Diet advice needed after consultation

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Charlie-B23

Post   » Mon Nov 19, 2018 6:05 pm


Hi, i’m Completely new to this site, we’ve been recommended by our vet.
We have a 4year old male called Rhubarb, who is currently having problems with his bowels :(
(This has been an issue for around 5/6 weeks now)
We currently feed him spinach, pepper, cucumber, the odd bit of carrot and apple. He has the standard guinea pig pellets from Pets at home, which our vet has shown concerns over. He also has a constant supply of water and Timothy hay.

Unfortunately Rhubarb has not had the greatest appetite since having this issue and we are struggling to get barely any food down him. He has been checked by a vet today and was otherwise been given a clean bill of health and healthy weight (which we are keeping record of) This dietary change is our only option without/before medicating.

It’s be advised that we change Rhubarb’s diet to something with a little less greens and more fibre, also a higher quality pellet.
Does any one have a little advice about which high fibre foods are best to try, and could also recommend a better quality pellet?
Thank you in advance

bpatters
And got the T-shirt

Post   » Mon Nov 19, 2018 6:42 pm


What kind of issues is he having?

Oxbow makes excellent pellets, and I believe quite a few people in the UK use Burgess pellets.

How many veggies are you giving him?

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Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Mon Nov 19, 2018 9:57 pm


I'll move this to the medical forum for you.

Charlie-B23

Post   » Tue Nov 20, 2018 4:39 am


Thank you.
He isn’t passing number 2’s properly, It’s almost like he gets blocked up and we have to help get it out.
He can still pass a little on his own but the rest builds up, he ends up with a massive lump that you have to squeeze out.

He is given about a cup full a day maybe slightly over, but at the minute barely eats any of it. He’s sad too, not his usual self.

bpatters
And got the T-shirt

Post   » Tue Nov 20, 2018 8:54 am


Male guinea pigs who have not been neutered can have problems with impaction, but squeezing the lump out isn't the way to handle it. The muscles of the sac can be damaged, and that just makes the problem worse.

It may help to cut back some on the vegetables. They tend to make the poop softer, which makes it clump easier.

There's some general information here: https://www.guinealynx.info/impaction.html

Here's a video made by one of our members on how to clean the anal sac and penis:

Charlie-B23

Post   » Tue Nov 20, 2018 12:57 pm


Thanks for the video, The first time we took him to the vet it probably wasn't far off a golf ball size of waste that came out. That was about 5/6 weeks ago.
After coming back yesterday he hasn't been to the toilet for about 24 hours now and has ate about 2 mouth fulls of Apple.
I've cut his veg down but at the moment I'm worried he's not eating anything at all.

Charlie-B23

Post   » Tue Nov 20, 2018 1:06 pm


And thank you for sending the link that is a great way to understand why his body is doing it.
I'll be certainly trying this rather than the vet forcing it out (feel so guilty)
Just got to get gim back eating now :( poor little thing

PiggyFlamingo

Post   » Tue Nov 20, 2018 3:47 pm


Have you tried giving him some Critical Care by hand since he isn't eating as much? With my boys, when the appetites go down due to various issues we have to keep their GI tracts going with Critical Care. I know when my older boys got impacted, we would clean them out every few days as needed but that never affected his appetite or passing "regular" stools. Hope Rhubarb is feeling better soon!

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