Blood on bum

[babsnpops]

Hi
this is my first posting and sadly its not the happiest of one. my baby 'Babs' i noticed yesterday was nt forthright in running to the food bowl when i fed them. the other 'poppet ' was and munched happily but did quite a few of those poohs they eat. I took Babs out later in the day for a cuddle and could see and feel her strainign to pooh, i checked her bum and there was a pooh hanging out. I also noticd some orange staining to the cuddle fleece she was sat on. I checked her bum about 15 mins later and there was a very small amount of bright red blood collected on her bits.
I took her straight to the vet who said the new food i introduced may have cause da stomach upset and she sirrated her anus and made it bleed. Shes on a weeks course of baytril twice daily and a supplement. there has been no sign of blood since and she is eating very well and seems chirpy. been told not to feed veg for a few days just hay and guinea feed and the odd dandelion.

sorry this is so long but i ve never had piggies before and i ve tried to mae sure i ve done everything right hence going straight to the vet last night. please email if you have any advice. im worried it could be something more siniter but findgers crossed i just fed her too much rich stuff on thurs night ( some herb salad that they could apprently eat) and she s just had a bad tummy.

thank you from a very worried piggy mum

[Dawn - Admin]

How long have you had this piggy? Were the poops soft in texture? Were they strung together like a string of sausages? Sorry for all the questions but if the poops are soft it could be too many veggies but if they are strung together then it is something else altogether.

[luvcats22]

i would also ask for a bit more info on what foods you are feeding her? hope she is ok xx

[babsnpops]

hi
yes they were soft and sticky the consistancy of blu tac if that makes sense. on a happier note touching wood she has nt bled since that one spot and her and her sis have been happily popcorning around. im still giving the antibiotics and will return the vets at the end of the course to get another check up. i have noticed that Poppet had a small amount of sticky white goo on her bum like a discharge (not smelly) and have read this could be a sign f being in season.

i have been a little over indulgent with them and i think i ve just fed them way too many veggies and fruit, the last straw being the herb salad i gave them a nibble of thurs night.


can any one reccommend a veggie list and a safe quantity to give as i dont wnat o hurt them again.

thank you for replying back to me x

[babsnpops]

sorry i thought i best add i only saw the discharge on [poppets rear once and not seen it since, could also be the antibiotics?? also for completeness i ve been feeding them the following veggies (probably in too larger quantities)
cabbage ( sweetheart) but stopped as was told is bad for them??
romaine lettuce (told iceburg very bad)
carrot
homegrown spinach
dandelions
fresh grass
broccoli
melon
kiwi
apple
pear
celery
tomoatoes
corn on the cob

[luvcats22]

heres a list of veggies for you
cutiecavies.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=piggiesliketoeat&action=display&thread=1224

[luvcats22]

i have three piggies and they all get one bowlfull of mixed veggies every day, fruit twice a week as a treat,and a slice of cucumber at cuddletime in the evenings. xx

[abby]

Hi, everything that's on your list is ok for them but some of them should only be fed now and again, not often like spinach and apples can cause mouth sores. It's tempting to spoil them i know but they'll just as happy with regular treats in smaller amounts.

Dawn i was intrigued about what you said about poops being like a string of sausages is a sign of something else altogether- what does that mean?

[Dawn - Admin]

Well strings of poop usually mean constipation which can be caused by dehydration. It could also indicate that the gut isn't functioning normally.

I wouldn't feed too much fruit because it is full of sugar, sweetheart Cabbage is not bad for them. Mine get it quite regular.

Good everyday things to feed are things like Celery & Spring Greens
Things to feed only occassionally are Apple, Pear, Parsley & Spinach

[piggymomma]

mine arent really excited over celery. and i give parsley a few times a week. Should I not? they do love kale and seem to like mustard greens,are those ok to give daily?

[babsnpops]

thanks so much for this, and for all the help and support

[louspigguns]

I would give Kale and greens 1-2 a week, they are high in calcium, can cause gas and bloat if fed in excess.

