Small, Skinny Guinea pig poop - any insight welcome!

[DPasksalot]

Morning all,
I've just gone to clear out the cage and give morning veg for our two Guinea pigs Cinnamon and Willow (both 2.5 years old) and found several strange poops in the cage. I've not seen anything like it before: (mixed in with some normal looking ones so i don't think its both of them)

I'm tempted to separate them for a very short while to see who the offender is and then follow up with medical care and a vet, can anyone advise what they think this might be? My guess would be dehydration, but this isn't really my wheelhouse

Thanks a bunch ahead of time!

 

[Piggies&buns]

Small, misshapen poops can point to reduced hay intake or gut disturbance also

Please switch from the routine weekly weight checks and instead weigh your piggies daily so you can more closely monitor hay intake. This may also help you identify which piggy it has come from if one of them has lost weight from their last weight check (if you weigh regularly). Please also step in with support feeding (if weight is being lost) and see a vet.

All About Syringe Feeding and Medicating Guinea Pigs with Videos and Pictures

 

[Free Ranger]

It might be as simple as looking at their (he/she?) bums because sometimes piggies who are pooping like this get one stuck! When a pig is feeling unwell they rely on their pal for support so if you can spot who dunnit without separation it will be better. It's always possible it's both pigs, but I reckon it'll just be one. Make the vet appt anyway - many of us take a poorly pig in with a companion for the journey so that's quite normal. You can tell the receptionist your situation when you phone in and they register the names. In the meantime try them with a wedge of cucumber - very good for hydration and even pigs with toothy problems can often manage the soft middle bit. You might see the poorly one is less efficient at eating if they are feeling under the weather... then the syringe feeing comes in to get you through to the appointment.

It's worth checking the water bottles to make sure that they have fresh water (probably filtered? Unless you live in a soft water area) and they haven't gone green or anything yucky growing in them in this warm weather that has put them off drinking. But it's likely that it's not just drinking water - it's eating less fibre, and as pigs munch all the time if one has either stopped eating completely (serious and urgent because of the risk of irreversible gut stasis setting in) or is eating less (serious but not urgent yet - see above) you need to get them to the vet as soon as poss. Pooping runs a day or two behind eating so intake will have dropped off within the last 48 hours at least. The vet will check all the usual suspects (UTI, URI, teeth, bloat etc) and listen for gut sounds. Might just be as simple as a course of antibiotics and some painkiller: yes, they get that too because they don't show their pain, they are prey animals after all.
Good luck, and let us know how you get on x

 

[Wiebke]

Please take your piggies off any fresh food for a couple of days and switch from weighing once weekly to weighing daily at the same time; that should take care of a potential milder tummy up in the first instance and net you the ill piggy in the second, in case the problem is caused by illness (most likely a pain issue) and a reduced hay/food intake or a combination of the two.

Step in with feeding support if needed and see a vet.

Weight - Monitoring and Management
Digestive Disorders: Not Eating - Diarrhea - Bloat - GI Stasis (No Gut Movement)

 

[DPasksalot]

Many thanks for the advice everyone, thought I would share the conclusion if anyone else has a similar situation.

Somehow forgetting that prey animals don't like to show pain/discomfort, we setup a camera and noticed our pig Willow was bearly eating ANYTHING compared to her sister, rarely drinking too. Lesson learned to monitor the weigh ins closely but Willow was responsible for the small dry poop.

Our vet was thankfully great and started troubleshooting by assuming the food process is either from pain or sickness. She started by checking her mouth and lo and behold at the back Willow has a large, sore Ulcer which is impacting her appetite due to the pain.

She's on antibiotics, painkillers and Critical Care syringe feed and already showing better signs and being more like herself turns out the poop was as you had all guessed, because she was having no pellets and little to no hay it threw her digestion way off.

Thank you all so much for the advice, so relieved the poor girl is on the road to recovery!

 

[Piggies&buns]

I assume the vet checked that a tooth wasn’t the cause of the ulcer? Dental spurs can cause sores to form and spurs need to be dealt with.
I’m glad you’ve found the cause and she is starting to feel better.

 

[DPasksalot]

The vet did yeah, she took Willow in to further sedate her and have a look at her back teeth and said they're in good condition which is comforting

Just hoping we can focus on her recovery now!

 

[Free Ranger]

Well what a relief that you found out which piggy and it was actually something the vet could identify straight off! Let's hope she improves with the treatment. Good luck Willow - we're all rooting for you!