I REALLY NEED YOUR GUYS HELP!

[sarah4548]

My 3 year old sow is only weighing 538 grams and it’s getting worse each day. I have been to two vets. One clearly didn’t know anything about guinea pigs, so I went to another one. Who finally did all the right tests: a blood test (thyroid), a stool test, a urinalysis test, a diabetes test, she checked her teeth and molars, felt her whole body, took her temperature. End result: she was in perfect health. So I have no clue what to do, and even with pain medications and critical care, she still loses weight. Her normal weight was between 750-800 grams. And you may ask: does she display other symptoms? No. She eats and drinks like normal, is the same amount active. Maybe the only thing she has stopped doing (but I’m not 100% sure either) is that she stopped eating her pellets. But critical care should make up for that, right? But she still loses weight. So please if anyone got any tips or has experienced something like this. Let me know!

 

[Sweet Potato]

How long has it taken her to lose this much weight? How often are you weighing her? Weighing every week is OK normally but when you think there's something wrong you should be weighing daily. 80% of a piggies diet is hay so even if they're eating some hay it may not be enough so they can look like they're eating normally but if they're weighing less then probably not.

I've had experience of slow weight loss due to fussy piggies and making swaps to their care such as buying expensive hay, sprinkling hay with forrage/ redigrass more often and cleaning the hay tray more regularly worked for them. They lost their weight over a long period of time though and were still heavier than your little one is.

I would consider trying another vet. I know it gets very expensive but if they're loosing weight quickly there must be some underlying issue. Hopefully someone with more experience will come along in the morning that can give some advice on what questions to ask them.

 

[Piggies&buns]

I’m sorry to hear this.

Critical care makes up for lack of hay intake, not pellet intake. Hay is three quarters of the daily food intake but it cannot be gauged by eye. If a piggy loses weight then it is always to do with lack of hay intake. Even a small reduction in intake can make a noticeable different to their weight even if you are still seeing them some eat hay, it isn’t enough.
Pellets are not important in the diet at all, they don’t need to eat them (I don’t give mine any pellets) and given they are only a tiny proportion of the diet anyway (one tablespoon per day, and it equates to around 5% of daily food intake so you cannot see how insignificant they are in the diet), then weight loss is never to do with lack of pellet intake.

So in addition to the questions sweet potato has asked about how often you are weighing her (weight checks need to be daily now she is losing so much weight), the other important question is how much critical care are you getting into her each day? She needs as much as is necessary to keep her weight stable - the amount will need to be in excess of 60ml (40ml is the absolute minimum to keep her weight a piggy with no appetite alive but it probably won’t be enough to stop weight loss).

Your vet seems to have run all the checks we would normally suggest - thyroid, diabetes being key ones for unexplained weight loss.

Another question is, does she have a friend?

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[sarah4548]

Hi! I’m weighing her daily now. And she drops quickly, around 10-20 grams a day. She has four friends and unlimited hay. I’m giving her about that much critical care as you recommend. (She absolutely doesn’t like being force feed). There is one more reason I could think of why she is losing weight, but I don’t know if that can even happen. She started losing weight after a sow in her group passed away. But she still has the same 4 friends and I haven’t changed anything in hay, pellets of anything. So I think I’m just going to keep on force feeding and hope her weight gets stable?

One more question: she absolutely devours her bell pepper. Could I give her more of that, or would that not be good for her intestines? She gets about a 2 inch by 2 inch piece now every day. (It’s her favourite). And Ofcourse a lot of other greens.

 

[CTWC]

How long ago did her show friend pass away?
Do you have bottles, hay areas and hideys one for each of the girls? Could she be being pushed out from the group if their hierarchy has changed since losing your other girl?
Sorry if these have been asked?
Also whilst a 10-20g weight change isn't considered a loss in a healthy weight piggie at her low weight it does need monitoring daily with Critical Care top up feeds

 

[Piggies&buns]

Yes grieving can cause an issue. She may have other friends but she could have been closest to the one who passed and it has affected her more.
(We don’t call it force feeding as there should be no forcing involved)

A 10-20g loss every day absolutely does constitute a downward trend, particularly as she has now lost so much.
Continual daily loss also means she probably isn’t being fed enough. A small fluctuation up and down a little each day is fine (ie you are looking for stability) but repeated daily losses mean she needs to eat more critical care.
She could need between 60 and 100ml per day to stop her weight loss.

