Injury Advil & Zyrtec's Medical Thread

It's too fuzzy, and we can't tell where on the pig it is. Show where it is in relation to the legs or something.

Are you sure it's not the grease gland?

bpatters said:

It's too fuzzy, and we can't tell where on the pig it is. Show where it is in relation to the legs or something.

Are you sure it's not the grease gland?

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It looks like a grease gland - based on what looks to be the right hand leg is in the photo. Perhaps it's not hair covered poop but just solidified grease stuck on hair...


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@cflanaga @bpatters I'm pretty sure it's the grease gland, I searched up pictures of it and the pictures match. Could you look farther up on my thread to see the picture of the thing I took out of the grease gland? Do you think that's solidified grease or poop? Do you have any guesses of what the flattened poop(?) I find covered with hair in my cage from time to time is?

Probably solidified gunk.

You can clean the grease gland by massaging some coconut oil into it to soften the gunk, then wash it with a drop of Dawn detergent. Just be sure to rinse well afterwards.

Some pigs have active grease glands, others don't.

Hi guys, I've been seeing harder calcium deposits on my fleece. Some calcium deposits are smooth and light, but some are pretty hard. I'm not sure if it's sludge and I don't think it is. Does sludge harden into a hard calcium deposits or am I always gonna be able to rub urinary sludge between my fingers? Are harder calcium deposits a step below sludge?

I've been feeding 2 leaves of romaine or green lettuce, a baby carrot, a big chunk of cucumber, 1 leaf of radicchio, and 1/8 or more of green pepper. I feed oxbow timothy hay and sherwood pellets. I know sherwood pellets have a lot of calcium, but my guinea pigs take 4-5 days to finish just a 1/8 cup of pellets, so their calcium intake might be even lower than Oxbow pellets when they used to get 1/4 of a cup everyday. The results with Sherwood pellets are amazing, I don't think I could go back. My cage finally doesn't stink, my piggies have more energy, their poops are so much healthier(aside from the occasional light brown poops), and my piggies have overall better fur, etc. I've tried switching to oxbow for a while to see if there would less calcium deposits, but I couldn't stick to it because immediately my pig's poops dropped less than 1/2 in size. I didn't want to stick around to see what else would happen, so I went back to Sherwood, and in 2 days my piggies' poops are bigger than ever.

ATM I'm not sure who is responsible for peeing hard calcium deposits, but I think it's the pig that never drinks water. He's probably not flushing out his bladder as much as the other guinea pig, so I'm guessing there's more calcium in his bladder when he eventually pees. I've tried to syringe feed some water, but my pig just lets the water fall right of his mouth.

Any help on what I should do? I really hope my pig is not a step away from a bladder stone.

Stop the romaine. It causes some pigs to excrete large amounts of urinary calcium, while other pigs are not affected. Red or green leaf lettuce is a better choice.

And I'd stop the pellets altogether until you get the calcium problem cleared up. If it clears entirely, you can try adding the pellets back to see if they contribute in any way to the calcium problem.

@bpatters does an increase in calcium in the bladder cause harder calcium deposits, and does even more calcium build-up lead to sludge? Is gritty sludge more serious then hard calcium deposits?

Do you have any suggestions on how to make my pigs flush our their bladder more often?

Gritty sludge and hard calcium deposits are both problematic. I don't know that one is worse than the other, but I wouldn't want to have either one.

You can try to encourage them to drink more, and exercise will help. But you really need to figure out what food is causing all that extra calcium and adjust their diet. Don't forget to include their water while you're investigating.

bpatters said:

Gritty sludge and hard calcium deposits are both problematic. I don't know that one is worse than the other, but I wouldn't want to have either one.

You can try to encourage them to drink more, and exercise will help. But you really need to figure out what food is causing all that extra calcium and adjust their diet. Don't forget to include their water while you're investigating.

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Would you suggest urinary support tablets? Have you had any success with them?

I tried them. One of the pigs developed a bladder stone while taking them.

Hi guys,
Ever since 4 months ago when I got my boars. My guinea pig has always eaten slower than his roommate. It was never too slow, so I thought slower eating just came with age. Now that I think about it, this could be a sign of dental problem.

