Gut stasis :(

[Deleted member 149047]

Heya! My guinea pig recently got diagnosed with gut stasis after a week of bloating and unhealthy poops, we got her in for a vet appointment one day last week. She's been drinking a lot more than usual and eating less, pooping somewhat more regularly and been given a lot of medicine. Shes still getting more bloated she is like a balloon, I don't know if its good.

thank youu

 

[Piggies&buns]

I'm sorry to hear this.

Are you syringe feeding her a recovery feed and weighing her daily so you can be sure she is getting enough food?
As she is eating less, you must replace her reduced hay intake to get her through the crisis

The guides below help further with information on dealing with stasis, bloat and syringe feeding

Digestive Disorders: Diarrhea - Bloat - GI Stasis (No Gut Movement) And Not Eating
All About Syringe Feeding and Medicating Guinea Pigs with Videos and Pictures

 

[Wiebke]

Heya! My guinea pig recently got diagnosed with gut stasis after a week of bloating and unhealthy poops, we got her in for a vet appointment one day last week. She's been drinking a lot more than usual and eating less, pooping somewhat more regularly and been given a lot of medicine. Shes still getting more bloated she is like a balloon, I don't know if its good.

thank youu

Hi and welcome

Please have her seen as an emergency if the belly feels hard (severe bloat).

Here is our detailed practical care guide for bloating and GI stasis: Digestive Disorders: Diarrhea - Bloat - GI Stasis (No Gut Movement) And Not Eating

Have you been support feeding your guinea pig? It is crucial that you keep the gut going by replacing the hay that is not eaten with fibre.
All About Syringe Feeding and Medicating Guinea Pigs with Videos and Pictures

 

[Deleted member 149047]

Hi and welcome

Please have her seen as an emergency if the belly feels hard (severe bloat).

Here is our detailed practical care guide for bloating and GI stasis: Digestive Disorders: Diarrhea - Bloat - GI Stasis (No Gut Movement) And Not Eating

Have you been support feeding your guinea pig? It is crucial that you keep the gut going by replacing the hay that is not eaten with fibre.
All About Syringe Feeding and Medicating Guinea Pigs with Videos and Pictures

hi!

Her stomach isn't hard its more.. rounded and a little bit like a balloon to be honest, she does the distress noise everytime I press on her stomach. Now I don't know if its because she doesn't like where i touched her orrrr what, shes quite a fussy little thing. The vet was looking for ovarian cysts as she is roughly 5-6 years old. Turns out it is just gut stasis. She is eating and drinking and we have critical care we're supposed to feed her every day too ontop of her normal diet

I've been syringing her some water but she seems to be drinking a little too much water as well.

I don't know if this is an issue but she'll do some pretty weird things like bite the bars of the cage that are facing the wall or... she'll bite the waterbottle but not drink from it. It is really weird

 

[Deleted member 149047]

I'm sorry to hear this.

Are you syringe feeding her a recovery feed and weighing her daily so you can be sure she is getting enough food?
As she is eating less, you must replace her reduced hay intake to get her through the crisis

The guides below help further with information on dealing with stasis, bloat and syringe feeding

Digestive Disorders: Diarrhea - Bloat - GI Stasis (No Gut Movement) And Not Eating
All About Syringe Feeding and Medicating Guinea Pigs with Videos and Pictures

We have been given some critical care which I will be feeding her in a minute, however the medicine we're giving her - were supposed to stop in the next day or two and I don't know if it has actually done anything.

Thanks for the guides

 

[Wiebke]

hi!

Her stomach isn't hard its more.. rounded and a little bit like a balloon to be honest, she does the distress noise everytime I press on her stomach. Now I don't know if its because she doesn't like where i touched her orrrr what, shes quite a fussy little thing. The vet was looking for ovarian cysts as she is roughly 5-6 years old. Turns out it is just gut stasis. She is eating and drinking and we have critical care we're supposed to feed her every day too ontop of her normal diet

I've been syringing her some water but she seems to be drinking a little too much water as well.

I don't know if this is an issue but she'll do some pretty weird things like bite the bars of the cage that are facing the wall or... she'll bite the waterbottle but not drink from it. It is really weird

Hi

Please take the time to read our information links. They are very practical step-by-step care guides that tell you exactly what you need to do, including how much fibrous feed she needs. Please make sure that she gets enough solids. Water doesn't have any calories.

