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Loosing weight and hearing?

Guineapigfeet

Guineapigfeet

Adult Guinea Pig
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BB is going back to the vets tomorrow. Over the last couple of months she’s had a steady, non-dramatic loss of weight. It is also the couple of months since top-pig Chewie died. I don’t know if there’s just been a shift in hierarchy as Rey has put on weight in the same time frame. But Chewie lost weight quite suddenly before she died, so I’m feeling a bit wobbly about it. I’ve also noticed that on Mondays she has very tiny poos after being downstairs free-roaming for the weekend, so I didn’t bring them down this weekend. Along with this I’ve notice that I seem to be startling her more often when I go into the pig room. I don’t know if she’s loosing hearing maybe and isn’t feeling as comfortable downstairs any more.
The vet nurse who answered the phone recognised my name :-( poor BB. It always seems to be her. :-(
 
I’m sorry BB is worrying you. Smaller poos can be because of eating less. Which would coincide with the weight loss.

I hope they find out what’s wrong with her. But fingers crossed it’s nothing major.
 
Guineapigfeet said:
BB is going back to the vets tomorrow. Over the last couple of months she’s had a steady, non-dramatic loss of weight. It is also the couple of months since top-pig Chewie died. I don’t know if there’s just been a shift in hierarchy as Rey has put on weight in the same time frame. But Chewie lost weight quite suddenly before she died, so I’m feeling a bit wobbly about it. I’ve also noticed that on Mondays she has very tiny poos after being downstairs free-roaming for the weekend, so I didn’t bring them down this weekend. Along with this I’ve notice that I seem to be startling her more often when I go into the pig room. I don’t know if she’s loosing hearing maybe and isn’t feeling as comfortable downstairs any more.
The vet nurse who answered the phone recognised my name :-( poor BB. It always seems to be her. :-(
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All the best. Smaller poos tend to reflect a reduced food intake a day before, which reflects the weight loss, only that weighing measures the current state whereas poo output shows what has gone in at the other end 1-2 days before, depending on how quickly the gut runs.

I wouldn't think that it is necessarily connected with loss of hearing but perhaps more with feeling very insecure and exposed on her own? Some piggies cope better with a loss than others; and the added stress from the loss can then feed into any underlying causes and can also lower the immune system.

All the best with the vet check!
 
Thank you @Siikibam

Wiebke said:
I wouldn't think that it is necessarily connected with loss of hearing but perhaps more with feeling very insecure and exposed on her own?
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Yes, that’s what I was thinking, rather than them being ‘medically’ connected. She is her normal piggie self, still coming up to the bars and for food and still tolerating my occasional pets! Can pigs loose weight just as a side effect of getting older? She is five and a half and whilst I know that’s not very old, I’m aware it’s not young either.
 
BB is going back to the vets again today. The Vets didn’t find anything wrong last time, teeth looked good, no feelable lumps, no bloat, good gut and lung sounds, heart sounded fine, good skin and coat condition. But she’s still loosing weight and still has small poos. She’s her self otherwise and doesn’t appear to have trouble eating, she’s just not eating enough. I’m really worried that I’ll have to start supplementary feeding, she’ll hate it and I’m not sure I can cope atm if it has to be through nights too. It’s been a really terrible week and I’m struggling to cope generally with life right now :-(
 
I’m sorry you’re struggling. If you do syringe feed you don’t necessarily have to do nighttime feeds. You need to be well rested to look after her.

I’ve got everything crossed that they can get to the bottom of the weight loss. How much has she lost so far? Hugs
 
Thank you @Siikibam. Since January she’s gone from 860g to 740g. Nothings been extreme, just a steady consistent downward trend. She isn’t skinny, as such, yet either, but I’m obviously concerned that that isn’t going to be too far down the line.
 
I would top her up starting now. If you aim to feed every two hours and see how she goes. You can weigh once daily at the same time and see whether she’s maintaining. Good luck.
 
I’m sorry she’s still causing you concern. I’d agree with giving her a top up and see how you go on.
 
Guineapigfeet said:
BB is going back to the vets again today. The Vets didn’t find anything wrong last time, teeth looked good, no feelable lumps, no bloat, good gut and lung sounds, heart sounded fine, good skin and coat condition. But she’s still loosing weight and still has small poos. She’s her self otherwise and doesn’t appear to have trouble eating, she’s just not eating enough. I’m really worried that I’ll have to start supplementary feeding, she’ll hate it and I’m not sure I can cope atm if it has to be through nights too. It’s been a really terrible week and I’m struggling to cope generally with life right now :-(
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All the best!

