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Special Needs Is my cage making me sick?

gatorgirl

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I've had my cage in my bedroom for a year now and didn't have problems at first. But then I adopted an Abi and her poops are unlike those of my other girls. They're bigger, darker and wetter and always have been. It's just her thing. As a result, when I vacuum her poops, it causes mold to grow in my vac. And sometimes in corners of the cage.

Coincidentally, for the past couple of months, every 4-5 days, I come down with a wicked case of diarrhea and stuffed nose/headache. I'm thinking airborne mold.

I just put two HEPA machines by their cage -- I can't do a total clean out more than every week -- and am hoping it will collect enough for me to breathe free.

Anyone familiar with this sort of issue?
 

LoveMyHerd

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No, [MENTION=29648]gatorgirl[/MENTION], I've never seen something like that. Is it possible that your room is damp? Where do you keep the vacuum?
 

bpatters

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Can't you just empty the vacuum after you use it? Or get a small broom and dustpan to use rather than the vacuum?
 

gatorgirl

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No, @gatorgirl, I've never seen something like that. Is it possible that your room is damp? Where do you keep the vacuum?

The vac is in a bin under the cage. When I'm using it, I especially feel my head block up because, though it has a filter, it's not filtering everything I'm picking up. I'm fairly convinced this is the cause the more I search the web. I think it's systemic mycoses, which is when an airborne mold enters your lungs and can make your digestive tract sick. (As well as any other system.)
 

LoveMyHerd

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Sorry, [MENTION=29648]gatorgirl[/MENTION], I really don't know how to help you. Good luck, though!
 

bpatters

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So glad you've seen the light!
 

pinky

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Use a dust pan and hand broom. When I used fleece, I'd toss my dust pan and hand broom in the washer to keep them clean. I used to use a hand vac but I couldn't get in all the crevices to clean it and it stunk.
 

barbaramudge

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I don't mess with any of that most of the time. Couple times a day I throw on my pretty purple gloves and use my hand to sweep debris into a pile that I pick up and toss. The rubber on the gloves picks up the hair, the poop and the hay from the fleece much better than anything else I've ever used. When I'm done I wipe my gloves down with a wet wipe or paper towel with cleaner on it and hang them back up and then wash my hands.
 

gatorgirl

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Why are you not looking at the most obvious, especially since you have self-diagnosed? You need to have a vacuum that you empty after each use, and one that you can thoroughly wash the inside at least once a week. Of course it is going to be a hazard (not to mention smelly) if you don't use proper hygiene. With the exception of the power unit, everything gets sanitized once a week while I am doing a thorough cage clean.

You say her poops are "bigger, darker, wetter.....that's just her thing". A month ago I probably would have agreed with you........no more. My boy has the same issue and he has difficulty keeping weight on. I carefully gathered a stool sample and off we go to the Vet. After some conversation, he wasn't even interested in the sample. His advice was to look at Chester's diet and cut back on his volumes of veggies that I feed them. (there Dr. Patters....happy now? You were right.) Of course, my ravenous little girl is none too happy that her veggie intake has been cut by 50% in the past few days.


I have four in my herd and they split their single daily salad fairly evenly. You can't tell the other 3 pigs' poops apart. But my Dixie, the Abi, actually eats less than the others as she is the omega and hangs back during the initial frenzy. Her weight is even, she's peppy and shows no signs of ill-health. The very first poops she made in my care before I ever gave her a salad were this way. Are you still convinced that's her "problem"?

As for the first part of your post, I appreciate the tip (if not the tone). I have already come up with a new way to handle the vacuum -- and yes, cleaning it after each use is part of that. I'm also going to spray some Lysol in the receptacle bucket.

I put two large HEPA filter units at the ends of the cage about 4 hours ago and already feel the air is fresher (and my sinuses improving). I'm going to open the window near their cage more often because the temp is ideal for them now that it's "winter" (SO CAL) and it's super dry outside.

Thanks for any ideas!
 

bpatters

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My pig that tends toward soft poops is an abby mix, also. Hmmm, wonder if we're on to something.
 

pigmommy89

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I've only ever had one abby, and she also had the soft poops. Not diarrhea, but softer and smellier than what any of my shorthairs have had. I wonder if the gene that gives them the rosettes also somehow alters the digestive tract? I know genes often have multiple effects, some of which we are not aware of initially. For example, the genes that give munchkin cats their short legs also makes them prone to heart disease. But all you can see from the outside is the short legs. It wasn't until much later that the heart disease trend was identified.
 

gatorgirl

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I think the Abi poop thing might be real... I wouldn't call Dixie's stool loose. The stool is well formed, but large, slightly soft and slick looking. And very dark brown as opposed to my other cavies (a silky, a sheltie and an American) who all poop indistinct, hard medium brown smaller ones.

Thanks for your follow up post, spy9doc. The air filters are making a world of difference. I woke up this morning with open sinuses.
 

gatorgirl

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I meant to do an [MENTION=19714]spy9doc[/MENTION]
Oops.
 

gatorgirl

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The other thing my Abi will do is go into a hidey hut and hang there for hours just watching out the door while she builds a pile of poop under her. My others tend to go poop in the corners of the cage or in the kitchen, but always while in motion!
 

Guinepig

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I've only ever had one abby, and she also had the soft poops. Not diarrhea, but softer and smellier than what any of my shorthairs have had. I wonder if the gene that gives them the rosettes also somehow alters the digestive tract? I know genes often have multiple effects, some of which we are not aware of initially. For example, the genes that give munchkin cats their short legs also makes them prone to heart disease. But all you can see from the outside is the short legs. It wasn't until much later that the heart disease trend was identified.
My abby has poo like that as well. There is nothing wrong with him. He eats drinks water and popcorns whenever I enter the room :D I think it is because he is an abby. The other two are crested and don't have poo like my abbys.
 

gatorgirl

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I value everyone's input, but let's be careful about making generalizations. This is how someone comes up with a theory that somehow seems to morph into a "fact" about cavies. Forgive me, but I have a big aversion to things of this nature, probably because I'm a clinician and researcher.

I have access to virtually any medical database, but cannot gain access to veterinary databases. Do any of you have an "in" with a Vet and can do some clinical research ?

I have an exotics vet I could ask, but I'm not averse to anecdotal responses either. I'm going to put up a poll here to get others' experiences.
 

bpatters

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LoveMyHerd

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I have an Abyssinian mix, and her stools are darker and wetter than most of my other pigs'... I wonder if it's a breed characteristic!
 
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