Chronic Bloating

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Shirl123

Post   » Thu Apr 19, 2007 4:51 pm


Well, Milly has been bloated again for the last fews days.

I've removed all the pelleted food from their cage, and replaced it with Timothy hay. She hasn't had any grass for for 2 weeks, and I've cut out broccoli and kale from their fresh food.

I've tried giving her mineral oil and putting her on the massage cushion, and she has been on Metacloprimde and Simethicone. (I haven't been able to get Cisapride, it isn't apparently available any more.)

None of this has had any obvious effect on her bloating, so I think I will have to try completely cutting out all her veggies over the weekend. I was a bit reluctant to do this, as I will have to remove the other two pigs at feeding time to give them their veggies, and Milly of course will smell the food. If this reduces her bloat, I'll then have to try introducing one veg at a time, to see if it bloats her up again, so I can try and work out what is causing the bloating.

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Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Thu Apr 19, 2007 5:54 pm


I'm sorry to hear you are battling this. Bloat is tough. I do think removing vegs will likely help - at least in the short term. If it gets severe, be sure to see a vet asap.

maremma

Post   » Fri Apr 20, 2007 4:43 am


Aww the poor baby. I feel so bad for her.

How is she drinking? Please start syringing pedyalite into her to be safe. I know when Sweetpea begins to bloat up she desprately needs a lot of extra fluid and sometimes three water bottles all over her pen aren't enough. She drinks a lot but her poops still get a bit drier thus making it harder to poo and creating even further bloat.



If you have already taken away her pellets and you take away her veggies all she will have left if hay to eat right? Or were you going to give her pellets again? Pellets do not seem to affect Sweetpea one way or the other but veggies sure can. She has a limited variety she can have and she has to have smaller amounts. I supplement her with vitamin C tabs every few days just to be certian she is still getting her C.

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Tracy

Post   » Fri Apr 20, 2007 9:13 am


I've got a piggy with recurring gas/bloat, too. We haven't figured out the cause, and haven't had great success managing it. Fortunately, Inca's episodes tend to resolve within 20-24 hours.

I always start with simethicone (harmless) and metacam (because she is obviously in pain). Once I know she's not obstructed (when feces output), I give Reglan. I also massage her belly and try to get her to move around more. We've had very heart-breaking episodes where Inca is just miserable for hours and hours and I just don't know how to help her (with my vet confirming I'm doing everything right). But she keeps pulling through, little thing. I've also tried daily Beano (which didn't seem to help) and also gripe water (for infants with colic); don't have a verdict on the latter yet (doesn't seem to help/hurt so far).

During one episode, something that possibly DID help was giving her a few drops from an acidophilpus capsule (mixed in with Critical Care), so now I wonder if Inca's gut bacteria gets imbalanced from time to time, resulting in gas/distension. That's another easy experiment you can try with your piggy.

Good luck! I'll be reading this thread hoping for any more ideas, since I need 'em, too!

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Shirl123

Post   » Fri Apr 20, 2007 4:20 pm


Milly seems to be drinking enough. Her poops are fairly moist, not dry, and the vet gave me some probiotic that I have been giving her in a syringe several times a day. (They all love this probiotic, and line up at the side of the cage, wanting some!)

I wasn't going to give Milly pellets until her bloating was under control. The vet put her on a hay only diet when he kept her in for two days, with just a few extra dandelion leaves. It did reduce her bloat, which was why I was going to try this. I haven't found any dandelions in the garden yet, so I was going to give her a couple of sprigs of parsley to help with the vit C intake. It will be difficult not giving her any veggies. We've had her since she was 6 weeks old, and she's always had veggies twice a day.

She had a good session on the massage cushion yesterday evening, and didn't seem to have as much air in her this morning, but has bloated up a bit more during the day again. I'm guessing that it must be a condition similar to Irritable Bowel Syndrome in humans, and it's just a matter of finding the triggers. We seem to be able to manage the bloat, and stop it from getting too severe, it's just very difficult to get rid of it. The vet hasn't found out anything more yet, either.

I did try gripe water the first time she bloated. I'm not sure if it had much effect, but it probably won't hurt to give it another try. I think I may as well try acidophilpus capsules as well as the vets probiotic. I'm at the stage where I'll try anything that won't hurt her!

maremma

Post   » Fri Apr 20, 2007 4:57 pm


Indeed acidophilus is very helpful to Sweetpea too. I give her a capsule in criti-care too! Good thing she LOVES criti-care. I have no trouble getting her to eat it all by herself right off a spoon.

