Soft, incompletely formed stool

certika · Post » Thu Jan 10, 2019 12:28 pm

I was supervising Certik in his floor time this morning, and when I was cleaning up I noticed that a couple of his poops were soft and incompletely formed; not diarrhea, just soft and not totally formed. Think he may also be pooping a bit less than normal, but it's difficult to tell. He's still moving and eating normally and doesn't appear to be in any pain when he defecates or urinates, it so far appears to be just abnormally soft stools. Anybody have any advice?

bpatters · Post » Thu Jan 10, 2019 1:31 pm

What vegetables is he getting, and how much of each?

The first recommendation with soft stools is to cut back on veggies, or cut them completely out. Then watch carefully. If things don't improve in a day or so, or if they get worse at any time, then see a vet.

certika · Post » Thu Jan 10, 2019 4:57 pm

He's been getting about two leaves of romaine hearts along with his usual pellets and hay daily. I just discovered that one of my housemates gave him another leaf of lettuce. I've been doing some reading; he occasionally gets bits of apple or a grape as a treat, and I believe he's gotten more than usual over the past couple of days. I'm out of town overnight and left him with my parents; I told them to stick to pellets and hay for now, and told them to keep an eye on him and take him to the vet if they think he's taken a downhill turn.

bpatters · Post » Thu Jan 10, 2019 9:30 pm

Two large leaves of romaine is probably too much. Three definitely is.

There's some discussion over whether grapes should even be given to guinea pigs. They're toxic to some species, and no one knows whether guinea pigs are in that group. Fruit should also be limited -- sugar alone can cause digestive upsets.

GPIG · Post » Fri Jan 11, 2019 2:20 am

I had a small dog that almost died from eating grapes. She got to a bowl of them on a table. Her kidneys were failing, the vet flushed her with IV fluids for a week and she made it but it was touch and go for a few days.

I don't know if guinea pigs are in the group either but I refrain from giving them to be safe

certika · Post » Fri Jan 11, 2019 10:48 am

The romaine leaves he gets are from the center of the plant and are really small; that's why he gets two. I think the one my friend gave him was large, so there was definitely an overdose there. I'll alert my housemates to stop giving him grapes. I only give him apples once in a blue moon, and then only in very small amounts because of the large quantity of sugar. Probably going to just cut those out too. I found a new type of small animal treat he really seems to like, so I'll probably just stick to those for a while, with maybe the occasional baby carrot. Thanks for the input.