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Mystery illness?

chloooo123

New Born Pup
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Hello,
First time poster so apologies if anything is wrong but I was hoping for some suggestions for my Guineas pigs so far mystery illness.

Some background health on my piggie she is 3 years old and she has always had odd shaped poops almost tear shaped but a bit more too them but we’ve never had any issues. She had a bladder stone removed in February which went perfectly and she was back to her self quickly and other than that she’s fine.

Since late March she has had constant bowl issues. Her poops can go from diarrhoea, soft, hard within a day. They also cause her some pain to push out.

We have been to the vets more times I can count and we have had her poop tested which showed nothing wrong, we’ve tired anti inflammatory shots in case it was a bladder issue and we have checked there’s no more stones. She also occasionally pushes out a clear slimy substance with traces of blood. Honestly she hasn’t done this in a while but still worth mentioning.

In terms of diet for the last few months she has had only fresh grass, peppers, hay and very few pellets. She drinks filtered water and has 3 different water sources in her cage.

She’s other wise and very happy healthy pig she keeps a consistent weight, eats drinks and popcorns it’s just her poop. I’m not sure what else we can test for at this point and my vet is also completely stumped.
 
Welcome to the forum, I'm sorry it's in these circumstances. Someone more knowledgeable will be along with advice soon.
 
Hello,
First time poster so apologies if anything is wrong but I was hoping for some suggestions for my Guineas pigs so far mystery illness.

Some background health on my piggie she is 3 years old and she has always had odd shaped poops almost tear shaped but a bit more too them but we’ve never had any issues. She had a bladder stone removed in February which went perfectly and she was back to her self quickly and other than that she’s fine.

Since late March she has had constant bowl issues. Her poops can go from diarrhoea, soft, hard within a day. They also cause her some pain to push out.

We have been to the vets more times I can count and we have had her poop tested which showed nothing wrong, we’ve tired anti inflammatory shots in case it was a bladder issue and we have checked there’s no more stones. She also occasionally pushes out a clear slimy substance with traces of blood. Honestly she hasn’t done this in a while but still worth mentioning.

In terms of diet for the last few months she has had only fresh grass, peppers, hay and very few pellets. She drinks filtered water and has 3 different water sources in her cage.

She’s other wise and very happy healthy pig she keeps a consistent weight, eats drinks and popcorns it’s just her poop. I’m not sure what else we can test for at this point and my vet is also completely stumped.

Hi and welcome

Has your vet checked for noticeably thickened bowel (can affect different parts of the lower part of the intestine) which comes with IBS-like symptoms? I have had that in a couple of piggies of mine which had to stay on gut meds permanently, once in he caecum, the largest and last of the fermentation tracts, and once in the ileum. As a result, poos could be misshapen with other symptoms, like bloating, tiny cramps etc.

The slimy substance is most likely either a little bit of the mucus barrier at the end of the caecum which retains the gut microbiome or it could be coming from the reproductive tract.

Wiebke's Guide to Poops
Wiebke's Guide to Tummy Trouble

Unfortunately, while there is now some research into the digestive system in guinea pigs, it is still quite simply very under-researched (as so much about guinea pigs) and medically extremely limited since steroids are a no no for rodents, to which guinea pigs belong. :(
 
She has not but I will definitely be asking about this! I have a ( human) friend who has ibs and she always jokes the piggie might have something similar.
Thank you so much for your response it definitely gives us something else to explore and I will definitely give a. Update if anything comes from it.
Can I ask what medicine it is and how it helps for example does it take away the symptoms or does it just help keep them minimal?
 
She has not but I will definitely be asking about this! I have a ( human fiend) who has ibs and she always jokes the piggie might have something similar.
Thank you so much for your response it definitely gives us something else to explore and I will definitely give a. Update if anything comes from it.
Can I ask what medicine it is and how it helps for example does it take away the symptoms or does it just help keep them minimal?

It is the usual gut meds cocktail - metacam, emeprid and zantac/ranitidine if available or otherwise cisapride.

Digestive Disorders: Not Eating - Diarrhea - Bloat - GI Stasis (No Gut Movement)
 
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