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On going poop issue

Isabellajones

Isabellajones

Junior Guinea Pig
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Hi guys, I’ve posted a few times in the last few months about Shaun’s ongoing loose/soft poops. They stick to his feet etc. I’ve posted a long thread about this..

So we still have the ongoing issue. I’m looking for advice. Any thing to try to solve this.

Here’s his daily diet:

I provide: A huge pile of soft cut Timothy hay along with a pile of orchid grass.

He gets a little handful of coriander. A slice of pepper and a small carrot chunk a day and has little gem lettuce three times a week.

As off two days ago I stopped ALL veg and no improvement. How long can I cut out veg until it becomes a problem?

I’ve bought some fiberplex from Amazon (the one for rabbits) to try and see if that helps though I have read that it can make it worse.

He drinks a ton of water at least half a bottle a day and half a night.

He gets burgess pellets and natural select pellets mixed.

Could his hay be the problem? Soft cut Timothy and orchid grass.

I have tried him with Timothy blend hay and he wouldn’t eat it. I’ve tried him with first and second cut Timothy and again he wouldn’t eat it. He does like silky soft hay from Little Hay Co but I found it so dusty although he didn’t have this issue when he was having the silky soft hay. Could it be the soft cut Timothy that’s causing it?
 
I do remember the issues he is having.

You can cut out veg for as long as needed - hay is their main diet so it’s fine.

Carrot every day - this could be an issue. Carrot contains sugar which can cause an overgrowth of the wrong bacteria which can lead to gut issues. Carrot should be just an occasional treat and no more than once a week. In your case I would cut it out entirely and not give it again.

Hay - potentially yes. My lot had soft Timothy with no issues but we have had reports on the forum of it causing soft poops. It can be too rich for some piggies.
Do remember though that you do not need to feed Timothy at all - any type of grass hay is fine. Mine get meadow hay and orchard hay.

it’s a good idea to try the fibreplex
 
Ok I’ll keep him off all veg for the time being. I remember my childhood pigs never had veggies at all, in the summer they would get dandelions from the garden (we never used bug spray) and they would get a pinch of fresh coriander daily. The rest was nothing but hay. I don’t even remember them getting pellets.

I’ve bought him some silky soft again which consists of Timothy, Rye Grass and Fescue. Can you tell me your method of introducing new hay?

I honestly don’t think it’s the veggies at all but I’ll still keep him off them for now and I don’t think I’ll feed carrots at all anymore.
 
Isabellajones said:
Ok I’ll keep him off all veg for the time being. I remember my childhood pigs never had veggies at all, in the summer they would get dandelions from the garden (we never used bug spray) and they would get a pinch of fresh coriander daily. The rest was nothing but hay. I don’t even remember them getting pellets.

I’ve bought him some silky soft again which consists of Timothy, Rye Grass and Fescue. Can you tell me your method of introducing new hay?

I honestly don’t think it’s the veggies at all but I’ll still keep him off them for now and I don’t think I’ll feed carrots at all anymore.
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In your case as he does seem to have a sensitive stomach, when you give him his hay, I would give something like 75% old hay and 25% new hay. See how he goes and then change the quantities gradually as you wish
 
Got you! Ok thank you so much. You’re so helpful!

I want to do the best for him as he had such a bad start to life (horrible neglect case) and I love him dearly.

I feel bad for him, he loves his soft cut Timothy but I am starting to think it maybe what’s causing these issues.
 
I was advised to stop feeding soft cut Timothy by a vet. 3 of my boys were having soft poop and they were all getting a bit too heavy! The vet told me the hay is fine as an occasional treat but it's very rich for every day. I did discover one of mine has a problem with coriander by trial and elimination. Change the hay over gradually away from Timothy. It's so hard, they love their food so much but hopefully you can find out what's upsetting him. Gradually reintroduce on veg at a time for at least 2 days before introducing another.
The Fibreplex is a good idea to rebalance his gut bacteria. I found Timmy needed it for 3 weeks after I stopped the coriander. I have found he can have one stem now without a problem but I have to keep an eye on him when they have it because he will swipe Freddies as well!
Good luck, I hope you can find out what is upsetting him.
 
