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Painful poo & gas

P

PigMom94

Junior Guinea Pig
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Hi everyone,

I posted about 2 months ago about my guinea pig bubbles. She was diagnosed with bladder slime and a UTI. The doctor suggested to give her Baytril, until the whole bottle was over. I gave it for 2 weeks after which bubble's symptoms were completely gone. The bottle was not empty, but i decided to stop giving it as antibiotics can be really harsh on the body. But i was told that i should not discontinue the medication as the whole dose of antibiotics must be given for all the bacteria to die. So i continued giving it after a 3 day break for another 3-4 days until the bottle was empty. Then a week after the antibiotics were over, she started to sqweak in pain again. I thought the bladder slime and UTI had returned as i had not continuously given the antibiotics. So on Friday last week i took her to a new doctor (As i recently moved to a new city).

I specifically looked for a small animal doctor (Kleintierarzt), as i thought that would mean the doctor was a specialist. But, the doctor i found did not seem experienced at all with guinea pigs. She did not do any tests and assumed it was the same diagnosis as before and gave us some herbal medicine (RodiCare Uro) and some homeopathic painkillers. She said that i should go back to her in 4 days if it still continued. During the consult, thankfully bubbles peed. So the doctor did a quick pee stick test where she did not find any signs of inflammation, blood or anything wrong. She also quickly checked for the levels of the Kidneys and she said everything looked normal.

So we got bubbles back home and started the medicine. But 4 days later she was still sqweaking in pain. Only this time we noticed that she was in pain only while pooing. She had 4 poos in one try, very painful and we thought we heard a small fart as well. So we knew that something was definitely wrong and different. This time we googled for a specialist in guinea pigs which is different than for small animals. I took her there on Wednesday. The doctor did an x-ray and said that bubbles had a lot of gas in her tummy. She gave me Dimeticon Albrecht and told me to give her 1 ml about 3-6 times a day.

I have been giving bubbles the medicine since Wednesday. I also made her some fennel and caraway seeds tea. I pick here up 3-4 times a day and give her a small belly massage with my hands for about 15-20 mins. I also stopped feeding her too many veggies. I put her on the side away from the others and put just a little bit of cucumber and fennel and sometimes celery to eat.

But she still cramps up in pain when she poos. It seems like it has reduced a little bit, but it still happens. I heard the gas going out of her body a lot during the day, especially when i massage her. Apart from that, she eats almost normally, she does seem a bit more tired, but she poos and drinks a lot of water from the water bottle. Her weight has been constant and hasn't deviated.

I don't know what else or extra i should do. I don't seem to find any posts about how long this takes to get cured. I started giving her the medicine 6times a day today, but i am not sure if that is too much. I hate seeing her struggle like this.

Please could someone tell me what i can do? And how long it takes for it to get cured?
 
Hi @LMPigs ,

Thank you! I will read both articles carefully.
My vet only suggested the medicine. The rest i have been doing after reading various threads about bloat. So, i am not sure if i'm doing enough. Hence, i have a couple of questions.

1) Should i continue feeding her a very small amount of veggies (Cucumber, fennel & celery root) about 10-20 g or should i completely stop it? If so, for how long?
2) How long does it take for the bloat to subside?
3) Is the painful poo an indication of just the bloat or should i be aware of other possible problems it could be?
4) Her tummy already feels softer and less bloated when i touch it, but she still sqweaks in pain and i still hear the gas. How would i know when its completely healed?
5) Is it okay to give her 1 ml of the medicine 6 times a day? It says, 0.5-1 ml every 3-6 times a day, on the bottle.

Thank you in advance!
 
I am not qualified to answer this and I don't want to give you incorrect advice, so it is best to wait at this point for a more knowledgeable person to come along.

@Wiebke wrote the guide on this so hopefully she will chip in if she is able.

I understand that @furryfriends (TEAS) and @Abi_nurse are also both experienced with guineas that are unwell, so perhaps they would comment.

I can tell that you are very concerned about your I'll piggy but it sounds to me that you are doing a good job with her. I hope you can try not to worry too much while waiting for further advice.
 
