Genitals Difficulty with Poop

[horsenkat]

Recently my guinea pig Jim has displayed a little big of difficultly pooping, wheaking a little when he starts to do so. His poops have also gotten oddly shaped -- they're no longer one smooth, slightly curved shape, but instead are very lumpy, thicker, and less firm. I tried checking his anal area and thought that I might see something wrong, but he struggled a lot in my attempts and I couldn't really get a clear view, nor am I used to looking down there. It seemed like there was something white in his anus, but it wasn't sticking out and didn't seem to match the appearance of impaction in various ways. He is still able to poop, and does poop a reasonable amount, but I'm worried about what may be happening down there. He is a bit of an old man, but the change in feces is a little too sudden to just be aging. We do have him on a prescription of .45 mL of Metacam for pain, but he's been on that for significantly longer than these problems have appeared.

I'm not sure about the other pig living with him, Aiden, is experiences the same difficulties because he never poops / pees when being held, and they obviously live together. I'm pretty sure that he isn't though, since the pigloo that Aiden typically uses has firm pellets, whereas Jim's has more lumpy ones. Their diet and living situations haven't been changed recently, either.

 

[bpatters]

You should be checking him at least weekly to see if everything is ok with his private parts, and cleaning him as necessary. If he has problems, you may have to check and clean daily, or even twice daily. See https://www.guineapigcages.com/forum/threads/85830-Awesome-video-on-how-to-clean-the-Anal-Sac.

The white may be fungus, and it may go away with regular cleaning. If not, we can recommend a cream to use.

As far as the consistency of the poop is concerned, has anything changed about what he's eating and drinking?

 

[horsenkat]

You should be checking him at least weekly to see if everything is ok with his private parts, and cleaning him as necessary. If he has problems, you may have to check and clean daily, or even twice daily. See https://www.guineapigcages.com/forum/threads/85830-Awesome-video-on-how-to-clean-the-Anal-Sac.

The white may be fungus, and it may go away with regular cleaning. If not, we can recommend a cream to use.

As far as the consistency of the poop is concerned, has anything changed about what he's eating and drinking?

Nope, nothing's changed about what he's eating. I'll do those checkups and clean up everything, thanks for the link!

 

[bpatters]

I'd give him some poop soup from the other pig. Cecal poop, if you can get it, is better than fecal, although fecal will work. If you offer him cecal poop, he may just eat it. Otherwise, you'll have to mash it up and syringe it in with some water, or maybe mash it up with some fruit he likes.