Parsley is ok 2-4 times a week. Foods that you can feed almost daily a green peppers, romaine lettuce, a small carrot, cherry tomatoes, celery. I say almost daily as other foods like cucumber, parsley and green beans can be fed 2-4 times a week and change it around. There is a whole loads of food they can eat its just finding what works for you and what they like.

Be careful of foods high in sugar and calcium.

[luvcats22]

cucumber can be fed daily,i just find with the water content it can make them pee more, but mine are fussy boys and often dont eat the middle bit anyway.
kale is like spinach i think,which is high in oxalates,which actually stops calcium being absorbed into the body (i learnt about this for my beardie so i would imagine its the same for piggies) so shouldnt be fed every day.
carrots are high in vitamin A and some people dont recommend feeding them every day,but i give my boys a carrot once a week whole, it gives them something to chew on and play with!!!
theres tons of veggies on the comprehensive food list that Dawn-Admin made,so its just a case of trying a few and seeing what your piggies like,then keep adding to it. and changing things round a bit so they dont get bored of the same veg every day. xx

[babsnpops]

hi
further update
have babs sat on my knee as i type, noticed earlier there was a very long king of mini wet dog pooh in the cage off one of my babies. was hopin this was resolving. Babs has just done a moion andmade a very small noise when doing so and eaten it straight away. i noticed there were no tddles in the cage after a full day and limited number of poohs apart from these fairly sloppy offerings. does anyone think the baytril is causing this or any other suggestions?

[babsnpops]

also they are eating ok (well are crying out for the few dandelions i ve been giving them) and not touching their muesil. I ve bought guinea pig nuggets and trying to slowly introduced these but they are nubbing the dried food and just want greens. feel like a very bd mum starving them but vet advises that jusy a diet f veg is not good. any help would be gratefully receievd
thanks x

[babsnpops]

hi
shes strainign to get these faily sloppy poohs out and making noises of discomfort when doing so. will go back to vets in the morning as im not ahppy about this. setting clock every 4 hrs through night to ensure i can get water in her til then. x

[Orlaith]

Is she eating hay along with her veg?

I wonder is she impacted and that's why she's having problems getting her poops out. The vet might have to massage her tummy to see if he can help her.

[babsnpops]

hi
fuher update
been back to vets this morn. he says toi put back on veggies with pro biotic sprinkled on because if theyre not eating dried foiod with it sprinkled on thy wont be getying any food at all. he told me to carry on til fri with the baytril, give grass, cucemer for water, a bit of apple and kiwi for vit c and hay. he salso given me 'recovery' feed to give them. he said he s not overly worried as poohs just sloppy abd no real massive downhill turn in 5 days. 5 days too long in my book. he said come back mon if no cahnge etc. queried worms etc but he said he does not wnat to jab them for those just yet.

on his instructions fed them grass, lil carrot and apple, kiwi, hay and cucumbet this afternoon., they wofled it down. and this has been followed by persistent sloppy pooh and water coming out from them. worried to death. please advise if you can x

[luvcats22]

heres a link to peter gurneys page on diarrhea
www.oginet.com/pgurney/diarrhoea.htm
and also one from guinea lynx
www.guinealynx.info/diarrhea.html

im afraid i am not going to advise you what to do,as i havent experienced diarrhea in piggies and wouldnt want to tell you the wrong thing,so im just giving you some links,and hope someone else can help you.
hope your piggy is ok. xx

[Dawn - Admin]

Tpo be honest not sure why the vet hasn't treated for worms before now. The treatment is quick and easy and wont do any harm even if they haven't got them.

[babsnpops]

morning
i spoke to a very knowledable guinea person and described everything thats been happening and they say it sounds like the original problem was constipation and the dramatid change in diet (ie. no veg and just dried) on top of the antibitoics has casued cystitus and an upset stomach flora. have given them a small amount of kaolin, dyteralite (the re-hydration stuff for tummys), some cystitus relief powder and actimel to aid their tummies. the poohing has slowed but still there last night, not so bad this morn. they are eating very well though and being good piggies taking in their medicines. just want them better x