@LMPigs Thank you so much for tagging all the right people. I'm really hoping and waiting for a response.
And thank you, i am trying not to get too crazy worried, but it's hard when your baby is sick :(
 
PigMom94 said:
Hi @LMPigs ,

Thank you! I will read both articles carefully.
My vet only suggested the medicine. The rest i have been doing after reading various threads about bloat. So, i am not sure if i'm doing enough. Hence, i have a couple of questions.

1) Should i continue feeding her a very small amount of veggies (Cucumber, fennel & celery root) about 10-20 g or should i completely stop it? If so, for how long?
2) How long does it take for the bloat to subside?
3) Is the painful poo an indication of just the bloat or should i be aware of other possible problems it could be?
4) Her tummy already feels softer and less bloated when i touch it, but she still sqweaks in pain and i still hear the gas. How would i know when its completely healed?
5) Is it okay to give her 1 ml of the medicine 6 times a day? It says, 0.5-1 ml every 3-6 times a day, on the bottle.

Thank you in advance!
Click to expand...

Hi

- I would strongly recommend to stop any veg until your piggy has been stable again for at least 48 hours and then slowly restarting with a little fresh herb and only adding one more small quantity of veg with every passing meal.
Please follow the diet tips for guinea pigs with digestive issues (special needs diets chapter) in our diet guide: Long Term Balanced General And Special Needs Guinea Pig Diets

- Severe bloat happens in waves that can be hours, days or even weeks apart. Severe bloat is one of nastier things your piggy can develop as it takes weeks for things to normalise - and in some cases they may never do so fully.

- The painful pooing can be caused by bloat or be like the bloat itself a complication to an underlying issue (likely a stone or a growth pressing on the gut - it is all very wrapped around each other down there). Only an x-ray can tell you that.

- You will know it when your piggy is better in herself. A softer tummy means that your girl is not in one of the highly acute phases.
She will be more willing to take syringe feed from you. Please keep in mind that fibre, lots of it, is crucial right now and that your feeding support can make all the difference. You simply cannot control the hay intake by eye and weighing a piggy with bloating is not necessarily giving you a correct result as gas is not weightless.
Please be aware that a diet too high in veg, and especially sugary veg like carrot and fruit can contribute to causing severe bloat as it encourages the overgrowth of bad bacteria (dysbiosis).
Syringe feeding support: Complete Syringe Feeding Guide
For improvisation and first aid kits: Emergency, Crisis and Bridging Care until a Vet Appointment

- I can't comment on the medication unless I know what exactly you want to give how often.

-If you have got a healthy companion, syringing 'poo soup' (i.e. transferring live healthy gut microbiome) twice can help, especially in the recovery phase. For this to be effective, the poos need to have literally just be made.
Here is the link to the 'recipe': Probiotics, Recovery Foods And Vitamin C: Overview With Product Links

All the best!
 
Hi @Wiebke,

Thank you so much for advice. That really helps a ton! Not knowing what exactly is happening and how to exactly deal with it and for how long was quite stressful.
I will not feed her any fresh veggies until she is recovered. The Xray did not show any other stones or cysts, the doctor mentioned that. I will look at all the above links thank you.

I have three others who are healthy fit and fine. So i guess the poo soup should also be possible.

The medicine i was talking about is called Dimeticon Albrecht. I gave 1ml to her 3 times a day for the last two days. But since i felt like that wasn't helping much, i have already given it to her 4 times today and thought i would give it one more time before bed. Since that is still within the allowable limits as per written on the bottle, I'm guessing that is okay?
 
What’s the active ingredient in the medicine?
 
Hi @Siikibam ,

I have attached the pdf file of the medicine below. It's in German though. According to the bottle:
Composition: 1 ml suspension contains:
Active ingredient: Dimeticon 70.0 mg
Excipient: sucrose
 

Attachments

@Wiebke from what I can find, one of its uses is for abdominal symptoms due to gas in the intestinal tract.
 
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