Help!Guinea pig poos are malformed

[Tylerspigs]

Hello, my male guinea pig is a little bit over 2 years old and recently started to have soft and smellier than normal poops.

I waited 3 three days to bring him in bc they weren‘t too mushy and misshapen but they were definitely different. I noticed around Monday evening and brought him in on Wednesday. We’ll, with being off of veggies for 2 nights and being fed a mg of Bene Bac probiotic his poops were COMPLETELY NORMAL at the vet appointment and he even showed them how he could poop a normal size and shaped one. (100 dollars and lots of stress just to make me look like a liar).

I was sent home and told to start giving him veggies. I started giving him a little bit of veggies but not his full 1 cup yet. Now it is Monday again and his poops are back to being smelly, soft, and worse than before. Now, they have basically no consistant shape. Some of them I have seen looked huge and were almost but not quite a liquid. Some of them were looked like many little soft poops together when they came out of him. A few times today I have heard him squeak while trying to get them out. It is normal for him to run around with a poop hanging halfway out but now he is doing it and the poops are very soft and get smeared when he sits down.

He has a cagemate and she if perfectly normal other than her paws are a bit dirty from stepping in his poop. His are far worse than hers though. I am going in tomorrow ab about 24 hours from now and as much as I want him to get better I don’t want a repeat of last time just for him to come home again and them to get soft again. I’m thinking they might try and do a stool sample, bloodwork, or some sort of radiograph to see whats going on inside to make sure nothing inside him as shifted around. Btw, does anyone know how much that will cost? a regular wellness exam is 100 here.

He is acting completely normal most of the time. He has not lost or gained any noticeable weight recently. He is still drinking water, eating his pellets, and eating his hay. He is also playing with his cage mate and rumbling and squeaking like normal. I feel so bad taking away veggies even though I know it’s for his safety but he squeaks at me during veggie time and seems so sad bc he doesn’t stop squeaking for veggies for so long.

I really just don’t know what to do with him. I want him to be okay and not have to put him through too much stress at the vet bc when I got him neutered it took a month almost to get him back to eating on his own. And he always starts squeaking as soon as we turn into the vet parking lot.

I have pictures of his poop but idk if I should attach them or not.

 

[piggl]

Feel free to share pictures if you would like, but if the poop is soft or wet at all then you do need to see a vet again.
I would remove vegetables completely for now at least, as there is a chance there may be something irritating his stomach.
I do think it is good your vets are trying to get to the bottom of it, as soft poops can be quite dangerous and it can be tiring if you solve the problem and it comes back again.

If you have not already please switch to daily weighing to keep an eye on it during this time. You may also want to offer him some extra water as soft poops can be dehydrating.
You can also try giving poop soup if your girl is healthy, the microbiome of a healthy pig may help heal your sick boys gut.

You may find these guides helpful -
Weight - Monitoring and Management
Probiotics, Recovery Foods And Vitamin C: Overview With Product Links
Digestive Disorders: Not Eating - Diarrhea - Bloat - GI Stasis (No Gut Movement)

 

[Tylerspigs]

Feel free to share pictures if you would like, but if the poop is soft or wet at all then you do need to see a vet again.
I would remove vegetables completely for now at least, as there is a chance there may be something irritating his stomach.
I do think it is good your vets are trying to get to the bottom of it, as soft poops can be quite dangerous and it can be tiring if you solve the problem and it comes back again.

If you have not already please switch to daily weighing to keep an eye on it during this time. You may also want to offer him some extra water as soft poops can be dehydrating.
You can also try giving poop soup if your girl is healthy, the microbiome of a healthy pig may help heal your sick boys gut.

You may find these guides helpful -
Weight - Monitoring and Management
Probiotics, Recovery Foods And Vitamin C: Overview With Product Links
Digestive Disorders: Not Eating - Diarrhea - Bloat - GI Stasis (No Gut Movement)

Theses are the worst ones. He is off veggies and I’ve been weighing him daily, he is drinking plenty of water from his bottle and I give him benebac plus right now. He also has been getting extra vitamin C without his veggies. I will be seeing the vet tm as that is the earliest they had without me going to an emergency vet.

 

[piggl]

Theses are the worst ones. He is off veggies and I’ve been weighing him daily, he is drinking plenty of water from his bottle and I give him benebac plus right now. He also has been getting extra vitamin C without his veggies. I will be seeing the vet tm as that is the earliest they had without me going to an emergency vet.

Poor buddy, those are quite wet/soft.

Best of luck at the vets today x

 

[Wiebke]

Hello, my male guinea pig is a little bit over 2 years old and recently started to have soft and smellier than normal poops.

