when, he came from the place where I got him, was he already like that and I didn't notice? I know it was my negligence not to have checked him and his mate when both arrived.

Impaction in a young piggy always needs to be checked by a vet.
In a young piggy impaction can be caused by another health issue with the impaction being a symptom/secondary. It can lead to infection so please do get him seen.

 

[naguya]

Impaction in a young piggy always needs to be checked by a vet.
In a young piggy impaction can be caused by another health issue with the impaction being a symptom/secondary. It can lead to infection so please do get him seen.

Yes, I completely agree, I read about it on elder boars but not so much in younger ones...? I will make an appointment to him and see if the vet can check on him this week.

 

[AidaB]

Sorry to hear Mimiu had impaction.

Our Loki is guesstimated to be around a year old & has had a couple of impaction moments- nothing as bad as his 2nd week with us. Similar to you his poos were quite crumbly & small, no other signs.

The vet thought it may have been from stress, moving home- being the main stress factor. Since then he had been sooo much better. I just keep an eye on him now, especially a couple of days after if we have been out of routine- vet trip/ on holiday etc.

I hope all goes well at Mimiu’s vet appointment.

 

[naguya]

Sorry to hear Mimiu had impaction.

Our Loki is guesstimated to be around a year old & has had a couple of impaction moments- nothing as bad as his 2nd week with us. Similar to you his poos were quite crumbly & small, no other signs.

The vet thought it may have been from stress, moving home- being the main stress factor. Since then he had been sooo much better. I just keep an eye on him now, especially a couple of days after if we have been out of routine- vet trip/ on holiday etc.

I hope all goes well at Mimiu’s vet appointment.

I got Mimiu an appointment for thursday morning, I pray it's nothing major and just stress like it was in your case.

I'm glad your Loki is doing well these days!

 

[GuineaDobbin]

If his poos are too dry that can cause difficulties in passing them. Some wet veg can help alleviate that if you don't want to syringe water.