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Guinea Pig Poop

She does not have diarrhea, they’re still smaller than usual, tear-shaped, wet to the touch but it doesn’t leave any residue, I know they stink now because I was cleaning her cage & I put her in this bassinet that I have & yeah she pooped & they smelled a bit.
 
Yeah these instructions are regarding to other animals
 

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@Scooter Pie I think you have used benebac before - do you have any advice?
Otherwise the way I use probiotics (fibreplex paste or biolapis powder) is to make a little bit of syringe food and basically mix in a little squirt, so perhaps a bit the size of a little fingernail well-mixed into about 10ml syringe food and given throughout the day. A bit more shouldn't hurt if your hand slips. Too much will taste pretty unpleasant though. It's basically microbes in there so I just assume if I've not put in quite enough they'll be growing throughout the day anyway.
While we don't tend to refer 'off-forum' it might be worth having a google and seeing some videos on YouTube to see what others are doing... but look at a few to make sure they're all doing the same thing!
 
The ones I saw on YouTube the people had the syringe that came with it which I don’t have so I went online & a lot of people said one gram which is a pea size so I gave it to her giving it from my finger
 
I took her to the vet, everything seems to be okay the vet lady said her poops are normal & just to monitor her
 
Well done on getting to the vet. If they've not spotted anything more sinister it might just be that you'll have to keep an eye on her throughout her life and offer her probiotics on and off to try and tame her wayward guts. It's often frustrating to come away from the vet with no definite answers but it's better than getting horrible news so it's actually a good outcome... even if it doesn't feel like it sometimes!
 
I took Peggy to the vet, they said everything’s fine, I’ve even monitoring her, she’s eating, drinking, pooping. No sign of pain of any sort, on Saturday I reintroduced her to lettuce, which I am doing little by little btw, she’s been eating hay fine but she ran out so that same day I went to the store & got her the same brand I usually get her, she’s being picky & only eating the hay tips, what should I do? She was eating it completely just fine, now just hay tips & it’s the same brand I always get her, maybe bad patch? & yes I do give her pellets but only a little amount once a day & even so she was being picky w the pellets, she ate them perfectly fine yesterday but still being picky with hay, she’s interested only in the tips but nothing else

That’s what she’s been eating only in the hay
 

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SHES been acting up, same thing being picky with the hay, I know it’s not dental problem because she eats her pellets, I just cleaned her cage on Tuesday & it’s covered in hay, I don’t understand why she’s suddenly being picky, tomorrow I am going to get her the same brand of hay but this one is a bit different but I’ve given it to her before so I’m hoping she stops being picky & starts eating it the way she was eating it before, some poops are tear shaped so I know she’s not eating enough hay
 
The only way to know she is eating enough hay is with the weight checks.
Are you still weighing her? Is her weight stable?
If you write out the list of dates and weights for each date then we can have a look and see if there is anything significant we can see.

Smaller than normal poops can indicate reduced hay intake but the only way do know for sure is with the weight checks. Tear shaped poops, which is what you are reporting now, can be because of digestive upset or dehydration.
You say you’ve started giving her veg again - did the tear shaped poops coincide with when you’ve started to give veg again? If so, then perhaps her digestion can’t cope with that veg, or you’ve given too much veg, too soon. It’s best to reintroduce veg by starting with herbs as they are milder on the tummy.

What exactly do you mean by being picky with her hay though?
Why is the fact you cleaned the cage on Tuesday and now it is covered in hay an issue?
Foraging through hay, finding the nicest bits, spreading it around the cage - these things are all entirely normal things for piggies to do.
The seed heads in the hay are often favoured by piggies. I know if my boys find them they are the bits they go for first
 
She has not lost any weight, she only eats the hay tips not the rest of the hay & well that’s now what she’d do, she’d always eat her hay completely or almost completely but all she does now is eat the hay tips & waste the rest & this just started on Saturday, I didn’t notice any tear shaped poops while giving her lettuce it’s started when she started eating less hay, I think I’ve given her too much lettuce too soon.
 
I talked to my vet & she said if she’s still eating her pellets & stuff then she’s okay & just being picky with the hay & maybe change what hay I give her because I give her Timothy she recommended orchard
 
You said she started getting back on lettuce on Saturday and that she has started only eating the hay tips on Saturday. You say the tear shaped poops started when she starting eating ‘less hay‘ which was also Saturday so - these two things actually started on the same day then. Therefore the fact lettuce is involved and the fact poops are tear shaped (digestive upset) but that her weight is stable (means she is indeed eating enough) means it is highly likely the two things are connected and It would suggest the lettuce is upsetting her. I would try cutting back on the lettuce and leave her off veg for a day and then restart with herbs, namely coriander. Herbs contain good micronutrients and are high in vit c, whereas lettuce (while it obviously does contain nutrients) is lower in vit c.

If she hasn’t lost any weight then she is eating enough hay. Hay is 80% of the daily food intake. Pellets just 5% (provided you are only giving her one tablespoon) so she will not maintain her weight on pellets, the fact she is eating them is not particularly significant in that sense - so she must be eating enough hay if her weight is stable.

