Impaction: Practical Care and Diet (with videos)

[LisaAli]

1 What is impaction?
- Potential causes
- Why the need for a vet check
- Diet advice
2 Impaction care videos
- How to check for impaction
- How to remove impaction
- Before and after impaction care
3 An impaction carer's practical experiences and tips
- Diagnosing an impaction (description)
- Treating impaction in the short term
- Treating Impaction in the long term
- More practical care tips


1 What is impaction?

Impaction is a degenerative condition that affects about 10% of ageing boars. They increasingly struggle to express the poo mass that collects in the perianal sac between the descended testicles as the musculature at their back end gradually weakens. Boars with impaction typically also lose the spring in their back legs.
The condition is rare in younger boars and thankfully only very rarely a neutering complication but malnutrional impaction can affect younger adults as well.

Impaction is unfortunately very smelly. Mild cases can range from needing removing every few days to the very severe that need clearing out several times daily. Dietary measures can milder cases temporarily stop or slow down impaction; they can in combination with regular exercise also help boars affected by an unsuitable diet and cramped conditions but they cannot cure a genetically determined degeneration or other progressive health factors causing or contributing to impaction.

Neutered boars can also be affected by impaction but because their perianal sac has contracted again after the removal of the testicles, the impaction mass is only about chickpea-sized and can in milder cases be pushed out on its own or very easily removed by the owner.


Possible causes for impaction

• Malnutrition: An inappropriate diet lacking in grass/hay fibre is sadly the most common cause for bad impaction in boars coming into rescue or looking for homes on the free-ads.
  A general shift towards a mainly hay based diet over the last 10-15 years has actually resulted in a quite significant reduction of the number of impaction cases we have been seeing on the forum.
  Lack of hay fibre (often in combination lack of space) is clearly the biggest factor for impaction, well before any other causes.
  
  
• Lack of exercise and an atrophied musculature at the back. Cage size really matters!
  
  
• A genetic disposition (affects a small minority boars, less than 5%)
  
  
• Pain radiating into or pressure on the anal area from arthritis in the lower spine or pelvis, stuck semen rods in the penis shaft, bladder or urethral stones or a hernia in the groin area.
  Internal abscesses or tumours (growths) can also prevent poos from being pushed out properly.
  
  
• Impaction is a thankfully pretty rare neutering post-op complication but it does happen and is one of the situations where a younger boar can be affected.
  
  
• Dehydration can occasionally contribute to problems with pushing poos out. Please check and refill water bottles daily and ensure that guinea pigs have access to drinkable water at all times, including frosts or extreme heat.

Why the need for a vet check?
Please always have your boar vet checked promptly when you suspect impaction!
Here are some reasons why it is is important to make sure that you are actually dealing with impaction and whether the impaction could be caused by other health issues in play:

• Risk of misdiagnosis: What you think is impaction may actually not be the thing in the first place.
  
  
• Impaction as a secondary complication: Impaction is not the be main cause/problem but a complication resulting from another health problem, which may go unnoticed until it could be too late (problems in the penis shaft, bladder stones, hernias or internal abscesses or tumors).
  
  
• Long time unnoticed impaction can cause infection, which need antibiotic treatment.

Diet advice
A good hay-based diet goes a long way towards minimising the risk and severity of impaction.

• Please keep in mind that hay/fresh safe grass should make over three quarter of the daily food intake and that all other foods (veg, fresh and dry forage, pellets and any treats) together only replace the supplementary role that wild forage used to have in the original diet (ca. 20-25%).
  
  
• Keeping the hay fibre intake as high as possible is crucial for impaction boars. Introduce any fresh grass only very slowly in order to avoid tummy upsets.
  
  
• Please supplement ideally with hay based pellets (1 tablespoon per piggy per day) - provided you can get them and your boy will eat them - and use hay fibre based recovery formula (Critical is the widest available brand) if extra feeding support is needed. If you cannot get hay-based products, then just use what works best for you where you live - you may have to do some trial and error experiments. You can access our hay brands list for several countries via the diet guide link below.
  
  
• Have regular fixed feeding times and do not vary the daily diet if possible. These measures also help towards stabilising impaction and ideally send it into remission at least for a goodly while.
  
