Experiences with Impaction; Frequency of cleaning

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GrannyJu1
Supporter in '21

Post   » Sat Mar 07, 2015 12:53 pm


I have 2 neutered boars. The older is at least 3 years (I was told he was about 1 when I got him, but I don't think the rescue people bothered to ask the ones who surrendered him) and the other will be 2 years next month. I've only been a guinea pig slave for a little over 2 years, and the boys have been fixed for about a year. I've no experience with impaction, and until now, didn't realize THAT part of them needed regular checking (bad momma). I love the fact that I'm constantly learning from all of you. My owners probably wish I'd learn faster. I'm off to inspect now, lol.

Countrylass

Post   » Tue Mar 10, 2015 2:45 pm


Sweep - age 5 years, 5' x 2' cage indoors, bedding hay and cardboard. Food - hay, veggies, grass and some pellets. Impacted since he was neutered 2 1/2 years ago as they couldn't remove all the fat on one side. Has lived with Lulu since 6 week post neutering period ended and with Izzy for two years until she crossed the bridge last week. Can require cleaning up to twice daily. We just squeeze the lump out as its normally quite pliable. When he has a shower, we flush the mass out with the water. Very frisky - serial humper of ladies bottoms. As Izwig was long haired we had to take the hair off his winky every day she was in season.

Hank - age 5 years, 2' x 1' cage indoors, bedding hay and cardboard. Same food as Sweep. Lives alone currently although we do hope to bond him with the trio of girls in the future. Came as impacted from the rescue following neuter. Has now cleared up although Vedra did say she thought there were signs of fungal in his poo.

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jacqueline

Post   » Sat Mar 14, 2015 7:30 pm


Currently have 9 boars, ranging in age fro 2 years to 6. None of them currently have any issues with impaction.

I have a monthly grooming checklist. On cage cleaning day, I do nails, and butt cleaning. I just toss a couple of Q-tips in a jar with some mineral oil. I use the Q-tip to wipe out any icky stuff and check their boy bits.

All guys are housed on fleece. Their cuddle cups and hideys all have pads in them which get changed every other day or so, so they're not sitting in wet stuff long. Several of them really like sitting in the hay boxes. But the hay gets cleaned every day, so it's ever wet for long.

And of course, there's lots of space for the to run around in.

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Sshadowsmom

Post   » Sun Aug 02, 2015 9:47 pm


I seem to have had a lot of boys and only one had an impaction issue. Harry was extremely well endowed and as he got older he began to have issues. When he passed the age of 7 he needed an occasional cleaning. By the time he passed 8 it was pretty much part of our morning routine. In the beginning I followed the standard instructions with q-tips and oil to dislodge the contents of his sack. Later on I depended less on this procedure. For my precious old man I assembled a disposable underpad, sugilube, some disposable gloves, and the q tips. I used the lube on q-tips to lubricate his sack and then dislodged any hard chunks with the q-tips - very gently scraping them out. After the lubrication was done I would very gently squeeze the remaining material down and out with thumb and forefinger on the outside of his sack. Oh I forgot the first step in the ritual - the lighting of a stick of incense to help with the smell. Using the underpad allowed me to fold over the end covering up the cleaned out mess as we went avoiding my arm in it and him stepping in it when I needed to set him down. For some reason cleaning him out made him have to pee.

When we got done the sugilube wiped off easily and if needed a warm damp washcloth took care of the rest. He always got cuddled afterwards and a nice treat. Harry enjoyed his life. I would have done anything I could to prolong it for him and a daily cleaning was a small price to pay to see him dance and prance when feeding time came along. He loved to play and right up until a few days before he died at 8 1/2 would toss around a light toy.

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Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Sun Aug 02, 2015 9:50 pm


Harry sounds like he was a great guy.

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Sshadowsmom

Post   » Mon Aug 03, 2015 10:39 am


He was a rescue that came to me at a year old and outlived his first younger cage brother. He was a nipper at first and soon learned better with love and gentle handling. Snowy taught him how to eat hay and veggies and then when Snowy grew up Harry decided it was time to tell little brother who was boss. A tiny bit of fur flew and Harry was top pig and was always top pig, never mean or violent just the boss. He was spirited when younger and loved toys more than any pig I have ever seen. We went through so much together his ashes are in an engraved box on a special shelf with his vital statistics engraved with his name. As he got old and frail he ate critical care for me right off the spoon to help maintain his weight. They are all special in their own way. He was a good nanny boar to his second younger brother and taught him everything he knew.

Piggiemama

Post   » Wed Sep 30, 2015 6:45 pm


I had a male guinea pig who died about 14 years ago. He had impaction in the last 6 months of his life. I had to clean out his sac once every day and a half, checked it daily.

Not hard to clean out but you don't want to let it go too long since the poop ball just gets bigger. He took it all in stride rather nicely, we just knew he had to be "pooped" regularly. Was smelly of course, but it just went into the toilet so no big deal.

He didn't do any dragging of his behind, or at least not any more than he'd done before the impaction happened.

I'd say that the one thing to be aware of is when the poop vol. starts to slow. He made some small balls of poop first before the big impaction came on, so look for what seems like clumps of poop together sitting in the cage in a small ball first. It's probably a sign his anal sac is beginning to let down.

Jessy_W

Post   » Thu Mar 24, 2016 5:59 am


I check my piggy's anal sac quite often and when it's needed, I use only warm water to clean.

afdani1984

Post   » Wed Aug 31, 2016 8:22 am


When we lived in Germany and I worked in the passenger terminal, we adopted a male guinea pig after a passenger came to check in for a flight and was unaware we only accepted dogs and cats for air travel. I ended up bringing the little guy home and we called him Mugatu. He lived as a single pig on shaving for bedding in a fairly decent size cage, although knowing what I know now it was probably too small for him. I've learned a lot since then. Mugatu needed fairly frequent boar cleanings. Smegma and whatnot really built up with him, probably due in part to the bedding and he was fairly sedentary. I'd say I probably cleaned a large lump out of him every 3-4 days and he could have done with even more frequent cleanings.

At present we have three boars, two of which are roughly 6 or so months old and one who is 3 years. They are all bedded on fleece, currently in a 2x4 C&C cage. When I do my weekly thorough cage cleaning they all get checked and if it looks like they need to be cleaned out then I take a q-tip with a bit of mineral oil to them. I know some people don't feel that mineral oil is a good thing to use, but I don't think they'd appreciate a dry q-tip swished around their bits. If they look clean, I leave them be. One of the babies, Star-Lord is a bum dragger, the oldest pig, Gus, is fairly sedentary.

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GrannyJu1
Supporter in '21

Post   » Sun Mar 26, 2017 10:17 am


This may be a stupid question, but I have to ask it anyway: Why do sows never get impacted? I see occasional clumps of stuck-together beans, and am 99% sure they come from my youngest girl, who otherwise has some digestive problems now and then.

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Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Sun Mar 26, 2017 10:34 am


I think it is a function of their anatomy - not to mention, boars tend to drag their butts a lot and collect debris.

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