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Questions After Vet Visit

ashleemelda

ashleemelda

Junior Guinea Pig
Joined
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Location
Virginia
I've posted on here several times (so very sorry!) about having taken my girls to the vet on Monday, December 2 in large part due to the fact that the frequency of their poops had gone down significantly. They were prescribed Bactrim (SMZ-TMP) to take twice daily in case it was the start of an infection and Bene-Bac Plus Microbial Gel to take once daily in hopes of regulating their bowel movements. Each dosage ended on Wednesday, December 11 and nothing had improved, so I took them to the vet the next day (Thursday, December 12) primarily because it seemed as though Moira was not pooping at all. I also went so soon after because we are going out of town for the holidays from Sunday, December 22 to Monday, December 30 and I have to take them with due to the lack of boarding facilities nearby and no one whom I would trust to watch them around town, and I want to make sure I'm doing everything I can before then to figure out what's going on and ensure that they are as comfortable and healthy as possible, especially given the inevitable stress of traveling, particularly with my Rose.

At our second vet visit, she once again ruled out any bloating, impaction, distention of the stomach, dehydration, dental issues, genital area issues, and after I mentioned that they've been scratching a lot recently, tested for mites and found that the white flakes on their skin were just dry skin and most likely caused from the suddenly drier air due to having started indoor heating. I have another appointment on Wednesday, December 18 at the vet's instruction to check them one final time before the trip. It's just been very hard for me not having a concrete answer and path forward, especially because the frequency of their poops has not returned and Moira appears to be continuing to go very little if at all. When she does appear to go, in the last day at least, her poops were smaller and appeared to have the tiniest of points at the top like a tear-drop. They continue to be holding their weight and eating their hay, veggies, and pellets with eagerness.

Two questions, then:
  1. Is there a chance this could be some small digestive upset based on the food I am feeding? Due to being in-between jobs and having limited resources, from June (when I got them) to early December, I fed them only a rotating slice of red, yellow, and orange pepper; one chunk of cucumber; and 1-2 leaves of green leaf lettuce daily. I have since begun introducing the other foods from @Wiebke's sample plate (1-2 sprigs of cilantro; one full green bean; and one small chunk of celery), but that did not occur until after the first vet visit. Could I have maybe been feeding them too much pepper, cucumber, or lettuce? I asked the vet about this and she told me to begin gradually cutting back on each vegetable so as to prevent a shock to their system. I read on here, however, about cutting out fresh veggies entirely for 24 hours to see if the poops normalize and if so, to continue doing so for the next 24-48 hours and then slowly reintroduce them. I would just like to know your alls thoughts on this and the process for cutting back on or cutting out veggies completely. A part of me is concerned about taking this route and having little time to reintroduce the vegetables before our road trip.
  2. How long does it typically take for medication to work its way out of a guinea pigs' system? As I mentioned prior, they were taking Bactrim and Bene-Bac Plus Microbial Gel, both of whoms dosage was completed on Wednesday, December 12. Could that potentially be having an impact on the frequency of their poops having not yet returned? Or no because the frequency had decreased prior to any medication? I also ask because their urine continues to be a rusty orange color which was not the case until the medication started. Additionally, I brought up to the vet that there have been calcium deposits left around the cage, which also did not start happening until giving them their medication, but she was not sure if the medication was a direct cause, what are your alls thoughts on this?
I know I've posted a lot of threads about this topic in the past three weeks since this all started, and I deeply apologize, especially in case the same people have been viewing and responding to them. It's just been very hard not having a concrete and clear answer about what is going on and how to proceed, and with knowing that I'll be taking them on a 9 hour and 15-minute car ride next week where they will be in a new environment and cage for a week. I have contemplated staying home with them but my grandparents are all in their late 80's and it's very important for me to see them because I don't know how much longer I have left. Especially because now I have a job, I do not know if or when my next chance to go to Illinois to see them would be.

