How to Treat Gastrointestinal Problems in Guinea Pigs
Feed your guinea pig fresh, moist vegetables., Include grass hay in your guinea pig’s diet., Give your guinea pig fresh water., Add plain yogurt to your guinea pig’s diet., Consider giving your guinea pig a probiotic., Add a vitamin C supplement to...
Step-by-Step Guide
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Step 1: Feed your guinea pig fresh
Changing your guinea pig’s diet is one of the best ways to improve your guinea pig’s GI health.
Fresh and moist green vegetables will give your guinea pig the roughage it needs to keep food moving through its GI tract.
Examples of green vegetables are parsley, spinach, collard greens, and romaine lettuce.Vegetables are a good source of important nutrients, like vitamin C.
Rinse the vegetables to remove pesticides.
After rinsing, chop the vegetables into small pieces that your guinea pig can eat easily.
Regularly remove uneaten vegetables from your guinea pig's cage to prevent food spoilage. -
Step 2: moist vegetables.
Grass hay is another great source of roughage for a guinea pig.Examples of grass hay are timothy hay, orchard grass, and oat hay.
Give your guinea pig unlimited grass hay.
Also, feed your guinea pig different types of grass hay so it doesn’t get bored with just one type.Grass hay helps a guinea pig digest its food.
Place the hay in a small rack in the cage so the hay doesn't get contaminated with urine or feces.Look for hay at your local pet store.
The hay should be green and soft. , Fresh water is very important to a guinea pig’s diet.
Make sure your guinea pig has access to fresh water at all times.
If your guinea pig is not able to drink water on its own, your vet will give it fluids by injection.Moist green vegetables will help your guinea pig drink more water., Your guinea pig’s GI tract has a population of healthy (good) bacteria.
With a GI problem, there is more bad bacteria than good bacteria.
Yogurt has a lot of good bacteria that can help your guinea pig’s GI tract become healthy again.
Talk with your vet before adding yogurt to your guinea pig’s diet.Your vet can recommend which yogurt to choose and how much yogurt to feed your guinea pig. , Probiotics are products containing large amounts of healthy bacteria.Like yogurt, probiotics can increase the amount of good bacteria in your guinea pig’s GI tract.
However, probiotics have not been shown to be very effective in small pets like guinea pigs.Talk with your vet about giving your guinea pig a probiotic. , Vitamin C is an important nutrient for guinea pigs that they must get from their diet.
If your guinea pig GI’s problem has caused it to stop eating, it will be deficient in vitamin C.In addition to getting vitamin C from foods like dark leafy greens, your vet may recommend a vitamin C supplement for your guinea pig.
Follow your vet’s instructions for adding the vitamin C supplement to your guinea pig’s diet. , Sugary, starchy foods are not good for guinea pigs.Examples of high-sugar foods to avoid are grapes, raisins, and bananas., With a fresh, healthy diet, your guinea pig should start feeling better, eating more, and pooping more.However, if your guinea pig’s appetite doesn’t improve and you don’t see more feces in the cage, talk to your vet about other feeding options. , If your guinea pig is unable or unwilling to eat food on its own, you will need to feed it with a syringe.
Specific gruel products, like Oxbow Critical Care, provide nutrition for guinea pigs until they get their appetites back and start producing feces again.Use a 1 milliliter syringe to feed your guinea pig.
Holding your guinea pig, place the syringe into the back corner of its mouth.
Slowly empty about ¼ of the syringe at a time into your guinea pig’s mouth.
Allow your guinea pig to swallow the gruel before feeding it more.If purchasing this gruel is not convenient for you, make your own gruel using food your guinea pig would normally eat.
For example, grind up guinea pig pellets and mix them together with vegetables and water to make a gruel. -
Step 3: Include grass hay in your guinea pig’s diet.
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Step 4: Give your guinea pig fresh water.
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Step 5: Add plain yogurt to your guinea pig’s diet.
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Step 6: Consider giving your guinea pig a probiotic.
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Step 7: Add a vitamin C supplement to your guinea pig’s diet.
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Step 8: Do not feed your guinea pig sweet
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Step 9: starchy foods.
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Step 10: Observe an increased appetite and fecal output.
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Step 11: Feed gruel to your guinea pig.
Detailed Guide
Changing your guinea pig’s diet is one of the best ways to improve your guinea pig’s GI health.
Fresh and moist green vegetables will give your guinea pig the roughage it needs to keep food moving through its GI tract.
Examples of green vegetables are parsley, spinach, collard greens, and romaine lettuce.Vegetables are a good source of important nutrients, like vitamin C.
Rinse the vegetables to remove pesticides.
After rinsing, chop the vegetables into small pieces that your guinea pig can eat easily.
Regularly remove uneaten vegetables from your guinea pig's cage to prevent food spoilage.
Grass hay is another great source of roughage for a guinea pig.Examples of grass hay are timothy hay, orchard grass, and oat hay.
Give your guinea pig unlimited grass hay.
Also, feed your guinea pig different types of grass hay so it doesn’t get bored with just one type.Grass hay helps a guinea pig digest its food.
Place the hay in a small rack in the cage so the hay doesn't get contaminated with urine or feces.Look for hay at your local pet store.
The hay should be green and soft. , Fresh water is very important to a guinea pig’s diet.
Make sure your guinea pig has access to fresh water at all times.
If your guinea pig is not able to drink water on its own, your vet will give it fluids by injection.Moist green vegetables will help your guinea pig drink more water., Your guinea pig’s GI tract has a population of healthy (good) bacteria.
With a GI problem, there is more bad bacteria than good bacteria.
Yogurt has a lot of good bacteria that can help your guinea pig’s GI tract become healthy again.
Talk with your vet before adding yogurt to your guinea pig’s diet.Your vet can recommend which yogurt to choose and how much yogurt to feed your guinea pig. , Probiotics are products containing large amounts of healthy bacteria.Like yogurt, probiotics can increase the amount of good bacteria in your guinea pig’s GI tract.
However, probiotics have not been shown to be very effective in small pets like guinea pigs.Talk with your vet about giving your guinea pig a probiotic. , Vitamin C is an important nutrient for guinea pigs that they must get from their diet.
If your guinea pig GI’s problem has caused it to stop eating, it will be deficient in vitamin C.In addition to getting vitamin C from foods like dark leafy greens, your vet may recommend a vitamin C supplement for your guinea pig.
Follow your vet’s instructions for adding the vitamin C supplement to your guinea pig’s diet. , Sugary, starchy foods are not good for guinea pigs.Examples of high-sugar foods to avoid are grapes, raisins, and bananas., With a fresh, healthy diet, your guinea pig should start feeling better, eating more, and pooping more.However, if your guinea pig’s appetite doesn’t improve and you don’t see more feces in the cage, talk to your vet about other feeding options. , If your guinea pig is unable or unwilling to eat food on its own, you will need to feed it with a syringe.
Specific gruel products, like Oxbow Critical Care, provide nutrition for guinea pigs until they get their appetites back and start producing feces again.Use a 1 milliliter syringe to feed your guinea pig.
Holding your guinea pig, place the syringe into the back corner of its mouth.
Slowly empty about ¼ of the syringe at a time into your guinea pig’s mouth.
Allow your guinea pig to swallow the gruel before feeding it more.If purchasing this gruel is not convenient for you, make your own gruel using food your guinea pig would normally eat.
For example, grind up guinea pig pellets and mix them together with vegetables and water to make a gruel.
About the Author
Nathan Gonzales
Committed to making pet care accessible and understandable for everyone.
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