[Gpdd] Health: Diarrhoea in Sooty all the time (for years now)

[Penny Charlesworth]

Hi Julie,

Back from work now so I can continue to write about diarrhoea. I don't
usually work on a Sunday but I am frantically trying to get all the work
done before we go on holiday next week and today I was able to have the
help of one of my sons to shift big rocks.

If you can buy liquid Imodium, the piggy dose is ( as most things are )
0.4ml by syringe. Give it once and see what happens. As with the capsules,
it is very binding and you do not want to overdo it.

It could well be that Sooty's diarrhoea cannot be improved but there are
several home remedies that you could try before going on to antibiotics,
which, in themselves, can cause upset poo.

I keep ground arrowroot in the piggy first aid box. It is a thickener for
cooking and I get it from the local supermarket, where it is kept along
with cake ingredients. When I was little, children were given this when
they had diarrhoea, either as the powder or made into biscuits. I don't
know if people still do this but my husband vividly remembers how horrible
it tasted. Piggies don't seem to mind it. A large pinch of the powder mixed
with a little water can be given by syringe and can help a piggy who
suddenly develops soft poo but doesn't have any nasty symptoms such as a
fluffed up coat or a disinterest in food.

You could try giving Sooty the probiotic of your choice or a daily Brewer's
Yeast tablet, which can have the desired effect.

It does sound as though Sooty's problem is not going to go away in a hurry.
My Florence started having soft poo a few weeks ago. She is a large and
chunky piggy with the appetite to match and was certainly not off her food.
After trying the usual remedies, she had a check up at the Rodentologists,
who could find nothing wrong with her other than poo with the consistency
of chocolate frosting. Not as bad as Sooty's output but enough to make her
messy. She is a fluffy girl with a medium length coat which does not need
trimming but long enough for her to need a frequent clean at the moment. If
you have the Undercover Piggies calendar, she is Agent Firenze in March and
you can see that she would get herself into a bit of a mess.

They suggested the following. She was to have no veggies or grass
whatsoever for three days. A bit of a worry as she would not be receiving
her usual dose of Vit C but it was only for a short time. She could only
have hay, her dry food and bran. A dry food has to be used that contains no
fancy bits or colours such as is in Gerty has but my mix would be fine. Our
Rodentologist gave me a bag of bran. It has to be given dry and I did not
think that Florence would eat it as it looked most unappetising. The last
time that I used bran was when I fed someone's rabbits for a weekend and
they had a dish of bran mixed with hot water.

I put a small cage into her pen so that she could still interact with her
friends but not get at the veggies but she looked so sad when they got
their usual goodies and she only got bran and dry food that, after a day, I
took the cage out again. I was surprised to see her eating the bran but she
did not have a lot of choice. We stuck it out for three days, although I
did give in and let her have a little slice of carrot. Each day, her poo
improved until, on the third day, there was some actual shape to it. Then I
put her back with her group. There has been some relapse but they are still
poo shaped and she is still needing a bit of a clean up. If I were not
going away next week, I think that I would try her on the "starvation" diet
for maybe one day a week but I don't want to overburden my excellent
pigsitter so that will wait until I get home again.

Anyway, this is worth a try for any piggy with diarrhoea that does not
present with other symptoms. Florence did not think much of it but she does
not have to clear up the mess.

She is currently making up for lost eating time by scoffing everything in
sight.

Just a thought about Sooty. Has he had his teeth checked recently? Maybe he
is not eating enough hay.

All the best.

Penny and the Piggyfriends.

The usual disclaimer applies.