TAN
Adult Guinea Pig
My oldest girl Truffles is over 7 1/2 now and seems to be sleeping very deeply a lot of the time and it takes me a while to wake her up sometimes - is this a sign that she is nearly at the bridge due to old age?
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Do They Sleep Much Deeper And Longer When They Are Very Old?
- Thread starter TAN
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I imagine it is more likely to be related to hearing loss to be honest.
Their hearing will naturally deteriorate with age, and without all of the noisy distractions of every day life they will naturally sleep more deeply.
Their hearing will naturally deteriorate with age, and without all of the noisy distractions of every day life they will naturally sleep more deeply.
TAN
Adult Guinea Pig
Thanks - That would make sense - she doesn't have very good eyesight now either - 2 cataracts - one very bad - she has lost the usual amount of weight for an oldy - she used to be 1200g and for the last year has been around the 865 - 900g.
Posyrose
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I agree with @Swissgreys; my oldies - I have one who's 8 at the mo - have had hearing loss and you can practically walk right up to him before he realises you're there and wakes up.
They are less lively in general though, so may sleep more
They are less lively in general though, so may sleep more
My old lady Violet sleeps more and hears less. But the vet has now prescribed her metacam for arthritis and she is certainly more lively when she is up and about, but she definitely does sleep more.
My older pigs did sleep deeper, if not necessarily longer. My kids actually were always worried that our older pig had died, as she would not wake up to noise and sometimes didn't even wake up at the first touch of someone's hand. Some of it may have been hearing, but I think some of it was just a deeper sleep cycle, as when she was really tired you could touch her through the bars without her waking until you did it more than once.
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