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Specialist Guinea pig sick - massive weight loss/excessive drinking and wobbly appetite

So some good news! Have seen the vet and they're only concerned about his weight. His stomach is fine. They suspect he might be pushing his luck with wanting constant new food but we're to still do it. He has lost a bit of weight which is concerning but they think there might be a difference in scales that shows a difference. Hes booked in for satuarday to check his weight so hopefully hes went up 30 grams
 
Abbiestewart said:
So some good news! Have seen the vet and they're only concerned about his weight. His stomach is fine. They suspect he might be pushing his luck with wanting constant new food but we're to still do it. He has lost a bit of weight which is concerning but they think there might be a difference in scales that shows a difference. Hes booked in for satuarday to check his weight so hopefully hes went up 30 grams
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All the best!
 
Wiebke said:
I certainly have had to sign consent forms in the last year or two, whether it was at my regular vets or at the emergency vets for any piggy that was anaesthesized, which included pts.
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That's really interesting because I was led to believe by a past vet I used that they could euthanise without consent, but I've double checked and they can't. Definitely something to remember!

@Abbiestewart One of my past pigs lost weight despite eating more than enough food. He was confirmed as having thyroid issues. A blood test can diagnose it, or rule it out.
 
Jaycey said:
That's really interesting because I was led to believe by a past vet I used that they could euthanise without consent, but I've double checked and they can't. Definitely something to remember!

@Abbiestewart One of my past pigs lost weight despite eating more than enough food. He was confirmed as having thyroid issues. A blood test can diagnose it, or rule it out.
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Thank you! If he's not up by satuarday I'll be asking for a blood test as I find it unlikely he has teeth issues because hes chewing with his front and back teeth cause you can feel it when hes chewing on a syringe. The vet said the same. Hopefully hes just being fussy and his weight goes up! Fingers crossed!
 
@Abbiestewart Fingers crossed here too! Some vets don't like to do blood tests on guinea pigs as they would take the blood from their heart.

But my vet takes blood from overclipping a toenail. It can be a bit hit and miss as the blood congeals quicker from a toe nail ( it never seems too when I overclip one and blood seems to be going everywhere) but it worked fine every time my vet did it. He got quite a few good samples from my boy.
 
Jaycey said:
@Abbiestewart Fingers crossed here too! Some vets don't like to do blood tests on guinea pigs as they would take the blood from their heart.

But my vet takes blood from overclipping a toenail. It can be a bit hit and miss as the blood congeals quicker from a toe nail ( it never seems too when I overclip one and blood seems to be going everywhere) but it worked fine every time my vet did it. He got quite a few good samples from my boy.
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Yeah they've been concerned about doing it cause they need like 10% but if it comes down to it they'll do it. Thank you!
 
Hello there,

Please consider getting some more tests done, and if need be speaking to a veterinary specialist. Weighloss is always concerning but there as so so many different reasons for it. Unfortunately I cannot comment much in your piggies case as i know very little about him clinically. Where are you located in the country/world?

x
 
Abi_nurse said:
Hello there,

Please consider getting some more tests done, and if need be speaking to a veterinary specialist. Weighloss is always concerning but there as so so many different reasons for it. Unfortunately I cannot comment much in your piggies case as i know very little about him clinically. Where are you located in the country/world?

x
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I'm in Scotland
 
113929

Okay I was wondering if anyone could give me advice on this? Hes drinking water but his posture dosent look good and seems like it might be too low but when I put it up a bar it seems to high. Does anyone have any suggestions or does he look okay like this?
 
Abbiestewart said:
View attachment 113929

Okay I was wondering if anyone could give me advice on this? Hes drinking water but his posture dosent look good and seems like it might be too low but when I put it up a bar it seems to high. Does anyone have any suggestions or does he look okay like this?
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Update! I've realised what hes doing. Hes lying down then bending up to drink! Just being lazy. When he stands it's perfect height.
 
I don't know if your guinea pig could be doing that cause he is in pain, but one of my piggies will lay down while eating hay because her sister pulls it out for her! 😹
 
Lady Kelly said:
That's very interesting that you say that. I did not sign a consent form for Donald being PTS and the emergency vet did not get me to sign one for bumble a couple of years back. I do not recall signing one for Bea either but it was quite long ago so I cannot say for certain
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I had to with Gladys 😢 could barely write at the time...
 
