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Friend's piggies on a diet... worried

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Elitah

Elitah

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Our friends, a couple in their late 20s, got two male guinea-pigs about 5 weeks after we got ours, some time in February. My bf saw them for the first time on the weekend, I've seen them before. they both have slightly longer fur, like our Sparky who always looks big just because of the fur. My friend has been mentioning several times that their piggies are getting "fat" so I had a proper look at them on the weekend when we were there. Her boyfriend doesn't seem quite as worried about them getting fat, but she is and said they're giving them mostly veggies now... sort of putting them on a diet.
The thing is, they are not fat. Guinea pigs have to look round. Our guinea pig Patch was losing too much weight after giving birth and nursing the babies and it's not pretty and not healthy. Their's didn't look skinny, but not nearly as round as ours, despite all the fur. I said they should just weight them so they would know but they said they don't have the right scales (kitchen scales are available for ca. 10 € here).

She's going to be here on Saturday and my bf and I are planning on having a serious talk with her, telling her she really needs to weight them and needs to feed them properly again! I hope she will listen to us!
 
Yes she need to weigh them before just whipping them on a diet!

I seriously hope they are still getting dry food for the vitamin C intake they need to survive and the unlimited supply of hay they need which should make up 70/80% of their food intake which helps keep teeth trim and the digestive system in check. Please dont let her starve them. Hopefully someone on the forum can give a guide as to the ideal weights of piggies.

Regular exercise, i.e floor time, a consistant amount of veggies and dry food and unlimted hay and finally fresh water daily and they will be ok. She needs to do more research!
 
She said she'd cut their hay too. She really needs to weigh them and believe me, we weill have a serious talk with her on Saturday. I don't think she'd really starve them, but I'm worried they could get malnourished or just too light.
 
She has cut thir hay? This is cruelty and neglect. Without hay, the digestive system wont work and will be fatal! Something needs to be done about this, she needs to be on hee doing her research and asking questions
 
If these piggies were got in February, can I assume that they are youngsters? If so, dieting is not just unhealthy, it is downright dangerous. Guinea pigs can grow for 15 months, and they need a decent amount of pellets, unlimited hay, and veggies to help them grow. Dieting young guinea pigs is seriously dangerous... They need their food to grow up healthily. Wieght wise for boars anywhere from 1000g-1600g is considered normal, and healthy! Most of mine have come in to the middle of that - 1200-1400g usually. Piggies are meant to be quite tubby, that's normal, not unhealthy. She really needs to know this...

Guinea pigs should only be given about 50g of veggies a day... If she has put her piggies on a diet and is feeding veggies only then she's either feeding them far too much or not enough to sustain themselves. They need the pellets to ensure they're getting everything they need in their diets and unlimited hay to help digestion and also keep their teeth wearing down.

Piggies are grazers - eating is what they do and what they spend a large part of their day doing. My guinea pigs almost constantly eat and it is healthy for them; they are eating hay almost all the time and get a fresh pile two times a day to stimulate them to eat it. I have one 'overweight' pig out of 19 and she is only big because she is the boss (first pickings and plenty of them!). I'd never dream of getting her on a diet though...
 
Sorry, I meant to write she's cut down their hay... they still do get hay, but less as she said. Still not good, I know.
They were almost still babies when they got them and I think they're still growing. Our boars are between 1000 g and 1150 g now and don't seem to be gaining more despite enough food, but until recently they were still steadily gaining weight, probably still growing. We weigh them every week to make sure they don't lose weight and at least maintain - maybe even gain a bit more.

As I said, my bf and I have decided we will have a serious talk with her on Saturday and show her our piggies as an example of what a normal, healthy guinea pig should look like. I really, really want them to get the right scales so they can weight their piggies. I think they aren't quite as piggie-crazy as we are and maybe don't spend quite as much time watching them and taking care of them. Not sure, but it really worries me.
 
Ãthas said:
Sorry, I meant to write she's cut down their hay... they still do get hay, but less as she said. Still not good, I know.
They were almost still babies when they got them and I think they're still growing. Our boars are between 1000 g and 1150 g now and don't seem to be gaining more despite enough food, but until recently they were still steadily gaining weight, probably still growing. We weigh them every week to make sure they don't lose weight and at least maintain - maybe even gain a bit more.

As I said, my bf and I have decided we will have a serious talk with her on Saturday and show her our piggies as an example of what a normal, healthy guinea pig should look like. I really, really want them to get the right scales so they can weight their piggies. I think they aren't quite as piggie-crazy as we are and maybe don't spend quite as much time watching them and taking care of them. Not sure, but it really worries me.
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Yours may well have stopped growing now! They tend to dramatically slow down around the 8-10 month mark but may well keep going even longer (but it is hard to notice, only a few grams a week sometimes!

Your friends piggies will still need plenty of food for the next two months plus, and even then the only thing that should be limited is the amount of pellets they eat. Personally, all my piggies get unlimited pellets until they are fully grown; though I know people that start limiting when their growth starts to slow at about 8 months.

Good luck with your talk! Maybe you could point her towards the forums to read up on what she should be feeding? :)
 
We are definitely going to push it! Might print this out for her to read if that's ok.
 
ghostbusterbunny said:
Good luck with your talk! Maybe you could point her towards the forums to read up on what she should be feeding? :)
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I think they're not really into forums. I don't know where they get their information from - or what they really know. My friend seems to imagine that guinea pigs must look slim.
 
She needs to do more research i wasnt really into forums until i learnt how much vital info i can get on here and just talking and looking at pictures, now i cant get enough of it.

She cant cut down their hay they need an UNLIMITED supply! As i said this is cruelty and neglect!
 
BTW, I thought guinea-pigs are not the kinds of animals that tend to need diets anyway. It's not like anything they eat really could make them put on big amounts of weight, that's why they sort of eat all day, isn't it?
 
Here is a link about proper diet from the best international medical website for guinea pigs: http://www.guinealynx.info/diet.html

Up to 80% of the daily food intake should be unlimited hay, followed by 50-100g mixed fresh veg and pellets (which can be reduced from unlimited for growing guinea pigs to about 1 handful for adult guinea pigs over 15 months old).

Healthy adult guinea pig weight can vary between 800-1800g, average is about 900-1400g. Guinea pigs have a very fast metabolism and need to eat regularly; it is VERY difficult to get obese guinea pigs if your piggies are on a reasonable diet with space to exercise regularly.
 
Ãthas said:
BTW, I thought guinea-pigs are not the kinds of animals that tend to need diets anyway. It's not like anything they eat really could make them put on big amounts of weight, that's why they sort of eat all day, isn't it?
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Exactly :). It's very rare to have a piggy with weight issues (diabetic piggies do I think - but again it's rare!). They are designed to eat, and eat, and eat. None of their food (apart from the pellets) is particularly nutritious; which is why they eat so much. Hay is a very low nutrition food but is used as a digestion aid, teeth aid and as their food source - the first two being the reason for them needing so much. Pellets and veggies don't match it which is why they only make up 20-30% of their recommended diet; they do give the extra vitamins and minerals that they need though! :)
 
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