12 Week Old - Loose Stool

[missouritara]

Our 12 week old has had a loose stool for almost 5 days now. We have had him in our home since he was approx. 10 days old. I have given him a drop of Pepto (1 drop/day for 2 days), which seems to firm everything up. Unfortunately the loose stool returns within 24 hours of the Pepto dose. I have also been supplying 3-4 cc of Pedialyte to keep him hydrated. He remains very playful and active, but his bottom looks like it must be very irritated. I have read to look to dietary issues first, so I eliminated any new or possible irritating foods. He had started to have the occasional small apple slice and 1-2 almonds as a treat after healthy foods first, so I cut those completely out at the first sight of diarrhea.

His current daily diet:
4-5 Mazuri rodent blocks
2-3 small broccoli stem slices
A small piece of romaine lettuce or cabbage
2-3 snow peas

I am at a bit of a loss as to how to move forward. Should I start antibiotics or keep him on this simple diet for a bit longer?

Thank you in advance for any insights! Always appreciated.

[Javarat]

I would drop back on the blocks and exclude the snow peas... try 2 blocks per day and no snow peas (sugar snap peas) for a while.
Snow peas are group 3 (high in fat, starch, oxalates) and might be causing the soft stool.

Try varying his food a bit... arugula, bok choy, cauliflower, chinese cabbage, mushrooms.
By 'loose stool' I expect you mean like tooth paste?... or more watery?
Is there any mucus, and any grey or green color to the stool or mucus?
These would indicate a GI infection.

[missouritara]

I would drop back on the blocks and exclude the snow peas... try 2 blocks per day and no snow peas (sugar snap peas) for a while.
Snow peas are group 3 (high in fat, starch, oxalates) and might be causing the soft stool.

Try varying his food a bit... arugula, bok choy, cauliflower, chinese cabbage, mushrooms.
By 'loose stool' I expect you mean like tooth paste?... or more watery?
Is there any mucus, and any grey or green color to the stool or mucus?
These would indicate a GI infection.

He had a much more varied diet before the loose stool began (including arugula and bok choy), but I tried to simplify to determine which foods were potentially causing the loose stool. I'll reintroduce more variety again, as I haven't noticed a difference removing them. I was concerned it was the apple or almonds causing the loose stool as they were the most recent foods I introduced. Thanks so much for the info on snow peas! I'll cut them out and see if that helps.

Yep, his stool is like tooth paste. No mucus or grey/ green discoloration. His bottom is damp and irritated looking, but no blood. It seems like he can't quite control his bowel movements. Prior to the last 5 days he had established a place in his cage where he would urinate/defecate. Recently I have found loose stool in his hammock and on top of his nesting box.

[cava]

If you're going to do an elimination diet experiment you can't remove foods AND add foods at the same time. You won't know what "thing" made a difference.

Start from scratch, blocks and water only for a few days (commercial rodent blocks are the MAIN staple of the diet and meant to be free fed--not including HHB's in this statement). If you still have problems at this very basic level, you may want to try a different or higher quality rodent block. Fresh water and clean bowls are a must, bacteria from a dirty bowl (even if it looks clean) can cause funky poo.

Once poops are where you want them, then you can add ONE veg for a day or two and see how the poops are...then ONE veg after that if poops are normal, etc.

One change at a time while providing the basic nutrition he needs.

Also, if possible, having a stool check is a great idea.

Edit: if he's smearing poo all over and can't control output, he has diarrhea. I'm not an alarmist, but these guys are small and the smaller the animal, the less they can tolerate long bouts of diarrhea (electrolyte and fluid loss). Definitely work on getting to the root of the issue sooner rather than later.

[Spanky]

I see they are no longer getting formula and wondered if the start of the diarrhea might have corresponded to the time frame when they stopped taking formula?

[Javarat]

It is also possible that his stool is loose because of stress.
Noises, movement, continual activity around him (especially when he is trying to nap or sleep) could cause a soft stool.
If he is in a room that continually has people you might try moving him to a quiet room during the middle of the day and at night.
Also limit any exposure to pets, strangers, and children.
Also double check that no one (like kids) is slipping him any treats. (I had one friend whose daughter was sneaking the squirrel pieces of cheese)

[missouritara]

If you're going to do an elimination diet experiment you can't remove foods AND add foods at the same time. You won't know what "thing" made a difference.

Start from scratch, blocks and water only for a few days (commercial rodent blocks are the MAIN staple of the diet and meant to be free fed--not including HHB's in this statement). If you still have problems at this very basic level, you may want to try a different or higher quality rodent block. Fresh water and clean bowls are a must, bacteria from a dirty bowl (even if it looks clean) can cause funky poo.

Once poops are where you want them, then you can add ONE veg for a day or two and see how the poops are...then ONE veg after that if poops are normal, etc.

One change at a time while providing the basic nutrition he needs.

Also, if possible, having a stool check is a great idea.

Edit: if he's smearing poo all over and can't control output, he has diarrhea. I'm not an alarmist, but these guys are small and the smaller the animal, the less they can tolerate long bouts of diarrhea (electrolyte and fluid loss). Definitely work on getting to the root of the issue sooner rather than later.

Thank you for your insights. This was my thinking with returning to a very simple diet (blocks + veggies I know he's had no issues with in the past). He has a hanging water bottle and a bowl that is cleaned every day, so I'm not too concerned that's the root of the issue.

Today stools were much more solid and he's returning to his usual area, so I'm hoping this simplified diet is doing the trick.

[missouritara]

It is also possible that his stool is loose because of stress.
Noises, movement, continual activity around him (especially when he is trying to nap or sleep) could cause a soft stool.
If he is in a room that continually has people you might try moving him to a quiet room during the middle of the day and at night.
Also limit any exposure to pets, strangers, and children.
Also double check that no one (like kids) is slipping him any treats. (I had one friend whose daughter was sneaking the squirrel pieces of cheese)

Thank you for your insights. He is in the quietest room in our house, completely removed from all other pets. The weather was nice here last week and we opened the windows for several days, letting in sounds that he wasn't familiar with. It's definitely possible some of these sounds freaked him out.