• Discussions taking place within this forum are intended for the purpose of assisting you in discussing options with your vet. Any other use of advice given here is done so at your risk, is solely your responsibility and not that of this forum or its owner. Before posting it is your responsibility you abide by this Statement

Diabetes in guinea pigs?

Status
Not open for further replies.
Shellza

Shellza

Adult Guinea Pig
Joined
Aug 15, 2010
Messages
3,719
Reaction score
2
Points
510
Location
Oxfordshire
I've been trying to think lately why Indy was losing so much weight a couple of months ago as the Vet confirmed that it wasn't his teeth. His weight seems to be stable now, but I've noticed he drinks an awful lot. I was just wondering how common diabetes is with guinea pigs and whether this could be a sign of it.
He seems well in himself, which is strange, but he does sleep and drink a lot. He's 4 years old now, so it could just be to do with his age, but I'm just trying to think of possible reasons for the weight loss as his teeth weren't the problem.

Any suggestions are appreciated.
Thanks, x
 
I'm on my mobile so limited with my typing, if you have a look at my old thread 'Concerned about Bette' posted in November. She was put to sleep, I believe now Diabetes brought on Kidney failure the day we found out what wrong she was to far gone.

To check for Diabetes a urine test must be done and then it must be followed directly by a blood sample which can be taken by a prick behind the ear.

Bette's thread is lengthy, her signs were excessive drinking, weightloss, deep sleeping and frequently urinating.

When I get home I will post some more information about diabetes in animals.

My vet says anything more than 300mls is excessive drinking, Bette drank a water bottle a day! X
 
I filled their 300ml bottle at about 8am, it now has about 180ml left...most of which he has drunk :{.
I'll take a look at you thread now Jo. Thanks x
 
Go to the chemist and buy some diastix testing strips and check the urine, however your pig will need to go on a strict 3 week diet for acurate testing. So until your pig has been on the diet you could get a false positive. Nothing high in sugar which includes carrots, apple, spring grass etc, although the levels should have lowered by now, I'd still not risk it. So low sugar veg, usual amount of hay, no hard food that has colourants (sugar in those) and then get more urine for testing and take it to your vet and have a glucose and urine test done there for a proper diagnosis. Hope that helps.
 
My piggy Bob was lethargic, drank a lot of water and the vet who saw him at the rescue before we adopted him sad he was diabetic. Over the first three months he lived with me his weight continually dropped every week until he'd lost 300g in 3 months. I mentioned I was worried about him to Karen from Reading Guinea Pig rescue and she suggested worming him. I used Four Seasons Anti Parasitic from Vet Uk and with in 48 hours he started putting on weight. He's now put the 300g back on.
Worth a try, you'll see quick results if this is what it is. I don't think he'd been on the strict 3 week diet as mentioned above which I'd read about as well when I first adopted him. This poor little piggy had spent the first 2 years of his life living in a rescue and being over looked because of his diabeties when it wasn't that at all.
 
Diabetes and kidney disease can have similar symptoms, weight loss and drinking a lot. Hope your piggy has neither, x
 
Oh - sooo sorry to read this. Healing vibes.

All above good advice - it could really be any number of things so I would get to your vet tbh. I could even be dental - if piggy's teeth are too lung, it's uncomfortable for them to eat so they fill up on water when they're hungry. It could be intestinal or diabetes related or it could be wasting or anything serious like that so I would definitely get him/her checked out.

One of our boars, Biscuit, stopped eating a couple of time through something simple - teeth length - and was filling up on water so I really hope it's this because that's really easy to fix :)

Positive vibes from us x :)

How are his droppings by the way? Are they a little soft and crumbly/watery? This would suggest filling up on water...
 
Last edited:
mikulinek said:
Oh - sooo sorry to read this. Healing vibes.

All above good advice - it could really be any number of things so I would get to your vet tbh. I could even be dental - if piggy's teeth are too lung, it's uncomfortable for them to eat so they fill up on water when they're hungry. It could be intestinal or diabetes related or it could be wasting or anything serious like that so I would definitely get him/her checked out.

One of our boars, Biscuit, stopped eating a couple of time through something simple - teeth length - and was filling up on water so I really hope it's this because that's really easy to fix :)

Positive vibes from us x :)

How are his droppings by the way? Are they a little soft and crumbly/watery? This would suggest filling up on water...
Click to expand...

He did have his teeth checked a couple of weeks ago as this was my first concern, however the vet found no problem.
His faeces seem normal too. I think another vet trip is in order rolleyes lol. I do hope it's nothing to worry about, but better to be safe than sorry.
 
The first i knew that Velvet had diabetes was her cataract/s! (she is also blind now because of her cataracts) oh and my vet had never seen a diabetic piggie !
She didn't drink excessively nor was she lethargic.......some of the typical signs. She has had her urine and blood tested (unfortunately in OZ they take the blood whilst knocked out with gas..... don't start me on this subject grrr)
I have her and her sister on a strict diet, at first i totally took out all sugary things, no fruits, no carrots, beetroot, corn ....... this did help her readings a lot. I test most days with the diastix and i seem to be able to keep it either a low reading or no reading if i am strict with her diet and also keep her weight below 1180 ish.
Please ask for Indy to be tested it's the only way to be certain :)
Velvet says you can lead a pretty normal life even if you are disappointed (pigged off) about no fruits :p
 
Is your vet knowledgable about guinea pigs and did he check the back teeth?

I hope it's nothing serious anyway :)
 
Thanks Glynis, I'm going to get him checked ASAP. Luckily they don't have fruit all that much any way...only as a treat every now and then, so hopefully he won't mind that :)).

Does anyone know how much treatment etc is?

x


P.S. @CiaraPatricia: Yes, he did check the back teeth too. He said that he couldn't see any problems but if Indy continued to lose weight he'd have to go under GA to have a thorough examination and I didn't really want that. He is also eating well which confused me a bit.
 
Last edited:
Glynis said:
I will have to keep an eye out for the results love :)
Another thing you can read is on GL........

http://patriciasimon.shawwebspace.ca/pages/view/hazel_and_ginger_-_diabetes_trea/
Click to expand...

Thanks Glynis, I had a nosey at that page earlier. Was interesting. I'm going to start him on a low sugar diet now then collect a urine sample and take it to the vets. Hopefully it will turn out to be nothing serious, but I'd rather be safe than sorry. I'll keep you updated on the results.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top