My peeg is not pooping regularly

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Vesperia

Post   » Sat Apr 23, 2016 9:30 pm


As the subject says, my guinea pig, Noty, is not pooping regularly. To be more exact he will stop pooping after I go to sleep. I wake up every time to find no droppings in his cage and every time I freak out, cuddle him, give him the tummy massages, and everything's alright until the next time I go to sleep or take a longer nap.

He pees and he eats and he drinks when he does poop they are normal size quantity.

I give him a little probiotic every day, because it can't hurt and vitamin C.

I took him to the vet several times and he couldn't find anything wrong with Noty, so he's convinced it's a dietary and lifestyle issue. His advice was to put him on a diet of fresh grass for the duration of the summer. In a couple days I'll go with him to the countryside so he can enjoy the weather and sun and grass, but until then I'm really scared here. Now it's been about 4 to 5 hours since he pooped. I did notice him doing a few poopoos and then eating them, but besides that, nothing.

He's also very young, weighs about 480 grams. I got him only a couple weeks ago and I've been scared about him eating/not eating/not pooping/what is he doing ever since I got him.

Vesperia

Post   » Sat Apr 23, 2016 10:03 pm


I'm not allowed to edit my post anymore, but I wanted to correct the second paragraph: when he poops it's mostly normal sized, normal looking, normal quantity droppings. A few are smaller and a few are very long. They are relatively soft and moist and they harden once they dry. His pee is very milky but it doesn't leave any residue once dry.

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PinkRufus
Contributor in 2020

Post   » Sat Apr 23, 2016 10:15 pm


Does he appear bloated? Since he is young and active, he most likely is eating his poops before you find them.

See under "Coprophagy":

https://www.guinealynx.info/impaction.html#summary

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Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Sat Apr 23, 2016 10:25 pm


Are you weighing daily right now? Sometimes ill pigs will eat all their poops and it seems they are passing none. Much more reassuring to see poops!

Vesperia

Post   » Sat Apr 23, 2016 11:50 pm


He's not bloated at all, all soft and squishy. I check for that every time I pick him up since I initially suspected constipation or gas. The vet assured me that's not the case tho so fingers crossed.
I hope you're right. I mean, all that food must be going somewhere, right? This is what my bf thinks too, that he might just be eating his poop before I see it. But then I want to see him eating it!! So I won't feel so worried all the time anymore. If I leave home for a couple hours I think about him all the time and I hurry home and when I sleep and when I'm awake pretty much all the time.

I'm weightig daily. When I got him he was 415g, then by the third day he was already 435g.
Then after I noticed he wasn't doing the poopoo he first he lost about 20g, then for a couple days stayed at 471g exactly and now (just checked) he is at 505g. Although him losing weight is my fault, I think. I built his cage and placed his water bottle too low. I noticed he wasn't drinking water or making poop, took him to the vet who kept insisting nothing is wrong with him, and later realized suddenly in my sleep that I should move the bottle to somewhere higher. And then he started drinking again.

When I rub him and he starts purring he also poops a lot, so I've been doing this to make sure he's pooping and make sure his poop looks alright but I thought that when they pee they also poop? He's not doing that.

And thank you for your replies, I'm looking forward to the day where I can rest easy knowing he's okay and everything is going okay!
Last edited by Vesperia on Sat Apr 23, 2016 11:56 pm, edited 1 time in total.

bpatters
And got the T-shirt

Post   » Sat Apr 23, 2016 11:55 pm


I think he's fine, and that you've got nothing to worry about.

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Delaine
Supporter in '14

Post   » Sun Apr 24, 2016 1:14 am


What sort of diet are you feeding him? Is he getting unlimited hay? Adding fresh grass should help. Start gradually when you first introduce it. Also make sure it is clean uncontaminated grass. I wash my girls' grass four times before feeding it to them.

Also guinea pigs pick up on their human's emotions. Whenever I start to worry and hover over my girls they get stressed and their poop production goes down. I have had to force myself to relax and chill out which is difficult for me.

Maybe he is picking up on your anxiety. Try not to worry and hover over him.

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daveandtiff

Post   » Sun Apr 24, 2016 1:28 am


Congratulations on taking home your new little boy recently. And realizing this never posted before I left computer a few hours ago. All of your former answers I know you've found helpful, but will just add.

If his poops are normal size/quantity and he is regularly eating/drinking, you may be seeing production that is normal for him. Are the poops normal shape and consistency as well? (How you replied sounds normal. Softer/longer could mean increased fluid via vegetation or bottle, so if you give vegetation just cut out those with alot of fructose or reduce a bit of the overall vegetation intake if it seems too much and see if changes. Sometimes certain types of vegetation are handled better than others, so you can try to pinpoint the culprit(s) if you feel this a possible scenario.)

We have a boy who tends to take short periodic poop breaks, so can relate to your situation. After we had brought him home, he would go hours without pooping it seemed, and I was always nervous about this. After many times of this and confirming that he was eating/drinking and then pooping again when he was ready, we started to become less worried. Also, he was eating some of his poops (which may be something Noty is doing as well). It could be Noty also does his big business more when he senses activity (when you are awake).

To address your comment re pooping each time peeing, this doesn't always happen together, similar to us when we go, so if you are petting him and he is pooping, another good sign. Most important, he's eating/drinking, peeing/pooping (even if he takes short breaks) and activity level is good.

The weight gain is a good indication (small fluctuations, like your 20g, will happen.). 20g=20cc=20ml, if measured on a scale, so you can imagine if he's had a drink/food and hasn't eliminated yet, his weight will be higher. Or if he's not drank/eaten for awhile and has eliminated, would be a little less. Good that you are keeping track of his weight as you are. Sounds like you're off to a good start.

Talishan
You can quote me

Post   » Sun Apr 24, 2016 4:12 am


Ditto the advice you have received. We've had several to defecate in 'clumps' like this, although most have been older than Noty.

Hay is vital. He needs free access to clean, good quality grass hay 24/7.

Good on you for fixing the water bottle.

Fresh, clean grass is good for them, but **not too much at one time**. They generally love it, don't know when to stop, and too much at one time can cause GI upset. It needs to be clean -- no pesticides, herbicides, or anything a dog, cat, or wild animal has been in. That can be hard to find.

Otherwise, ditto bpatters. He may be inactive when you're inactive, and they sometimes don't defecate as much if they're inactive. I think he's probably fine.

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Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Sun Apr 24, 2016 7:28 am


www.guinealynx.info/.html

You would introduce grass slowly and give more as time goes on.

Vesperia

Post   » Sun Apr 24, 2016 9:29 pm


Thank you again for taking the time to answere here and give me advice. I calmed down considerably and I think he's feeling it too.

Here's a picture of his poos (couldn't make the image to show so I linked)
http://imgur.com/Rx1FHyW


I noticed that when he poops it's accompanied by a wet sound.

He eats pellets and dry grass and fresh grass and carrot as much as he likes and a slice of cucumber every day when I give him the vitamin C. The fresh grass is a new thing for him, so I am giving him just a little every day, don't want him to get the diarrhea.

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Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Sun Apr 24, 2016 11:29 pm


Those are nice looking poops!

Here's a crop and smaller size of your pic:

Image

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