Experience in Stunted Guinea Pigs?

[5Cs_Piggies]

I am currently mothering a one-year-old “Teddy bear” guinea pig by the name of Creampuff. I’ve begun to think she’s stunted considering the list of symptoms that I’ve written below.
-Extremely small (She’s very petite)
-Small head compared to body
-Vision isn’t the best (She’s blind)
-Signs of neurological issues such as head tilt
-Usually is somewhat inbred (considering she’s a Teddy Bear and from a petstore with underlying health issues)
-Coat is usually a solid color
-Is prone to URIs and has difficulty breathing
The issue isn’t the undevelopment itself, it’s more like the underlying health problems caused by it. She’s already suffered a heavy URI from her previous owner and can be found constantly wheezing in the cage. If I’m not mistaken, I believe that her lungs/air ways are undeveloped and therefore not taking in enough air. Her mouth is also extremely tiny, so she has to take mini bites and eats slow. This is problematic as the rest of the pigs are VERY fast eaters and always seem to slurp up the nutrients before she can. I’m debating weather or not to take her to the vet, as you can’t really reverse a stunted animal and currently, she doesn’t seem to have an URI or anything of the sorts. Does anyone here have any experience with caring for stunted pigs? I’d appreciate any advice right now, as the knowledge online about stunted pigs seems to be nonexistent. Thanks! (I’ve featured a picture of her below)

 

[Eriathwen]

I used to have a stunted piggy called Snowball, she was also a satin, so her issues are most likely attributed to that. She was 400g as an adult, she lived a good life though and made it to 7 years old! She was deaf, impossible to get weight on (as you can see in the picture, she was very thin when this was taken when she was about 6) and really small length wise. Other than that though she had no other abnormalities so I can't really help other than advise maybe taking her out for her veggies and pellets so she can eat in her own time with ones I have trouble keeping weight on I offer a little critical care and a tablespoon of oats once a week or so.


Here she is on the far right with her sisters from the same litter (the red and white teddy and black roan teddy at the bottom with the big backsides!) and a few friends where the size difference is a little more noticeable.

 

[DM030819]

@5Cs_Piggies

A lot of those symptoms can also be seen in pigs with dental issues, such as being small, eating slowly, head tilt.

I would suggest taking her to a good guinea pig vet, preferably one with lots of dental experience to have her checked over. Where are you located? There is an amazing dental vet in Northampton, if you're UK based.

Stunted growth can be reversed sometimes. At TEAS we had a tiny girl handed to us, her name is Hazel. She was so small bless her. Debbie looked after her so I'm unsure of her weight but I think she was 100g and was 11 weeks old. And it was down to a dental issue. Our amazing vet sorted the issue and now she's a "normal" pig and living happily with one of our fosterers.

We have another pig currently called Coco. She's also a tiny dot, weighing about 450g. Her size is all due to a dental issue. Unfortunately hers is very severe and won't cure but she's being helped by our vet.

 

[5Cs_Piggies]

I’ve been considering dental issues too. Luckily, I already have a decent exotic vet from when she had an URI from her previous home, so I’ll be sure to get some info from them. Thanks for the replies!

 

[VickiA]

I would definitely recommend getting her seen by a cavy savvy vet, as I agree with @Jaycey that a number of the issues you have raised are potentially linked with dental issues.
In the rescue last year we did have a piggy born who is a dwarf piggy with dental issues. She has stayed as a long term resident of the rescue but has done remarkably well after dental treatment.

 

[PigglePuggle]

I agree a thorough vet check especially dental is the way to go, when we got Blodwen pig last November from a weird situation (she was a breeder's reject dumped in the free ads as a "pet in need of rehoming", we were given so much fake info about her, her owner claiming she was 7 months old then a year old then saying all kinds of weird stuff) she was small and seemed to have some sort of neurological issues as well as ringworm and dental and being inbred... but after a good dental surgery and a good diet and making some friends she's actually fine, she's gained over 350g in 4 months and is actually on track to be our biggest and healthiest piggy before much longer!

 

[helen105281]

My Tinselitis is currently not growing as I would expect her to so I am monitoring her. She does eat well though so hoping she is just a small pig. A few years ago I had an tiny boar called Nigel, he came to us with a lot of health issues and had been on endless antibiotics for what was thought to be a URI. It turned out he had a heart issue and he was put on meds which gave us a few extra months with him. Sadly it was too late a diagnosis to have an impact on his condition but we had a few wonderful months with him. If you are able to see the vet Jaycey has mentioned they are excellent and I recommend them too. A conscious xray could be done to check if there is fluid on or around the heart or if it is enlarged. I have not heard of head tilt being linked to heart issues though so think it could be more neurological like you say or even dental. A course of wormer could also be considered, see what the vet thinks.