Female pig not right - weight loss/reduced appetite

[Liz47]

Marcie is about 2/3 years old (rescue so unknown exact age) and she has already been to the vets as I had concerns about ovarian cysts, she was acting a bit more hormonal with her female cage mate by following and humping her, although she has always been quite dominant and it was a difficult bond when they first met. I also saw one episode of when I picked her up she had white/creamy discharge around her bottom but have not seen these since and checked her regularly. The vet couldn't feel any large ovarian cysts and asked questions about her diet/urinating and we discussed bladder issues/sludge but she seems fine urinating and her urine looks fine. She soon settled down and I haven't seen her acting hormonal again but I'm still concerned about her as she seems to be less interested in food and she feels like she has lost weight, I will be weighing her from now on although this is difficult as she is terrified of us and hates being handled/will throw herself off the scales so I will find a safer way of doing this with her in a container so she can't fall etc. Sometimes she sits and looks uncomfortable/fur puffed up. I will be taking her back to the vets on Tuesday (my day off) or sooner if she goes downhill. What would you say the next steps are? I appreciate it's quite vague and could be a number of things, I may ask for an X ray to check her bladder/any cysts and ask for her teeth to be checked also. Anything else I should be asking from the vet? I am happy with my vets for rabbits and was impressed with the drugs they stock for them so I am hoping they are guinea pig savvy enough.

 

[Wiebke]

Marcie is about 2/3 years old (rescue so unknown exact age) and she has already been to the vets as I had concerns about ovarian cysts, she was acting a bit more hormonal with her female cage mate by following and humping her, although she has always been quite dominant and it was a difficult bond when they first met. I also saw one episode of when I picked her up she had white/creamy discharge around her bottom but have not seen these since and checked her regularly. The vet couldn't feel any large ovarian cysts and asked questions about her diet/urinating and we discussed bladder issues/sludge but she seems fine urinating and her urine looks fine. She soon settled down and I haven't seen her acting hormonal again but I'm still concerned about her as she seems to be less interested in food and she feels like she has lost weight, I will be weighing her from now on although this is difficult as she is terrified of us and hates being handled/will throw herself off the scales so I will find a safer way of doing this with her in a container so she can't fall etc. Sometimes she sits and looks uncomfortable/fur puffed up. I will be taking her back to the vets on Tuesday (my day off) or sooner if she goes downhill. What would you say the next steps are? I appreciate it's quite vague and could be a number of things, I may ask for an X ray to check her bladder/any cysts and ask for her teeth to be checked also. Anything else I should be asking from the vet? I am happy with my vets for rabbits and was impressed with the drugs they stock for them so I am hoping they are guinea pig savvy enough.

Hi and welcome

There is something causing her pain that needs to be investigated; a scan or x-ray may be part of that to see what could be going on.
It is usually the small growing cysts that cause the hormonal behaviour, not necessarily the large fluid filled ones. Cysts can be hormonal, non-hormonal and some can be cancerous. The womb can also go wrong.

Unfortunately, painful internal issues cover quite a wide field and it can be a job to narrow them down!

Please take the time to read these guides here. You may find them helpful:
Dealing with a freaky and uncooperative piggy:
How To Pick Up And Weigh Your Guinea Pig Safely
Understanding Prey Animal Instincts, Guinea Pig Whispering And Cuddling Tips
Who is the boss - your guinea pig or you?

Weight monitoring, ovarian cysts, bladder stones and emergency care:
Weight - Monitoring and Management
Sows: Behaviour and female health problems (including ovarian cysts)
Guinea Lynx :: Bladder Stones
Emergency, Crisis and Bridging Care until a Vet Appointment

Here is our recommended vets list: Recommended Guinea Pig Vets

 

[Liz47]

Thank you for all those links, I had a read over the weekend

I have started weighing her and she is 660 grams, has roughly been the same since the weekend. She saw the vet today, he gave her a thorough examination. Checked her teeth with the otoscope and she did have quite a bit of food in there, listened to her abdo and she has gut sounds. She has just started doing smaller, slightly wet poo's so that has concerned me a lot, he said ovary cysts can cause digestive upset. He felt a lump but said he's honest wasn't sure if it was a cyst or kidney, so went to consult the books and came back with the BSAVA manual of exotics and compared her feel to Ellie's. It was a locum and his last day, so he advised I see the usual vet tomorrow and she will go through her opinion and process of spaying. My only worry is for her to have the operation tomorrow I'd need to take her at 9am but I am at work, I run a branch and am the only person with keys and need to open up for clients etc, I tried to get cover but no one is able to come and I am the only receptionist anyway! My partner has to be at Uni to hand in an essay She is booked for 3pm but receptionist said they won't be able to admit her for a spay then, my partner can drop her Thursday however. She has loxicom to help keep her comfortable and I will see what my partner says tomorrow afternoon as he is taking her while I am at work.