I have made strides in working on my pet anxiety though. I have been getting out of my room and going out in the world, rather than forcing myself to stay in my room and watch them like a hawk as I had been. I have found comfort in the fact that they are holding their weight and eating their hay, pellets, and veggies with eagerness rather than looking for or having my mind play tricks on me about something new that is wrong. I'm enjoying them again, albeit still very worried, but not showing it outwardly and passing the anxiety off on them as a result.

Thank you all for your continued advice and support through this.
 
One thing I forgot to add. Both my girls appear to be incessantly chewing on the wood made available to them in their cage, which is especially out of character for my Moira. I know the vet ruled out dental issues, so could there be any other cause behind this?
 
I can't answer your questions as I'm not an expert but am bumping your query up, you posted during our night time (UK) and you have no replies.
I hope your piggies are better soon, and you can enjoy your holidays.
 
The normal reason for lack of and misshapen poops is often reduced food intake. It may appear they are eating enough but usually aren’t due to the fact that you cannot gauge that they are taking in enough hay by eye.

I have just looked back on your previous posts and have seen that they are teenagers - you say in this post that their weight is stable. It’s obviously good that they aren’t losing weight, so they are obviously eating enough to sustain but if their weight isn’t going up, as you would expect for teenagers, then it would suggest that they may not be eating enough hay. Do correct me if I have misunderstood their age.

The advice for a tummy upset is to stop all veggies, and only reintroducing veg 24 hours after all poops return to normal. This, I think, is what I would do in your situation - Stop giving all veggies (ensuring that you are only giving the recommended limit of one tablespoon of pellets per piggy) and see if things return to normal on a hay only diet (with a few pellets). If they do, then you can start to reintroduce a small amount of veggies very gradually. Herbs are often the best thing to start reintroducing first. Do be aware though that poop output is 1-2 days behind food intake, so you need to give it a couple of days with no veg before you are likely to see any improvement.

Some medications can sometimes suppress appetite.

I do feel though that as this has been going on for so long, if Moira is having periods of not pooping at all, then there would be clear signs that she, in particular, is unwell.

I am going to tag in the other health experts @Siikibam @PigglePuggle @furryfriends_(TEAS)
 
I think really you need to trust the advice of your vet, and if you aren't happy with the advice of the vet then seek a second opinion!

Antibiotics can disrupt the gut bacteria for quite a while after the treatment finishes, a couple of weeks rather than a couple of days, but if you are giving a probiotic this should help sort that out.

Ideally the probiotic should be given for longer than the antibiotic, until the poops return to normal. Piggies with a gut bacteria imbalance are sometimes more prone to chewing, and providing some plain brown cardboard to chew can help, this is safe to eat and will provide extra fibre to help restore normal poops and gut function.

Keeping veggies limited to a bit of pepper and a few herbs like cilantro can also help, cutting out lettuce etc. This may also encourage more hay eating if they arent filling up on watery veg so much.

Best of luck with your piggies, but I think if their weight is stable you may be worrying unnecessarily, especially if the vet has no major concerns x
 
Piggies&buns said:
The normal reason for lack of and misshapen poops is often reduced food intake. It may appear they are eating enough but usually aren’t due to the fact that you cannot gauge that they are taking in enough hay by eye.

I have just looked back on your previous posts and have seen that they are teenagers - you say in this post that their weight is stable. It’s obviously good that they aren’t losing weight, so they are obviously eating enough to sustain but if their weight isn’t going up, as you would expect for teenagers, then it would suggest that they may not be eating enough hay. Do correct me if I have misunderstood their age.

The advice for a tummy upset is to stop all veggies, and only reintroducing veg 24 hours after all poops return to normal. This, I think, is what I would do in your situation - Stop giving all veggies (ensuring that you are only giving the recommended limit of one tablespoon of pellets per piggy) and see if things return to normal on a hay only diet (with a few pellets). If they do, then you can start to reintroduce a small amount of veggies very gradually. Herbs are often the best thing to start reintroducing first. Do be aware though that poop output is 1-2 days behind food intake, so you need to give it a couple of days with no veg before you are likely to see any improvement.

Some medications can sometimes suppress appetite.

I do feel though that as this has been going on for so long, if Moira is having periods of not pooping at all, then there would be clear signs that she, in particular, is unwell.

