Diarrhea Help, smelly poop

[Littlepig]

This is only my second time posting, forgive me if it's in the wrong place. My pig's poo has suddenly gotten quite smelly in the last two days, I could be imagining but it also seems bigger and maybe darker. The only thing I can think of is he had a leaf of Cauliflower two days ago and I've started slowly introducing Oxbow pellets, he is still mostly on burgess pellets. He may also be getting a little less Lettuce as I've read too much can be high in calcium. He seems otherwise healthy, other than waking us up earlier the last week, he seems to be hungrier from about 4 or 5 am, then as soon as everyone is up, he settles down. He is 6 years old, so I'm worried that perhaps something is starting not to function properly, I'm worried what if this becomes diarrhea,though no sign of that now, and I checked him for impaction two days ago.

 

[bpatters]

Stop all veggies until his poop firms up. If it doesn't get firmer, or if it gets worse, in the next day or so, see a vet. Diarrhea is deadly to guinea pigs.

The odor suggests a digestive problem. It may be caused by the cauliflower leaf -- he's far better off eating lettuce than cauliflower leaves. Cauliflower is a member of the brassica family, and it can cause major gas problems.

 

[Littlepig]

The previous owner fed him crazy amounts of vegetables, about a full carrot a day, lots of cauliflower, broccoli, half a cucumber , apple , all in one day. And I've been working so hard for the last two months to give him a variety and the appropriate amount, I just don't understand why his poo has gone from dry and light brown to this.

 

[lissie]

Is he eating any hay?

 

[Littlepig]

Loads, all day, sometimes when he begs for veggies and I decide he's had enough, I give him little bits of hay and he seems to think they're treats. I never see him drink water, but neither did the previous owner who had him from age 3 to 6

 

[lissie]

I would do what bpatters suggested and cut out all veggies. I'd also stop new pellets for now.

Just feed him unlimited hay. He should not be hungry if he is eating hay.

 

[Littlepig]

I will start that immediately, thank you. This won't be easy, I hope he won't be cranky with me for depriving him of his pepper and cucumber and the rest

 

[bpatters]

If his poop clears up, you can start adding veggies back one at a time, 48 hours between each new one.

He probably picked up a bug from one of the veggies. There's no way to sterilize fresh food, and washing it unfortunately doesn't always get all the organisms off of it.

 

[Littlepig]

I've just come home from work and the poo seems a bit firmer, it's breaking in half which I guess is good because that's what it always used to do. It still all seems fresh, as if it's not drying. Not sure if I'm making sense, just comparing to what it was like before. I guess a day without a human to give it vegetables did him good, so I will try to continue, maybe a pinch of ready grass instead of a treat will be OK? I know it's higher in calcium than regular grass, which I only found out after buying 3 rather large bags of different ones. I hope this resolves as he's already been to the vet twice in the last two months, and it's so stressful for him. First for a pedicure, and a second time when I found out about impaction, which he doesn't have, so the vet could show me how to prevent it.
Thanks again for the advice, as a very new first time owner I really appreciate it so much!

 

[bpatters]

No, hold off on any fresh stuff until the poop is back to normal. If the gut is irritated, the fresh stuff will only make it worse.

 

[Littlepig]

Ready grass here is that dried grass stuff. It's also timothy. It looks and feels like hay but greener, so I guess not quite as dried as hay. Should I hold off on it anyway?

 

[bpatters]

I wouldn't change anything you've been feeding except to withhold all fresh food until the poop firms up. Otherwise, you're just introducing unknown variables into the system, and if things don't get better, you won't know whether it's due to the new type of grass.

 

[Littlepig]

OK, will do, thanks again. For now he's munching on extra hay and the usual pellets, so I won't worry about him not getting enough vitamins from vegetables, and he's happy to be hand fed bits of hay instead of peppers

 

[bpatters]

You don't have to worry about a few days without vitamins. And good pellets have all the vitamins added any way.

 

[Littlepig]

He's been drinking a lot of water, this is only the second time I've seen him drinking? Is it just because he hasn't gotten his water from vegetables?

 

[spy9doc]

One needs to be cautious about feeding fresh grass until the cavy digestive system gets accustomed to it. Too much, too soon can definitely cause loose stool and smelly poop.

We have a nice yard in the Spring that is never treated with chemicals, pesticides, or animal waste. My cavies just love the fresh grass, but based on experience, I have to feed it to them in small quantities.

 

[Littlepig]

He's been having small amounts of fresh grass for nearly a month now, but after reading about worms and such, I'm just going to wait until the cat grass I have growing in the kitchen is ready, I will of course stick to small amounts. Oh my god, he is still drinking!! Although only a small amount is gone from the bottle.

 

[bpatters]

I've had two pigs that took drinking by spells. They'd go for weeks without drinking much at all, and then they'd be guzzling it down.

Just watch him. The drinking isn't harmful in and of itself. The most worry accompanying symptom would be significant, steady weight loss.

 

[Littlepig]

I weighed him three days ago and it was the same as always, I will weigh him again tomorrow at floor time just in case

 

[bpatters]

Even if he's dropped weight, it won't be significant as far as the drinking is concerned. You'd need to see a steady decline over several days, or even a couple of weeks.

And weigh at the same time of day, preferably in the morning before breakfast. Otherwise, you're weighing some unknown quantity of food that's been eaten that day, and that causes the weight to look like it's fluctuating even when it's not.