gel like balls and wet nose

Question
QUESTION: Hi, 2 of our piggys died from suspected URI, the 3rd one was ok (a little slow) and left eye a little wet and closing a bit, we have him on Baytril and he seemed to be getting better, but now his is not eating (we have been feeding every 5 hours critical care) and he has a hard gel like substance coming from his penis.  Is he ok?  Does he need to see another vet?  I am really worried, thanks

ANSWER: I hope I am not too late with this response.  It sounds like he is in very ill condition. If the gel like substance you describe is a thick white substance it sounds like semen. Sometimes during the last hours this will happen to a boar. I have no explanation why. Perhaps it's much like humans during their last moments that will lose control of their bowels.  It's a very bad sign. If he is still alive when you read this you may indeed want to take him to a vet for confirmation.

The hardest part of caring for guinea pigs is that they are very stoic about their illnesses and often don't show us they're ill until it's too late. That's why so often antibiotics are given in vain, because the poor animal has already passed the point of no return.  Call your vet and see if he can give you anymore insight on this.

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QUESTION: Hi, thank you, he seems to be fairly happy and moving around and fairly strong.  I checked this morning and he did lots of poo, they have returned to normal size, a little moister/darker than normal but better.  The gel stuff is gone.
He still purrs and body temp has gone up since the last day or so.

Do you still think he requires a vet?  We took him to one when the others boys were sick and he checked out fine but we gave him antibiotics to be sure.
Thank you PS the white stuff perhaps was coming from his bum, it is like a flexible but hard gel type substance.

ANSWER: I'm glad to hear he's doing better. When guinea pigs don't feel good they stop eating. So eating and drinking is a good sign, so is the return the normal poo. At this point there probably isn't much more a vet can offer, so if it were my animal I would wait and see.

Because of cavy anatomy it's often difficult to tell where some of the substances come from. What you are describing (flexible, hard gel substance) sounds exactly like semen. It can be compared to the glue from a hot glue gun in its consistency. If it happens to land on the wrong spot on a sow it usually means she loses some of her hair getting it off. So I still think that's probably what it was.

Boars have a sac located between the testes that seems to catch everything but the car keys. It also exudes a white sticky and very smelly matter that sometimes gets trapped in the pouch.  I suppose the sows find the odor attractive. Humans do not.

If the pouch is full the easiest way to clean it out is to turn on the faucet, run some lukewarm water and holding the pig in your hands hold his belly up to the running water and let it run into the pouch. It will quickly was away any debris in there, including most of that gooey white secretion. If you need to you can take a Q-tip and very gently (and I mean very gently) wipe most of the remaining out of there. Be cautious not to go too deep. The rectal opening is also in there and you don't want to hurt him.  

Sounds like you've done a good job and he is getting better. With the loose poo I wonder if perhaps his problem was digestive. Maybe got too many veggies or ? Whatever it was let's hope it's over for both of you. Nothing is harder than losing a thing you love.  

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Hi, yes you are right like a glue gun, why did it come out?  There was a bit for a little piggy.  Do i need to clean him with warm water (i cannot see any more stuff there?)

I will continue to feed him, i spoke with 2 proper cavy vets and can go there tonight if i am worried.
I think he is getting better slowly.

PS I brought our new little piggy within view (not able to touch or sit on anything he was on) and they started talking. LOL

Any idea how long it takes for him to feed on his own?  Its been 3 days since the others died and i'm hand feeding him.  The vet says gut stasys NOT URI for sure.

Thank you for your time

Answer
Losing bodily control is something that happens whether we want it to or not. It's an involuntary response, not a sexual act of any kind. He simply lost control and couldn't help it. And you're right, it seems like a large amount for such a small body, but that's normal for cavies.

Things like that happen when they are very stressed, and illness certainly is a serious stress. I suppose you could compare it to vomiting so hard that causes your body to lose control of your bowels at the same time.

I'm glad to hear the vet doesn't think it's respiratory. I agree, it sounds like something has attacked the gut. Humans get these things and we end up with diarrhea and a belly ache. It's hard to get over. Continue feeding him the Critical Care. I think it would be wise to increase the feedings to every two hours. Cavies tend to eat very frequentlly. Small amounts more often may give him more strength.  He needs all the nutrients he can get. Don't offer any veggies or fruits, that may make it worse.

If he is drinking that's a good sign. It might be a good idea to use bottle water for him, just on the outside chance that there was something in the water that made them sick in the first place. Microscopic parasites can live in water and make us sick very quickly. A tiny cavy body will react even quicker.

Let's keep our fingers crossed that he's going to get over this hump and return to health. If you need to you can use a syringe and drop water into the side of his mouth a drop at a time. Don't try to force it down his throat or he can easily aspirate and get it in the lungs. By putting it on the side of his tongue he will lick it down. Most importantly, don't try to give too much at one time. A drop or two every few minutes is enough. The goal is to keep him hydrated.

It's good you have a vet close by that can help. Just another question: is there any chance you got some feed that was moldy or bad? And you aren't feeding rabbit food are you? Rabbit pellets have antibiotics in some feeds. Cavies cannot tolerate them and they destroy the normal bacteria in the gut, leading to secondary infections that will kill a cavy. So you want to always feed just cavy pellets.  If you purchase pellets with rabbits and other animals on the bag be careful to read the label and make sure there are no antibiotics added.

My fingers are crossed for the little guy. He's had a rough enough time already.  Let's keep good thoughts for him.