I am going to tag in the other health experts @Siikibam @PigglePuggle @furryfriends_(TEAS)
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I am unfortunately not 100% sure if they are teenagers. My belief is more so based on the recent uptick I’ve seen in normal dominance behavior such as rumble-struting and scent-marking (but this may also be caused by the fact that I recently put them into a new, larger cage and they are having to re-establish the group hierarchy) and the fact they do not yet measure, from nose to bottom, the size typical of full grown adults.

I feed them one tablespoon of pellets each per day at 7:30am, and due to my schedule, their veggies (one rotating slice of red, orange, yellow sweet pepper; one chunk of cucumber; 1-2 leaves of green leaf lettuce; 1-2 sprigs of cilantro; a small chunk of celery; and one full green bean) are fed once daily at 3:30pm. In the future, would you suggest I split that up into multiple servings? And how would you suggest I break the veggies up if so? I’ve seen several posts on here saying they feed some of the above veggies for breakfast AND dinner, say, rather than only once per day, but I wasn’t entirely sure on which are okay to feed multiple times if that’s really the case.
 
PigglePuggle said:
I think really you need to trust the advice of your vet, and if you aren't happy with the advice of the vet then seek a second opinion!

Antibiotics can disrupt the gut bacteria for quite a while after the treatment finishes, a couple of weeks rather than a couple of days, but if you are giving a probiotic this should help sort that out.

Ideally the probiotic should be given for longer than the antibiotic, until the poops return to normal. Piggies with a gut bacteria imbalance are sometimes more prone to chewing, and providing some plain brown cardboard to chew can help, this is safe to eat and will provide extra fibre to help restore normal poops and gut function.

Keeping veggies limited to a bit of pepper and a few herbs like cilantro can also help, cutting out lettuce etc. This may also encourage more hay eating if they arent filling up on watery veg so much.

Best of luck with your piggies, but I think if their weight is stable you may be worrying unnecessarily, especially if the vet has no major concerns x
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I recently ordered three syringes of Bene-Bac Plus Microbial Gel (15g) to have on hand, since the one the vet prescribed has since run out and was only good for 10 days. Since I will be taking them on such a long road trip where they will be subjected to a new cage and new environment for a week, the vet suggested I administer Bene-Bac a few days before we leave, while we are there, and a few days after we return, due to its aim of helping animals who have been subjected to adverse and stressful conditions such as traveling. Since you had mentioned that the probiotic should have ideally been given longer than the Bactrim antibiotic, do you think I should maybe resume the Bene-Bac today? I will be leaving for the holidays on the 21 or 22 (undecided) and will be returning the 30.

I currently feed my girls one rotating slice of red, yellow, and orange sweet pepper; one chunk of cucumber; 1-2 leaves of green leaf lettuce; 1-2 sprigs of cilantro; one small chunk of celery; and one full green bean per the sample diet guide by Wiebke. If I were to start a gradual reduction as you suggest, mainly in cutting out watery veggies, are there any other veggies you suggest I would keep as part of their daily diet in addition to pepper and cilantro (meaning the cucumber, celery, and green bean)? I haven’t feed them cucumber in two days as I have not had a chance to run to the store.
 
ashleemelda said:
I am unfortunately not 100% sure if they are teenagers. My belief is more so based on the recent uptick I’ve seen in normal dominance behavior such as rumble-struting and scent-marking (but this may also be caused by the fact that I recently put them into a new, larger cage and they are having to re-establish the group hierarchy) and the fact they do not yet measure, from nose to bottom, the size typical of full grown adults.