These are guinea lynx's questions that I answered to determine malocclusion:

• Does your guinea pig seem to work at chewing like he has something caught in his mouth that he or she is trying to unstick?
• No(?) I'm not sure what that means
• Is there exaggerated ear movement when he chews?
• No, just a little shake
• Is there discharge from the eyes or nose (can indicate an abscess)?
• No
• Does he seem to chew to one side?
• Yes, my pig eats hay on his right side most of the time. I've seen moments where he chewed on his left side and in the middle too. I'm not sure about which side he chews veggies.
• Are the front teeth even and lined up?
• Yes
• Does he eat at the same rate/speed the other pigs eat at?
• No, but today both my pigs finished the same size baby carrot at the same time. If I were to put 8 chunks of pepper in their cage, both pigs would eat fast enough to get 4 chunks each.
• Can he rip and tear?
• Yes
• Can he eat the peel as well as the apple from an apple slice?
• Yes
• Does he chew (carrots in particular) and let little pieces drop out of his mouth?
• He used to, but not anymore. Both my pigs actually left bits of baby carrot in their cage. They stopped doing it when I used actual chunks of carrot and when I started washing the baby carrots.
• Does he pick up a pellet in his mouth and let it drop out again?
• No
• Does he show great interest in food, yet not eat?
• No
• Is he steadily losing weight?
• No, my pig has gained weight
• Is he drooling?
• No

What to note is that my pig eats slightly slower than my other pig, and my pig chews hay to one side.

For 4 months my guinea pig has not showed any other signs of getting worse, and no new symptoms have occurred. Do you guys think this is a dental problem?

So why do you think he has a dental problem?

As a piggy parent dealing with a boar with malocclusion, I can tell you almost unequivocally, that a pig with an uncorrected dental problem will NOT gain weight. It's been very difficult for me to get an adult pig to gain weight who has had his dental problem corrected.

All of the questions you've answered no to are all hallmarks of malocclusion with a guinea pig. While it will start out slow, the signs will manifest themselves. You just need to be on the lookout for them.

Both of my younger pigs eat MUCH faster than my elderly boar who has the dental problem. As in, it takes him about 15 minutes to eat a slice of red pepper, whereas it takes my 18 month old boars roughly 3-4 minutes. One will more than likely eat faster than the other.

I think you just may be overthinking things.

Thank you. This makes me relieved. I found it weird that my pig would only ingest hay on one side of his mouth. He also has a harder time biting into a vitamin c tablet. He bites with the tablet more on his right side. I'll keep my eyes peeled for any other signs. Thank you again.

I've never used the vitamin c tablets. I prefer adding a few Vita drops and syringing it, or a few drops in Slys evening "cookie". Are they rock hard? If they are, that could very well be why.

Hi guys,
Today my boar pooped a super big and healthy poop, and then he pooped a very tiny one right after. It was about a half of a centimeter. Then, he did it again, one poop was super long and big, and the poop right after was tinier than I've ever seen before. I've never seen this happen before. Does anyone know what this is?

My pigs' poop is generally super good. There are always a few poops here and there that are shorter and thinner, but it's mostly good. There was a day when my pig(s)' poops were half in size and tapered at one end, but it went back to normal the next day. I think inconsistent poops may be related to the shortage of hay my piggies have when I come back from school, but I'm not sure.

I've also been noticing a fair amount of poops that are flat. They are a good and color, size, and length, it's just flat. I've read somewhere that not feeding cucumber could help, but I'm hesitant about that because one of my pigs doesn't drink water.

In summary, my 3 questions are:
-What is the cause for my pig pooping normal sized poops and then extremely tiny ones right after?
-Is there any way to prevent inconsistent poops with my pigs
-Why are my pigs' poop sometimes flat and how do I fix it?
Thanks


Update on my calcium deposits: I stopped feeding romaine lettuce like I was suggested, and I haven't seen any sludge or hard calcium deposits since

I wouldn't worry about it unless it continues over a period of days.

Why aren't you putting enough hay in the cage to last all day? Pigs should never be without hay.

bpatters said:

I wouldn't worry about it unless it continues over a period of days.

Why aren't you putting enough hay in the cage to last all day? Pigs should never be without hay.

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I'm sorry I worded it wrong. I put 2 huge handfuls of hay in the cage, it definitely lasts them until I get back from school. By shortage of hay I meant there's a shortage of hay that they want to eat, it's like my pigs are picky with my current batch of hay and eat less hay with the hay I gave them in the morning after a few hours. When I add more hay, my pigs eat a lot more. Sorry for the misunderstanding, my pigs will always have access hay.

The flat poops I've been noticing have been reoccurring for a few days now. I don't know what the cause is and what these flat poops mean. Any ideas about what this is and how to stop it?

Has anything at all changed about their diet? Are you checking his anal sac routinely to see if it needs to be cleaned?

Is it possible the flat poops have simply been stepped on?