• Discussions taking place within this forum are intended for the purpose of assisting you in discussing options with your vet. Any other use of advice given here is done so at your risk, is solely your responsibility and not that of this forum or its owner. Before posting it is your responsibility you abide by this Statement

SMELLY SOFT POOPS

Angela99

Angela99

Junior Guinea Pig
Joined
Mar 22, 2018
Messages
249
Reaction score
236
Points
330
Location
Vancouver BC CANADA
Hi... my Truffle demands foods all the time bc I live in a Bachelor suite and covid I've been home more. He has soft poops that stink so I want to stop giving him fresh food but his brother Buttercup is fine. How do I do this bc he will start wheeking or tear the cage apart... chewing boxes in anxious way... it upsets me so I give him a little veg... a lot less but his poops are still soft. Will he calm down? He tries to chew the bars of the cages so I bordered it with cardboard and then fleece but he still goes mad to get his food. He just saw Vet and they said he is really healthy for his age. He is 4. Any suggestions?

Thank you!
 

Attachments

  • 20200817_164505.webp
    20200817_164505.webp
    56.2 KB · Views: 8
If he has soft poos then the recommendation is usually to stop all veg and fruit until poos return to normal and then reintroduce veg and fruit slowly a little at a time. You said that he just saw the vet. Did he have soft poos at that time and if so did the vet give you any advice about that?
 
Hope4gem said:
If he has soft poos then the recommendation is usually to stop all veg and fruit until poos return to normal and then reintroduce veg and fruit slowly a little at a time. You said that he just saw the vet. Did he have soft poos at that time and if so did the vet give you any advice about that?
Click to expand...
Yes I told him bc poo was stuck in his paw and I couldn't get it off. He said that as well .. it got better then soft again. Should I give poop in syringe for probiotics? I'm hoping he won't go nuts til tomorrow for food ... I'm not sure how to deal with that as we live in one room
 
You need to stop all veg and fresh grass until his poo is normal for at least 24 hours. When you re-introduce it, give him herbs such as coriander. They’re more gentle on the stomach. You could give him poo soup as well. If it persists you will have to get him checked out again.

As for the begging, you just have to be firm. They will train you if you’re not careful. If he is bad biting etc then either top up the hay or fluff it up. If you get him used to having veg every time he does so, then that’s what he will expect. I hope he feels better soon.
 
:agr:
It may be hard, but you have to be firm. Remember, you're doing what needs to be done to take care of him.
 
Siikibam said:
You need to stop all veg and fresh grass until his poo is normal for at least 24 hours. When you re-introduce it, give him herbs such as coriander. They’re more gentle on the stomach. You could give him poo soup as well. If it persists you will have to get him checked out again.

As for the begging, you just have to be firm. They will train you if you’re not careful. If he is bad biting etc then either top up the hay or fluff it up. If you get him used to having veg every time he does so, then that’s what he will expect. I hope he feels better soon.
Click to expand...
Ok good point I understand... I've given in to him. I kept him off veggies for 16 hours then gave small piece of fennel. I gave him coriander, but I just noticed his poops are slowed down so I'm keeping an eye on that. I literally just noticed. ...so maybe I'll contact the vet.
 
Angela99 said:
Ok good point I understand... I've given in to him. I kept him off veggies for 16 hours then gave small piece of fennel. I gave him coriander, but I just noticed his poops are slowed down so I'm keeping an eye on that. I literally just noticed. ...so maybe I'll contact the vet.
Click to expand...

He needs to stay off veg for several days. It could take a few days for things to normalise, and then he needs to stay off for a further 24 hours after - 16 hours without veg is nowhere near enough. Giving veg on an unbalanced tummy will make things worse and won’t allow the gut bacteria to reestablish. You must stay strong and not give any veg for several days

Digestive Disorders: Diarrhea - Bloat - GI Stasis (No Gut Movement) And Not Eating

If you’re seeing less poops it’s something to keep an eye it. It can be caused by reduced hay intake. Continue to offer lots of hay and the normal one tablespoon of pellets. Switch to weighing him daily so you can more closely monitor hay intake. If his weight drops significantly due to that reduced hay intake, then you need to syringe feed him and see a vet. He can have a probiotic to help settle the tummy.

Not Eating, Weight Loss And The Importance Of Syringe Feeding Fibre
 
Piggies&buns said:
He needs to stay off veg for several days. It could take a few days for things to normalise, and then he needs to stay off for a further 24 hours after - 16 hours without veg is nowhere near enough. Giving veg on an unbalanced tummy will make things worse and won’t allow the gut bacteria to reestablish. You must stay strong and not give any veg for several days

Digestive Disorders: Diarrhea - Bloat - GI Stasis (No Gut Movement) And Not Eating

If you’re seeing less poops it’s something to keep an eye it. It can be caused by reduced hay intake. Continue to offer lots of hay and the normal one tablespoon of pellets. Switch to weighing him daily so you can more closely monitor hay intake. If his weight drops significantly due to that reduced hay intake, then you need to syringe feed him and see a vet. He can have a probiotic to help settle the tummy.