You can try changing the hay, but she must be eating some of the rest of the hay strands as her weight is stable. It’s quite normal for piggies to forage through, eat the nicest bits and leave the rest, particularly if you are giving a nice big pile.
 
Ahh okay, well I didn’t give her any lettuce or pellets yesterday, she’s been eating more hay from the new batch that I just bought her, I guess I gave her too much lettuce starting off, I’ve never given her coriander before, she’s had parsley & cilantro, but she’s more familiar with parsley though. Her poops don’t seem too be so much tear shaped as the other days though. But I was just stating that Peggy is not a forager, she has never been picky with hay & this just started on Saturday which threw me off because she pretty much eats all of her grass & there’s barely any in her cage, but from Saturday’s incident their has been a significant amount, but she seems to be eating more hay now since I did take away those two things & did get her a fresh batch.
 
ilovepeggy said:
Ahh okay, well I didn’t give her any lettuce or pellets yesterday, she’s been eating more hay from the new batch that I just bought her, I guess I gave her too much lettuce starting off, I’ve never given her coriander before, she’s had parsley & cilantro, but she’s more familiar with parsley though. Her poops don’t seem too be so much tear shaped as the other days though. But I was just stating that Peggy is not a forager, she has never been picky with hay & this just started on Saturday which threw me off because she pretty much eats all of her grass & there’s barely any in her cage, but from Saturday’s incident their has been a significant amount, but she seems to be eating more hay now since I did take away those two things & did get her a fresh batch.
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Coriander and cilantro is the same thing.
Parsley is not a herb they should eat regularly as it is too high in calcium. They can only one small amount once a week.
Coriander/cilantro can be given every day. It’s high in vitamin c which they need every day.

Ok, foraging is a natural behaviour and something to actively encourage. Make sure you give her a large pile of hay (big enough that she can get right inside it and hide) and perhaps even hide her veg and pellets amongst hay to encourage her to forage. As she is a single piggy, foraging will also help keep her occupied.

As I said though, if her weight is stable then she is eating enough.
 
Orchard hay is I think what we call 'meadow' hay... it's basically just finer strands. I offer a mixture of both as I think grinding through Timothy all day long might get a bit boring? But then I'm not a guinea-pig!
The larger of my girls prefers the finer strands of hay, which is pretty comical to watch as she's such a big fat fluff nibbling so daintily on the little bits!
She loves this box (a 'hay cube') and we can't get her out of it!
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Aww how cute! Peggy was 2 lbs 15.5 ounces (1346 grams) now she’s 2 lbs & 14.9 ounces (1331 grams)
 
ilovepeggy said:
Aww how cute! Peggy was 2 lbs 15.5 ounces (1346 grams) now she’s 2 lbs & 14.9 ounces (1331 grams)
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I think this was on Thursday when I weighed her I’m not completely sure, it’s hard for me to weigh her everyday because she gives me a hard time & it’s hard to for me to bend down since I am pregnant & don’t have anyone else to help me.
 
I used to have a picky piggy that just ate the hay tips at one point in his life for some odd amount of days as well but how we managed to stop it was purchasing a different hay and removing much of those pieces (not entirely) so he was forced to eat the other types. We were giving fresh hay 4-5x a day, sometimes 6x, as we thought something was wrong, but eventually he started eating many of the different types. We were also monitoring his weight and had a security camera in his enclosure as well. Tough love I’d call it.

I would suggest switching hay brands or types for a little bit and see if that fixes the upset stomach or increases the appetite. Sometimes offering variety in the form of staple hays is a good idea – as long as the quality is good. In the US, we have Oxbow Hay Blends which comes with Orchard Grass and Timothy Hay together. You can even buy each type separately, and a brand that usually has good quality orchard grass is Small Pet Select. We got 10lb boxes of this stuff and the pieces were LONG. My boys would spend many seconds chewing it down like spaghetti.

I hope your piggy gets well.
 
ilovepeggy said:
I think this was on Thursday when I weighed her I’m not completely sure, it’s hard for me to weigh her everyday because she gives me a hard time & it’s hard to for me to bend down since I am pregnant & don’t have anyone else to help me.
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So she was 1331g on Thursday? When did she weigh 1346g?

We need to know the full information of the weight checks and associated dates to be able to identify any issues.

However, as it stands purely with the two weights you have provided, that it not considered weight loss so she is eating enough.
Weight loss is only considered weight loss when its 50g or more. Anything less is just normal fluctuation.
 
Then her weight from those two measurements is stable - it is within normal fluctuation and on their own, not of concern - so she is eating enough hay for herself
 
ilovepeggy said:
I gave her two sprigs of cilantro, how often should I give it to her?
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If her poops are ok and not going soft then cilantro is fine to be given every day. After a few days of just cilantro then you can add in another veg. Give it few more days of those two and then add in a third etc
 
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