Of course your piggy is not happy to have her painful tummy touched. How did your vet diagnose the stasis?

If the microbiome is floored guinea pigs often have a craving for very rough fibre. Try a little brown cardboard and try out our 'poo soup' (i.e. live healthy guinea pig gut microbiome transfer) - you can find out how to make properly in our syringe feeding guide. If done properly, it is more effective than probiotics although you want to give her plenty of those - you can find all of that in the syringe feeding guide.

 

[Deleted member 149047]

Hi

Please take the time to read our information links. They are very practical step-by-step care guides that tell you exactly what you need to do, including how much fibrous feed she needs. Please make sure that she gets enough solids. Water doesn't have any calories.

Of course your piggy is not happy to have her painful tummy touched. How did your vet diagnose the stasis?

If the microbiome is floored guinea pigs often have a craving for very rough fibre. Try a little brown cardboard and try out our 'poo soup' (i.e. live healthy guinea pig gut microbiome transfer) - you can find out how to make properly in our syringe feeding guide. If done properly, it is more effective than probiotics although you want to give her plenty of those - you can find all of that in the syringe feeding guide.

Vet diagnosed pretty much of my description, she has improved since getting the medicine but her bloat is still here. They diagnosed by feeling around her stomach and looking in her mouth making sure it wasnt caused by her teeth.

Got prescribed Infacol, Metacam and cisapride (I think thats the name) and we're on day 3 of giving it to her out of the recommended 3-5 days. I am just about to give her the critical care which I think she likes.

 

[Wiebke]

Vet diagnosed pretty much of my description, she has improved since getting the medicine but her bloat is still here. They diagnosed by feeling around her stomach and looking in her mouth making sure it wasnt caused by her teeth.

Got prescribed Infacol, Metacam and cisapride (I think thats the name) and we're on day 3 of giving it to her out of the recommended 3-5 days. I am just about to give her the critical care which I think she likes.

The problem is that bloating can be caused by either dysbiosis (overgrowth of the wrong kind of bacteria in the gut), a blockage or a twisted gut but it can also be caused by pressure on the gut or pain radiating into it.

Battling serious bloat is usually not just a matter of a few days but takes usually much longer for the gut to rebalance. If the bloating is secondary to another problem, then the problem needs to be identified and addressed.

PLEASE take the time to read our information links. I promise that you will find them very helpful.

 

[Deleted member 149047]

The problem is that bloating can be caused by either dysbiosis (overgrowth of the wrong kind of bacteria in the gut), a blockage or a twisted gut but it can also be caused by pressure on the gut or pain radiating into it.

Battling serious bloat is usually not just a matter of a few days but takes usually much longer for the gut to rebalance. If the bloating is secondary to another problem, then the problem needs to be identified and addressed.

PLEASE take the time to read our information links. I promise that you will find them very helpful.

I did read them thank you - I am just wondering though before I re-read them, will I most likely have to go back to the vet

 

[Wiebke]

I did read them thank you - I am just wondering though before I re-read them, will I most likely have to go back to the vet

Especially if the bloating is not budging, then I would recommend to contact the clinic on Monday.
The medication for bloating is zantac (ranitidine) but it has been witdrawn from the market some years ago. Not sure whether it is coming back again now? Worth asking your vet.

At this stage, an x-ray or scan may help - see what your vet thinks. Serious bloat is not something that goes away quickly.

Wishing you all the best. Sorry about banging on about the guides. We get plenty of enquiries from worried owners that are not aware of the need for constant feeding support and the amounts needed. Your home care can really make a difference in the outcome, depending of course what exactly is going on!

 

[Deleted member 149047]

Especially if the bloating is not budging, then I would recommend to contact the clinic on Monday.
The medication for bloating is zantac (ranitidine) but it has been witdrawn from the market some years ago. Not sure whether it is coming back again now? Worth asking your vet.

At this stage, an x-ray or scan may help - see what your vet thinks. Serious bloat is not something that goes away quickly.