  
• Please discuss the advisability of supplementing with vitamin B12 in long term severe cases with your vet; especially if your boar is unable to eat a part of his poos.
  Guinea pigs are however not like rabbits: they do not produce special redigested caecotrophs containing concentrated vitamin B12; they run normal poos through the digestive tract twice. Please do not supplement on spec.

Here is the link to our comprehensive diet guide, which looks at all aspects of it:

Thread 'Long Term Balanced General And Special Needs Guinea Pig Diets'

Jul 14, 2014

1 The recommended ratio of food groups
2 Hay and fresh grass
3 Vegetables, fresh herbs and fruit with an illustrated balanced sample diet
4 Special dietary needs
- Urinary tract infections, bladder stones and sterile IC (non-bacterial interstitial cystitis)
- Diabetes and long term digestive problems
- Impaction in boars
- Pregnancy and nursing dietary tweaks (only visible to registered members who have accepted our no intentional breeding policy)...

• Wiebke
• Replies: 6
• Forum: Diet

• 

2 Impaction care videos: How to remove impaction with due care

Warning: The following videos have some graphic scenes depicting Impaction.

How to check for impaction
(Video with permission of Worthing Guinea Pig Rescue)

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=10158365644325604

How to remove Impaction

Before and After

(The latter two videos are reproduced with the kind permission of Guinea Pigs Today)

 

[Magician]

3 Impaction in Older Boars: A member's practical experience

I read it’s quite common for older boars to get impactions and, given my recent experiences with Aladdin, felt it might help others in a similar situation if I compiled everything I’d learnt. If you read the other threads you’ll know what I mean by ‘my recent experiences’.


Diagnosing an impaction (description)
Obviously, the most noticeable sign of an impaction is a plug of faeces in the guinea pig’s anal sac. However, sometimes this isn’t visible, in which case look out for a lethargic pig who seems to be pooping less than usual - unless the impaction is very bad and has gone unattended for a long time, then they won’t necessarily completely stop passing faeces. Also, check for a bloated appearance. Does the pig look like a little furry pear from above? Can you hear fluid sloshing about in his abdomen? These can be symptoms of an impaction and are worth investigating.

If in doubt, gently pull back the anal sac and thoroughly check inside for any visible left over faeces. If these are present then your pig likely has an impaction.

It’s worth checking your boars daily for symptoms, even if this just means lightly squeezing their anal sac, to check for the beginnings of an impaction.


Treating the impaction in the short term
It doesn’t really need saying but the first thing you need to do is remove the impaction.

Firstly, put your boar on his back, either by simply laying him over and putting your hands so he can’t wriggle up; or, if he’s a little tyke, wrap him in a towel with his back end sticking out. It’s a good idea to have a helper if you’re not used to doing this, by the way, especially the first few times.

Pull back and “invert” the boar’s sac, and gently tease out the offending lump of faeces with your (gloved...it really stinks) hands. Then, using a damp ear stick (Q-tip or cotton bud, I believe it’s sometimes called) clean out the sac so that there is no trace of faeces remaining. Be VERY gentle.

It’s also worth cleaning his penis too whilst you’re at it, as guinea pigs who get regularly impactions likely don’t clean themselves enough, so will have a dirty bums! These need cleaning to prevent fly strike (particularly if the affected piggy lives out) and infection caused by poor hygiene. To clean the penis pull back the skin so it is ‘stretched’ out, then wipe with damp tissue or ear sticks.

You can also give your pig a bum bath with piggy safe shampoo by submerging his hind quarters in shallow warm water in a washing up basin and pulling the water over his back end, then massaging in the shampoo before carefully and thoroughly rinsing out with warm water.


Treating impaction in the long term
Aladdin needs checking daily, quite often multiple times, to make sure he is clear of an impaction. We do this by taking him out of the cage, holding him like a baby on his back and gently inverting the sac. We also will palpate the sac sometimes up to 3 times a day to check for signs of an impaction.

