Lovely subject: piggie poop

[SpottyPoo]

My little Olivia has had squishy little turds since the day I brought her home some 4 wheeks ago. She has been on a regular diet of Timothy hay, pellets and small amounts of veggies. I even stopped the veggies for several days to no avail.

It's not diarrhea - rather, they are just soft and wet and squishy and make a real mess!! They are the kind that when stepped on, stick around on their little toes and get tracked around everywhere...you know the ones!

Does anyone have any suggestions as to what could be causing it and how to get them more solid? And does this warrant a trip to the vet?

[Leinani]

This happens to Rogue every once in awhile. I don't know what it is, but usually when this happens I feed her some banana and add some regular rolled oats in her pellets. I also withold or decrease the amount of veggies she gets. This usually does the trick for me.

Do you know if she may be chewing or eating anything that she shouldn't? This happened to Rogue once and I later learned that she'd been chewing on the plastic siding I was using temporarily for their cage. As soon as I removed it, she was fine.

If this doesn't change I think I'd make an appointment with the vet, just for peace of mind.

[Linda Lee]

I know a couple times I put that real nice green alfalfa hay in cage because I had young with old, and Emma loved it of course.She got really mushy ones just like what your describing- and it was only with that kind of hay. So no one got that treat anymore. It was just too rich for her. Are you feeding alfalfa?

[Allysse]

Linda LEE- Yes she says she is using Timothy.

You're in luck because I'm going through this. 4 weeks is a LONG time for a guinea pig to have these types of stools. Have you been weighing her? How does that look? Do they smell funny or are black? Any blood? Does she squeal when she goes to the bathroom? How about vit. C? with mushy stools I reccomend a good 50 mg (which is one tablet of Oxbow's vit. C supplement).

This warrents a vet visit. Get a few stool samples done because if there is any bacteria, parasite, infection.... the list goes on but you don't want it in her. And the reason for doing more than one, sometimes they don't find them right away.

Putting her on baytril in the meantime might help. Otherwise ask your vet about Metoclopramide, I can't tell you what it's used for but it was given to me.

Rice water (boil rice and take the water) works well for a day or two. You could also try getting some pedialyte.

[Leinani]

Wow Allysse, thanks for the heads up! I'm so glad Rogue only gets it for a day or two.

[SpottyPoo]

Allysse,

Great advice - thank you!!

Her poops are squishy and have a strong poop aroma, but are not black or bloody and don't smell weird. I weigh her every week and she is gaining 0.1 oz. every week. Her appetite is normal and she eats her Timothy hay. She does not squeal when she goes potty. She gets her Vita C thru veggies like parsley and green peppers - I do not give her any supplements. All my other girls have done fine with getting their C from veggies, the natural way.

I will first try giving her some banana and oats - good suggestion. In the meantime, I will email my vet and see if he needs to see her and what he thinks. I'll keep everyone posted.

Thank you so much for steering me in the right direction! :purple:

[Allysse]

How's everything?

[SpottyPoo]

She's doing much, much better. I'm treating her for mites right now with Equimectrin and I think that's why her poops have become more solid and less stinky. I noticed improvement the day after I posted this question and the next day they looked even better and today they're still looking good. The girls have another 3 weeks of treatment left and I'm sure it will finish killing the intestinal parasite as well.

Huh -- the little monkey didn't even give me a chance to get her a banana!!

[patnjackmom]

I'm glad she's feeling better.

glad the girls are feeling better!