Gurgling stomach

[Andy33335]

Hello,

I have noticed that for a couple of weeks the stomach of my girl is making some loud gurgling noises. I sit on the couch 2m away and i can hear it. It's the same noise as when you are hungry and did not eat or trying to keep in a fart
This never happened before, it only started 2 weeks ago. I know their stomach is gurgling when you put your ear to they tummy but this one is loud and is happening every now and then.
She is an eating and pooping machine, she loves hay and eats a lot of it, drinking normally, her poops are perfect.
I suspect some gas (her tummy is not hard) and i want to cut down veggies. I would not mind this if i didn't need to leave home for 2 weeks on Friday and my pigs will stay with my gran and she does not know what to do in case she gets worse.

Any idea what it could be?

 

[Bill & Ted]

The best thing to do is take her along to the vets for a check up, it will set your mind at ease and you can leave some useful notes for your gran and the vets phone number if needed
You might want to feed a little less vegetables for a few days and see if that helps too

 

[Free Ranger]

I think you have the right idea that it might be too much veggie that triggers build up of the gas. That is the first thing I would try here if we had a tummy upset. And you are checking for bloat which is good. Perhaps also weigh your girl a few times before you go - maybe each morning just once. Her weight should be stable (maybe varying by about 30g in each direction for full or empty bladder). If it is dropping significantly she is not eating enough hay, but it doesn't sound like that is a problem right now. If her weight stays the same, and her poops are good, she is doing ok. Maybe there was some change in her food or drink that triggered this? If you were around for a week or so you could try cutting out all veg for 48 hours to allow the gut to settle and then slowly reintroducing it bit by bit, but time is a bit short. If it just a mild gut disruption this should settle it.

Have a look at this link which is the forum page on diet and what a healthy guinea pig might get each day - scroll down and there is a photo of a plate with bits of veg and salad on which shows how much to feed a typical piggie - is your girl getting much more than this? Long Term Balanced General And Special Needs Guinea Pig Diets If so you can cut her back some. When I go away for a few days I prepare little plastic boxes to keep in the fridge with daily portions in. then my neighbour just has to scatter the veg each day. Maybe do this for your gran for a few days so she gets a clear idea of what piggy should have each day... it is very tempting to be generous with veggies if she loves your girl too!

Some veg can cause more gassy problems than others. Brassicas (like cabbage) have a reputation for triggering gas. Or being over-generous with watery salad veg perhaps... though you would expect to see these effects in the poops too. But one of my girls got bloat this past spring by gorging on grass - which she eats every day! The spring grass was very rich and she was greedy - she recovered after a few days and the other 2 were completely unaffected. But Louise inflated like a hard little barrel and stopped eating anything at first. If they get bloated like this the gas has to come out of the back end - they do not burp. My girl went to the vet and got a painkiller and gut stimulant. But home treatment was important - feeding a slurry of recovery food (or mushed food pellets soaked in cold water) to push the gas through, and gently massaging her sides. I used a vibrating electric toothbrush but also light tapping and circling with fingers. The strange thing was I heard no gassy gurgling at all!

But I understand that if you are going away for a few weeks you would feel worried. If you have computer access you can log onto here with any feedback from your gran - but it will ease your mind if she has a plan of action in case things do go wrong, so find the number of a decent vet and we will all have our fingers crossed that you don't need it!