Hi everyone
My older girlie Misty has been very strange of late. She is 5 years old now, old I'm told for a guinea pig. She has been eating her hay and her pellets fine, the past few days and she has been drinking and passing fine but she appears to sleep a fair bit more than she used to. A few weeks ago she suddenly stopped taking treats from us. She used to get chocolate drops in the morning and evening and would religiously stand at the front of her cage and chew on the bars of the cage until she got one. She doesn't do this anymore and she very rarely takes treats from us now. She does, just not as often. She just appears so tired all the time and she lays down and sleeps a lot. I don't know if this could be associated with her age or whether it could be something else. She is chattering a bit but not grinding, as in pain and she is eating, drinking and passing absolutely fine. I didn't want to take her to the vets as she wasn't showing any signs of immediate danger and she was doing all the things she should be doing absolutely fine just sleeping a lot. Any ideas? Is it just her age creeping up on her? Also meant to add that I've been hearing her stomach rumbling a little bit as well. I've heard what appears to be wind....I know that might sound weird but I'm certain she has been passing wind :S She did lose a little weight but not much and she was a very large guinea pig beforehand so thats not a major concern for me. I think I can rule out bloat as she hasn't got a bloated stomach and we've had bloat before and she isn't behaving the same as the others did and this has been going on for well over a week now and I know all the other guineas we've had who suffered with bloat we lost very quickly. Any ideas?
My older girlie Misty has been very strange of late. She is 5 years old now, old I'm told for a guinea pig. She has been eating her hay and her pellets fine, the past few days and she has been drinking and passing fine but she appears to sleep a fair bit more than she used to. A few weeks ago she suddenly stopped taking treats from us. She used to get chocolate drops in the morning and evening and would religiously stand at the front of her cage and chew on the bars of the cage until she got one. She doesn't do this anymore and she very rarely takes treats from us now. She does, just not as often. She just appears so tired all the time and she lays down and sleeps a lot. I don't know if this could be associated with her age or whether it could be something else. She is chattering a bit but not grinding, as in pain and she is eating, drinking and passing absolutely fine. I didn't want to take her to the vets as she wasn't showing any signs of immediate danger and she was doing all the things she should be doing absolutely fine just sleeping a lot. Any ideas? Is it just her age creeping up on her? Also meant to add that I've been hearing her stomach rumbling a little bit as well. I've heard what appears to be wind....I know that might sound weird but I'm certain she has been passing wind :S She did lose a little weight but not much and she was a very large guinea pig beforehand so thats not a major concern for me. I think I can rule out bloat as she hasn't got a bloated stomach and we've had bloat before and she isn't behaving the same as the others did and this has been going on for well over a week now and I know all the other guineas we've had who suffered with bloat we lost very quickly. Any ideas?
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Everything sounds pretty normal like you said - other than the sleeping. I don't have much advice other than keep an eye on her and look for any changes that may occur. Maybe you should take her out and check her all over (eyes, ears, etc.) incase there are any signs you've missed. I've heard that as some guineas age, they will sleep more. It doesn't sound that alarming, but as I've said, keep a close eye on her.