• Discussions taking place within this forum are intended for the purpose of assisting you in discussing options with your vet. Any other use of advice given here is done so at your risk, is solely your responsibility and not that of this forum or its owner. Before posting it is your responsibility you abide by this Statement

I'm Worried About Mother's Weigh Loss!

Status
Not open for further replies.
Stewybus

Stewybus

Adult Guinea Pig
Joined
Nov 9, 2012
Messages
3,826
Reaction score
2,679
Points
1,005
I'm really worried about my 3 year 4 month old piggy, Mother. She has been steadily losing weight over the last 14 weeks from a peak of 1400 grams down to 1141 grams with a big drop in the last 7 days of 90 grams. Because of the weight loss I took her to see the vet on July 29th but nothing untoward was found. She does have 2 enlarged lymph nodes which were 1st noticed about 5 months ago but these haven't changed. Her weight has dropped 11 of the last 14 weeks with details as follows:-
5/5/14 = 1400
12/5/14 = 1354
18/5/14 = 1393
25/5/14 = 1361
1/6/14 = 1355
8/6/14 = 1334
15/6/14 = 1326
22/6/14 = 1349
29/6/14 = 1312
6/7/14 = 1307
13/7/14 = 1298
20/7/14 = 1258
27/7/14 = 1235
3/8/14 = 1251
10/8/14 = 1141

She is not as eager to rush out for her food whereas before she was always the first there. Her and Mitch have been bonded with 3 5 1/2 year old sows about 5 weeks ago & this has been a pretty good bonding with no real problems other than some dominance issues with Pepper, the biggest of the 3 new girls. But that would only account for a 1/3 of the time she's been losing weight. There are 3 bowls spread around their run & it's not a case of her been pushed out. When I took her to the vets 12 days ago we did notice a small wound on her front foot which could have been caused by a fight but possibly not. When they're out on the grass they eat together in perfect harmony & are all in a group together that you could cover with a washing up bowl. She appears to be eating as much grass as she ever has & they're out for at least an hour & sometimes over 2 hours every day when we don't get rain which is about 6 out of 7 at present.

She's due back at the vets tomorrow so any suggestions as to what is wrong would be gratefully accepted so I could have a few questions or suggestions for her vet tomorrow.

Thanks for reading this, I've put down everything I can think of but if you need any more info feel free to ask.
 
I can understand why you are worried. I really hope the vet can get to the bottom of this. Kisses for mother.
 
That is a big weight loss, did I see you say somewhere that you were changing their dry food? does that tie in with the timescale at all?

I would be inclined to ask for a conscious xray to see if the vet can shed any more light on what is going on. It would also be a good idea to test her urine with some test sticks.

Is she going to the toilet ok? does she seem in pain when peeing?

How is her breathing? has she ever had any upper or lower respiratory infections?

Has she ever had a fungal infection?
 
If she's eating, but losing weight, it may be an intestinal problem, possibly fungal. If the fungus coats the intestine, then you get weight loss due to malabsorption. The treatment would be intrafungol, a cat med. Is she showing any other symptoms at all? I assume you've checked her teeth? Could also be endoparasitic (I don't know if you "worm" your pigs).
 
Aw sorry to hear this Stewy :( I agree with Helen, x-ray would be good & test her wee if u can. Another couple of things to throw into the mix could be diabetes (Very rare but possible) & hyperthyroidism. Testing for those might involve taking bloods under GA though & if so they could do the x-ray & possible ultrasound scan then. You could get a fecal sample sent off first, it's less invasive, costs around £60 & they can check for intestinal problems, parasites etc. I suggest if you do that first, get your vet to send it off to Chester Zoo as the lab there does a full detailed fecal analysis.
 
helen105281 said:
That is a big weight loss, did I see you say somewhere that you were changing their dry food? does that tie in with the timescale at all?

I would be inclined to ask for a conscious xray to see if the vet can shed any more light on what is going on. It would also be a good idea to test her urine with some test sticks.

Is she going to the toilet ok? does she seem in pain when peeing?

How is her breathing? has she ever had any upper or lower respiratory infections?

Has she ever had a fungal infection?
Click to expand...

Thanks Helen, Would the xray be for teeth or other problems.

With the food change they're still getting their old food but gradually trying them with new, so they've actually got more pellets than normal.

Is the easiest way to get urine for a test, putting her in a clean carrier back till she wees? She doesn't seem to be having trouble weeing but with 5 in the run it's hard to tell what one is doing. She's not making any sounds of pain.

Breathing seems to be OK. I have one who has problems from time to time but Mother hasn't had problems that way.

