[Gpdd] [Health]: Rescued Guinea pig with impaction problems

[Penny Charlesworth]

To Jen at the rescue in Orlando.

Fancy your vet not recognising this condition, which is not at all rare.

Impaction is a problem that can develop in boars, usually in later life and 
is caused by the muscles of the anus becoming less strong so that the cecal 
pellets, which make up that lump cannot be expelled. When you pick up an 
impacted boar, some of  normal poos can fall out but he cannot pass them all 
by himself.

You cannot cure it as those muscles cannot be strengthened again and the 
boar will have this for all of his life. You are doing exactly the right 
thing by expelling that lump of cecal pellets yourself as this "emptying" 
must be done or he will not survive.

I have three boars here that need this doing for them. They are a father and 
his two sons and I rather suspect that impaction could be down to a genetic 
issue. Two of them are "emptied" every morning, the third requiring night 
and morning attention but, as you will have found out, it only takes a few 
moments each time and will be a great relief to your boy when it is done.

The necessary vitamins etc. that are present in these cecal pellets will be 
lost so I leave the lump in the pen for them to ingest. Some boars do not do 
this so, when it first occurs, I give them a daily Brewer's Yeast tablet or 
two, crushed into a little water and syringed in for a week or so. After a 
while they seem to eat more of the grains in their dried food and maybe take 
more of their normal poos to make up the difference.

My three impacted boys came from a rotten home but I have, in the past, had 
impacted boars who have lived with me all of their life so your boy's 
previous environment may not be the cause of the impaction. Whatever the 
cause, he needs your help.

Thank you for looking after piggies in need.

Penny and the "Piggyfriends" ( a little piggy sanctuary in England ).