I feed them one tablespoon of pellets each per day at 7:30am, and due to my schedule, their veggies (one rotating slice of red, orange, yellow sweet pepper; one chunk of cucumber; 1-2 leaves of green leaf lettuce; 1-2 sprigs of cilantro; a small chunk of celery; and one full green bean) are fed once daily at 3:30pm. In the future, would you suggest I split that up into multiple servings? And how would you suggest I break the veggies up if so? I’ve seen several posts on here saying they feed some of the above veggies for breakfast AND dinner, say, rather than only once per day, but I wasn’t entirely sure on which are okay to feed multiple times if that’s really the case.
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AD4DDA9A-E638-4A34-9A33-5034CAE5D9AA.webp
For Reference:
This is an example of one of the posts where I discovered that some people feed some of the veggies twice daily, in this case pepper, celery, cucumber, and green bean.
 
ashleemelda said:
I am unfortunately not 100% sure if they are teenagers. My belief is more so based on the recent uptick I’ve seen in normal dominance behavior such as rumble-struting and scent-marking (but this may also be caused by the fact that I recently put them into a new, larger cage and they are having to re-establish the group hierarchy) and the fact they do not yet measure, from nose to bottom, the size typical of full grown adults.

I feed them one tablespoon of pellets each per day at 7:30am, and due to my schedule, their veggies (one rotating slice of red, orange, yellow sweet pepper; one chunk of cucumber; 1-2 leaves of green leaf lettuce; 1-2 sprigs of cilantro; a small chunk of celery; and one full green bean) are fed once daily at 3:30pm. In the future, would you suggest I split that up into multiple servings? And how would you suggest I break the veggies up if so? I’ve seen several posts on here saying they feed some of the above veggies for breakfast AND dinner, say, rather than only once per day, but I wasn’t entirely sure on which are okay to feed multiple times if that’s really the case.
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How often you feed veggies is entirely up to you - multiple times or once a day comes down to personal preference. You just need to make sure that if you give veggies twice per day, that you make up the entire day’s portion and then divide it into two – this is to ensure you don’t inadvertently give too much veg.

Mine get their veg once per day in the evening, as It’s easier for me to prep their dinner veg at the same time as I do our dinner veg. It also means I don’t inadvertently give too much veg per sitting as they are getting it all in one go.
 
ashleemelda said:
, are there any other veggies you suggest I would keep as part of their daily diet in addition to pepper and cilantro (meaning the cucumber, celery, and green bean)? I haven’t feed them cucumber in two days as I have not had a chance to run to the store.
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Please don’t overthink this.

If you are going to do a gradual reduction, then take out everything except the pepper and the cilantro. These items are both vit c rich and herbs are most well tolerated after a tummy upset.
If you want to do a total stop of veggies, then do so, but when you start feeding veg again, then start with herbs.

It’s more important that they eat hay than anything else. They get vit c from hay as well so stopping all veg for a few days will not hurt them and may help to settle their tummies.

I do agree with pigglepuggle though - trust your vet. As no positive diagnosis of a particular problem has been found, then try not to worry too much and instead ensure they get plenty of hay and see how things go.
 
@Piggies&buns Thank you for all your assistance and advice! One final question - PigglePuggle mentioned that plain brown cardboard is safe for guinea pigs to chew. Can this also be said for toilet paper rolls? I have plenty of those lying around the house!
 
Yes please dont overthink things, following the recommended diet plate is brilliant but in the case of unusual poops and a minor tummy upset you could easily remove the celery, lettuce, and green bean for a while without any loss of nutrients and just feed peppers and cilantro for essential vit C for a couple of weeks. Toilet roll middles or plain brown cardboard boxes (my piggies like Amazon delivery boxes with doors cut in and any packing tape removed from areas they might chew) stuffed with hay are safe and edible and might help rebalance the gut and restore a good poop output by adding extra healthy plant fibre to the diet x
 
PigglePuggle said:
Yes please dont overthink things, following the recommended diet plate is brilliant but in the case of unusual poops and a minor tummy upset you could easily remove the celery, lettuce, and green bean for a while without any loss of nutrients and just feed peppers and cilantro for essential vit C for a couple of weeks. Toilet roll middles or plain brown cardboard boxes (my piggies like Amazon delivery boxes with doors cut in and any packing tape removed from areas they might chew) stuffed with hay are safe and edible and might help rebalance the gut and restore a good poop output by adding extra healthy plant fibre to the diet x
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Glad to hear about the Amazon packages! As it is the holidays we have a ton of those lying around.
I believe I will try cutting out everything but pepper and cilantro from their veggie diet starting with their feeding this afternoon, and just stick to that and unlimited hay and their one tablespoon of pellets for awhile if things appear to normalize.
Thank you for your advice and continued support, and for providing a non-judgmental space for me to air these thoughts and any concerns I have had along this journey. With going out of town for the holidays and bringing them with, the traveling aspect of which is always somewhat hard for my Rose, I just wanted some additional reassurance and guidance, which you all have provided in full and then some. Thank you again!
 
