piggy noise

[sozansound2]

Noticed a sound i believe to be of pain but i wanted to get some more opinions about it. Was letting my pigs try out some red peppers and see if they like it when snuggled on a fleece towel. Was able to get a phone close enough to get some good sound without startling him when i started hearing the sounds. when placed back, there was 3 pieces of good sized poops but squishable (read a bit down for more explanation). urine, i cant tell as the other pig also urinated and they were both faced the same direction.

A bit of background on him. He accidentally injured his eye and has been on enrofloxacin susp. (aka baytril) 0.45ml 2 times a day , ofloxacin opth solution 4 drops a day and metacam 0.45ml 2 times a day. saw the vet on nov 7th.

Already seen allot of improvement in his eye. Not blue anymore. There was a hint of blue in the middle of his eye yesterday (nov 9) but today (nov 10) it is a dark shiny eye. I have been decreasing the dosage mostly on the antibiotics as improvements started and the fact that i know how heavy it is on pig's stomach in the first place. the only one i would give 2 times a day was metacam (one in the morning and one before bed) as the eye injury turned into an ulcer and i know how painful they are. baytril i gave 2 times for 2 days straight ( one in the afternoon and one at night) but turned it into once a day since nov 9.

Appetite is like a horse as normal. still as active as always. my most active pig and comes out on his own for hay and water. has always eaten all his veggies exept green peppers. he has always liked it but to a certain amount.

I believe it may be when pooping or urinating. since i noticed both pig's poops come out as good size pellets but they arent as firm. they keep the roundness but if you try and squich them, they collapse rather easy then the slight resistance you get from a normal poop.

Today i changed the way i give them lettuce. would give both half each every morning. now i got 1 half and cut that half in half, gave the same amount to both to see if there is any improvement. the other half would be given around the afternoon.

[sozansound2]

the follow up appointment is this upcoming Thursday. i do not know if i should continue to administer anything other than metacam in case of leftover pain. i do not see any inflammation around the part were that ulcer was located. not knowing if pain or just a normal sound, do not know if i should administer baytril ether.

[Lynx]

I think that you are correct that it sounds like he is experiencing pain. If there weren't complicating factors (the eye injury) I would be pointing you toward the stones page, since often pain from stones can be felt when a guinea pig is passing feces.

Watch to see if he scrunches up and makes this noise when passing feces. If you can positively tie it, it could be worthwhile looking into this. I believe other digestive issues can cause this pain too.
http://www.guinealynx.info/stones.html

[sozansound2]

I was watching him when he was doing the sounds. He was not hunched. He was laying or In a neutral position when I heard them.

[Lynx]

Watch further for an indication of the source of the pain. See if you can pin it to passing cecal feces.

[Sef]

No blood in the urine, I assume? Any stomach distention? I have a male who will vocalize quite a bit when his stomach is bothering him. Others of ours have vocalized when urinating or defecating, and it was related to having a bladder stone as Lynx mentioned. I think in your place I'd opt for x-rays to look for either gassiness, sludge or a bladder stone.

[sozansound2]

I been sitting next to his cage along with my other pig too to see if I hear ether one make any noice. Been here for 3-4 hours. Examine every single dropping as well.

Have not hear any signs of distress. Will probably get him again for lap time and extend the duration to give him enough time to pee/poo.

I have also palpated his stomach to see if he had any bloat of any kind as well. All seems normal. I did get concerned and opted not to give him the antibiotics. Just the pain meds and eye drops (even doe the eye looks good) till I narrow down the reason he is making those sounds.

Even doe it was hard to see of he peed too as the other pig peed as well before him. Will get him out first to be able to identify allot better.

Did not see any blood like colors on the fleece ether but will keep an eye out.

[Lynx]

You would also look for gritty pee or lots of pasty pee.

Perhaps this was a one time issue. Being observant, as you are, is a very good thing.

[sozansound2]

Quick question. Want to make sure I am not confusion normal poop and soft poop.

Both poops from both pigs comes out the regular color everyone says it is good.

It stays the pellet like form and is not mushy or diarrhea like ether. If they would step on it, it would get smashed down.

If I were to grab it and slighty squish it between my fingers, should it have some kind of resistence or easily get crushed?

I am talking about fresh poop. Not poop that has dried out because of hours laying on the floor.

Just need some clarification on this subject.

[Sef]

Normal poop is well-formed, dark in color and firm but not hard. Soft poop is mushy without a normal shape or size, and can be clumpy. Good examples here:
viewtopic.php?p=2107815#p2107815

You might also find this useful:
viewtopic.php?t=68360

[sozansound2]

Follow up on the lap time. So he did do the sound again after about 15 minutes into it. Thing is, he loves to pee and poop at the same time.

Believe he peed first and then poop followed. Thing is, a few minutes after that, he went on a pooping spree. Reason why I know was because he kept going under and munching which tells me he was eating his own poop without making the sound as I did not even realize.

Saw him poop after realizing. There was an instance were he hunched a bit over but no sound ether. Is that normal to hunch over a bit when not in pain when pooping? Just regular activity?

He is on antibiotics exept yesterday since I didn't know if it was a good idea to give him that not knowing were the pain was coming from. If he had a UTI, the antibiotics would of tooken care of that I believe.

