Swollen bottom

[Trazza]

My female guinea pig is 3 years old and past few weeks has had a swollen bottom and discharge, with on and off diarrhoea and now glossy poos. She’s been to the vets and they can’t find anything wrong with her. She seems happy enough in herself but stuck with what to do now as she’s not getting any worse. Anyone have any ideas?

 

[furryfriends (TEAS)]

My female guinea pig is 3 years old and past few weeks has had a swollen bottom and discharge, with on and off diarrhoea and now glossy poos. She’s been to the vets and they can’t find anything wrong with her. She seems happy enough in herself but stuck with what to do now as she’s not getting any worse. Anyone have any ideas?

Did they check for a urethral stone? That can make the vulva area swollen.

 

[Trazza]

Yes they did and all ok

 

[Wiebke]

Did they check the womb for signs of pyometra (infection of the womb lining) or for a potentially burst ovarian cyst?

 

[Merab]

Can’t add any advice but just want to offer support

 

[Trazza]

Hi all just wanted to update you on my piggies situation.
Vet initially started her on antibiotics and anti- imflammatories which gave her diarrhoea so we stopped the antibiotics, then a few days later she still had diarrhoea so we stopped The anti inflammatories also .
At this point I started giving her some probiotics and was cleaning her bottom every day. Once the diarrhoea stopped we went back to the antibiotics for 5 days, I continued with the probiotics alongside and now today is the first day her bottom is back to looking normal, swelling gone and the pungent smell has gone. We never got to the ‘bottom’ of what it was but I hope this post might help others in some way

 

[Wiebke]

Hi all just wanted to update you on my piggies situation.
Vet initially started her on antibiotics and anti- imflammatories which gave her diarrhoea so we stopped the antibiotics, then a few days later she still had diarrhoea so we stopped The anti inflammatories also .
At this point I started giving her some probiotics and was cleaning her bottom every day. Once the diarrhoea stopped we went back to the antibiotics for 5 days, I continued with the probiotics alongside and now today is the first day her bottom is back to looking normal, swelling gone and the pungent smell has gone. We never got to the ‘bottom’ of what it was but I hope this post might help others in some way

Hi!

I am very glad that your problem was thankfully mild enough that it didn't suffer from you withdrawing the antibiotic and painkiller.
Please only ever do that after consultation with your vet!

What you need to know is that antibiotics build up with every dosage you give over the whole course and their effect lasts much longer afterwards. Any time you stop, whether that is temporarily or early, you abort this build-up for full efficiency and you also help surviving bacteria developing resistance. You always need to see a full course of antibiotics through, unless your vet or human doctor prescribes another antibiotic or considers it appropriate for you to stop.
Analgesics (painkiller cum anti-inflammatory) do not cause tummy upsets; you should never withdraw them at any point.

Speak to your vet if your piggy loses their appetite or experiences soft poos from an antibiotic. Step in with syringe feeding support and support the gut with 'poo soup' (i.e. transfer of live guinea pig gut biome from a healthy companion) or probiotics instead.
Probiotics, Recovery Foods And Vitamin C: Overview With Product Links

In a more severe case the symptoms you have been reporting could have been very serious indeed, and your suspension of medication could have meant the end for your piggy.

 

[Merab]

Glad to hear your piggie is on the mend

 

[Trazza]

Hi!

I am very glad that your problem was thankfully mild enough that it didn't suffer from you withdrawing the antibiotic and painkiller.
Please only ever do that after consultation with your vet!

What you need to know is that antibiotics build up with every dosage you give over the whole course and their effect lasts much longer afterwards. Any time you stop, whether that is temporarily or early, you abort this build-up for full efficiency and you also help surviving bacteria developing resistance. You always need to see a full course of antibiotics through, unless your vet or human doctor prescribes another antibiotic or considers it appropriate for you to stop.
Analgesics (painkiller cum anti-inflammatory) do not cause tummy upsets; you should never withdraw them at any point.

Speak to your vet if your piggy loses their appetite or experiences soft poos from an antibiotic. Step in with syringe feeding support and support the gut with 'poo soup' (i.e. transfer of live guinea pig gut biome from a healthy companion) or probiotics instead.
Probiotics, Recovery Foods And Vitamin C: Overview With Product Links

In a more severe case the symptoms you have been reporting could have been very serious indeed, and your suspension of medication could have meant the end for your piggy.

Thanks, however everything was done under direction of the vet who advised to stop/start the antibiotic/anti inflammatory, when I said ‘we’ I meant as a collective with our vet, not just me. I was updating my thread in case anyone has a similar condition with their piggie

 

[Piggylove82]

Thanks, however everything was done under direction of the vet who advised to stop/start the antibiotic/anti inflammatory, when I said ‘we’ I meant as a collective with our vet, not just me. I was updating my thread in case anyone has a similar condition with their piggie

Well done. You did the right thing