removing dried poop from the butt

Question
My pig (thumper) has dried fecal matter around his rectum, How do i remove it? Or will this hurt him in any way.... Best Regards, Rod

Answer
Hi Rod,

How old is Thumper? If he's an old piggy, it sounds like he's got an impacted rectum, in which case it's a condition for life so you're going to be removing lots of poop! It's nothing to worry about though, and if he's healthy in every other way, and you remove the faeces for him every two days, he will go on to live out his full life span. I recommend you get yourself a copy of "Piggy Potions" by Peter Gurney, which details how to do this, and also suggests treatments to help your guinea pig.

Here is an online version of the late great Peter's advice so you can get started straight away: http://www.oginet.com/pgurney/analimpact.htm

Not to scare you, but if you don't remove the dried poop for your piggy, he will die, as he needs to reinjest some of those pellets to keep up his vitamin intake. You may have noticed him ducking his head between his legs in the past to eat one of these "special poops". It is important that you offer some of the less-dried poops to Thumper, and he will readily eat the ones that he is supposed to!

If you have any other questions, please don't hesitate to ask.

Good luck with Thumper and I hope you and he have many more years together!

Best wishes,
Jenny.