Hi, two days ago I took my 5 year old male guinea pig into the vet. They removed an impaction, and he was pooping a little bit, it was mostly soft and un-shapen, yesterday and the day of the vet appointment. Maybe that could have to do with the amount of romaine lettuce we gave him. Today though, he’s stopped pooping again. He also has been eating very little, he’s only eating soft fruits and veggies, and not very many at that. He drank a little bit from his water bottle today, but yesterday I had to give him water through a syringe, and he wouldn’t want water most of the time from it then even. I checked his anus today, and other than a turd that was made up of multiple pellets attached in a line, there wasn’t anything other than remains of other turds. Is there another impaction that I just can’t see yet? It would be much appreciated if anyone could help me in what to do next.
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What to do after impaction is removed
- Thread starter Goguen
- Start date
Impaction is when the muscles in the back end weaken due to age but is not the same thing as being unwell and not pooping because they aren't eating enough (Illness).
Impaction - How To Help Your Guinea Pig.
Hay is the most important part of their food intake. If your piggy is not eating enough hay, then please switch from the normal weekly weight checks and instead weigh him daily. This will help you more closely monitor the food intake. Please then step in with syringe feeding a fibre rich recovery feed or mushed pellets, so you can be sure he is getting enough fibre. If he is continues to lose weight due to reduced food intake, then you need to syringe feed more often. The amount of recovery feed you give depends on what his weigh checks are telling you.
You say he isnt eating and isnt pooping properly - these two are linked - If a piggy is not pooping, then it is because of reduced/insufficient hay intake and this is why you must step in and syringe feed - to keep the gut functioning. You must also find out why your piggy has reduced hay intake.
Veg is only a snack (fruit should only ever be an occasional treat and given no more than once per week) so eating only veg is not enough. Eating fruit and veg will make soft poops worse (due to an overgrowth of the wrong gut bacteria) and when a piggy has soft, smelly poops you must remove all fresh food from the diet so as to not make the gut imbalance worse.
Please see a vet to determine the cause of your piggy being unwell.
Not Eating, Weight Loss And The Importance Of Syringe Feeding Fibre
Complete Syringe Feeding Guide
Digestive Disorders: Diarrhea - Bloat - GI Stasis (No Gut Movement) And Not Eating
Weight - Monitoring and Management
Impaction - How To Help Your Guinea Pig.
Hay is the most important part of their food intake. If your piggy is not eating enough hay, then please switch from the normal weekly weight checks and instead weigh him daily. This will help you more closely monitor the food intake. Please then step in with syringe feeding a fibre rich recovery feed or mushed pellets, so you can be sure he is getting enough fibre. If he is continues to lose weight due to reduced food intake, then you need to syringe feed more often. The amount of recovery feed you give depends on what his weigh checks are telling you.
You say he isnt eating and isnt pooping properly - these two are linked - If a piggy is not pooping, then it is because of reduced/insufficient hay intake and this is why you must step in and syringe feed - to keep the gut functioning. You must also find out why your piggy has reduced hay intake.
Veg is only a snack (fruit should only ever be an occasional treat and given no more than once per week) so eating only veg is not enough. Eating fruit and veg will make soft poops worse (due to an overgrowth of the wrong gut bacteria) and when a piggy has soft, smelly poops you must remove all fresh food from the diet so as to not make the gut imbalance worse.
Please see a vet to determine the cause of your piggy being unwell.
Not Eating, Weight Loss And The Importance Of Syringe Feeding Fibre
Complete Syringe Feeding Guide
Digestive Disorders: Diarrhea - Bloat - GI Stasis (No Gut Movement) And Not Eating
Weight - Monitoring and Management
Siikibam
Forum Donator 2022/23
Hay is the biggest part of their diet. Does he have access to it and does he eat much? The latter can only be monitored through weighing weekly. Poo output is 1-2 days behind so will reflect what he ate in that time scale. If his poos are a bit misshapen I would cut out all veg until they’re back to normal for at least 24 hours. When you reintroduce, give him something like coriander/cilantro which is mild on the tummy
I would stop giving too much fruit. It’s high in sugar and should only be given as an occasional treat. As for drinking, they will drink as much as they need. Remember veg has water in it as well. For some, that is enough.
