Help with Piggy suffering diarrhea after possibly wrong hay/just treated for UTI

[Deleted member 155279]

I was wondering if anyone could help me with a worrying situation I'm having with Bowie. Recently, she had come down with a UTI that I caught very quickly. She was taken to the vet and prescribed antibiotics, and in a short time starting to show signs of feeling much better (being more active, no more visible pain while urinating, eating, drinking, etc). However, over the past few days, she has started to have diarrhea. When I checked through everything I thought might've been the cause, I noticed that I had bought hay that is different from what she usually has; She has always eaten Timothy hay, but the one I had gotten her for the past few days was a mix of Timothy, Orchard, and Alfalfa, something I knew piggies at her age shouldn't have or it could cause GI problems. I feel terrible; I quickly got her usual hay after realizing and have replaced all of the mixture hay with her usual Timothy. I have been keeping a close eye and giving her pellets (only pellets; I have been sifting through her food to make sure none of the colored pieces are in it), a bunch of fresh hay, and fresh water.

However, I'm so confused on what is going on. She is eating, drinking, and even squeaking like she normally does when she begs for food, but seems to stay in a house a lot. I've been monitoring her poop; there are times where it appears runny and leaves stains on her cage floor which I clean up, but recently it seems to be forming slowly. But today, I noticed it was a orange color, and not even formed. I'm scared for her; I know she can't be sick as I had just been giving her antibiotics for that specifically, and she was doing so much better. It kills me to see her like this, as she's always so energetic. Any advice on what's going on would be greatly appreciated; I'm just worried sick over her. Thank you!

Edit: I noticed she's not even eating that much of her hay, mostly poking at it and chewing it a little bit. To answer any questions, her teeth are completely fine; she just had a check-up with the vet recently.

 

[Deleted member 155279]

I want to believe this is all just from the hay mishap and I'm overreacting, but seeing her like this makes me feel terrible.

 

[Piggies&buns]

I'm sorry to hear this

Antibiotics can deplete the good gut bacteria and cause digestive upsets. A reduction in hay intake when unwell can mean not enough fibre is propping up the gut . It is most likely that which has caused it not the hay (you are right though no piggy should eat alfalfa).

If it is diarrhoea then she does need to see a vet though due to the risk of dehydration . Severe diarrhoea is an emergency.
Soft but formed poops can be helped by removing all veg, feeding plenty of hay, giving a probiotic and syringe feeding recovery feed if necessary.

Please switch from the lifelong routine weekly weight checks and instead weigh her every morning. This enables you to monitor hay intake more closely. It’s important to do those extra weight checks when a piggy is unwell.
Step in with syringe feeding a fibre rich recovery feed (emeraid or oxbow critical care) if she is not maintaining her weight

I hope she is ok

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

 

[Deleted member 155279]

I'm sorry to hear this

Antibiotics can deplete the good gut bacteria and cause digestive upsets. A reduction in hay intake when unwell can mean not enough fibre is propping up the gut . It is most likely that which has caused it not the hay (you are right though no piggy should eat alfalfa).

If it is diarrhoea then she does need to see a vet though due to the risk of dehydration . Severe diarrhoea is an emergency.
Soft but formed poops can be helped by removing all veg, feeding plenty of hay, giving a probiotic and syringe feeding recovery feed if necessary.

Please switch from the lifelong routine weekly weight checks and instead weigh her every morning. This enables you to monitor hay intake more closely. It’s important to do those extra weight checks when a piggy is unwell.
Step in with syringe feeding a fibre rich recovery feed (emeraid or oxbow critical care) if she is not maintaining her weight

I hope she is ok

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

Thank you so much. I just recently heard about Critical Care and will be looking into that, as well as looking into visiting the vet again.

 

[Wiebke]

I agree with @Piggies&buns .

Antibiotics can knock out the appetite. Since hay makes over three quarters of the daily food intake, this food group is usually hit the most; resulting in weight loss and funny poos.

Please switch to weighing daily on your kitchen scales first thing in the morning for best day to day comparison. Step in with syringing mushed pellets until your recovery formula arrives in order to slow down any further weight loss asap - reduced poos mean that your piggy has already eaten much less than he should for a day or two.
You will need to prep the syringe tip as shown in our Syringe Feeding guide to allow the much rougher fibre to pass but still keep the plunger inside the syringe.

Please take the time to read all the link in this thread; you can find all the helpful how-to tips and necessary advice on how to best support your piggy in them. We cannot repeat everything in detail in every single post; for all the 'little' stuff and some important backgrund information we have created our guides.

PS: Definitely no alfalfa except for highly pregnant sows or badly neglected rescue intakes. It is a legume and not a grass hay and too rich/high in calcium for well looked after piggies.

 

[weepweeps]

Good luck Bowie. I hope you are soon feeling better