She did have a fungal skin problem last summer which was treated with Imaverol.
 
Yes put her in a clean carrier and give her a big drink before hand by syringe, at least 10 ml. Do you have any test sticks? if not you can collect it and take it to the vet. I would send you some but mine are giving iffy readings at the moment.

Hopefully not related to the fungal issue then if it was treated promptly.

Glad there are no breathing issues, my thought on this was a heart issue as it can cause weightloss.

I would go for a wee test first, then xrays and a get a faecal test done too as suggested by Poppy's Mum.
 
Elwickcavies said:
If she's eating, but losing weight, it may be an intestinal problem, possibly fungal. If the fungus coats the intestine, then you get weight loss due to malabsorption. The treatment would be intrafungol, a cat med. Is she showing any other symptoms at all? I assume you've checked her teeth? Could also be endoparasitic (I don't know if you "worm" your pigs).
Click to expand...

Thanks Jo, I'll add those to my list when I go in tomorrow.


Poppy'sMum said:
Aw sorry to hear this Stewy :( I agree with Helen, x-ray would be good & test her wee if you can. Another couple of things to throw into the mix could be diabetes (Very rare but possible) & hyperthyroidism. Testing for those might involve taking bloods under GA though & if so they could do the x-ray & possible ultrasound scan then. You could get a fecal sample sent off first, it's less invasive, costs around £60 & they can check for intestinal problems, parasites etc. I suggest if you do that first, get your vet to send it off to Chester Zoo as the lab there does a full detailed fecal analysis.
Click to expand...

Thanks to you too Jo, I've got a good list to take in now. I didn't think so many things could cause loss of weight.
 
helen105281 said:
Yes put her in a clean carrier and give her a big drink before hand by syringe, at least 10 ml. Do you have any test sticks? if not you can collect it and take it to the vet. I would send you some but mine are giving iffy readings at the moment.

Hopefully not related to the fungal issue then if it was treated promptly.

Glad there are no breathing issues, my thought on this was a heart issue as it can cause weightloss.

I would go for a wee test first, then xrays and a get a faecal test done too as suggested by Poppy's Mum.
Click to expand...

Thanks again Helen, Are these test sticks available without prescription in Boots. What would I ask for? I could get some in the morning before she goes to the vet.
 
Yes I would think so, they may be behind the counter. I get mine online, they are GP multistix. I got my last lot on eBay which I won't do again.

 
Did the vet check for urethral stones? A lot of the piggies we have had with a gradual weight loss but no other symptoms have been found to have a urethral stone and once that has been popped out the weight has just gradually gone back up. They have shown no symptoms and have appeared to eat normally, but clearly some of the background munching that they do continuously hasn't been happening, possibly due to some element of pain.
 
furryfriends Excellent Adventure Sanctuary said:
Did the vet check for urethral stones? A lot of the piggies we have had with a gradual weight loss but no other symptoms have been found to have a urethral stone and once that has been popped out the weight has just gradually gone back up. They have shown no symptoms and have appeared to eat normally, but clearly some of the background munching that they do continuously hasn't been happening, possibly due to some element of pain.
Click to expand...

Thanks Debbie, At least I've got a good list to work on. Hopefully it's nothing rare that no one has mentioned.
 
helen105281 said:
Yes I would think so, they may be behind the counter. I get mine online, they are GP multistix. I got my last lot on eBay which I won't do again.

Click to expand...

I've checked Boots website & they don't seem to do these, just for blood sugar. I'll get Mother to wee in carrier bag & take sample into vets.
 
Thanks everyone, I can go with lots of questions now. I had her on my knee tonight & I may be imagining it but she seemed to have little lumps on the rear half of her left side. She did a bit of teeth chattering when I was touching in the rib area.
 
Poor Mother :( Good luck tomorrow, I hope you get to the bottom of it. The herd send love and wheeks!
 
Looks like any suggestions I would have made, have been suggested already.
I'm sure you won't forget to ask for any painkillers in case its that,that's causing problems. But good luck at the vets &hope mothers easily sorted&on a speedy road to recovery :)
Healing vibes from the girls & I.
Xx
 
We're back from the vets & blood did show up in Mother's urine so she's being treated for UTI for a week with Baytril & Loxicom. I've got to take another urine sample when I take her in next Monday. She's been out on the lawn with the rest of my piggies for the last 90 minutes or more & was eating grass most times I saw her. Hopefully an increase in weight by next week but I'm going to weigh her daily to make sure she isn't still losing a lot of weight.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top