Drinking Lots Of Water...diabetes?

[Tinka]

Recently, I noticed an article on GuineaLynx discussing guinea pig diabetes and how excessive water drinking could be a symptom. I realize my pig, Tuulikki, is an excessive water drinker. In the past (she's almost 3 now) I used to give her big servings of "wet" vegetables like romaine, cucumber, and bell pepper, because I thought the over-drinking was due to not serving enough veggies. However, this did nothing to curb her thirst.
The pigs have a large glass water bottle and she will drink both until they are empty, almost in one sitting. The other day I witnessed her dragging her bed over to her bottle so she could sit on something soft while she sucked it dry. I've decided I AM going to take her to the vet, but I wanted to know if anyone else had a pig with these same symptoms? Otherwise she seems healthy. She's trim, active, eats well, popcorns often and is very sociable. If she's not hogging the water bottle, she's snuggling with Tove and rearranging her cage. But if she is diabetic, what can I expect?

 

[Freela]

The vet can do a urine dipstick to check her sugar levels. One of my past pigs, Linney, was a huge drinker and was tested for diabetes several times, but never tested positive, so it's possible she is just a big drinker. But it's definitely better to check it out to be sure!

 

[Swissgreys]

It might sound like a silly question, but are you sue she is actually drinking the water?
Oreo loves sitting under her water bottle, and she easily drains a 300ml bottle every day.
She will sit there for ages 'drinking' but on closer investigation we realized she is actually just 'playing' and although she undoubtedly does drink a bit, she angles her head slightly and is just draining the bottle for fun.
They are on a fleece liner and I always have an extra pad under the water bottle area so at first I didn't notice.
Now I put a small metal bowl underneath, and I empty this multiple times a day!

 

[Wiebke]

Recently, I noticed an article on GuineaLynx discussing guinea pig diabetes and how excessive water drinking could be a symptom. I realize my pig, Tuulikki, is an excessive water drinker. In the past (she's almost 3 now) I used to give her big servings of "wet" vegetables like romaine, cucumber, and bell pepper, because I thought the over-drinking was due to not serving enough veggies. However, this did nothing to curb her thirst.
The pigs have a large glass water bottle and she will drink both until they are empty, almost in one sitting. The other day I witnessed her dragging her bed over to her bottle so she could sit on something soft while she sucked it dry. I've decided I AM going to take her to the vet, but I wanted to know if anyone else had a pig with these same symptoms? Otherwise she seems healthy. She's trim, active, eats well, popcorns often and is very sociable. If she's not hogging the water bottle, she's snuggling with Tove and rearranging her cage. But if she is diabetic, what can I expect?

If drinking levels are persistently high and the weight is stable (it tends to drop with diabetes and kidney problems), you are less likely to deal with diabetes or a kidney issue. Some guinea pigs are naturally big drinkers while others won't drink at all. I would recommend to place a drip dish underneath the glass bottles to check just how much water is wasted.
However, it is always good to have a big drinker tested; I've done it myself. Please be aware that guinea pig urine is naturally high in glucose, which can fool general vets that are not familiar with guinea pigs. When diabetes in guinea pigs was 'discovered', we had this spate of lots of them being diagnosed with it. This has now settled down. Diabetes can happen, but it is not all that common. Thankfully, in most (milder) cases, you can get away with keeping it under control with diet.
All About Drinking And Bottles
Long Term Balanced General And Special Needs Guinea Pig Diet
(includes tips for diabetes diet tweaks under our sample diet)
Recommended vets in Kentucky: Veterinarians: Kentucky - Guinea Lynx Records

 

[Freela]

It might sound like a silly question, but are you sue she is actually drinking the water?
Oreo loves sitting under her water bottle, and she easily drains a 300ml bottle every day.
She will sit there for ages 'drinking' but on closer investigation we realized she is actually just 'playing' and although she undoubtedly does drink a bit, she angles her head slightly and is just draining the bottle for fun.
They are on a fleece liner and I always have an extra pad under the water bottle area so at first I didn't notice.
Now I put a small metal bowl underneath, and I empty this multiple times a day!

My daughter's hamster did this last summer. I was really concerned about how much she was drinking until I realized that she was actually just dumping the water bottle. In her case I think it was a stress thing, as we had gone to the cottage and changed up her environment and apparently she really didn't like where we were keeping the cage for some reason. Once we moved her someplace else, it stopped. Weird!

 

[Tinka]

It might sound like a silly question, but are you sue she is actually drinking the water?
Oreo loves sitting under her water bottle, and she easily drains a 300ml bottle every day.
She will sit there for ages 'drinking' but on closer investigation we realized she is actually just 'playing' and although she undoubtedly does drink a bit, she angles her head slightly and is just draining the bottle for fun.
They are on a fleece liner and I always have an extra pad under the water bottle area so at first I didn't notice.
Now I put a small metal bowl underneath, and I empty this multiple times a day!

I have considered that! In fact, I changed their water bottle from plastic to glass because I thought Tuulikki was just playing with it because she liked the noise and bounciness of it. The glass was so much heavier so I thought it would deter her from yanking on the little spout. But turns out she really is drinking it, she will drink so hard that she will sometimes cough a little bit when her mouth gets too full, haha. But. I've decided to take her to the vet on Wednesday while I'm off work. I know in my mind she's probably just fine, because she has no other symptoms, but I'm such a nervous hen my heart won't rest until she's been looked at.