[Gpdd] [HEALTH]<constipated piggies>

[Janneke Staaks]

Hi all,
first of all, penny, it's good to have you back! I read the post about 
diarrhoea induced by antibiotics and i thought, finally, something that í 
can really give advise about because my yaya used to have a lot of diarrhoea 
and then you come and give a better answer than i ever could ;-)
The only thing that is left for me to say is that for yaya, when she has 
diarrhoea, she moves eats and drinks very little. so i usually put a pile of 
hay under her nose to keep those fibres going and syringe her water. For 
yaya, cucumbers are a no-no, they make it worse. but that's not the case for 
every piggy.
I do have a source about constipation in piggies. It is in dutch 
(www.knoevel.nl) so i'll try to translate.

Constipation can be caused by shortage of fibre, lack of excersize or dental 
problems. The main cause however is drinking too little water.

Symptoms: they guinea pig doesn't eat well and is apathic, in an early stage 
the pig will poo but the beans will be hard and dry, in a later stage the 
poos will  be smaller and covered with intestinal slime.
The little poos will usually stick together. the pig will eat less and if 
it's chronic the pig will loose wheight. Consitpation is usually accompanied 
by cramps. and in many cases the pig is dehydrated.

Diagnosis: By just feeling the guts a diagnose can be made. with a 
stethescope one can hear if there are intestinal sounds(which there ought to 
be in healthy pigs) or if its silent (which means that the intestines are 
not moving. To be sure, an x-ray can be made.

Therapy: it is important to get the bowels moving again. Give and infusion 
(drip?) to help with the dehydratation. In the netherlands they give piggies 
primperan to get the bowels moving again (i hope that abroad the name is 
similar) the vet can inject this subcutanuously and the owner can follow up 
with primperandrink (usually the vet has this but it is also available for 
people in a drug store, email me if you want to know about dosage).paraffin 
can be administered orally and rectally as a lubricant.
it is really important that the pig gets enough raw(?) fibre. In case 
neccesary, syringe feeding with science recovery is a good idea to help get 
extra fibres in there.

Warmth and belly rubs can be used as support. Put the animal on a hot water 
bag(not too hot). usually the pig starts to relax after a few minutes and 
one can start the belly rub. make slow circular movements with 1 or 2 
fingers. The left side of the belly is usually less painfull and it's best 
to start there with the massage. from there on, you can slowly work your way 
down to the right side and the underside of the pig. You can also give the 
pig cold fenneltea, which is known for it's ability to get rid of cramps.

janet, from reading your post i think your vet is doing everything that is 
neccesary, but maybe the hot water bottle and massaging are good tips?

Good luck with all the sick piggies!
janneke

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