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My piggie has diarrhoea!

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wales1000

wales1000

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Today one of my guinea pigs has diarrhoea, but the other one hasn't! What do I do, I am thinking maybe it was the apple I gave him yesterday, though he hasn't had it today or maybe I am feeding too many green vegetables?. Shall I just not give him vegetables in the morning and see how he is when I get home from work tomorrow? he seems to be running around OK, I have cleaned his bum, but do i keep them both together tonight or split them up if he has a bad tummy? they are both male...I just think it's strange why one has it and the other doesn't! please can someone advise me?
 
Gte him to the vets 1st thing 2 morrow as diarrhea can be fatal :-\
 
If I were you I'd get him to the emergency vets tonight but if thats not practical book one for first thing in the morning and in the meantime eliminate all greens from his diet and make sure he has plenty of dry food and water
Good luck
 
No need to seperate them.You could cut back on the veggies for a day or two,especially the strong greens and dark cabbage etc.

Is the diarrheoa very runny and watery,or is it just very soft pellets.?.

The most important thing to give him is rehydration fluid.Make up a satchet of Diarlyite or similar,Boots own is a bit cheaper.Give the fluid little and often.This is difficult of course if you are at work,so just get as much into him as you can before you go then give little and often through the evening.

If the diarrheoa is very runny give him half a tablet or half a capsul of Lomital or Diacalm.Do not give this if the pellets are just soft.,but give the rehydration therapy.

Keep him warm.

Paws crossed he will be better tomorrow.
 
it seems quite runny to be honest... I know I can't take him to the vets in the morning, I have a meeting in the morning in work which I can't get out of. I'll cut down on the green vegetables... I dont have any satchet of Dialyite, where do I get that from? I leave for work before the vets open, so there is no way I could go first thing....All i can do is keep him warm tonight, which I know he will be, they sleep in my bedroom, which is nice and warm, and if he's not the same when I get home from work, I'll deffo take him to the vets....I've never head piggies before, so I don't have any first aid stuff for them!
 
You can get it from any chemist/boots/superdrug etc. They are sachets and come in a box of 5 or 10 I think. Make up as per instructions and give little and often via syringe (the type you get with childrens nurofen will do). It will stop him dehydrating. We humans use it too when we have a dicky tummy :)
 
You can get rehydration powder and Lomatil or Diacalm from a supermarket or chemist,would you have time to go before the meeting.I do realise this is difficult for you b ecause your work is important.

Hopefully it is jusr something he has eaten which has upset him,and he may be o.k. tomorrow.If it is an infection I would have thought his companion would be having symptoms as well.

Is the piggy eating and active?.

It is a good idea to keep a box of first aid things,as piggies very often go sick at weekends and late at night.Bank holidays are another favourite.I sometimes think they do it deliberately!.

Rehydration powder, anti diarrheoa drugs are two important products to keep at hand.
 
ok thanks for your help, I'll pop down to Boots in my lunch break...in the meantime, I'll keep an eye on him and cut out the vegetables and fingers crossed it will help...if he's still the same when I come home from work, a trip to the vets it will be. As soon as any of my pets get ill, whether its the dogs or hamsters and guinea pigs, I get upset :( Had to take my hamster to the vets about a week ago, cose the other one had attacked it, poor thing...he seems to be eating and running around ok. I better get myself a first aid kit sorted for the guinea pigs in the future....can I find a list on the forum somewhere, which tells me the other things I might need in an emergency?
 
Good luck tomorrow,hope the piggy will be o.k.

Yes,there is a first aid list at the top of the forum.

There are really only a few items that are standard,the rest you can gather as you need them.There is no point in getting a load of expensive products in because they go out of date and if you do not need them ,you have wasted money.
 
Thanks, I just went to check on Tyson, he seems ok, he's just having a lie down on his hay bed. Thanks for all your replies. I hope he will be ok too.
 
I could hear him drinking water through the night - this morning he and Louis are jumping around in their cage. I checked his poo and it seems pretty much back to normal, just a little bit wet, but I didn't given him any vegetables this morning. I have left him with plenty of hay, water and dry food. I have noticed that they always seem to green vegetables and am wondering if maybe I did give him too much. They seem to be a bit picky, wont eat the carrots and wont touch strawberries. They only seem to really like the green veg, so I better try and give him a bit more of something else that isn't green all the time.
 
Yes it could be too much greens.It is a problem when they are picky.I have had pigs like this.The only answer is to give as many different veggies as you can.If the greens are limited they usually come round to trying other things.
 
We have a picky pig who has also just had a bout of the runs. He used to grab his faves from his wet food bowl (carrots, peppers, cucumber (and parsely on the rare occasions he gets it) and left the other stuff. We leave him with it for another couple of hours, and it's usually gone when we return, he just troughs the bits he likes first and mooches back to the other stuff later on. We try to vary his wet food as much as possible. Interestingly since he just had the runs, he leaps on a troughs ALL his wets now at once, just like the others!
 
I'll try and give him a bit more variety and cut right down on the old greens....hopefully he will start eating the other stuff and not be so picky!
 
Try cauliflower stalks, they are not as strong as greens. You could also try corn on the cob or the little mini corn that you can buy. I found broccoli is good to and seems to be milder on their tums.

Might still be an idea to cut back and the quantity though. Oh and do you cut the carrots up? Mine prefer them in large chunks, I just snap the carrots in half and put them in. If I cut them into small pieces they dont eat them.
 
I do cut the carrots up pretty small to be honest - I'll do what you do and just snap the carotts in half -Ii have been given them corn on the cobs, they seem to like them. I think I was giving them too many sprouts and watercress as they are quiet green and maybe a bit too much parsley - thanks for your advice.
 
Oh sprouts and watercress are very strong, I would leave them alone for a few days and just stick to the corn and carrots and see how they get on. Do you give them the leaves and silks of the corn as well?

IF you want to give them something green then I would stick with the cauliflower stalks, mine love them and you can always trim some of the leafy bits off and just give them the hard bit.
 
oh dear, I better leave the sprouts and watercress for a bit then! I don't have corn on the cobs with leaves, so they just have that without, stupid question, but what are the silks? are they the stringy things on them? cose I take them off.
 
Sprout tops are not all that strong,but it would be as well to leave them off for a while.Watercress should only be given as a treat,not more than twice a week.
 
yes take him to the vets and cut down on watery vegetables and fruit. Greens espically have alot of water in it
 
he's much better now, last night his poo is totally back to normal and seems his happy self, so I have just cut down on the green foods and he's happy with that.
 
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