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Guinea pig weight loss

CookieAngel18

New Born Pup
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Hey everyone, so today I noticed a bit of a weight loss on my Guinea pig cookie, I feed her normal amounts of food but quite oftenly she won't eat the nuggets I give her but she'll eat anything else,her behaviour is pretty much normal except she's way more alert and VERY hyper but she just feels like a bag of bones, there's nothing of her and it's starting to worry me.. not sure what I can do cause I tried giving her more food and she does eat it but she still looks pretty underweight but everything else is fine such as her poop and urine so I have no idea what's happening
 
Not eating nuggets isn’t of concern in itself, they should only have one tablespoon of them per day which only makes up 5% of the diet so not eating them won’t cause weight loss. It’s not eating enough hay which will cause weight loss.

How much does she weigh?
How much weight has she lost?
Have you checked her heft?
How old is she?

Ultimately though she will need to see a vet For a diagnosis.

Not Eating, Weight Loss And The Importance Of Syringe Feeding Fibre
Weight - Monitoring and Management
 
Have you weighed her to see how much weight she has lost? Normal kitchen scales are fine to use.

Guinea pigs should be weighed weekly as loss of weight is an indicator that something could be wrong.

If she has lost 50g or more within a week, that would warrant a check up at the vets.

If cookie feels like a bag of bones, I would have her vet checked
 
Hey everyone, so today I noticed a bit of a weight loss on my Guinea pig cookie, I feed her normal amounts of food but quite oftenly she won't eat the nuggets I give her but she'll eat anything else,her behaviour is pretty much normal except she's way more alert and VERY hyper but she just feels like a bag of bones, there's nothing of her and it's starting to worry me.. not sure what I can do cause I tried giving her more food and she does eat it but she still looks pretty underweight but everything else is fine such as her poop and urine so I have no idea what's happening
I also noticed when she squeaks it sounds like someone loosing their voice, normally her squeak is very loud and high pitch but now it sounds very faint
 
As we said, she needs to see a vet.

How much weight has she lost?
How old is she?
We've been trying to find some scales we can weigh her with, we can feel her hips and other bones and she looks like she hasn't been fed but we have been feeding her the usual amount she should be eating, she turns 2 years old next month
 
Kitchen scales will do the trick. You can use a plastic container or biscuit tin to put her in when weighing.

But I would take her to the vet anyway.
 
We've been trying to find some scales we can weigh her with, we can feel her hips and other bones and she looks like she hasn't been fed but we have been feeding her the usual amount she should be eating, she turns 2 years old next month

She needs to see a vet

If she is eating normal amounts and is still losing weight then that needs checking. However, the only way to be sure they are eating enough hay is by weighing them weekly. You can’t judge hay intake by eye alone. Eating pellets and veg as normal is not an indication that they are eating enough food in general as together those two items only make 20% of the daily food intake. Hay is the most important part
 
She needs to see a vet

If she is eating normal amounts and is still losing weight then that needs checking. However, the only way to be sure they are eating enough hay is by weighing them weekly. You can’t judge hay intake by eye alone. Eating pellets and veg as normal is not an indication that they are eating enough food in general as together those two items only make 20% of the daily food intake. Hay is the most important part
Thanks for the advice, she's mainly focused on her hay recently and has gone back to the pellets but there's still no increase to her weight, hopefully we can try buy a scale to weigh her with, if not then I can try get her an appointment
 
Thanks for the advice, she's mainly focused on her hay recently and has gone back to the pellets but there's still no increase to her weight, hopefully we can try buy a scale to weigh her with, if not then I can try get her an appointment

She needs to see a vet most importantly, do call them today and make an appointment . The vet can weigh her.
If she is eating hay and still losing weight/not gaining then she isn’t eating enough hay. This needs to be checked out. Yes weighing her is important as it is the only way to know she is eating enough, but the fact you say she is a bony then she needs to be checked out
 
Get her an appointment anyway, regardless of when you can get scales. As said previously (I think) pellets shouldn’t be available all the time.

You can get scales in Argos, on eBay or supermarkets (Tesco etc).
 
Hey everyone, so today I noticed a bit of a weight loss on my Guinea pig cookie, I feed her normal amounts of food but quite oftenly she won't eat the nuggets I give her but she'll eat anything else,her behaviour is pretty much normal except she's way more alert and VERY hyper but she just feels like a bag of bones, there's nothing of her and it's starting to worry me.. not sure what I can do cause I tried giving her more food and she does eat it but she still looks pretty underweight but everything else is fine such as her poop and urine so I have no idea what's happening
 
Some photos of cookie
 

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It doesn’t matter if she is herself, if she feels like a bag of bones she needs checking out. You have to remember that they will often hide their illness till it’s quite advanced. Hence why weighing weekly and giving the ‘once over’ is necessary.

She’s gorgeous but you can’t tell from a photo. Book her with the vet for a check and to have her weighed. You then need to get some scales soon as and continue weighing your piggies weekly. Same time of day each time.
 
Do you have any updates about Cookie after a vet visit? My Mango is losing weight too, so I am very curious about other people's experiences.
 
Do you have any updates about Cookie after a vet visit? My Mango is losing weight too, so I am very curious about other people's experiences.
Please take your Mango to the vet rather than asking people about their experiences. As I said in reply to your previous post, whatever is going on with other piggies may be different to what is going on with yours.
 
Do you have any updates about Cookie after a vet visit? My Mango is losing weight too, so I am very curious about other people's experiences.

Other people’s experiences may be different to what is going on with your own piggy. You need to take your piggy to a vet for a hands on check
 
It doesn’t matter if she is herself, if she feels like a bag of bones she needs checking out. You have to remember that they will often hide their illness till it’s quite advanced. Hence why weighing weekly and giving the ‘once over’ is necessary.

She’s gorgeous but you can’t tell from a photo. Book her with the vet for a check and to have her weighed. You then need to get some scales soon as and continue weighing your piggies weekly. Same time of day each time.
We finally found our scales and weighed her, she's 0.6kg and turns out the weight should be around 0.7-1.2kg I don't know why cause I feed her as much as I should be, gonna hopefully get her checked out
 
You can’t tell what weight a piggy should be because they vary so much. When can you get her an appointment, or have you booked it already?
 
:agr:
There is no certain amount they should weigh - some piggies are simply smaller than others, some will weigh 600g, some 1300g - and this is why you check their heft to know what condition is good for them, as a weight which is good for one piggy isn’t good for another.
What is the concern is if she loses weight and this is why you need to weigh them every week as routine.
While you have concerns over her, you should weigh her every day. You will see fluctuations in weight on a daily basis and that’s fine, but if she is continually losing small amounts of weight to produce a continual downward trend over a couple of weeks, or suddenly dropping lots in one go, then she needs to go to a vet.
 
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