No don’t give additional pepper. She can have one cup of veg per day. Feeding additional veg beyond the daily needs could detract even further from her hay/fibre intake and thus make the issue worse. (And a sudden increase in veg can also cause dysbiosis).

 

[sarah4548]

How long ago did her show friend pass away?
Do you have bottles, hay areas and hideys one for each of the girls? Could she be being pushed out from the group if their hierarchy has changed since losing your other girl?
Sorry if these have been asked?
Also whilst a 10-20g weight change isn't considered a loss in a healthy weight piggie at her low weight it does need monitoring daily with Critical Care top up feeds

Yeahs she is steadily losing weight which started 2 months ago (when her friends passed).

Yes grieving can cause an issue. She may have other friends but she could have been closest to the one who passed and it has affected her more.
(We don’t call it force feeding as there should be no forcing involved)

A 10-20g loss every day absolutely does constitute a downward trend, particularly as she has now lost so much.
Continual daily loss also means she probably isn’t being fed enough. A small fluctuation up and down a little each day is fine (ie you are looking for stability) but repeated daily losses mean she needs to eat more critical care.
She could need between 60 and 100ml per day to stop her weight loss.

No don’t give additional pepper. She can have one cup of veg per day. Feeding additional veg beyond the daily needs could detract even further from her hay/fibre intake and thus make the issue worse. (And a sudden increase in veg can also cause dysbiosis).

Yeah she is steadily losing weight which started 2 months ago (when her friends passed). I will up the critical care. Only thing is, she won’t take the syringe. I tried putting a small bowl in front of her. She won’t take it. When I put the syringe in front of her. She won’t take it. So the only way that I get her to eat, is to put her in her mouth (‘force’)

I would highly doubt that she is being bullied in the group. The group is very steady and I never see or hear anything that would make me doubt that.

I see her eat, but apparently not as much as she used too. But the vet said that it’s probably a underlying health issue, but she just couldn’t figure out which. She said it’s a medical mystery….

 

[piggieminder]

Mystery weight loss is a nightmare. A few suggestions I've had success with.
An xray or scan may show up an internal problem.
Try changing the recovery food you are using she may prefer a different flavour. I've never had a guinea pig that would willingly have Oxbow Critical Care. I've found Burgess Dual Care or Science Selective Recovery Plus to be popular ones. You could try mixing a bit of pellet mush into the recovery food to make the taste more recognisable for her.
Try different hay types/suppliers.
I do hope she starts to gain weight again soon and you can get to the bottom of what is going on with your poor girl.

 

[sarah4548]

The only way I’m able to make her eat her critical care on her own is if I put mushed bell peppers through it.

Update: I contacted the vet again, asked if they could brainstorm for any test that they haven’t done that could determine the cause of this.

And I just bought two different brands of critical care in the hope she likes one of them. And I bought a new brand of hay that I’m gonna mix with her old one, in the hope she will start eating more hay. (I also bought her favourite treats, because I’m feeling bad for putting her through this)

 

[sarah4548]

Mystery weight loss is a nightmare. A few suggestions I've had success with.
An xray or scan may show up an internal problem.
Try changing the recovery food you are using she may prefer a different flavour. I've never had a guinea pig that would willingly have Oxbow Critical Care. I've found Burgess Dual Care or Science Selective Recovery Plus to be popular ones. You could try mixing a bit of pellet mush into the recovery food to make the taste more recognisable for her.
Try different hay types/suppliers.
I do hope she starts to gain weight again soon and you can get to the bottom of what is going on with your poor girl.

Do you know if they need to go through anaesthesia for an xray. Cause the vet already said that right now her weight is way too low for her to survive that.

 

[piggieminder]

Some vets do it without, mine won't but she uses a very low dose sedative. As you are not in the UK it's hard for me to say what would apply where you are.

 

[Wheekallweek]

We've had pigs x prayed while conscious, sand bags are often used to keep them still.

Keep mixing the critical care with peppers if you need to, if it means she'll take it