Loose Poo And Weight Loss With 7 Week Old. Advice Please!

[SweetJo]

Hi,

I weighed Peanut last night. Last Thursday she was 350g. Yesterday she was 360g, which had me slightly worried, only a 10g increase. Cookie, her friend had put on exactly 25g.

They've both being acting normally. I haven't tried them with any new food for a week now.

I've just got home from work to find Peanut having had loose poo (not runny, just squidgy). I can tell it's her cause Cookie is totally clean whereas when I checked Peanut she had a slightly dirty rear end. I've weighed her and she's now 355g so has lost 5g in 24 hours! She is acting as normal and eating.

Do I need to separate them? Do I need to see a vet? (Typically it's now the weekend). I haven't given them any more veg, I've just left hay, pellets and water in for them. I'm worried for my poor little baby. I've had her 2 weeks. What do I need to do?

 

[Wiebke]

Please take Peanut off any fresh food for a day and see whether that is firming up her poos again. If not, please see a vet. Re-introduce veg gradually after the poos have firmed up for at least 24-48 hours. Weigh daily at the same time in the feeding cycle. You do not need to separate, but you may want to feed separately.

The fist rule for weight loss is:
- 1 oz/30g can be just daily variance, due to the difference between a full/empty tummy and bladder
- see a vet if the weight loss is 2 oz/50g
- see a vet asap as an emergency if the weight loss is 3 oz/100g, especially in a very short amount of time, as it means that a guinea is not eating or drinking and urgently needs hand feeding.

Guinea pigs don't grow evenly; they have weeks when they put on less weight than others. However, with one obviously greedy guinea pig, you may want to consider feeding veg and pellets in several small portions rather than leaving a full bowl out. 80% of the daily food intake should be hay, so don't feel like you have to have pellets out all the time!

 

[SweetJo]

Thank you Wiebke, that makes me feel better... I think with her being little anyway, 5g in 24 hours seems a lot! She's sat eating her hay now. Tonight at their tea time I'll hold Cookie while she gets her usual veggies. I'm hoping maybe Peanut was greedy this morning and ate Cookie's half of the veggies too!

I'll post back if I have any more concerns xx

 

[Wiebke]

The 5 g loss is not at all representative; a piggy can weigh 30-40g more after a big dinner!

 

[SweetJo]

Peanut's poops were back to normal by Saturday morning. I re-introduced a small bit of veg last night... her soft poops are back

This morning I noticed a small round patch on her side, near her hip - a bit smaller than a 5p piece. There is a pin-prick sized red dot in it. The bare skin is smooth with no signs of scratching or flaky skin.

I'm going to ring the vets tomorrow to get her and Cookie checked over. I tried to take a photo of the bald patch but she will not sit still so this is the best I could get with one hand. Does this look/sound like ringworm? Or mites? I've been lucky in the past that none of my pigs have had skin problems so this is a first for me
.

 

[Wiebke]

Hi! I am very sorry for your problems! Please stay off fresh veg and if necessary hand feed.

The bald patch could be the very beginnings of ringworm or it may be mites. it is often not easy to decide so early. both conditions are opportunists that usually hit when the immune system is lowered for some reason. Just use very good hygiene when handling and cleaning your guinea pigs.

Good that you are planning to have them both checked out tomorrow.

If it turns out to be ringworm, then here are our tips. The treatments mentioned are suitable for guinea pigs of all ages. https://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/threads/ringworm-hygiene-and-pictures.115402/

 

[SweetJo]

Vet thinks it looks like Cookie has nibbled Peanut.... I'm not sure, although Peanut does have a habit of sitting on Cookie so I wouldn't blame her!

I need to take them back in two weeks anyway to see if they can work out of Cookie is a boy or a girl and so they can check Peanut's bald patch.

As for soft poos I need to only give Peanut small amounts of veg.

 

[Wiebke]

Vet thinks it looks like Cookie has nibbled Peanut.... I'm not sure, although Peanut does have a habit of sitting on Cookie so I wouldn't blame her!

I need to take them back in two weeks anyway to see if they can work out of Cookie is a boy or a girl and so they can check Peanut's bald patch.

As for soft poos I need to only give Peanut small amounts of veg.

Just see the vet sooner if it starts looking like fungal. Most cases of overgrooming/drawing blood when grooming are self-inflicted because of discomfort/pain of some sort.

 

[SweetJo]

I'm definitely gonna keep a very close eye on it. Fingers and toes crossed that it doesn't come to anything.