@Piggies&buns @PigglePuggle I am going to the vet tomorrow for the girls’ final check-up before our trip for the holidays, but wanted to mention something that I have thought on since originally posting this, and get your all’s thoughts and see if it’s something I need to mention to the vet as a potential possibility behind their lack of poops. I'm not sure if it’s the sole reason but could very well be a contributing factor based on what I’ve read.

Today was day two of feeding only sweet peppers and cilantro, and there’s been very little change if
any in their poop outtake. Moira’s have in fact gotten more tear-shaped and remain small. I know it takes 1-2 days for food intake and poop outtake to line up, though.

I have noticed that they are staying on the second level where they hay is a lot longer than since this started. They have obviously been eating enough to sustain and hold their weight, but now I see, not enough to gain or to equal that 80%+ of their daily diet. How can I go about continuing to encourage that behavior when they are back to their staple diet? They used to spend what felt like hours up there after I would refill the hay and I’d like them to get back to that.

My question, though, is pertaining to pellets. They’ve never been the biggest fan, and only (and even still now that I’m in the process of transitioning them to Oxbow Essentials) prefer the bad-for-them bits of corn and artificially colored nuggets in the Wild Harvest brand you can buy at Walmart. Because they seem to only eat those pieces and avoid the plain green pellets in Essentials, I’ve been feeding them a tablespoon twice per day, in the morning and at night. I thought this was a way to increase the chances of getting them close to consuming that one recommended tablespoon since they leave so much behind, but now wonder if that could actually be part of the reason they’ve been pooping less and with a clear gut/stomach upset. It could maybe even be the cause for the sudden calcium deposits.
 
Is the Walmart one a muesli? If so they’re likely selective eating. Mueslis aren’t recommended for that very reason. Keep trying and hopefully they will eat the pellets. But only a tablespoon per piggy per day. My girls first refused to eat the harringtons (they were on burgess with mint when I brought them home). Eventually they started eating them. Pellets aren’t exactly a large part of the diet though.

As for hay could you put some on the lower level so there’s always some somewhere? If they don’t seem to be enjoying the one you buy you could maybe try another type.
 
My earlier statement about “I feed them one tablespoon of pellets each per day at 7:30am” is what I was doing prior to the transition between foods, I should have clarified that and I apologize.
I am currently on Week 4/4 of the recommended transition period as described on the back of the Oxbow packaging, and that is when the two tablespoons per day began due to the amount of new food (the Oxbow Essentials) being left behind.
 
I would I don’t up the amount. Stick to one tablespoon each and just persevere.

Also, if the poop is still misshapen I would take them completely off all veggies (including coriander and pepper) until at least 24 hours after they’re back to normal. If it persists (misshapen again or runny etc) then you should take them to the vet.
 
Siikibam said:
Is the Walmart one a muesli? If so they’re likely selective eating. Mueslis aren’t recommended for that very reason. Keep trying and hopefully they will eat the pellets. But only a tablespoon per piggy per day. My girls first refused to eat the harringtons (they were on burgess with mint when I brought them home). Eventually they started eating them. Pellets aren’t exactly a large part of the diet though.

As for hay could you put some on the lower level so there’s always some somewhere? If they don’t seem to be enjoying the one you buy you could maybe try another type.
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I unfortunately do not have the original packaging for the Wild Harvest food, as it is kept in an air-right container, but a quick search confirms that yes, it is a muesli. I also came across a forum on Guinea Pig Cages detailing how it’s a brand to avoid at all casts due to the seeds, grains, etc. I feel horrible. I’ve been between jobs since shortly after I got them back in June until just a few weeks ago, and couldn’t afford the highest quality hay, pellets, or diverse vegetable diet.

