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Guinea pig poo became tiny

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Natz0001

New Born Pup
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Hi all, I was wondering if anyone has had this situation before or knew what was wrong with my boy.
I noticed a few weeks ago he was having much smaller poos then normal. He is eating OK, his pellets aren't going down too well but I have begun to syringe feed him them. I weighed both my boys and Minty, who is the one with the issue is 200g lighter than my other boy but not classed as underweight yet. I've googled and found the possibility of ileus/gi stasis but I can't see how becyase they have unlimited fresh hay every day as well as nuggets and veggies. He is behaving quite normal within himself so I am very confused and unable to see a vet at the moment due to being a keyworker throughout covid and lock down. I have also been giving them Gpig probiotics mixed in their water. I have attached a photo of one of his poos compared to a nugget, mind you, after this he did produce a few that were abit bigger, but you get the point.
Has anyone got any suggestions? I am so worried.
Thanks in advance.
 

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Smaller poops can be a sign that they are not eating enough. Hay needs to make up 80% of the food intake and you cannot judge intake by eye. As it makes up such a large proportion of intake any reduction will result in weight loss and smaller poops. They should only have one cup of veg per day and pellets should be kept strictly limited to just one tablespoon per day so not eating those items does not have such a large effect on weight.

The fact he is 200g lighter than the other piggy is not relevant. What is important what is going on with his weight on a day by day basis. You need to switch from weekly weighing to weighing him daily (at the same time each day) so you can more closely monitor how much he is eating.
You’ve done the right thing by stepping in with syringe feeding him. Again, his daily weight is the guide to how much you need to syringe him.

Its better to mix probiotics into the syringe feed rather than drinking water. You can’t know he is actually getting it if it is just in a water bottle.

If he is not eating properly and is therefore losing weight, then he does need to see a vet to diagnose the problem And treat it.

The guides below will help you further.

Not Eating, Weight Loss And The Importance Of Syringe Feeding Fibre
Complete Syringe Feeding Guide
Weight - Monitoring and Management
 
Natz0001 said:
Hi all, I was wondering if anyone has had this situation before or knew what was wrong with my boy.
I noticed a few weeks ago he was having much smaller poos then normal. He is eating OK, his pellets aren't going down too well but I have begun to syringe feed him them. I weighed both my boys and Minty, who is the one with the issue is 200g lighter than my other boy but not classed as underweight yet. I've googled and found the possibility of ileus/gi stasis but I can't see how becyase they have unlimited fresh hay every day as well as nuggets and veggies. He is behaving quite normal within himself so I am very confused and unable to see a vet at the moment due to being a keyworker throughout covid and lock down. I have also been giving them Gpig probiotics mixed in their water. I have attached a photo of one of his poos compared to a nugget, mind you, after this he did produce a few that were abit bigger, but you get the point.
Has anyone got any suggestions? I am so worried.
Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...

Please see a vet as soon as you can. Your piggy's life is on a knife's edge. Your feeding care can only attempt to keep your piggy alive until they can be seen and until they recovery but it cannot heal in itself. You need both, the feeding care and the medical care to get your piggy through this.
List Of Life And Death Out-of-hours Emergencies

The tiny poos are showing that your boy has had a period where has hardly eaten in 24 hours. He urgently needs to see a vet. Please be aware that the poo output lags 1-2 days behind the input. That is why weighing daily at the same time is so crucial as only the scales are giving you an up to date monitoring tool.

When syringe feeding, you are aiming at ideally 60 ml over the course of 24 hours; the more often the less you can get into your piggy in one session. We recommend every 2 hours during the day and at least once a night. The closer to 40 ml as the absolute minimum you can get, the better; and even more so if you can get in more. Make sure that you do not just squirt in food into the mouth; you need to do so very gently and slowly and only as much as a very weak guinea pig can hold in their mouth and swallow. Only then you can give a little more. An adult guinea pig can hold about 0.5 ml in their mouth but a very ill piggy may be able to process just 0.1-0.3 ml at once.
Also offer water for drinking in between syringe feeds; as much as your piggy is willing to take.

Please take the time to read the green guide links in this thread.

Fingers firmly crossed.
 
Hi guys, I took minty to the vet this morning and it turns out he had a large hidden tumour in his stomach. The vet was so shocked she had to get a second opinion because he was only 9 months old. There was nothing they could do for him so decided it was the kindest thing to get him pts. Thank you for all of your help and advice x
 
I’m so sorry for your loss. Take care of yourself.

Sleep tight Minty ♥️
 
Natz0001 said:
Hi guys, I took minty to the vet this morning and it turns out he had a large hidden tumour in his stomach. The vet was so shocked she had to get a second opinion because he was only 9 months old. There was nothing they could do for him so decided it was the kindest thing to get him pts. Thank you for all of your help and advice x
Click to expand...

BIG HUGS

I am so very sorry.

Please be kind to yourself in the coming days as you try to make sense of what has just happened.

You may find the information via this link here helpful for yourself and for looking after Minty's companion in the coming days and weeks: Death, Dying, Terminal Illness, Grieving and Bereaved Companions: Information and Support for Owners and Their Children
 
So sorry for your loss. Be kind to yourself. Keep a close eye on your other piggy to make sure he isnt pining away.
 
Hi everyone, thanks for all of your support, I really appreciate it. Unfortunately Mintys brother, Clive was also put to sleep this evening from the exact same cause and such bad timing because I only just rescued him a new friend 2 days ago. The vet is so confused by it she has offered to do a free autopsy on him to find out what kind of growths the boys had. Such a shock. Now I have to get another new friend for my New Guinea pig! Luckily the rescue that I got him from have been very understanding and offered for me to go next week and get a friend for him
 
I’m sorry for your loss. Hopefully the autopsy will give you some answers.
 
I am so sorry for your losses. I hope that the PM will give you some answers.
 
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