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Continuous weight loss over 4 months

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Hi,
My fatty 3-year old female piggy had continuous weight loss over the past 4 months. She was 1200g and she is now 980g.

She had her first tummy upset in January, when her fellow piggy was separated for a surgery. Since then, I only feed her very few fresh veges, and cut down the pellets amount. I also feed her Bene-Bac. But she still sometimes have soft pop and continue losing weight. When she was about 1080g, I brought her to the vet, but didn't find out any underlying issues. Since then, I feed her 1g of Bene-Bac and half piece of Oxbow Natural Science Digestive Support every day.

She is still very energetic. Every time I show up, she will run towards me and stand up to beg for food. But if I give her hay, she will throw it away and continue standing and begging. She is now very picky on hay, and prefer hard stems to soft leafs, which is opposite from her normal self. She will sniff on each hay and pick only one. Though she is still eating on her own, I believe she is not having enough food. She is on Timothy hay, a spoon of pellets and tiny piece of vege each day. I also give her VC supplements, as she doesn't have enough veges.

Could anybody suggest what I should do? Am I feeding her right and is there any good ways to gain weight without upsetting her digestive system? Or any advice on possible reason for losing weight? Thank you!
 
Hi,
My fatty 3-year old female piggy had continuous weight loss over the past 4 months. She was 1200g and she is now 980g.

She had her first tummy upset in January, when her fellow piggy was separated for a surgery. Since then, I only feed her very few fresh veges, and cut down the pellets amount. I also feed her Bene-Bac. But she still sometimes have soft pop and continue losing weight. When she was about 1080g, I brought her to the vet, but didn't find out any underlying issues. Since then, I feed her 1g of Bene-Bac and half piece of Oxbow Natural Science Digestive Support every day.

She is still very energetic. Every time I show up, she will run towards me and stand up to beg for food. But if I give her hay, she will throw it away and continue standing and begging. She is now very picky on hay, and prefer hard stems to soft leafs, which is opposite from her normal self. She will sniff on each hay and pick only one. Though she is still eating on her own, I believe she is not having enough food. She is on Timothy hay, a spoon of pellets and tiny piece of vege each day. I also give her VC supplements, as she doesn't have enough veges.

Could anybody suggest what I should do? Am I feeding her right and is there any good ways to gain weight without upsetting her digestive system? Or any advice on possible reason for losing weight? Thank you!

Hi!

Has your vet checked her teeth? Being picking on hay in connection with a gradual weight loss can point toward dental overgrowth in the premolar and molars.
It is the very abrasive silica in hay and grass that guinea pig teeth have evolved against; it means that they and their cousins, the capybaras, have the fastest growing teeth of all rodents. When the back teeth (who do the chewing while the incisors are for picking up and cutting) are not ground down enough, the premolars can develop spurs that can arch over the tongue and trap it or (more rarely) painfully grow into the cheek.

Mystery weight loss is an extremely wide field, but personally I would start with the back teeth and with the gut if she has been on a diet with insufficient hay for a quite a while.
 
Hi!

Has your vet checked her teeth? Being picking on hay in connection with a gradual weight loss can point toward dental overgrowth in the premolar and molars.
It is the very abrasive silica in hay and grass that guinea pig teeth have evolved against; it means that they and their cousins, the capybaras, have the fastest growing teeth of all rodents. When the back teeth (who do the chewing while the incisors are for picking up and cutting) are not ground down enough, the premolars can develop spurs that can arch over the tongue and trap it or (more rarely) painfully grow into the cheek.

Mystery weight loss is an extremely wide field, but personally I would start with the back teeth and with the gut if she has been on a diet with insufficient hay for a quite a while.
Thank you so much for your reply! Yes the vet checked her teeth at that time, and didn't find any issue. When my other guinea pig had molar overgrowth, she preferred soft food. But this piggy prefer hard food, especially the very hard trunk of the hay, which she would never eat in the past.
 
Thank you so much for your reply! Yes the vet checked her teeth at that time, and didn't find any issue. When my other guinea pig had molar overgrowth, she preferred soft food. But this piggy prefer hard food, especially the very hard trunk of the hay, which she would never eat in the past.

Not eating enough and being picky about food, especially hay, usually means that there is either a problem with the digestion/nutrient processing or there is a underlying pain/discomfort issue somewhere that may have knock-on effects.
Unfortunately mystery weight loss and picky eating is a very wide field.

How long since your vet has checked the teeth? Would an x-ray or scan help to spot a problem (one of my mystery weight losers was found to have a very distended gas filled stomach but normal gut, which only showed up in an x-ray)? Has your vet checked for a thickened bowel (IBS) or rather edgy behaviour (hyperthyroid)?
Unfortunately all I can do is guess wildly... :(

Until then, please offer top up feed, as much as she will have to help stabilise her weight.
 
Not eating enough and being picky about food, especially hay, usually means that there is either a problem with the digestion/nutrient processing or there is a underlying pain/discomfort issue somewhere that may have knock-on effects.
Unfortunately mystery weight loss and picky eating is a very wide field.

How long since your vet has checked the teeth? Would an x-ray or scan help to spot a problem (one of my mystery weight losers was found to have a very distended gas filled stomach but normal gut, which only showed up in an x-ray)? Has your vet checked for a thickened bowel (IBS) or rather edgy behaviour (hyperthyroid)?
Unfortunately all I can do is guess wildly... :(

Until then, please offer top up feed, as much as she will have to help stabilise her weight.
My last vet visit was one and a half month ago. Thank you for your advice! I will schedule another vet appointment.
For now, can I feed regular amount of pellets and veges? She seems to be really interested in these. But I am also afraid that it will make her have even less hay.
 
My last vet visit was one and a half month ago. Thank you for your advice! I will schedule another vet appointment.
For now, can I feed regular amount of pellets and veges? She seems to be really interested in these. But I am also afraid that it will make her have even less hay.

I would try to offer more hay based recovery formula if she takes that rather than more pellets. Have you considered trying other varieties of hay or dry forage?
A Comprehensive Hay Guide for Guinea Pigs (incl. providers in several countries)
 
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