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Soft Poops

emiso

emiso

Junior Guinea Pig
Joined
Dec 8, 2024
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Location
Texas
Hi! I posted a few days ago about my guinea pig having soft stools, they went away the next day however they came back 2 days ago. I think the vegetables were too quick for him even though I gave them 24+ hours after and barely any at all. I weighed him just now and he is 692g, the past few days he has been 720ish. (he is trying to gain weight)

I think I am going to call the vet tomorrow to have him come in if his poops are not back to normal, he is a little bit quieter but he is eating and drinking normal. Just wondering if there is anything else I should do or keep an eye on until tomorrow, thank you!
 
Remove veg again, give a probiotic (or use live microbiome transfer if you have another healthy piggy) and do call the vet.
For a mild tummy upset a few days off of veg (and then once poop normalise further 24 hours without veg , then a very slow reintroduction of veg (we recommend literally 1-2 sprigs of a herb only when reintroducing as herbs are milder in the gut) is usually enough.
As poops did normalise then it is either that reintroduction of veg was too much or the issue isn’t yet dealt with.

Make sure you are weighing him at the same time each day, and do keep in mind that 30-50g of swing is just normal fluctuation.
 
Piggies&buns said:
Remove veg again, give a probiotic (or use live microbiome transfer if you have another healthy piggy) and do call the vet.
For a mild tummy upset a few days off of veg (and then once poop normalise further 24 hours without veg , then a very slow reintroduction of veg (we recommend literally 1-2 sprigs of a herb only when reintroducing as herbs are milder in the gut) is usually enough.
As poops did normalise then it is either that reintroduction of veg was too much or the issue isn’t yet dealt with.

Make sure you are weighing him at the same time each day, and do keep in mind that 30-50g of swing is just normal fluctuation.
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Thank you! I think I did weigh him maybe 3ish hours earlier than I usually do so I’m weighing him again later just to check.

I had no idea about the herbs I’ll have to go buy some once he gets over this, what herbs do I use?

I’m going to call the vet tomorrow if his poops aren’t normal and they usually can get him in the day of, if not I’ll go to a different vet so he can go in immediately. Thank you for the help!
 
Update: his poops are softer than before and are borderline diarrhea so we called and they said that they can either bring him in Wednesday or we can just leave him there until they can fit him in for a very quick appointment at some point in the day in between her appointments, which is what we are going to do so he gets in sooner.

I think I am going to go get him a bigger carrier, probably a cat carrier, so that he will have more space tomorrow. I am feeling really stressed about this just because I don’t like the idea of leaving him up there alone right now but I just want to be able to get him in as soon as possible. Please keep him in your wishes
 
Another update I moved him into my bedroom to monitor him all night, he isn’t eating as much as before but still is and I’m giving him critical care. His poops are finally shaped again so I’m hoping its a good sign, still bringing him in tomorrow though
 
I hope he is ok

The herb they can have daily is cilantro.
Other herbs are also fine but aren’t daily herbs due to calcium etc - things such as parsley, dill, mint are all fine.
Only give 1-2 sprigs though particularly if they don’t usually have them. A new food can also set off a digestive upset so be careful and don’t give even while he is already having issues
 
Piggies&buns said:
I hope he is ok

The herb they can have daily is cilantro.
Other herbs are also fine but aren’t daily herbs due to calcium etc - things such as parsley, dill, mint are all fine.
Only give 1-2 sprigs though particularly if they don’t usually have them. A new food can also set off a digestive upset so be careful and don’t give even while he is already having issues
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Is it okay to give him cilantro even as he is going through this? He has had it before just not daily and not since before his bloat.

He is currently at the vets right now, we had to drop him off there and we are just waiting for them to call us back up now fingers crossed it doesn’t take long 😢
 
emiso said:
Is it okay to give him cilantro even as he is going through this? He has had it before just not daily and not since before his bloat.

He is currently at the vets right now, we had to drop him off there and we are just waiting for them to call us back up now fingers crossed it doesn’t take long 😢
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No not while he is having issues. All veg needs to be removed for now - give one sprig once his issues have passed
 
Piggies&buns said:
I hope he is ok
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Hello! We just got back from picking him up from the vet, his poops are still soft and not formed much at all. He is still eating and comfortable but has a slight bloat so we are massaging him, his personality is completely back to normal though.

She prescribed us cisapride which we have to wait to come in hopefully this weekend but we have a freeze coming in so we aren’t sure. Today she gave us an antibiotic. Does this sound like good help to him? I thought he was supposed to be on probiotic to help his gut but I’m not the vet.
 
An antibiotic will help if he has infection but be prepared that antibiotic can affect their gut and appetite - make sure you are weighing daily and stepping in with syringe feeding if needed.
A pig on an antibiotic requires a probiotic - you will have to buy it yourself
 
Piggies&buns said:
An antibiotic will help if he has infection but be prepared that antibiotic can affect their gut and appetite - make sure you are weighing daily and stepping in with syringe feeding if needed.
A pig on an antibiotic requires a probiotic - you will have to buy it yourself
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Okay, we have him on the powdered benebac right now but I am going to go get the syringe benebac again and put him back on that.

