Pain when pooping

[Josie_lg]

My girl had a cystotomy in October and in December developed a post op hernia we have been monitoring it and it has got a little bit bigger. No pain when touching it and can be pushed back in. She has been on and off with her bladder but today she started having wierd poops. Now we have been feeding a few differant hays as our normal hay we feed from HayBox has recently been filled with grass seeds and all of our girls have had foreign bodies in their eyes in the last few weeks. So until we get a new batch in they’ve been on pet shop Timothy hay but that’s only been for a few days. No new foods but my sister did say they had a tiny blueberry and half a grape yesterday. (Not ideal I’m usually pretty strict with fruits) no new treats. Normal veggies due to her bladder issues.
But today she’s just seemed slightly off. Quiter than normal and poops are much lighter but some of them have been due to the change in hay. But they’ve been a bit soft and she had some really wet brown substance leaking from her bottom. My main concern is she is painful when pooping. This isn’t “abnormal” for her due to her constant bladder issues she has sadly always had some discomfort sometimes with peeing and pooping. (Please note she has had many x rays and ultrasounds I couldn’t count, 2 heart scans and a CT scan)
However she seems more painful when pooping, she looked like she was rlly pushing earlier but then seemed okay. Still bright and eating well. My concern is what if this is the hernia. I can still push the hernia all the way back in pretty much and it’s still soft no colour change and she’s comfy when I touch it. I also got really worried that there may have been some blood on her bottom but then it looked a bit like dark poop. Again for her she has passed the odd bit of blood during flare ups with her bladder she is currently managed with metacam gabapentin nutracyst and potassium citrate.
We are hopefully going to get her seen tomorrow.
I am just so worried. She is the sweetest piggie and I feel like she has been through so much. I am so scared that if she does really need this hernia operation that she isn’t going to pull through. We were lucky for her to make it through the cystotomy. I am a nervous wreck. Any experiences with hernias or issues similar. Please share. I feel so alone with this! X

 

[Wiebke]

My girl had a cystotomy in October and in December developed a post op hernia we have been monitoring it and it has got a little bit bigger. No pain when touching it and can be pushed back in. She has been on and off with her bladder but today she started having wierd poops. Now we have been feeding a few differant hays as our normal hay we feed from HayBox has recently been filled with grass seeds and all of our girls have had foreign bodies in their eyes in the last few weeks. So until we get a new batch in they’ve been on pet shop Timothy hay but that’s only been for a few days. No new foods but my sister did say they had a tiny blueberry and half a grape yesterday. (Not ideal I’m usually pretty strict with fruits) no new treats. Normal veggies due to her bladder issues.
But today she’s just seemed slightly off. Quiter than normal and poops are much lighter but some of them have been due to the change in hay. But they’ve been a bit soft and she had some really wet brown substance leaking from her bottom. My main concern is she is painful when pooping. This isn’t “abnormal” for her due to her constant bladder issues she has sadly always had some discomfort sometimes with peeing and pooping. (Please note she has had many x rays and ultrasounds I couldn’t count, 2 heart scans and a CT scan)
However she seems more painful when pooping, she looked like she was rlly pushing earlier but then seemed okay. Still bright and eating well. My concern is what if this is the hernia. I can still push the hernia all the way back in pretty much and it’s still soft no colour change and she’s comfy when I touch it. I also got really worried that there may have been some blood on her bottom but then it looked a bit like dark poop. Again for her she has passed the odd bit of blood during flare ups with her bladder she is currently managed with metacam gabapentin nutracyst and potassium citrate.
We are hopefully going to get her seen tomorrow.
I am just so worried. She is the sweetest piggie and I feel like she has been through so much. I am so scared that if she does really need this hernia operation that she isn’t going to pull through. We were lucky for her to make it through the cystotomy. I am a nervous wreck. Any experiences with hernias or issues similar. Please share. I feel so alone with this! X

Hi

If you have concerns, please see your vet. It is impossible for us to tell whether the problem is hernia related (pushing onto the bit of the gut at the end where the poos are formed and pushed out or whether a little bit of the gut is right against the hole) or whether it is a mild tummy upset.

As a precaution, I would recommend that you take your girl off any fresh food for the time being in case it is a tummy upset. A hands-on examination should hopefully bring more clarity as to what is going on.
If necessary, step in with feeding support if she continues to not being much interested in food and especially hay.
As long as she is still eating for herself, just top-up with mush from a bowl outside the cage. That is also not a bad way of gauging her appetite and fitness. If she is not tucking in much, then it is time to switch to proper syringe feeding support. Switch to weighing daily on your scales first thing in the morning.
All About Syringe Feeding and Medicating Guinea Pigs with Videos and Pictures

All the best!

 

[Josie_lg]

Hi

If you have concerns, please see your vet. It is impossible for us to tell whether the problem is hernia related (pushing onto the bit of the gut at the end where the poos are formed and pushed out or whether a little bit of the gut is right against the hole) or whether it is a mild tummy upset.

As a precaution, I would recommend that you take your girl off any fresh food for the time being in case it is a tummy upset. A hands-on examination should hopefully bring more clarity as to what is going on.
If necessary, step in with feeding support if she continues to not being much interested in food and especially hay.
As long as she is still eating for herself, just top-up with mush from a bowl outside the cage. That is also not a bad way of gauging her appetite and fitness. If she is not tucking in much, then it is time to switch to proper syringe feeding support. Switch to weighing daily on your scales first thing in the morning.
All About Syringe Feeding and Medicating Guinea Pigs with Videos and Pictures

All the best!

Hiya thanks for you reply. We went to see the vet today. However this morning she was much better. Less painful and poops almost back to normal. The vet had a feel and does advice surgery to fix it however he doesn’t think that’s what caused the soft poops and pain and that it might be due to the fact she’s been passing sludge.
One thing I didn’t know is that straining can cause hernias and with her long term urinary issues I wonder if that’s had a part to play. I think I got the answer I knew he was going to give but not what I wanted. I’m a bit of mess tbh. I so don’t want her having another surgery again. I just don’t know what I would do if I lost her when she’s currently okay, but also would feel awful if I lost her due to the hernia when I could have potentially prevented it. She’s bright and eating at the moment. The vets given us “frusol” diuretic to help her remove the sludge. If anyone has experience of their piggies taking this please share. Thank you! Xx

 

[Wiebke]

Hiya thanks for you reply. We went to see the vet today. However this morning she was much better. Less painful and poops almost back to normal. The vet had a feel and does advice surgery to fix it however he doesn’t think that’s what caused the soft poops and pain and that it might be due to the fact she’s been passing sludge.
One thing I didn’t know is that straining can cause hernias and with her long term urinary issues I wonder if that’s had a part to play. I think I got the answer I knew he was going to give but not what I wanted. I’m a bit of mess tbh. I so don’t want her having another surgery again. I just don’t know what I would do if I lost her when she’s currently okay, but also would feel awful if I lost her due to the hernia when I could have potentially prevented it. She’s bright and eating at the moment. The vets given us “frusol” diuretic to help her remove the sludge. If anyone has experience of their piggies taking this please share. Thank you! Xx

HUGS

Frusol is a good diuretic; it is more often prescribed for heart problems in order to minimise the fluid build up in the chest or in the lungs but it basically boosts urination. Make sure that your girl is having more watery veg if she is not a good drinker to encourage as many pees as possible.

All the best! Complex health issues are always so much trickier to manage because they ping off each other. Straining can indeed contribute to a hernia if there is a weakness in the muscle wall.