Wishing you all the best. Sorry about banging on about the guides. We get plenty of enquiries from worried owners that are not aware of the need for constant feeding support and the amounts needed. Your home care can really make a difference in the outcome, depending of course what exactly is going on!

That's completely alright I understand why you were telling me to read them, I did read them. She did get infacol which is a gas relief medicine I believe but it's obviously not doing the best job. I'll ring them on Monday to ask for advice and see if they can tell me what to do. Thank you so much for the help

 

[Piggies&buns]

The issue with infacol (active ingredient simethicone) is that it gathers gas into a big bubble which is fine for human babies but not so much for piggies. Gripe water can be a better choice.

Please do make sure you are weighing her so you can be sure she is getting enough critical care and enough hay independently so she doesn’t lose weight.

 

[Deleted member 149047]

The issue with infacol (active ingredient simethicone) is that it gathers gas into a big bubble which is fine for human babies but not so much for piggies. Gripe water can be a better choice.

Please do make sure you are weighing her so you can be sure she is getting enough critical care and enough hay independently so she doesn’t lose weight.

Thank you, I figured that the infacol was making her look more like a balloon than usual, when the vet weighed her she was 822g. She's not a fan of the critical care at all and I would put banana in it but she hates banana too

She's eating a lot of hay and drinking a lot of water (more than usual) which the only time I've seen a piggie like this is when one had kidney failure which I don't want to have obviously.

 

[Deleted member 149047]

I made one earlier saying how my pig has gut stasis, I'm at the last day of giving medicine (well it's between 5-7) days and were on day 4 and tomorrow night is day 5. My piggie has very uneasy shaped poops, same consistency but the poops (I've hopefully attached as the imagine) is all from one 'pooping session' you could say. I've just seen her eat my other piggies healthy poops which was rather unpleasant to see to be honest but means she knows she unwell herself. thanks

 

[Wiebke]

I made one earlier saying how my pig has gut stasis, I'm at the last day of giving medicine (well it's between 5-7) days and were on day 4 and tomorrow night is day 5. My piggie has very uneasy shaped poops, same consistency but the poops (I've hopefully attached as the imagine) is all from one 'pooping session' you could say. I've just seen her eat my other piggies healthy poops which was rather unpleasant to see to be honest but means she knows she unwell herself. thanks

Hi

I have merged your threads so we can keep the case together and give you more consistent and therefore better advice. Our forum is not part of social media so we do not rely on the number of new threads and can concentrate on the quality of our longer term support. Because we are all doing this for free in our free time, are not all always on here and read every thread, it helps us to be able to have a quick look at what has already been said and ruled in/out so we do not sound like broken record or give you confusing advice.

The poos look great for a recovering piggy; the difference in length is not at all unusual for a recovering piggy (the shaping/thickening happens right at the end of the gut). You are nearly there. Be patient. Just one day or two more and you'll be back to normal. It's just to not totally regular yet. Much more than length, a good consistency is the important bit and that is already there.

 

[Deleted member 149047]

Hi

I have merged your threads so we can keep the case together and give you more consistent and therefore better advice. Our forum is not part of social media so we do not rely on the number of new threads and can concentrate on the quality of our longer term support. Because we are all doing this for free in our free time, are not all always on here and read every thread, it helps us to be able to have a quick look at what has already been said and ruled in/out so we do not sound like broken record or give you confusing advice.

The poos look great for a recovering piggy; the difference in length is not at all unusual for a recovering piggy (the shaping/thickening happens right at the end of the gut). You are nearly there. Be patient. Just one day or two more and you'll be back to normal. It's just to not totally regular yet. Much more than length, a good consistency is the important bit and that is already there.

Yayyy! I'm glad she's getting better honestly. I've stopped the infacol as it was 3-4 days and I'm going to do the metacam for another day and the cisapride for another day too. Just to make sure.

Also I'm very new to this whole forum and don't actually know how half of these things work so I'm happy you merged my two things together! Thank you for help

 

[Wiebke]

Yayyy! I'm glad she's getting better honestly. I've stopped the infacol as it was 3-4 days and I'm going to do the metacam for another day and the cisapride for another day too. Just to make sure.

Also I'm very new to this whole forum and don't actually know how half of these things work so I'm happy you merged my two things together! Thank you for help

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