When the lack of poops began, I was giving them Kaytee brand Timothy Hay, but became increasingly unnerved by the coarseness of the hay especially after it started giving ME splinters. I have since switched to Oxbow’s Timothy Hay and Orchard Grass Blend which they seem to really enjoy. Rose even sleeps in it sometimes.

They are currently on day 6 off a 10-day dosage of Bactrim. I know PigglePuggle earlier mentioned that antibiotics can sometime take weeks to fully get out of their system. I have resumed giving them Bene-Bac Plus Microbial Gel as a probiotic, as PigglePuggle said ideally that probiotics are given longer than antibiotics.
 
@Siikibam As I mentioned, I have been feeding them Wild Harvest's Advanced Nutrition pellet food since getting them back in June until the middle of November when I started the transition to Oxbow Essentials. Since finding out how bad they are, I did some reflecting on, and quick research into, what else they have in the cage. Since most of my shopping for them has been done at Walmart due to being in-between jobs, the wood made available to them included: Wild Harvest Stuffed Log (made with alfalfa, seeds, and golden honey), Wild Harvest Edible Log (made with alfalfa and golden honey), and several other products, which, in looking back, used many artificial colors like greens and yellows.

I have since taken everything of the sort out of their cage and replaced it with cut-up cardboard and toilet paper rolls which they immediately took to. Do you think this could potentially be the cause of their gut/digestive upset, and resulting lack of poops, and it was building up over time since June? It was always baffling to me that this affected both of them at the same time and in the same way, when nothing about their diet had changed prior to this all starting. I wonder if that also could have been a contributing factor in them not eating as much hay, as the logs were ready for them as soon as they came down the ramp.

I feel absolutely horrible about all this, and want to thank you and everyone who has commented for providing and contributing to a space where I can always learn and improve myself as a guinea pig owner. Thank you.

I plan to bring this all up to my vet tomorrow (we are having a final check-up before going out of town for the holidays), and will report back on her thoughts. Thank you for providing yours in the meantime.
 
Whether those items have actually caused it, we can’t say. But as you now know, the ingredients of the logs and any muesli type food is not good for them - the ingredients aren’t good and the fact that it causes selective feeding isn’t good.
All we can say now to ensure that you give them - one tablespoon of plain pellets per pig per day, and ensure that hay is available in several locations throughout their cage as it needs to be the thing they eat most of every day. If they don’t eat all the pellets, then it really doesn’t matter. It is such a small supplementary part of the diet, what they need is hay!
Let us know how you get on at the vet.
 
Hi all. I just returned from the vet. There's still no clear indication as to what's causing their lack of poops, and, unfortunately, I do not have time to get them in for an x-ray or full dental examination (their upper and bottom front teeth are still in very good shape, she said) due to traveling with them for the holidays on Saturday (she approved them for travel). She checked their vitals, listened to their heart and gut, etc. and said they appear to be in good condition and are not too skinny for their body types, although with my current diet she is somewhat surprised they are not heavier. Moira weighed in at 800g, down from 838g during our original vet visit, whereas Rose weighed in at 826g, down from 830g during our original vet visit. She has me keeping a closer eye on Moira due to a 5% loss of her overall body weight in two weeks.