I waited 3 three days to bring him in bc they weren‘t too mushy and misshapen but they were definitely different. I noticed around Monday evening and brought him in on Wednesday. We’ll, with being off of veggies for 2 nights and being fed a mg of Bene Bac probiotic his poops were COMPLETELY NORMAL at the vet appointment and he even showed them how he could poop a normal size and shaped one. (100 dollars and lots of stress just to make me look like a liar).

I was sent home and told to start giving him veggies. I started giving him a little bit of veggies but not his full 1 cup yet. Now it is Monday again and his poops are back to being smelly, soft, and worse than before. Now, they have basically no consistant shape. Some of them I have seen looked huge and were almost but not quite a liquid. Some of them were looked like many little soft poops together when they came out of him. A few times today I have heard him squeak while trying to get them out. It is normal for him to run around with a poop hanging halfway out but now he is doing it and the poops are very soft and get smeared when he sits down.

He has a cagemate and she if perfectly normal other than her paws are a bit dirty from stepping in his poop. His are far worse than hers though. I am going in tomorrow ab about 24 hours from now and as much as I want him to get better I don’t want a repeat of last time just for him to come home again and them to get soft again. I’m thinking they might try and do a stool sample, bloodwork, or some sort of radiograph to see whats going on inside to make sure nothing inside him as shifted around. Btw, does anyone know how much that will cost? a regular wellness exam is 100 here.

He is acting completely normal most of the time. He has not lost or gained any noticeable weight recently. He is still drinking water, eating his pellets, and eating his hay. He is also playing with his cage mate and rumbling and squeaking like normal. I feel so bad taking away veggies even though I know it’s for his safety but he squeaks at me during veggie time and seems so sad bc he doesn’t stop squeaking for veggies for so long.

I really just don’t know what to do with him. I want him to be okay and not have to put him through too much stress at the vet bc when I got him neutered it took a month almost to get him back to eating on his own. And he always starts squeaking as soon as we turn into the vet parking lot.

I have pictures of his poop but idk if I should attach them or not.

Hi
I would recommend to take your piggy off any veg again and see whether that will do the trick.

In addition to Benebac plus (which contains some digestive extras in addition to probiotics, you could also try 'poo soup' (i.e. live healthy gut microbiome transfer from his mate) to inoculate his gut with exactly the 'right stuff'. When done correctly, poo soup - the water in which very freshly dropped healthy poos have been shortly soaked - can actually be more effective than any probiotic powder but it is always best to use both ways with persistent cases. The piggy whose poos you are using should ideally not be on any medication, especially not on any antibiotics and there should be ideally not more than 10-15 minutes between the poos being dropped and the steeped water being syringed since the microbiome will start dying off very quickly.

You can find the correct way and practical tips for making 'poo soup' (which is less gross than it sounds) in this link here:
First Aid Kit: Easily available non-medication support products for an emergency

I hope that this will help.

 

[Tylerspigs]

Update: I am no longer going to the vet today, she gave me the option of dropping off a fecal sample and picking up a second probiotic for him instead of coming in for another exam since she just saw him and nothing in his appearance has changed. I have been sitting with him out of the cage for an hour now and gathered 1 poop. I think he knows I need them and he doesn’t want to give me them. Bc in his cage last night he was pooping plenty.

 

[Wiebke]

Update: I am no longer going to the vet today, she gave me the option of dropping off a fecal sample and picking up a second probiotic for him instead of coming in for another exam since she just saw him and nothing in his appearance has changed. I have been sitting with him out of the cage for an hour now and gathered 1 poop. I think he knows I need them and he doesn’t want to give me them. Bc in his cage last night he was pooping plenty.

Hi
All he best with your fecal sample. It takes on average about a day for the food to be processed, so what comes out at the back has gone in around 24 hours before. Your boy may not have been feeling as well and may not have eaten as much in the meantime. The poo output is also not quite even; piggies do not poo constantly.

The best way to get poos quickly is to give your piggy something new to eat; it seems to trigger the gut to make more space on the big internal conveyor belt that is the digestive system.
Please consider additional 'poo soup' as described in my previous post - i.e. a live healthy cavy microbiome transfer. It is one of the old tricks that have really stood the test of time.

 

[Tylerspigs]

Hi
All he best with your fecal sample. It takes on average about a day for the food to be processed, so what comes out at the back has gone in around 24 hours before. Your boy may not have been feeling as well and may not have eaten as much in the meantime. The poo output is also not quite even; piggies do not poo constantly.

The best way to get poos quickly is to give your piggy something new to eat; it seems to trigger the gut to make more space on the big internal conveyor belt that is the digestive system.
Please consider additional 'poo soup' as described in my previous post - i.e. a live healthy cavy microbiome transfer. It is one of the old tricks that have really stood the test of time.