It's hard to see them having problems like this. You are doing all you can and obviously care so much to go to the trouble of helping him. Sending you both my very best wishes.
 
He has been off veg for two days and things have definitely improved some. How long do I keep him off veg and what would you suggest for getting him back on it?

Does he even need it? Like, is it a need or just something we do because they enjoy it? I’ve read so much conflicting information. My vet says no they don’t need it at all, as long as they have good quality hay? If he doesn’t need it, I won’t be putting him back on it if it’s going to make him have these issues. It’s not worth it.
 
The veg is going to be useful as part of his vitamin c source, along with pellets (which are fortified).

Herbs tend to be mild on the gut so you can try to carefully and slowly get him on a sprig or two of a herb.

Does he get fresh grass? Again, introduce slowly but it contains vit c so along with hay and a small amount of pellets which be sufficient
 
He loves peppers and coriander. So maybe I’ll try a sprig of coriander in a few days if his poops continue to improve.

No he doesn’t have fresh grass, I have a GSD that pees on the grass in my garden 😂

What is the best veg to feed for vit C daily?
 
If it was the veg, how long would it take for the poops to go normal? He’s been off them 3 days now and there was some improvement but this morning they’re incredibly mushy again.
 
It’s usually a couple of days in the case of a mild digestive upset (caused by the overgrowth is the wrong kind of gut bacteria).
The same applies for the hay though.

Has he been to the vet about it?
 
Yes he’s been to the vet four times and each time they said he’s fine. The issue is, our local vet who was amazing has been taken over by one of those big chain vet companies and they’re all god awful! They told me to give him baby food..? I didn’t.

He’s been 3 days off all veg and it looked like it was getting better then then this morning and early afternoon mushy again. And no poops at all for the last few hours.
 
If you’re not seen any poops for a few hours then I would, as a precaution, step up your weight checks to daily. Poop output is 1-2 days behind food intake so it can mean he wasn’t eating enough hay a couple of days ago. The weight checks will tell you whether you need to step in with any support feeding.
 
He’s pooping again, had to clean his hands before bed last night and this morning.

He’s eating buckets of hay. He’s going though nearly an entire pile and I give him huge loose mounds of hay. He has lost some weight but I’m guessing that because of zero veg, cut down on pea flakes and zero carrots.

His new hay arrives today, he’ll be getting some with his fresh hay change this evening and slowly transferring from the old to the new in the next week.

It’s obviously not the veg causing the soft poops, it’s been 4 days with no results so can he have veg again?
 
Has your vet tested his poop for unusual/bad bacteria or parasites? Sorry if you have said and I've forgotten. If he hasn't had his poop tested that's the way I would go next. I had a boar with giardia and worms once who had soft poop, all piggies in house were treated and sot poop cleared up quickly after that.
I'm not an H&I expert but if he were mine I would be inclined to leave him off veg for a few more days and see what happens when he is eating less soft timothy. If you are going to reintroduce veg do it very slowly.
 
It depends how much weight he has lost.
Cutting out the sugary carrots will probably cause a bit of weight loss

I agree with Piggieminder though - I would get him onto new hay before adding veg back in.
 
Isabellajones said:
I only have the one piggie, and his poops aren’t healthy so I can’t do that unfortunately.
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Ah - apologies, I shouldn’t have assumed!

If helpful, I did not notice much difference in effectiveness between fresh and less fresh poo, so perhaps visiting a local rescue to gather a batch might help!
 
As of yesterday they seem to be a lot better, there were some mushy ones this morning and I had to wash his hands but I was doing that 3/4 times a day a few days ago so definitely an improvement.
 
This morning he didn’t do any poops for a few hours, then he did a load of soft poops. Very little poops again this afternoon. Then a few small pointy ones. Now he’s farting and did a few with some sort of clear stuff around then. They were alway small and soft.

He’s not eating the soft cut Timothy anymore, I’m still providing it but he’s ignoring it and only eating the silky soft hay now.

Could this be causing this now? I’m at my wits end with this. I don’t know what to do for him?

I have some fiberplex here if that will help? I don’t want to give him anything that will make things worse.
 
I want to start adding veg back into his diet. Is coriander ok to start with?
 
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