She included some notes alongside my invoice with what she suggests going forward, which I will include below with sections bolded where I believe I still need some additional advice.
  1. "Provide lots of places for Moira to hide, eat, or have "alone time" either in the same enclosure as Rose or in an adjoining enclosure where they can still see each other." This suggestion is in reference to some normal dominance behavior such as rumble-strutting that Rose started to show shortly before this all begin, and that she has continued to show, which could explain Rose's occasional (but not complete) lack of interest in their hay. There are obvious times when she only wants to eat it when Rose is not around.
  2. "Consider using distilled water to reduce the possible mineral intake from water sources." Is this preferable to filtered water, or vice versa?
  3. "Use Bene-Bac Plus Microbial Gel Probiotic daily before, during, and after your trip and provide an additional 1/2-1 orange slice per guinea pig as they may need more Vitamin C during this time." I have read that orange slices, and most fruits in general, are only safe to give around once a week due to their high acid content and potential to cause mouth and lip sores.
  4. "You may want to provide a bit more variety in the leafy greens, vegetables, and fruit that you offer. Try to offer at least 2-4 different types of greens each week, and at least 4-6 different veggies. Rotating these foods will help provide a variety of micronutrients. Recommended greens include cilantro, beet greens, carrot tops, dandelion leaf, parsley, basil. Kale and spinach can be given 2-3 times per week. Total greens should be around a cup a day per pig." But I've read that total greens AND vegetables overall per day should be around one cup, not just the greens.
  5. "Good vegetables include brussel sprouts, broccoli (the whole plant, cut up the stem), turnips, peas (in the pod), green beans, zucchini, radish, parsnips. Celery and cucumber are good but may not be as calorie dense as some other choices."
  6. "Good fruits to offer to boost calories and provide some additional Vitamin C include strawberries, pineapple, raspberry, blueberry, and oranges. I'm a big fan of giving every guinea pig 1/2-1 orange slice every day." Again, I have repeatedly read that once a week at most is preferable due to high acid content and the potential to cause lip and mouth sores. If I decide to incorporate some fruits into their diet, what are the safest and your alls preferred and most favorite to give your guinea pigs?
My biggest thing would be to get an idea of what vegetables would be good/safe to rotate into my existing diet of sweet pepper, cucumber, green leaf lettuce, green bean, cilantro, and celery. How often can each of these be fed? What is the daily breakdown of your alls vegetable schedule?

She noted that the hay I'm using (Oxbow Timothy Hay/Orchard Grass Blend) and the pellets I have chosen to switch them to (Oxbow Essentials) are both high in quality and good choices for the long-term. Additionally, because they are going to be in the car for 10+ hours on Saturday, she suggesting slowly reintroducing the green leaf lettuce, celery, and green bean into their diet alongside the pepper and cilantro I've kept, that way they have some options for moisture while they do not have access to their water bottle. She told me to still keep out the cucumber though.

Any and all advice you can provide is greatly appreciated. Thank you.
 
I would not give kale and spinach in the same week, and preferably not more than once a week either. They’re both very high in calcium. You’re also right on the point that too much citrus fruits can cause sores. I would stick to the occasional treat. And yes only one cup of veg per day overall. You can add in other veg

I feed the same thing day in day out. A green bean, slice of celery, pepper, cucumber and then either coriander or lettuce. If I give them lettuce in the morning then they’ll get coriander with their dinner.

What does their heft feel like? And how often are you now weighing them?
 
Siikibam said:
I would not give kale and spinach in the same week, and preferably not more than once a week either. They’re both very high in calcium. You’re also right on the point that too much citrus fruits can cause sores. I would stick to the occasional treat. And yes only one cup of veg per day overall. You can add in other veg

I feed the same thing day in day out. A green bean, slice of celery, pepper, cucumber and then either coriander or lettuce. If I give them lettuce in the morning then they’ll get coriander with their dinner.

What does their heft feel like? And how often are you now weighing them?
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Do your piggies get green bean, celery, pepper, and cucumber twice daily and then lettuce and cilantro/coriander once daily?
I recently began incorporating green bean and celery into my girls’ diet per @Wiebke ’s sample plate, and have since been curious about how that could or should get broken down into multiple servings so they’re not going hours and hours and hours between being fed their veggies and their pellets, as I currently feed their pellets at 7:30am and all their veggies at once at 3:30pm due to my current schedule. Is it possible I’m not feeding them enough?

I am hesitant to make too drastic of a change right now due to traveling with them, which for my Rose is already pretty stressful. Not to mention that since the lack of poops, I have switched their hay and added to their veggie diet. I was on week 2/4 in transitioning their pellets when I began noticing the lack of poops. Could all that change so soon, along with coming down from the Bactrim antibiotic (they’ve been off it for a full week now), perhaps be adding to why I have not seen any improvement to their poop frequency? The vet seemed skeptical at least on the antibiotic front, but @PigglePuggle said in an earlier post in this thread that antibiotics can disrupt the gut bacteria for up to a couple weeks.