I sure hope you find the right balance for your baby quickly. I am glad your baby likes probiotics so well . I have quite a few that think the benbac is a goody too but Sweetpea isn't one of them. Not that it matters. I have to give her the criti-care to keep some weight on her. Over this whole mess with her she lost a great deal of weight and has never regained it all. She was 2 pounds 8 ounces before she became ill. If I can keep her at 2 pounds now I am lucky.

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Shirl123

Post   » Fri Apr 20, 2007 5:34 pm


Milly lost over an ounce in the two days she was on a hay only diet at the vets, so that's another reason that I was reluctant to cut out the veggies. She did put it back on once she was back home, so if I can only work out what causes the bloat, I'm hoping that any weight that she loses will go back again without too much trouble. I'm a bit paranoid about weight loss at the moment. My Brownie lost over 8 ounces in two weeks in January. Although we managed to stop her weight loss in the end, she didn't pull through. (We suspect it was something along the lines of a brain tumour, as she had an increasing number of fits over the last 2 days).

Talishan
You can quote me

Post   » Fri Apr 20, 2007 7:50 pm


No pellets and no vegetables, to me, leaves a lot of room for vitamin, mineral, and trace nutrient deficiency. I wouldn't do a hay-only diet for any length of time.

We have a senior female who gets uncomfortable (not as bad as Milly, but similar on a smaller scale) if given too large of pieces of vegetables. She inhales her food and always has. As she has aged, we've taken to giving her two or three smaller pieces of (whatever's being given out), rather than the single larger piece the others get. This seems to help her.

She doesn't eat a large amount of pellets, and they don't seem to make a difference one way or the other. What has really helped her is more, smaller, more frequent helpings of vegetables.

Good luck to Milly and to you.

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Shirl123

Post   » Sat Apr 21, 2007 7:04 am


Milly has been bloated this time for 3 weeks now, and nothing we have tried has had any success in removing, or even reducing by any extent, the bloat. This hay only diet is just a one off, 48 hour trial, to try and get out of her system anything that my be irritating her insides. I'm keeping up to metoclopramide and simethicone, and I will have one more try this evening with mineral oil, and several sessions on the massage cushion.

The probiotic the vet gave me also has vitamins A, C & E, which hopfully will help give her some of what is missing without her veggies.

The only acidophilus capsules I have been able to find are Acidophilus Plus. The packet states that the capsules are a "Non-dairy source of L.acidophilus, L.casei casei & L.casei rhamnosus". Does anyone know if these are safe for pigs, or do I need to find plain acidophilus capsules?

I haven't got any Critical Care yet, but I do have a packet of Science Recovery. Will this do for the time being, to give with the acidophilus?

maremma

Post   » Sat Apr 21, 2007 4:07 pm


When Sweetpea is really having a rough time I have given her three doses of mineral oil in a day. Be sure to syringe pedialite into her wait at least half and hour to an hour and give her a dose. Repeat in 8 hours and then 8 hours again. Sweetpea has had to have at least two doses a day since she began bloating or we are in serious trouble. Be absolutely sure she gets the fluids into her before giving her the oil.

Sweetpea has a slightly irregular shaped heart and so we are afraid ot give her reglan but if your babies heart is okay it may well help keep her regular but take some time on it for it to work well.

I can't tell you if the acidophilus plus can be used or not. Hopefully someone can tell us soon. Is she still eating the probiotic from the vet for you? That is safe for her.

I also do not know about science recovery but I do know you can put acidophilus on the parsely that has been wetted and it will stick for her to eat it that way. Some of my babies will eat it this way. Perhaps she will too.

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Shirl123

Post   » Sat Apr 21, 2007 6:03 pm


Maremma, thanks very much for all your advice. Milly's bloating is going down today, now I have cut out everything apart from hay. I did find some dandelions, so she has had a few leaves, but nothing else. She is still taking the probiotic from the vet. I checked the ingredients in this, and it says it has electrolytes, so I don't think she will need pedialite while she is taking this.

The vet hasn't found any heart problems with Milly, and just told me to phone up when I need metoclopramide for her, so he obviously doesn't see a problem with longer term use.

I will keep her off the veggies again tomorrow, and then start to re-introduce pellets and small portions of veggies. I will try Talishan's advice of little and more frequently to see if this helps. I'll only indroduce one to two types of veggies ever few days so if she starts bloating again, I'm hoping I may be able to work out what has started it up again.

Talishan
You can quote me

Post   » Sat Apr 21, 2007 6:45 pm


Glad to hear she is doing just a little bit better. The process of elimination method you are following is just about the only way I can think of to find out if there is a trigger for her, and if so, what it is.

Just to note: Pedialyte is not suggested for electrolyte balance, necessarily. Many guinea pigs love the taste and will drink it readily when they're not drinking water, or not enough water. We use it for hydration more than electrolyte balance.

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