So I still go back to stones or something else. Unless the stones is small enough to not be able to move around as much or he is just a very whiny pig xD

@sef looks just like both of my pigs. Guess I was confusing them. Thank you. It does help keep understand a bit better. I did see yesterday, one of my pigs pooped a good shaped one but it was bigger than usual. Then every other one was normal doe.

[sozansound2]

Also the pee he did at first had a bit of white color to it. Since he peed on the fleece, I can see the white color pretty clearly. It was not a whole lot doe. Just tought I should mention

[sozansound2]

The vet wanted me to send over the sound recording. She ended up saying that it was not a in pain kind of sound. I don't know at this point.

[Sef]

The sound itself isn't a sound that I would ordinarily associate with pain, I would agree. Our guys make a very similar sound when being held or petted. However, if he's vocalizing when he's either urinating or defecating, it would lead me to suspect that he's having some issues with bladder or bowels or both.

I suppose I'd just keep an eye on it for now and see if it worsens and/or if you notice any of the other typical signs of pain: fluffed up appearance, reduced appetite, less active, sitting in the corner of the cage, etc. Since you noticed a white a deposit on the fleece, I'd also evaluate diet. What pellets do you feed, and what other foods?

[Lynx]

More info on pain:
http://www.guinealynx.info/pain.html

[sozansound2]

Pellets is here

https://shop.smallpetselect.com/products/premium-guinea-pig-food

I give green lettuce. I take a whole leaf. Cut that leaf in half and distribute evenly in the morning (would have 2 pieces of cilantro for each pig. Only in the morning) and the rest around the afternoon. Afternoon would have peppers with the lettuce (green, red, yellow or orange. I give a different color everyday).

I started giving carrots only a few times a week.

And around night time, I would give them 1 tablespoon of pellets. I measure them with a scoop that measures 1 tablespoon evenly.

If I were to replace the lettuce, i would use red lettuce. I never gave them romaine because it lead to most of their urine to be white a few years ago so I don't bother.

I am still looking around to a replacement for lettuce to mix stuff up on occasion but what I wrote above is what I mostly would give.

The vet said the noice would have grunting in the sound when they are in pain if i remember correctly what she said.

[Sef]

There can indeed be a grunting sound with pain, but the vocalizations can also vary from a low whine to a high pitched squeal.

You can use green leaf, red leaf and Boston (or "bibb") lettuces if you want to skip romaine. My own guinea pigs get a variety of foods that I rotate around: zucchini, bell peppers (red, green, yellow and orange), carrot, cucumber, celery (strings removed), "grape" tomato (this is a small, supposedly less acidic type of tomato), corn husks in season, green beans, cilantro, etc.

You might find additional ideas on other foods to feed here:
http://www.guinealynx.info/fave.html

[sozansound2]

Do you see anything that I give them that concerns your?

And alright, noted on the sound.

[sozansound2]

Here is the link to the past thread:
viewtopic.php?f=2&t=77768&p=2302778#p2302778

So those sounds was indeed pain sounds after all. I been keeping an eye on him but sadly chance was not on my side. He would do those noices when I am around atleast once a week and i would have to stand next to the cage. My mother heard him doing these noices more but didn't let me know as I told her what the vet said. Said that it was normal piggy noices.

Fast foward 2 months later, the nigh of jan 12 the sounds was much louder and he started hunching and he hasn't done that ever. I assume it was that night when things started to become extremely painful.

Took him to the vet and asked them to do a x ray and it indeed was a bladder stone. How it looked in the scan was small but big enough that it couldn't pass out so it now requires surgery.

I gave him some leftover metacam from the last time because the specialist left for the day and I do not want to leave my pig in an unknown location with unknown sounds just to stress him out more. Prefer him to be with his partner in his cage were he has always been super comfortable.

I live in the providence area in Rhode Island. I have 2 nearby animal hospitals but seeing around has had tons of bad reviews. The name of the locations are

Ocean State veterinary specialist

Tufts Veterinary Emergency Services

And the location I plan to go because the adoption center I adopted my pair is connected to the Boston mspca, angel animal medical center.

If anyone has had any experience in these areas it would be appropriated.

I gave by pig some metacam I had left over but I think the pain is too much. Yesterday he was eating hay and drinking water but today, the 13th, he just wants to stay in his hut. If I remove it he would move, take a strand of hay or 2, then move towards a corner of the chloroplast I use as a litter box next to the hay but wont touch it. He would only move if I place the huts back in.

I feel like I need to hand feed him water atleast if I dont see him drinking at all for the rest of today. The specialist comes in on the 14th in the morning but the one thing I am scared of is the price range at this point. The vet I go to charges super reasonable so it is always fine but now that I had to go to an emergency facility which I ignored due to how much they can overcharge, I dont know at this point. I feel I but comfortable going to the location that made sure he was healthy till I came along to adopt but I am still worried at this point.

Dont know how i can give him hay if he wont accept it ether.

[sozansound2]

Th vet collected urine too so atleast he can still urinated but the stone is at the farthest spot it can possibly go were due to the size, it can't pass out. Urine would go out that way to come out. I only know human anatomy but not familiar with piggy anatomy:)

Now it is just to way but advice is very much appreciated before tomorrow if possible.