Couch potato pig

[Doras mum]

Hi

I've been lurking for a while & have finally plucked up the courage to join & ask some questions as people on here seem to know their stuff.

I have a 4yo GP who is currently living in the house for various reasons since just before christmas & now if I'm honest I think she's settled & is quite happy being pampered.

Anyway, she wasn't slim to begin with but I think a combination of being the only one, not quite cutting the food amount down correctly (she was one of three outside), being in a smaller pen that before, getting a treat of some sort of fruit or veg whenever she squeaks so generally being spoiled rotten & also being bone idle hasn't helped matters so now she's officiallly FAT.

I've spoken to the vets & they've said calories out must be higher than calories in & to give her more exercise but not much more than that so I could do with some advice as to how much she should be eating & how to encourage her to exercise.

She currently has the wagg complete (pellets) food, a handfull of readigrass daily, hay as & when, plus various bits of veg (a combination of carrots, cabbage, celery, cucumber usually) fed in the evening. She comes out at least once a day for at least an hour at a time with various toys etc & we spread chunks of veg round to try to encourage her to exercise a bit more but she sort of waddles to one chunk & eats it, then has a bit of a kip & then when she's ready waddles to the next thing she fancies.

In short, she's become a couch potato pig - what does anybody suggest?

 

[hazeyg]

Are we sure there's not a medical issue? And how fat are we talking? If she's still popcorning and active and eating no more than she always has I would be inclined to go back to the vets and get some tests done.

 

[Doras mum]

To be perfectly honest I think I've been a bad mother & just done everything you shouldn't i.e. spoiling her while she's been inside.

She is trundling round happily but she is eating more, basically cos we've giving her more (I have a 2-pig sized food cup & I think a lot of days that's what she was getting until we realised & have now stopped that), plus she always gets first dibs on any veg or peelings now and she's not got the other two to keep her trundling round.

She is also in a smaller pen than outside - although she is getting a lot more time out, but she has always been a pig that's happy to sit & watch the world go by when you let her out so she's not running it off either.

The best way to describe her is she's egg shaped but DEFINITELY not pregnant, compared to the rest of my pigs she just looks fat & even for her normally cuddly shape she's wider than use used to be. I don't have an old weight for her but she's currently 1152g.

 

[Wiebke]

You may find this thread helpful: http://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=38805

Generally, an adult piggy only needs about 1/2 - 1 handful of pellets a day. In places like Germany, they are discouraged altogether in favour of a little bit more veg. As far as I can see, their piggies are perfectly healthy and long lived...

Give her just 1 cupful of mixed veg (you can distribute that over the day; or distract any little veg treats you give).

Give her run/roaming time every day and get her moving by calling her over from one side to the other for a bit of veg - if necessary, feed her her dinner that way! At that age, piggies don't run around like mad anymore.

Please include at least once high vitamin C veg in the mix you are feeding (one slice of pepper of any colour, broccoli or occasionally some parsley. Fresh coriander you can feed daily, but it is not all that high in vitamin C). don't give fruit, carrot or lettuce more than 2-3 times a week.

Make sure that she has unlimited hay - up to 80% of her daily food intake should be hay. In the wild, guinea pigs live mostly on dry food and their guts are laid out for that. It is also the best thing to keep their back teeth nicely ground down.

Guinea pigs have a pretty fast metabolism, so she will get a bit fitter sooner.

PS: Please be aware that heart or thyroid problems can cause a sudden weight gain and should be excluded by your vet.

Best of luck!

 

[doglovinpiggylover]

big pigs are ace, isnt that an ok weight for a girly? Lets see some pics then we can give proper advice drool

 

[Wiebke]

PS: Girls can be very pearshaped - if you want to check how fat or bony they are, you need to feel around the upper body. The form and size of the bum is genetically determined.

Some piggies are big by nature. I have one of them - she's 1400g, has a massive bum and is free roaming my living room, so gets plenty of exercise!

Please weigh your girl weekly: http://www.guinealynx.info/weigh.html

If you find that the upper body is very bony, but the bum end very fat, have her checked for ovarian cysts.

 

[Doras mum]

Thanks for the info, I'll print that off for tonight's tea.

Haven't got any current pics, I'll try to sort some.

Had her heart checked just before christmas & it was fine (first thing the vet said was that it was a good strong beat), never thought of thyroid though. I'll ask about that but she doesn't seem to match the symptoms I could find, i.e. putting weight on but eating less, I'd say she's definitely putting it on from eating more.

Is weight gain the only sign of ovarian cysts or is there anything else I should be looking for to give tell the vt if I'm seeing it? I'd never considered it could be anything like that as I'd say she's totally normal in every other way & thought that I'd just been overfeeding. I will check her front end tonight though & see if she feels chubby there too.

Just spoke to hubby, we did weigh her about ten days ago & she'd put on 40g in the ten days between. Good job one of us has a memory

 

[sharonS]

PS: Girls can be very pearshaped - if you want to check how fat or bony they are, you need to feel around the upper body. The form and size of the bum is genetically determined.

Some piggies are big by nature. I have one of them - she's 1400g, has a massive bum and is free roaming my living room, so gets plenty of exercise!

Please weigh your girl weekly: http://www.guinealynx.info/weigh.html

If you find that the upper body is very bony, but the bum end very fat, have her checked for ovarian cysts.

Love the cute bum.