I don’t think he has an infection, I think he is just struggling to lose his bloat and is having gut issues overall. They gave us the same antibiotic that they gave us while he was going through his abcess removal. Do you think this antibiotic is a good idea for him ? I don’t want to mess up his gut even more than before.
 
You will need to ask your vet about their reasoning for him being on an antibiotic.

I’ve added our bloat guide below

Wiebke

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

1 Not eating (anorexia) and the importance of syringe feeding fibre
2 Soft poos and runny diarrhea
3 Acute bloat (severe dysbiosis) - blockage - twisted gut - persistent milder bloating
4 GI stasis (no gut movement)


Severe runny diarrhea, bloat, blockage or a twisted gut, GI stasis and excessive salivating in guinea pigs that are not eating are absolute life and death emergencies that need to be seen ASAP by an out-of-hours vet at any time of the day or night or that should be seen by a vet as soon as you can get an appointment outside the UK...
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Piggies&buns said:
You will need to ask your vet about their reasoning for him being on an antibiotic.

I’ve added our bloat guide below

Wiebke

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

1 Not eating (anorexia) and the importance of syringe feeding fibre
2 Soft poos and runny diarrhea
3 Acute bloat (severe dysbiosis) - blockage - twisted gut - persistent milder bloating
4 GI stasis (no gut movement)


Severe runny diarrhea, bloat, blockage or a twisted gut, GI stasis and excessive salivating in guinea pigs that are not eating are absolute life and death emergencies that need to be seen ASAP by an out-of-hours vet at any time of the day or night or that should be seen by a vet as soon as you can get an appointment outside the UK...
  • Like
Click to expand...
Thank you I’ll call soon and I’ll let you know!

I forgot to ask but do you think the cisapride is appropriate here? I don’t know much about it but
from what I’ve read it seems to be more for when the gut has stopped, but again I don’t know.

Also his poops have started to have shape again, they are still squished together but its clear they had shape then got squished together.
 
Cisapride is the right thing - it and emeprid are used to stimulate the gut and move gas

I’m glad his poops are improving
 
Piggies&buns said:
Cisapride is the right thing - it and emeprid are used to stimulate the gut and move gas

I’m glad his poops are improving
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I’ll make sure to read that bloat guide so thank you, but I have a question about the bloat, how do I fully get rid of it? I feel like even though all my piggies have “gotten over it” theres always a very very slight bloat to their stomach, and even when there isn’t that the poops just look smaller still. I give them probiotic should I just keep doing that? Even when I stop the veggies fully it seems to still be there just a bit.
 
Piggies&buns said:
Cisapride is the right thing - it and emeprid are used to stimulate the gut and move gas

I’m glad his poops are improving
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I called the vet she said she gave us an antibiotic in order to kill the bacteria which is causing the bloat and that she will call back tomorrow to recommend a probiotic for him since she is too busy today, it was actually the vet assistant telling us all of this. I already ordered benebac though, which will be here tomorrow. I’m pretty sure thats what she will recommend anyway because she recommended it to us a while back too.
 
fluffysal said:
You can make poo soup from a healthy companion until the benebac arrives.
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Thank you! I haven’t done that yet but I do have him on the powdered benebac right now 😊 Also iffy about giving him the other piggies poops because they also got out of bloat recently.
 
His poops got better and were more shaped earlier now I don’t think he has pooped for maybe 4ish over hours? He has been acting perfectly fine, his stomach is soft not tough, he is eating a lot and actively as well as drinking water. I don’t get it. I’m massaging him again right now on a heating pad to try and get some out of him but I don’t know what to do.

The cesapride that the vet prescribed takes 4-5 BUSINESS days to come in so it won’t come in until next week! What do I use until then?
 
emiso said:
His poops got better and were more shaped earlier now I don’t think he has pooped for maybe 4ish over hours? He has been acting perfectly fine, his stomach is soft not tough, he is eating a lot and actively as well as drinking water. I don’t get it. I’m massaging him again right now on a heating pad to try and get some out of him but I don’t know what to do.

The cesapride that the vet prescribed takes 4-5 BUSINESS days to come in so it won’t come in until next week! What do I use until then?
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Just finished massaging him, he got all laid out on his side and comfortable during it so I’m assuming he isn’t in pain. because he also wasn’t whining as if he was passing gas. I THINK that he pooped because towards the end it got stinky for a second and he bent back like how they do when they eat their poops and then chewed on something, he did this a few times.

Back in his cage eating hay and drinking water now, my mom will check on him later tonight and I will again in the morning.

Also, I am just hoping this is happening now because piggies poops are 1-2 days behind. He was eating less Monday so I’m assuming this is happening now because of that. Please let me know!
 
Piggies&buns said:
Is his weight still stable?
Don’t forget to step on with syringe feeding if needed
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He has been going from 690g-720gish, so its not fluctuating much. How can I help him gain weight while he is having stomach issues without making it worse? Can he have some pea flakes right now?

He is still eating a lot and drinking a lot so he doesn’t need syringe feeding forcefully but I have been giving him critical care in a little dish which he eats throughout the day.
 
You need to wait until he is over whatever is making him feel unwell before you worry about gaining weight. He is stable and that is the important part at present.

I wouldn’t give peaflakes while he is bloated. Stick to hay, pellets and water
 
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