Not Eating, Weight Loss And The Importance Of Syringe Feeding Fibre
Click to expand...
Ok thanks... he is eating hay and pellets and drinking water. I'm still waiting for a poop... so a bit worried. I gave him some vitamin C on a bite of cucumber. His poops were getting better. I'll try 24 hours... what about his brother? Should I take him and feed him? I think that will upset their relationship bc I'm sure they talk.
 
Angela99 said:
Ok thanks... he is eating hay and pellets and drinking water. I'm still waiting for a poop... so a bit worried. I gave him some vitamin C on a bite of cucumber. His poops were getting better. I'll try 24 hours... what about his brother? Should I take him and feed him? I think that will upset their relationship bc I'm sure they talk.
Click to expand...

It needs to be longer than 24 hours - don’t give him veg again until his poops are normal and no longer soft, it may take days before he can have veg again. Adding veg in too soon can just undo any progress and make things worse again.
Please don’t give him vitamin c on a cucumber. The cucumber will make things worse. If he is eating hay and pellets then he is still getting some vitamin c Anyway as both hay and pellets contain it.

Is he is eating plenty of hay - enough to keep his weight stable? then he isn’t hungry so you must not give in to him asking for veg.

Are you now saying you haven’t seen poops in a while, then he may have reduced his hay intake. You cannot judge hay intake by eye, so you must be sure you are weighing him every day while he is unwell.
You switch from weekly weight checks to daily weight checks when you are having a health concern. It enables you to more closely monitor their hay intake. Hay being the most important part of their daily food intake.

You can either hand feed his brother some veg in the cage if you would like to, but you must be careful to ensure your poorly piggy doesn’t get anything, not a single bite. Or you can take his brother out for a few minutes to let him have his veg portion. Yes of course they do talk to each other, but a few moments for the Brother to eat will be fine.
 
Piggies&buns said:
It needs to be longer than 24 hours - don’t give him veg again until his poops are normal, it may take days before he can have veg again.
Please don’t give him vitamin c on a cucumber. The cucumber will make things worse. If he is eating hay and pellets then he is still getting some vitamin c Anyway as both hay and pellets contain it.

Is he is eating plenty of hay - enough to keep his weight stable? then he isn’t hungry so you must not give in to him asking for veg.

If you haven’t seen poops in a while, then something may have gone wrong with hay intake. You cannot judge hay intake by eye, so you must be sure you are weighing him.
You switch from weekly weight checks to daily weight checks when you are having a health concern. It enables you to more closely monitor their hay intake. Hay being the most important part of their daily food intake.

You can either hand feed his brother some veg in the cage if you would like to, but you must be careful to ensure your poorly piggy doesn’t get anything, not a single bite. Or you can take his brother out for a few minutes to let him have his veg portion. Yes of course they do talk to each other, but a few moments for the Brother to eat will be fine.
Click to expand...
Ok my mistake. I've never weighed them... the vet said he is bit chubby so I reduce pellets. He is definitely eating his hay and ran around lots this morning with his brother.
I don't understand the daily weighing... he is a good weight. What does it tell me ... water loss?
 
Weighing them is the only way to monitor they are eating enough hay. You do this weekly as part of routine care but switch to daily when you have concerns about their health.

Hay is the most important part and makes up 80% of their food intake.
A healthy piggy who is eating enough hay will have a stable to gaining weight each week.
Reduction in weight points to reduced hay intake which in turn can indicate an illness which is why you weigh so regularly as it is an early warning sign of a problem and therefore enables you to step in much more quickly.
You can never know they are eating enough hay just by watching them. It is very deceptive to see them eat a few strands and think they are ok when in fact it’s nowhere near enough.

In a poorly piggy you then switch to weighing daily so you can more closely monitor that they are eating enough hay. Any significant drop in weight means they haven’t eaten enough . You then need to step in and syringe feed a fibre rich recovery feed to replace the hay they aren’t eating for themselves and see a vet. You continue to weigh daily while syringe feeding as it is the only way to know you are getting enough syringe feed into them in each 24 hour period

Veg is just a snack, never a meal for them and pellets are more like a treat. Therefore eating veg and pellets is not enough to say they are well. Weight will not be maintained with eating veg and pellets as jointly they should only make 20% of the daily food intake

Weight - Monitoring and Management
 
It’s great that you’ve seen him eat hay but if his poop has slowed down or stopped it means he hasn’t eaten enough. Follow the advice above with regards to weighing, then you will see if he’s losing weight every day. I hope his poops return to normal soon. It could take a couple of days. If there’s no improvement I’d get him seen by the vet again.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top