How would I know if my guinea boar was impacted?

[PacificDogwod]

Just cleaned the cage - lots of 'normal' GP poo pellets, but also some softer stuff. He seems fine, pop corning in his clean cage, making a bee line for the fresh spinach, seriously pissed off at the toe nail clipping . All normal there. He's 3 btw so not desperately old.

But the soft poo? Do I need to worry? Or just wait and see?

I am worried because we did not spot anything wrong with his brother and simply found him dead one day .

Anyone?

Still no poo
He is usually a poo machine.

Its been a long time since I had Todd, who occasionally had to be held over the toilet and was helped to have a poo. But you can't really miss it. His bum looked bunged up. And the smell, Jesus nothing else like it on earth .

Oh, thanks for responding

There's no smell.
And how on earth do you 'help' him go?
Squeeze him round the middle??
Googling suggests Vaseline and cotton buds and all sorts - I think he'd maul me if I tried any of that!

Poor boy

Impaction (ya can Google some photos if you feel brave mwah ha ) usually has a monster dropping just sitting in the rectum, usually like a load of poohs rolled into a ball , the rectal muscles don't pop them out like losenges, they sit there and clump.

As a Thread Hi-Jack, our GP4 (sow, issues with bleeding at the moment) we found some poohs in the cage like a string of rice with mucous

She's had antibiotics and been ok but we've been away half-term and maybe the change of scene unsettled her a bit though she ate well in boarding.

We gave them all hay pellets and water, this morning her droppings were 'better' not 100% but all single, good shape if smallish.

Maybe with Mr Guinea reduce fresh veg if you think its making him soft but give him a bit of fresh cut grass and extra hay ?

When GP2 had issues they didn't smell as a rule (if he was allowed to get the monster pooh out himself - he did about one a week) but a couple of times I had to do the old cotton wool and warm water if I wanted to cuddle him and didn't fancy wearing it . It smelled like dogmuck which is odd for a vegetarian rodent.

Ha, thank, 70, I was hoping you'd be along

Well, he's pooped, but it's really loose, not the usual 'tidy' GP pellets.

He always has access to hay and I've not changed his fresh food, but yes will hold back a bit until he seems more back to normal.

So, if he was impacted, I'd see his rectum/anus bulging? It would be obvious??

Yes ,you'd know bulging anal sacs, possibly anus having an open appearance. The smell comes when you help piggy pass a big lump of poop which will covered in a white goo. I can't really described how I evacuated the poo but I do remember it involved surgical latex gloves < vom face >

Ok, I've now had my fill of disimpaction videos from YouTube

You'd definitely notice impaction OP.

One of my childhood boars was very prone to it, we used to cover a finger in Vaseline and work the lump out, the smell is, as others have said, truly quite vomtastic.

Definitely try cutting right down on veg and up his hay for a bit, and see if that helps. Worth a vet visit if it doesn't, just for a check up, although I do think that some pigs are just prone to softer poo. My current boar goes through random cycles of normal poo and soft poo for no apparent reason, adjusting his diet makes no difference and he's been like this for as long as I can remember He's 5.5 now and absolutely healthy apart from this, has been vet checked and no problems...just seems to be him (whilst his brother, who died recently, never had any poo issues at all).

Hope it gets sorted soon.

Ok, this boar will NEVER speak to me again!

I got one pellet out, one.
And some more liquid, faecal looking stuff.

I'll see what the night brings....

Thank you, all

Lardy , uncastrated , old boars are more at risk but my GP2 was a slender little Abby (though he had his tackle intact)

I keep telling Bert that the reason the Rescue had him neutered wasn't just to get some mad bat to adopt him allow him to live with Laydeez but to protect his bumhole from going all Ring of Fire like a Johnny Cash song.

Bert is suitably impressed by this little nugget of info.

70, ours is a fat Rex, but he's only 3 (or thereabouts, was a rescue but came to us still all small and babyish ) so his age must be right, give or take a few weeks maybe).

I don't dare to suggest neutering to him, he is judging me severely for today molestation...

We use cotton wool buds and gently squeeze it out. He doesn't complain so it either doesn't hurt or he's a perverted old man

Well, he's still here, but not much normal poo in his cage.

😟