Thank you for the advice. I have tried poop soup two nights ago. I will certainly keep that tip in mind about getting them to poo quickly as I will get another fecal test done within a couple of weeks.

 

[Tylerspigs]

Update: my vet called with the results. She said there were parasite eggs found and that they may have been dormant for the entire time I’ve havd him ( which is a bit over a year). He had a stint of guy stasis a few months back which appeared out of nowhere so she mentioned it could’ve been because of these parisites. I’m not sure what parasite it was but I would like to know, I just forgot to ask. I’m going later today to pickup panacur (fenbendazole) for both my male and his cage mate.

I use fleece liners and hides in the cage. Does anyone know if these could cause a reinfection?

 

[Wiebke]

Thank you for the advice. I have tried poop soup two nights ago. I will certainly keep that tip in mind about getting them to poo quickly as I will get another fecal test done within a couple of weeks.

Keep going with the poo soup; every little to stabilise the micropbiome will help - and that is the one you do not have to pay for.

All the best.

 

[weepweeps]

I’m glad the fecal sample has shown what the problem is. I’m sure the medication will work quickly.

 

[Tylerspigs]

Keep going with the poo soup; every little to stabilise the micropbiome will help - and that is the one you do not have to pay for.

All the best.

I would but I am treating both of them for the parasites just in case they have spread and I’m not sure I want to take the chances since she has defiantly been exposed to plenty of his poops.

 

[lottie guineapigqueen]

I don't know if it would help, but maybe increase hay intake to solidify them a bit?

 

[Tylerspigs]

I don't know if it would help, but maybe increase hay intake to solidify them a bit?

This is a good solution for if others have soft poop issues. However my pig is eating enough hay, he has unlimited access and still eats plenty of it like he is getting paid to eat it. It is a good suggestion though since fiber intake is helpful for most gut issues.

 

[Tylerspigs]

In case anyone is looking at this for advice, I got the real sample completed and it came back positive for some types of parasites/worms but they weren’t sure what they were. I then finished the anti parasitics annd continued the probiotic and he was all good until another day or so after the medicine ended. The poops were again malformed and he was still acting normally. I called my vet and she gave me some option. The suggested another fecal exam and physical (although, I didn’t think the physical was needed). I decided to opt out of another checkup since physically he was okay and his first checkup he gave a picture perfect fecal sample for them. They agreed to do a fecal exam without another physical and we could circle back if needed. We did another fecal sample and they called with results saying something was there but they couldn’t tell what and they wanted to send another sample out to their lab with more technology. They sent out another sample and it came back negative for any worms or parasites. All of a sudden after the third fecal exam, which was 50 dollars more then the first two, my pig was all fixed even though we added no more medicine other than I was still giving probiotics. So all I can really say is talk through your options with your vet and if you feel something is off then get it checked and if you feel something the vet is offering isn‘t necessary or you don’t know why you need to do it then you don‘t have to blindly follow them. You are allowed to be in control of your piggie’s life and if there is something you don’t think is necessary, then you can talk through to get a clearer understanding of what they think is needed and why.

 

[Wiebke]

In case anyone is looking at this for advice, I got the real sample completed and it came back positive for some types of parasites/worms but they weren’t sure what they were. I then finished the anti parasitics annd continued the probiotic and he was all good until another day or so after the medicine ended. The poops were again malformed and he was still acting normally. I called my vet and she gave me some option. The suggested another fecal exam and physical (although, I didn’t think the physical was needed). I decided to opt out of another checkup since physically he was okay and his first checkup he gave a picture perfect fecal sample for them. They agreed to do a fecal exam without another physical and we could circle back if needed. We did another fecal sample and they called with results saying something was there but they couldn’t tell what and they wanted to send another sample out to their lab with more technology. They sent out another sample and it came back negative for any worms or parasites. All of a sudden after the third fecal exam, which was 50 dollars more then the first two, my pig was all fixed even though we added no more medicine other than I was still giving probiotics. So all I can really say is talk through your options with your vet and if you feel something is off then get it checked and if you feel something the vet is offering isn‘t necessary or you don’t know why you need to do it then you don‘t have to blindly follow them. You are allowed to be in control of your piggie’s life and if there is something you don’t think is necessary, then you can talk through to get a clearer understanding of what they think is needed and why.

Hi

I am glad that things have normalised and that the immune system has obviously been able to get on top of the rest.

Personally, I have a clear understanding with my regular vets as to how far I am prepared to take any piggy of mine. Any further expenses are very much weighed up as to whether the balance between expense and chances for a longer term succes/relief is worth it. It can very quickly become a rabbit hole.