The vet didn’t say much about their heft although I watched her feel along their ribs, just mainly saying that while they are both on the petite side, they’re not too skinny for their build. As I mentioned prior, she was surprised that with my diet they weren’t putting on more weight, though, which I wish I had a better idea of how to tackle going forward. My mother has said she can feel where their ribs are, but not each individual one, whereas I believe I *can* feel each individual one. But I’ve also been so overly paranoid and crying all the time and not sleeping over this, that the rib issue and others may be my mind playing tricks on me and looking for the worse.

I have been weighing them every day before they get their veggies since our first vet visit on Dec 2. This was suggested by my vet. My scale appears to be about 10g off from the one they are using, as it has been showing them about 10g heavier on my end. Since this all began they have been fairly consistent, only fluctuating the ~30g indicative of a full vs. empty bladder or full vs. empty stomach.

One thing I neglected to mention in my update post that I thought of while writing this. The vet had said that Moira’s cheek pockets felt “empty” - telling me usually they have some bits and remnants of food left in their cheeks because they are typically always, should be eating, hay. She didn’t seem too concerned though, and said it could merely be because they were in the carrier for so long this afternoon.
 
I forgot to mention something else. My sincerest apologies.
My vet recommended supplementing their diet with Oxbow's Natural Science Digestive Support tablets, as well as looking into their Vitamin C and Multi-Vitamin options. I noticed that for guinea pigs weighing between 1-4 pounds, the suggested amount is one tablet per day. If I were to order/buy these, would giving them one of each per day (totaling three tablets) be too much?
 
You are overthinking the feeding. Hay is the most important part of their diet. It doesn’t matter how many hours they go between pellets and veggies. Pellets and veggies are purely supplementary, they should be kept strictly limited and only make up the tiniest part of their diet. As long as they have 24/7 access to hay, then how you feed pellets and veggies is irrelevant.

They should have a total of one tablespoon of pellets per pig per day. They should have one cup (total) of veg per day. If you choose to split food items in half and give twice a day - so half a tablespoon of pellets and half a cup of of veg in the morning and then half a tablespoon of pellets and half a cup of veg in the evening - is entirely up to you.

Parsley, kale and spinach should not be given three times a week - and I wouldn’t even give all three food items in the same one week. I would pick one of those foods and give one portion once a week. All three of those foods are high in calcium.
Sprouts and broccoli are fine to feed but limited as they can cause gas.
Fruits should only be considered treats and fed no more than once a week.

My pigs get hay and a tablespoon of pellets in the morning. I then top up their hay 2-3 times throughout the day. They then get their veg and hay at 4pm. With hay topped up again at 8pm. I feed my boys daily - pepper slices, coriander sprigs, cucumber slices, a lettuce leaf and a strip of spring greens. Sometimes that is all I give them, other times I will add in something else if I’ve got it in the fridge. My pigs hardly ever get fruit. They may get a slice of apple occasionally if I’m eating one, or a blueberry if I’ve got them, but I can honestly say in the 18 months I’ve had my two boys, they’ve probably only had fruit about five times. I certainly wouldn’t feed pineapple.

To get their vit c needs, then they require hay/grass (it contains vit c and is the reason piggies don’t need to make their own as a high grass/hay diet provides good levels of it), but giving other vit c rich veggies also supplements that. Safe daily Vit c rich veggies include peppers and coriander. Broccoli does contain it, but again, I wouldn’t overfeed that due to the gas element.

This link below shows safe veggies which can be rotated in and out of the diet for variety.

Edible And Forbidden Veg And Fruit List With Vitamin C Grading

dominance in the relationship - one piggy over exerting dominance can cause another piggy to become subdued. If rose is only becoming more rumbly and dominant when in season, then I wouldn’t be too worried as long as it goes back to normal levels in between each season. If rose is preventing Moira from eating on a regular basis, then I’d look more into that.
 
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