In general, some check and clean out their boars daily depending on how bad it is. So check daily for now. If there was nothing to clear out then there was nothing. I’ll link to a guide below which you should find useful.
Boar Care: Bits, Bums & Baths
I would stop giving too much fruit. It’s high in sugar and should only be given as an occasional treat. As for drinking, they will drink as much as they need. Remember veg has water in it as well. For some, that is enough.
In general, some check and clean out their boars daily depending on how bad it is. So check daily for now. If there was nothing to clear out then there was nothing. I’ll link to a guide below which you should find useful.
Boar Care: Bits, Bums & Baths
Hello. I had an old boar that needed his impaction clearing every day. It did NOT cause him to stop eating or pooping less. I would syringe feed your piggy until you can get another vet appointment to check why he’s not eating for himself. All the best. Let us know how you get on. 
WobblyPiggy
Junior Guinea Pig
Hi, I currently have 2 males between 5 and 7 who have their impaction done every day even when one had soft poops because of a bad stomach he never stopped eating...keep on top of the impaction but also watch his weight and maybe try some critical care to get some nutrients into him...maybe taking him to the vet for a full check would be good as well as something is obviously a bit off with him...I hope he feels better in time though and you and the vet get him back in tip top shape...
WobblyPiggy
Junior Guinea Pig
Sometimes there isn't any particular reason a part from age...we were given ours last November they were estimated between 5 and 7 years old...once I saw them and realised they hadn't been neutered I started checking them...as with their age sometimes things just get stuck or don't work as well...as long as he is eating and getting enough fibre he should be oki with being checked and cleaned every day...maybe try fibreplex it seems to work well for ours who is on and off antibiotics...today has been the first time in a few months he has had a bit of runny poop...so he got some extra hay for during the night after his top up clean and his veg was limited today...normally his clears up in a day or so...
Siikibam
Forum Donator 2022/23
Unfortunately nothing can help impaction. I think it’s due to the loss of muscle tone. I wouldn’t do the soft veg or citrus drops either. It’s good he’s eating pellets but he needs to eat more hay than anything. Pellets won’t be enough to get him pooping. The more hay he eats the better. How has his weight been?
Impaction is nothing to do with not eating enough food. Impaction is caused by lost muscle tone which stops them passing faeces normally.
Impaction is not constipation. Guinea pigs do not get constipation.
if a piggy isn’t pooping it is because they aren’t eating enough hay. A piggy who isnt eating enough hay is cause for concern and requires you to weigh your piggy every day and step in with syringe feeding recovery feed immediately to replace the lost fibre intake. Eating pellets isnt enough, as they are only one tablespoon per pig per day and only makes 5% of the daily food intake. Hay is 80% of the daily food intake. Piggy needs to be eating lots of hay.
Poop output is 1-2 days behind so if he hasn’t eaten enough hay then you won’t see poops until 1-2 days after he starts eating enough.
Have you been weighing him?
Feeding soft vegetables won’t fix impaction (in fact too much veg will likely make his problems worse) as it’s loose muscles which causes it. There are several things you can do to help (the guide I linked in explains) but giving soft veg and citrus drops is not it. A piggy with impaction needs more fibre, not more veg.
Impaction is not constipation. Guinea pigs do not get constipation.
if a piggy isn’t pooping it is because they aren’t eating enough hay. A piggy who isnt eating enough hay is cause for concern and requires you to weigh your piggy every day and step in with syringe feeding recovery feed immediately to replace the lost fibre intake. Eating pellets isnt enough, as they are only one tablespoon per pig per day and only makes 5% of the daily food intake. Hay is 80% of the daily food intake. Piggy needs to be eating lots of hay.
Poop output is 1-2 days behind so if he hasn’t eaten enough hay then you won’t see poops until 1-2 days after he starts eating enough.
Have you been weighing him?
Feeding soft vegetables won’t fix impaction (in fact too much veg will likely make his problems worse) as it’s loose muscles which causes it. There are several things you can do to help (the guide I linked in explains) but giving soft veg and citrus drops is not it. A piggy with impaction needs more fibre, not more veg.