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Betsy's lost weight - vet visit Friday

She was rumbling at me when I went to take her from the hutch to the run. She's not done that before. Betsy has always had stronger seasons than the other two poor girl. She is still in good spirits though Ruth.
 
Betsy said:
She was rumbling at me when I went to take her from the hutch to the run. She's not done that before. Betsy has always had stronger seasons than the other two poor girl. She is still in good spirits though Ruth.
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Well that's good then Jacky. It's good that she has a bit of an attitude even though it's not normal for her just because you can see she has the energy to be grumpy. Sending you huge hugs Jacky, I know it's always worrying :( :hug:
 
Betsy's weight was 1097g this morning. She has never weighed such a small amount. At her heaviest she weighed 1358g that was back in May when she was on the grass all day and all week. She used to weigh between 1220 and 1245g. I'll make her an appointment at the vets for first thing Monday. Since she went to the vet 15 days ago and he diagnosed at UTI she has lost 86g. I hope he can get to the bottom of this mystery weight loss. I went out to get some pellets to mush up and syringe feed her but she was eating pellets herself so didn't want to discourage that. I'll weigh her again tonight and top up if necessary. I am now quite worried about her.
 
Hi @Betsy . Is she drinking any more water than normal? The reason I ask is that the piggy in my avatar (Toffee) lost weight, was charging around like she was pumped on caffeine and adrenaline and drinking water like it was going out of fashion. It was rare but a thyroid condition. @BertisKing had a boar who was like greased lightning and losing weight at a rate of knots and he had thyroid trouble. I know it’s rare, but worth mentioning to your vet as a possible consideration.
Can you feed her up on some Emeraid? It’s very calorific and can help build up after weight loss or help to maintain weight. You can buy it on EBay EMERAID HERBIVORE CRITICAL CARE FORMULA 100G FOR SICK RABBIT TORTOISE REPTILE | eBay
 
Betsy said:
Betsy's weight was 1097g this morning. She has never weighed such a small amount. At her heaviest she weighed 1358g that was back in May when she was on the grass all day and all week. She used to weigh between 1220 and 1245g. I'll make her an appointment at the vets for first thing Monday. Since she went to the vet 15 days ago and he diagnosed at UTI she has lost 86g. I hope he can get to the bottom of this mystery weight loss. I went out to get some pellets to mush up and syringe feed her but she was eating pellets herself so didn't want to discourage that. I'll weigh her again tonight and top up if necessary. I am now quite worried about her.
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Hope you get to the bottom of things, it must be very worrying x
 
VickiA said:
Hi @Betsy . Is she drinking any more water than normal? The reason I ask is that the piggy in my avatar (Toffee) lost weight, was charging around like she was pumped on caffeine and adrenaline and drinking water like it was going out of fashion. It was rare but a thyroid condition. @BertisKing had a boar who was like greased lightning and losing weight at a rate of knots and he had thyroid trouble. I know it’s rare, but worth mentioning to your vet as a possible consideration.
Can you feed her up on some Emeraid? It’s very calorific and can help build up after weight loss or help to maintain weight. You can buy it on EBay EMERAID HERBIVORE CRITICAL CARE FORMULA 100G FOR SICK RABBIT TORTOISE REPTILE | eBay
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No she's not drinking any more water than normal and she's not dashing around either. I'll order some emeraid today and she has the first appointment on Monday at the vets with Roxanne.
 
Sorry Betsy is not doing well. My scruff has also lost a lot of weight with suspected UTI. It’s such a worry being a piggie parent :(
Hope you get some answers soon!
 
Guineautopia said:
Sorry Betsy is not doing well. My scruff has also lost a lot of weight with suspected UTI. It’s such a worry being a piggie parent :(
Hope you get some answers soon!
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Same here @Guineautopia! She had Baytril for a suspected UTI when she first went to the vet. Surprisingly she loved Baytril and was quite happy to take it as long as I didn't get her out of her favourite snuggly of the day!
 
I have now ordered the Emeraid but it won't be here until Wednesday or Thursday next week despite me paying for 1st class post. Would it be OK to offer oats in the meantime? If so do I mix them with anything? She still seems to have the voracious appetite that piggies usually have so not sure why she's losing the weight. I'm just about to see how much of the mushed up pellets she'll take.
 
Well that went well! She's just had 11.5ml of mushed up pellets in about 5 mins! Obviously a very hungry young lady! Despite me seeing her eat at every opportunity she still ravenous! I'll give her some tea of oats then tonight before veggeis and then syringe feed again tomorrow morning. When I put her back in the run I popped her on top of they hay tray and gave her pud of a bit of mint and a very long grass stem.:)
 
Really hope the vet can sort out what's wrong with poor Betsy, lots of hugs and healing wheeks (and secret carrots- my fat ladies both gained 20g this week) from Piggle, Puggle, Clover, Jezebel and Theo x
 
Katiedid said:
Have her teeth checked. Jet got like that.
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The vet checked her teeth last time and said they were OK. The front teeth are nice and straight and she's eating normally.:nod: I brought her in by herself before cuddle time tonight and she had a bit of cucumber, some corn husk, a few oats and a few pea flakes before the others came in. I watched her interact with the others and everything was as it usually is all calm one minute and crazy the next.:tu: When they all went back in the hutch for dindins she took a large piece of spring green and ran off with it to eat it in peace.

My OH had a light bulb moment :clap:and suggested that as she can't see that well (she has cataracts developing) the others maybe getting to the food before she can. It is an idea I hadn't considered before. I saw her chomping on loads of hay this morning and this afternoon and she had her fair share of grass and forage too. I'm not sure whats going on as she can still eat for England!
 
I have the same problem with all of my pigs, especially Tia & Gizmo. I separated them off with barriers in the main cage, & they ate like there is no tomorrow.
They have both put on weight although because they eat so much salad they've cut down on the hay. If I cut down on the salad they both lose weight.
Hope Betsy gets well soon.
By the way don't weight them in the morning.
They actually lose weight overnight.
 
Oh I do hope it's just that she can't fight for food amongst her cage mates.

I've always mixed oats for my oldies (and thinnies) with water - was that unnecessary? I'll try without next time (which is hopefully) a while away
 
@Posyrose You can give them regular porridge oats without water. Alot of piggies with dental issues love them. I have a couple of foster boys at the moment that love them.
 
@Betsy It might be worth separating her for at least one meal time a day to see if thay helps. It's time consuming but I get one of my fosters out every evening for his food. He's put on quite a bit of weight since I started.

He doesn't struggle to eat but his cagemate inhales food like the world is ending.
 
Last night I got her out to give her some syringe feed (11.5ml) and she had a few oats and some corn husk as mentioned above.

Betsy scoffing oats.webp



This morning I weighed her and after only 2 syringe feeds she has put on weight:yahoo: Not a lot but at its the first bit of weight in about 6 weeks. I have syringed fed Betsy twice this morning and each time she didn't want me to pull the syringe out of her mouth and was searching for it as soon as she had swallowed the last syringeful. I am reluctant to fully syringe feed her as she is still eating for herself and I want to encourage this. I will be feeding her 3 times a day, morning, noon and night for the time being and getting her out and giving her veggies on her own too.
 
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