Conditions Coprophagy question

Hmm. I know I've seen pigs consume lots of their own regular poo right after a surgery to replace lost minerals/vitamins/etc, but I'd probably be a little concerned if one were doing it regularly like that.

Do you have a vet you trust that you could call and get an opinion from?

Paula said:

Hmm. I know I've seen pigs consume lots of their own regular poo right after a surgery to replace lost minerals/vitamins/etc, but I'd probably be a little concerned if one were doing it regularly like that.

Do you have a vet you trust that you could call and get an opinion from?

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I do. I am going to continue to observe her and see if this continues. I bought Spring Mix lettuce instead of the usual baby lettuces and perhaps it has something to do with that? She seems so normal except for this particular behavior !

Yeah. I don't know that it's necessarily cause for great concern, but it's also not necessarily normal for most pigs I don't think.

On a side note just the other day I saw my Ichabod grab what I think he must have thought was a caecal poo, only to find that it was actually a full sized regular poo. He dropped it and ran to the other side of the cage and kinda sat there for a second, like, "Eww. No one saw that, did they?" Ha! Pigs are the best.

Sophie just went through a bout of constipation.. a week's doses of Reglan, some olive oil and critical care and she was fine. I would quarantine him if I were you, to make sure that he is in fact pooping enough. And certainly get him to a vet.

Well, I put her back in the cage and left Shady out. Busy was in her glory eating everything in sight, pellets, hay and fresh lettuce. I gave her a treat of apple and she ate some of that. I put in fresh apple branches and she got the treat of having them all to herself and eating every bud off them. Something she usually has to compete for.

I shooed her out of the hidey when she was in there and confiscated what I assume is a caecal poo. Not fully formed like the usual poop and sort of mushy.

I called the vet and got the answering service. They open tomorrow at 8 am and I really don't think this is an emergency to call the vet back in, since she IS pooping, just the caecal kind (that is not constipation, right?) and she is eating well. She is napping now, but I will lift the pigaloo in a while and hope to find regular poops.

I read that rabbits have a period of the day that they produce the caecal poop. Is it the same for guinea pigs?

Also, they've had the KM bluegrass for the past week. I never feed it exclusively as they still prefer the Timothy, but that is also a change in diet.

Here is a quote from guinealynx about cecal droppings:

"Cavies may eat the soft cecal feces 150 to 200 times in a day, usually directly from the anus."

So by these standards it doesn't seem excessive if she is still producing normal stools as well.

Checked Busy after dinner and found a large pile of very normal poops in her pigaloo. I was never so glad to see poops in my life. She teased for more food, for some reason she is very hungry, so she got more lettuce and pepper. Shady was glad to go back in the cage as she'd never been out for floor time after dark and was apparently lonely !! Whew. I guess I worry too much. Thanks for advice and concern.

P.S. Busy continues to be the oddest pig. She is the one that is so hard to rouse when sleeping, and becomes almost comatose when she naps, yet bounces around like crazy at other times, being almost manic. Her vet checks are fine, the vet just says all guinea pigs are different. Shady continues to be a "text book" guinea pig, doing all the normal stuff.

Duffinvt said:

. I was never so glad to see poops in my life.

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That made me laugh!