Diarrhea - please advise

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WillowL

Post   » Fri Jul 13, 2018 5:34 am


Hi everyone,
I adopted three female guinea pigs on May 23rd. The oldest, Buttercup, is experiencing diarrhea and I’m not certain how long to wait until it’s safe to reintroduce pellets or veggies.

Buttercup is a bit of a boss, and an extremely fast eater compared to her two ten month old cage mates (she is four years old). Occasionally she had softer stools and I assumed it was because she was eating far more than her share of the veggies. I began separating the three females when providing half a cup of veggies in the morning and again in the evening to prevent the softer stools. Usually it’s red leaf lettuce, radicchio, green bell pepper, and a couple of other items to mix things up. I follow the veggie lists suggested here, so nothing that should be causing diarrhea. Once Buttercup’s portion of veggies was cut down, I thought the issue was over with. She started having diarrhea yesterday and I was very concerned because it was so messy and rather constant. I prepared a mash of a little water and two pellets from her healthy cage mates and gave that to her last night when I noticed the symptoms she was experiencing when I got home from work at 10pm. I also removed the food pellets and did not give her any veggies last night, but filled the cage with lots of hay in different spots to provide her with multiple locations of easy access hay as well as the normal four spots provided. She was eating hay last night and drinking water this morning.

I was very concerned to leave her all day for work, but I just got home and it seems like her symptoms have alieviated, but I’m not certain how much because I’m about to change their fleece bedding. I stopped on the way home to buy pedialyte for her.

Should I handfeed her pedialyte tonight? And should I make another mash of her cage mates’ healthy poos to hand feed her? When is it safe to reintroduce her pellets? I know she’s had plenty of hay, but I don’t want to be starving her of pellets for too long. Should I quarantine her from her cage mates? That may the first thing I should’ve done, but I don’t have an extra cage, and when I finally got her cleaned up and back in her cage after handfeeding, it was 2am and I needed to get to sleep for getting up at 6am for work. Any advice or input is greatly appreciated!

Thank you,
Willow

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Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Fri Jul 13, 2018 9:00 am


Have you read diarrhea.html? That is the first place to start.

If this is serious diarrhea, you should not assume only food changes will take care of things. You may need veterinary treatment. Start weighing daily if you are not already doing so.

bpatters
And got the T-shirt

Post   » Fri Jul 13, 2018 10:21 am


Ditto Lynx.

But don't take the pellets away. They're mostly hay, and they've got vitamins and minerals she needs.

You should wait until she's been diarrhea free for 48 hours to reintroduce veggies. Then do so one at a time, 48 hours in between each new one, until either she's eating them all with no problem or you've figured out which one causes the problem.

However, as Lynx says, the problem may not be the veggies. She may have an intestinal parasite or infection that needs medication.

I'd give the poop soup daily. If she starts on an antibiotic, give it 60-90 minutes after every dose.

WillowL

Post   » Fri Jul 13, 2018 1:45 pm


Thank you Lynx and bpatters. I’ve read the section on diarrhea, and keep referencing it. I was really worried that it was intestinal, but I did realize last night that I gave her three small slices of yellow squash the night that her symptoms started. Could that be the culprit? She seems fine now. I have a small scale. I’ll try to weigh her on it with a big bowl.

bpatters
And got the T-shirt

Post   » Fri Jul 13, 2018 1:53 pm


Yep, could be the squash.

General rule of thumb. If you're giving a new food, only give a small amount at first, and gradually increase it if there are no problems. Saves a lot of work and worry.

WillowL

Post   » Fri Jul 13, 2018 2:00 pm


Thank you bpatters. I’ll be sure to do that going forward.

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