[Gpdd] HEALTH: Sparkles has soft poo

[Cazza177]

Dear Corrine and Michael

My BG had this soft pooh issue -- a bit like cow pats. I tried cutting down 
on greens and it helped a bit, but didn't make the problem go away. I never 
did figure out exactly what was causing it. I expect you already know this, 
but lettuce can make a gp's poohs go a bit soft, so maybe try cutting those 
out for a few days (if you offer them), and see if that makes a difference.

I don't know of Sulfatrim, but gp's should never be on drugs for more time 
that is absoultely necessary as it can cause other issues, such as kidney 
complaints, so if the issue persists, you could try charcoal powder or 
charcoal tables. This was suggested to me for BG by Vedra at the Cambridge 
Cavy Trust. If you use the powder, it should be three quarters of a TEAspoon 
a day until symtoms improve. If you use the tablets, then three quarters of 
one of those, once a day until symptoms improve (you can crush the tablet 
between the backs of two spoons). You can mix the powder (tasteless) with a 
little mashed banana or Critical Care and syringe in. I had to play around 
with the dosage a bit with BG, as I found that I could go a few days before 
needing to offer the charcoal again. (Be aware, Sparkles poohs will appear 
very dark while on the charcoal).

Does she eat a good amount of hay and dried food? If for some reason she has 
dropped off on eating as much of them, that could be at least part of the 
reason.

As well as the charcoal, you could also try giving Sparkles some probiotics 
to help with her gut flora, as if that goes a bit awry that can cause soft 
poohs.

I was never keen on the idea of making BG have less fresh veg, but I did cut 
back on fresh fruit, as that can make a gp loose. I watched BG for ages to 
see how he ate, and I couldn't see that he wasn't eating the right amounts 
of all his variety of foods (dry and fresh) the way he always had, and I 
never got to the bottom (excuse the pun!), of why his poohs got soft.

Please keep us in the loop on the Digest of how Sparkles is getting on.

Kind regards

Carole