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Guinea pig not eating properly

Priya_akella

New Born Pup
Joined
Aug 29, 2020
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India
Hi, I have three piggies and 2 of them are perfectly fine..but recently one of the piggies started eating less and is getting thin..He was laying still when I saw him in the morning and that gave me a mini heart attack...after warming him up and feeding him separately...he is active again ...
I took him to the vet and he said that he is perfectly fine...Am worried about my walnut...any suggestions would be great...
 
Hi, are you monitoring his weight? If you think your piggy is losing weight, then weighing daily at the same time in the feeding cycle is important to assess how much weight loss you are looking at. How are his poops, and his appetite? And how good is your vet, are they experienced with guinea pigs? Sometimes piggies do lose weight for no reason then bounce back the week after, but you need a couple of week's worth of weight measurements to see a proper trend. If your piggy isnt eating properly this is more urgent, and you should step in with support feeding some mashed up pellets or recovery food...
 
Hi...he has lost almost 30 grams in 2 weeks..his poops are perfect..and he didn't loose his appetite and wheeks everytime I open any food item..but I noticed he is more inclined towards veggies and barely eating his hay and pellets...but he seems quite active..can you suggest me what that recovery food should include?
 
Hay is the main part of their diet at 80% of their daily food intake. Veg is only 15% of the daily food intake and pellets just 5% so if your piggy is only eating veg then he is losing a large proportion of his daily food intake. They maintain their weight by eating hay. If your piggy is not eating enough hay then there is a problem somewhere - perhaps you are inadvertently overfeeding veg (they should only have 50g of veg per day) or perhaps there is a problem with the teeth occurring (not eating enough hay can cause the teeth to overgrow).

Oxbow Critical Care is a recovery food that you should be able to get in your country.
 
Hi...he has lost almost 30 grams in 2 weeks..his poops are perfect..and he didn't loose his appetite and wheeks everytime I open any food item..but I noticed he is more inclined towards veggies and barely eating his hay and pellets...but he seems quite active..can you suggest me what that recovery food should include?

Hi!

Have a look at his front teeth. They are normally self sharpening. But if they are noticeably slanted or jagged, then it can be an indication of pain in the mouth (either a developing incisor root abscess or uneven chewing with his back teeth because of something going on there). The fast growth rate of the molars at the back of the mouth has evolved against the very abrasive silica in hay and grass - their main food source. The incisors at the front are responsible for picking up and cutting food while the premolars and molars at the back do the grinding down.
With the kind of minimal weight loss you are seeing (30-40g is the daily weight swing between a full/empty tummy and bladder), you won't see any inward pointing no longer meeting incisors yet, which are a sign of badly overgrown and bridging molars at the back of the mouth.

However, picky eating can also be caused by another pain source somewhere else in the body. Right now, the problem is only in the early stages and likely rather difficult to point down, but it is likely to accelerate. Please switch to weighing daily at the same time instead of weekly. At this stage you can just offer some top up syringe feed if you wish to but don't step in with full time syringe feeding yet. We do not speak of weight loss until 50g or more. You will however have to see your vet at some point if this is accelerating.

These guides here may help you in the coming days. It is worth reading and bookmarking them so you are provided with all the necessary information and can look it up and re-read whenever necessary.
Weight - Monitoring and Management
Probiotics, Recovery Foods And Vitamin C: Overview With Product Links (Oxbow Critical Care may be likely easiest for you to get but in a pinch you can supplement with mushed up pellets; follow the advice in the guide)
Complete Syringe Feeding Guide

Emergency, Crisis and Bridging Care until a Vet Appointment
(contains link to how soon to see a vet, first aid kit, and support care during illness including the guide links above).
We have compiled all the necessary information and links in this guide, so you do not have to spend lots of time with doing your research on how to get your piggy through an emergency or bad illness.

All the best!
 
Thank you...will definitely look into those...he just lost so much weight that I can touch bones...so I was worried... but he is active though
 
Thank you...will definitely look into those...he just lost so much weight that I can touch bones...so I was worried... but he is active though

Please switch to weighing daily to so you can quantify the weight loss. Normal kitchen scales will do.
Adapt your support feed to the amount of weight loss. Keep in mind that hay is making around 80% of the daile weight intake, so even a little more veg is not covering it; you can also never judge by eye just how much a piggy is actually eating.

Please have your boy vet checked as soon as you can by an exotics vet if you can get to one. Make sure that you mention checking the usually invisible back teeth. Dental problems in guinea pigs are not something that features on a vet's curriculum. But keep an open mind as to what the problem is. Mystery weight loss is my least favourite symptoms as it covers such a wide and diverse field of issues.
 
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