[Gpdd] Health: Obstruction/Impaction

[Yuka Persico]

Hello Fellow Slaves :o)

For those of you who recall, our babies that were born on July 15th did in
fact turn out to be all girls :o)  I think they sort of became accustomed to
being checked on a daily basis. So our piggy population went from two to
eight.  They are adorable :o)

On a sadder note, a friend of ours who had one spunky outgoing male guinea
pig called us on Christmas day.  Their piggy was lying on his side,
alternately breathing fast and slow, shivering and then in the end
squealing.  By description he had a large hard mass stuck in his rectum.  It
seemed to be very large in diameter.  I  mentioned lubricating the area with
Vaseline, perhaps soaking his rear end in a small tub of warm water (works
for our bearded dragon), trying to see if the stuck mass could be coaxed or
helped, and just making the pig as comfortable as possible.  I also
suggested going to the vet, but somehow on Christmas of all days - the piggy
never made it to the vet.  I looked on line and found much on impaction -
but nothing that indicated it could be lethal.  He was about three years
old, and mostly on the neglected side Guinea.  In the beginning he got lots
of attention and a modicum of threat, but the last two years his cage was
changed only because it was unbearable, and he received a commercial brand
of pellets that was mixed with colorful bits and seeds (though I did advise
against the seeds, and also for a timothy based pellet like Oxbow or Kaytee
Timothy Pellets).

What do you all think?  How much care needs to paid to male pggies in the
area?  Was this piggy's death unusual?  what else might it have been? Could
it have been prevented?  On line it seemed that impaction was more a
vulnerability ofmale pigs - but are females at risk as well?  My sons has
many friends with piggies, and I would like to warn them in advance if
prevention can be a cure for this malady.

Thank you in advance-

Yuka