Feeding tips
To keep your pig impaction free, there are several things you can do. The most important is FIBRE. You must give your piggy a diet that is maxed out on fibre. Ad lib hay should be given anyway, but if necessary, bed your pigs down on hay to ensure they eat it. I’ve found, with early impactions that aren’t really yet under control, feeding things like apples can help enormously by softening the faeces so that they are easier to pass, especially for a lazy guinea that dislikes cleaning itself. You can also buy special fibre supplements, from your vets and from pet shops. In the first hours after discovering an impaction, especially if it is severe, it is always worth

Exercise
Increasing exercise, with a larger cage and/or increased floor time, will also help by strengthening the muscles in the back end. We are investing in a C&C cage for the boys soon (once we've finished rearranging my room so it fits in! We've ended up having to buy a new floor, new bed and new wardrobe in order for this to work, but I'm sure it will be worth it!)

Practical tips for how to best get 'couch potatoes' moving for their dinner can be found in chapter 6 in this guide link here; they are the same as for overweight guinea pigs:

Thread 'Weight - Monitoring and Management (Underweight & Overweight)'

Mar 11, 2019

1 Health monitoring: BMI, weighing, poo out and body changes
- The importance of the weekly health and grooming body check
- Different feedback from BMI, weight, poos and body changes
2 Regular weight monitoring
- How often should I weigh?
- Weighing tips
3 Guidelines for changes in weight
- Weight loss guidelines
- Sudden weight gain and fluctuations...

• Wiebke
• Replies: 4
• Forum: Grooming Care & Health Monitoring

• 
• 

The most important thing though is SEE YOUR VET. They can make sure it actually is an impaction, and give extra fibre things and what not....impactions can sometimes be a symptom of bladder stones, which DO need to be seen and diagnosed by a knowledgeable cavy vet.

Aladdin got given this oral stuff which was administered with a syringe once a day, an electrolyte solution for his water and some medical grade fibre pellets, as well as being checked thoroughly (twice!) for bladder stones. I was so relieved when the vet told us he was in the clear.

As a last resort you can consider neutering your boar, but I really wouldn't recommend this. Like all operations it carries a lot of risk especially for something as small and fragile as an older cavy.


More practical care tips

• Don’t mollycoddle them or try to confine them so they can ‘recuperate’
  A lot of pigs have long term impaction issues from weak back ends and though it’s tempting to keep a sick pig in its cage to stop it overexerting itself so it can 'rest', with impactions this is the worst thing you can do. Exercise really helps in aiding the pig to pass healthy faeces as well as encouraging it to clean itself.
  
  
• Be careful if they live with others (which they really should!)
  With Aladdin’s brother Lenny we had to check him daily too, to make sure the added fibre wasn’t giving him diarrhoea. It’s also worth - especially if your pigs are litter mates - to check them too as the causes of impactions are often genetic.
  
  
• Don’t forget the 'love' over the maintenance!
  One thing we found when treating Aladdin was we began only ever picking him up to check his bottom. Well, he still came out to play and still had cuddles and lap time, but we’d always check his bottom during this time, meaning he came to hate it whenever anyone opened his cage, because he thought we were going to squeeze his sac every time! Obviously don’t scrimp on the bum-checks, but don’t overdo it either. Fiddling too much can actually do more harm than good, by spreading germs on you to your pig. If you must check him every time you get your pigs out, then do it when putting them BACK not when getting them out. This way they’re actually more likely to not want to go home! (Not a bad thing really - or at least not with my two, who are either complete lazy so-and-so’s, or utter randy rascals! )
  
  
• Don’t despair!
  It can seem horrid sometimes. Especially if the impaction is serious if can actually cause your pig a lot of pain and discomfort and make them very withdrawn and subdued. My father actually said to me when things looked particularly bleak ‘he’s not going to make it, is he’ (regarding Aladdin). But we upped his fibre and gave him lots of love and devoted lots of time to sac-cleaning, and he’s almost completely okay now, though we do still check him once a day at least and sometimes have to clear away a bit. But it’s not half so bad as it was, and I have my precious piggy Aladdin back now, all happy and fine.

For more practical experiences: Impaction? (tmi) and here: Impaction Recurrence....please Help!

 

[LisaAli]

Thank you @Magician for writing the above post. We are sure that it will go well with the above videos and being made a sticky will form a good reference for fellow members who may also find their piggies with this condition.

Lisa & Ali...x