114110
Okay a lil update on Thomas (him during the week) hes lost even more weight! Although theres no visible signs (The vet was shocked) he's 800ish grams now when originally he was 1200 grams. The vet is sure it's not his teeth, hes chewing, active and eating. His guts seem to sound slow so they've given gut stimulants (fingers crossed)if they dont work he should get a scan on his abdominal to make sure he hasn't digested anything indegestiable. Hes getting syringe fed until then. Hoping for the best although the vets are still very confused as he said there was no outward signs hes Ill. Hope this gets solved soon!
 
Abi_nurse said:
Many piggies have underlying illness without any signs of being ill. You may need to consider kidney failure or even an overactive thyroid. Both of which are hard to diagnose.

x
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Yeah I've been thinking about that! Was going to call up Monday and speak to them before his appointment Tuesday. Thank you! X
 
I’d highly recommend a blood test and X-ray. My boy went from being 1.4kg to now being 840grams, he also drinks excessively too. After a blood test, X-ray, and sending his poos off to check for parasites he was ultimately diagnosed with an incurable liver problem. It is a very costly effort - £220 for blood test and X-ray and then £70 for poo testing however it provides me comfort to know I’ve exhausted all options. The sooner you get his blood checked and an X-ray done, the faster you can move onto possibly treating him, the weight loss is very substantial so it’s better to act sooner rather than later
 
Can I also ask if you see an exotic vet? For them to say they’re confused as there’s no signs he’s ill seems very wrong, weight loss of that extent is a cause for concern and any exotic vet would highly recommend a blood test and X-ray. Weight loss IS an outward sign of illness and a major one too.
 
Little Ones said:
Can I also ask if you see an exotic vet? For them to say they’re confused as there’s no signs he’s ill seems very wrong, weight loss of that extent is a cause for concern and any exotic vet would highly recommend a blood test and X-ray. Weight loss IS an outward sign of illness and a major one too.
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Thank you! Its VETS4PETS I've been seeing. There isn't any exotic vets in my area. It took so long to find them. Alot of places dont treat Guinea pigs ☹. Hoping the stimulants are able to work. If not they're going to give him a scan on his abdomen. Xx
 
Abbiestewart said:
Thank you! Its VETS4PETS I've been seeing. There isn't any exotic vets in my area. It took so long to find them. Alot of places dont treat Guinea pigs ☹. Hoping the stimulants are able to work. If not they're going to give him a scan on his abdomen. Xx
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I used to take mine to vets for pets and we wasted £400 on medicine to treat a wrong diagnosis over the course of a few months. My opinion then is do NOT let them scan your pig, or give him a blood test or anything that involves anaesthetic. They have no knowledge on guinea pigs and whilst it might be an overall successful, in my opinion it’s way too much of a risk as they could easily get the anaesthetic wrong due to lack of knowledge. Is there really no exotic vet nearby? I go to an exotic vet that’s almost an hour away but it’s worth it especially in serious situations that are life or death - as I would personally would classed yours as. Guinea pigs do fine travelling a distance and would do fine on a train if that’s what it meant to ensure your Guinea pig got suitable treatment
 
Betsy said:
Hopefully your Vets4Pets is as good as mine! My Vets4Pets are excellent .
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My vets4pets was awful, diagnosed my boy with URI even though he had no symptoms of that but instead just noisy breathing. I went along with what they said because I trusted them as someone from the forum had recommended this particular vets, wasted around £400 possibly more over the course of 4/5 months trying to treat it, eventually I took him to an exotic vet who couldn’t possibly understand why they thought he’d had URI all this time. It was really infuriating, hundreds wasted and potentially jeopardised my pigs health since he was on antibiotics every day for months. He has an incurable liver problem now 2 years on, not sure if it’s related in anyway to the constant antibiotics but I still wonder. Maybe it’s just hit or miss with the vets4pets
 
Little Ones said:
My vets4pets was awful, diagnosed my boy with URI even though he had no symptoms of that but instead just noisy breathing. I went along with what they said because I trusted them as someone from the forum had recommended this particular vets, wasted around £400 possibly more over the course of 4/5 months trying to treat it, eventually I took him to an exotic vet who couldn’t possibly understand why they thought he’d had URI all this time. It was really infuriating, hundreds wasted and potentially jeopardised my pigs health since he was on antibiotics every day for months. He has an incurable liver problem now 2 years on, not sure if it’s related in anyway to the constant antibiotics but I still wonder. Maybe it’s just hit or miss with the vets4pets
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That's horrible! I've had good experience with mine but would be taking him for any kind of surgery at another Vets! They're good for health checks and medicines x
 
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