Guinea pig posture - pain?

[Evespiggles]

Hi all! I have a new (skinny) pig and I’m slightly worried about her. I’m not sure if I’m just being paranoid new owner? I think she sits in a weird position and I’m worried it’s from discomfort. You can kind of see a dip behind her rib cage (pics at end).

She’s about 3 months old. She seems really well in herself (eating, pooping, peeing fine, gaining weight, running about, she’s affectionate to handle and she shouts if she hears me open the fridge door lol). Is this just gangly teenage gpig or does it look abnormal? Could she be underweight? I’ve had Guineas in the past but they were all adults and I don’t remember them sitting like this. I don’t think she’s cold, as the room she’s in has a tortoise with heat lamp so is really toasty, usually about 22 degrees.

I’m going to give her the weekend to see if any change but I could take her to the vet next week (I’m waiting on a covid test result so obviously pending that :/) unless you guys tell me this is normal stance or have any ideas to try! Is there anything I can do to her diet? She has Timothy hay, oxbow pellets, oxbow vit supplement, fresh veg every day.

 

[Deleted member 139433]

she is lovely!
Do you weigh her regularly? To record and note any weight losses?
For any concerns or worries, a vet visit is definitely needed

 

[Wiebke]

Hi all! I have a new (skinny) pig and I’m slightly worried about her. I’m not sure if I’m just being paranoid new owner? I think she sits in a weird position and I’m worried it’s from discomfort. You can kind of see a dip behind her rib cage (pics at end).

She’s about 3 months old. She seems really well in herself (eating, pooping, peeing fine, gaining weight, running about, she’s affectionate to handle and she shouts if she hears me open the fridge door lol). Is this just gangly teenage gpig or does it look abnormal? Could she be underweight? I’ve had Guineas in the past but they were all adults and I don’t remember them sitting like this. I don’t think she’s cold, as the room she’s in has a tortoise with heat lamp so is really toasty, usually about 22 degrees.

I’m going to give her the weekend to see if any change but I could take her to the vet next week (I’m waiting on a covid test result so obviously pending that :/) unless you guys tell me this is normal stance or have any ideas to try! Is there anything I can do to her diet? She has Timothy hay, oxbow pellets, oxbow vit supplement, fresh veg every day.

Hi!

If in any doubt, have any new piggy vet checked. From your pictures I cannot assess any pain; she doesn't look clearly off and miserable to me anyway.
New guinea pigs: Sexing, vet checks&customer rights, URI, ringworm and parasites

Please switch from the usual once weekly weigh-in to weighing daily at the same time if you have concerns over her appetite, health or weight gain. As long as your girl is active, happy and gaining weight, there is no concern about being smaller for her age, as she will be catching up on a slow start in life just on a good normal diet and will eventually realise her genetically determined optimal weight/size with it. She is still in that pre-teenage phase where any calories go into growing and not into fat but you can feel around the ribs whether she is a good weight for her size ('heft' or BMI). However, what young piggies don't do (the same as children), they don't grow evenly; they have phases when they look decidedly chubby and the next week they look a lot bigger and thinner after a little growth spurt.

All about health monitoring, how exactly to feel for heft and what to look out for, how weight develops over a life time; underweight and overweight etc. can be found in our very comprehensive and very helpful Weight guide: Weight - Monitoring and Management

 

[Evespiggles]

Thank you! I love her so much already which is why I’m up at 1am worrying about how she sits lol!

I haven’t been weighing her but she’s definitely bigger and fatter than when she arrived. I will start though.

What should I say to vet? Trial painkillers? If they want to xRay can I ask that they don’t use anaesthetic? Does anyone know roughly how much it costs to x Ray gpig?

 

[Evespiggles]

Also I don’t want to put her through any unnecessary procedures just because I am paranoid new mum

Here she is just now with lil sis (not super happy about having their blanket peeled back for a photo!) but she looks more normal in this pic.

I’m new to skinnies so I do wonder if some of it is just being able to see her hips and stuff and she’d look more normal with fur, but on google most of them look smoother and you can’t really see where their rib cage ends. I’ll weigh her every day for a few days and report back. She’s only been with companion for a week so some of it might be defensive pose, she’s slightly scared of her bless her despite the size difference. I might see if vet will do a phone consult.

 

[Wiebke]

Thank you! I love her so much already which is why I’m up at 1am worrying about how she sits lol!

I haven’t been weighing her but she’s definitely bigger and fatter than when she arrived. I will start though.

What should I say to vet? Trial painkillers? If they want to xRay can I ask that they don’t use anaesthetic? Does anyone know roughly how much it costs to x Ray gpig?

I would recommend just a normal health check - I would think that it is more for your own peace of mind than because something is wrong with her. I can't see anything but a normal skinny; you see every bump in the body so much more clearly - and like humans, very few have an ideal figure naturally; there are all kinds of individual quirks.

An x-ray depends on the clinic you use, so you will have to ask in advance of you really want one done; they are not cheap though. You have to be however aware that a certain amount of sedation is usually needed in order to manipulate the body for optimal visibility of an problem zone and to get ideally a view from two different sides in order to assess a potential problem if that is necessary. It is your decision whether you think that this is really necessary in order to settle your anxiety.

 

[Evespiggles]

I would recommend just a normal health check - I would think that it is more for your own peace of mind than because something is wrong with her. I can't see anything but a normal skinny; you see every bump in the body so much more clearly - and like humans, very few have an ideal figure naturally; there all kinds of individual quirks.

An x-ray depends on the clinic you use, so you will have to ask in advance of you really want one done; they are not cheap though. You have to be however aware that a certain amount of sedation is usually needed in order to manipulate the body for optimal visibility of an problem zone and to get ideally a view from two different sides in order to assess a potential problem if that is necessary. It is your decision whether you think that this is really necessary in order to settle your anxiety.

Thankyou! Yeah my worry was kidney stones but I think she’d seem more stressed if that was the case? It’s reassured me that you guys don’t see anything glaringly wrong.

I will see how she is over the weekend and if no change might book them both in for a general health check just to calm my nerves! I’m stuck at home at the moment spending too much time staring at them and worrying lol!