If you can supplement enough during day time, especially with a piggy that is still partially eating, then you do not have to get up at night. Just feed last thing in the evening and then again first thing in the morning. Round the clock feeding is only required with piggies totally off their food in an attempt to save their lives.

You monitor the level of feeding support by weighing daily at the same time (I prefer before breakfast when the weight is at its lowest) as you cannot control the hay intake by eye, and the poo output does run 1-2 days behind. Also offer extra water, as much as she is willing to drink from a syringe.

Unfortunately, these things tend to happen at the worst of times. :(
 
Thank you @VickiA and @Wiebke . Vets could find anything wrong. Nothing to explain why she is loosing weight / not eating enough. They’ve said again that she is not underweight. I don’t know if I’m making it all up! They have given me an apt on Tuesday with a vet that specialises in pigs and buns, so maybe he’ll be able to help. Should I wait until after I’ve seen him before I do anything else? I don’t want to be potentially masking anything. They’re out on the lawn now whilst I clean the cage :-) or rather they’re sitting in their box that’s out on the lawn!
 
I wouldn’t wait for the appointment to start topping up. I don’t think you’re making it up. She shouldn’t be losing weight every week. What does her heft feel like?

Hope you get some answers.
 
Siikibam said:
I wouldn’t wait for the appointment to start topping up. I don’t think you’re making it up. She shouldn’t be losing weight every week. What does her heft feel like?

Hope you get some answers.
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She’s slim, but you can’t feel ribs or hips or anything
 
Had the apt with the pigspecialist today and he was so lovely! Took loads of time chatting to me about BB and what I’ve been seeing and my thoughts on everything and he gave her a thorough check over and although everything looked/sounded/felt fine from the outside he did find something!
She has a very specific and consistent pain reaction on either side of her lower jaw. Her back teeth look fine but there seems to be pain in the roots. Without X-rays/ CT he cannot be 100% certain but he strongly suspects there are some changes to the roots that are causing her discomfort whilst eating. This would eventually cause tooth changes which will exacerbate and perpetuate the issue, but he says it’s very early stages. Plan right now is pain killers to see if this allows her to eat properly and gain weight. Follow up in two weeks where he’ll review progress and re asses pain killer dose. He did say that some times the relief from pain means that the tooth changes never actually happen because there is no favouring one side or the other and the teeth are being worn from eating enough and that gives the root space to go back to normal. Hope I’ve remembered it all correctly, it all made sense when he explained it. So fingers crossed. She is heavier today than she was on Saturday so that’s a good start :-)
 
Had the apt with the specialist again. She’s doing great. My scales say she’s maintaining weight and his say she’s gaining, so that’s good. She isn’t showing pain in her jaw when he feels it any more either. She’s on the meds for another three months to let the roots settle in the correct place and the jaw harden around them and the she should be able to be weaned off the meds, generally so we can monitor her weight, and see where we are. He’s pretty sure she’ll be absolutely fine now (obvs no guarantees) I was so relieved I started crying!
 
She’s back at the vets today. Losing weight again. Had stress dreams about it last night. She turned into a hamster and bit my neck.
 
One of her teeth hasn’t realigned and is rubbing her tongue. She’s having it trimmed back this morning and, if she pulls through, her pain killers whacked up to try an increase her eating again and therefore wearing the tooth correctly again. Vet says her chances long-term have gone from 80-90% to 50%.
Should hear from them later on, hopefully that they found nothing unexpected and that she’s awake and eating. 🤞🏻
 
wishing you all the best for your girl.
 
BB came out of the GA totally fine and started eating almost right away. The tooth spur is gone and a little of the height taken off to reduce the pressure on the root. He also found that one of the upper teeth is dead, but it wasn’t loose so that’s been left. He said it might just crumble and fall out and shouldn’t cause an issue but may have been contributing to her pain. She’s also on twice daily pain meds now.
She has been eating but I had an old sachet of recovery food so I mixed a bit of that up to go with her evening meds but I made it too thick for the syringe and not wanting to use the yucky bathroom tap water I offered it on a teaspoon that I already had upstairs and she just ate it off that! And yummed up her meds too. Will offer her more tomorrow morning; as it’s open she may as well eat it! Loads of poo this evening but obviously still small ones. Alert, running around and keen for cucumber this evening.
Got to go back in (all going well this time🤞) three weeks.
 
Over the last week she lost more weight despite the pain killers and I suspected her three-week check up today would instead be to put her to sleep. The vet checked her over and could feel more swelling and pain in her jaw and something going on in her abdomen which he couldn’t work out by touch alone and he agreed that it was the right time to stop.
He gave her a gas anaesthetic (it took more gas and much longer than it should have - she was a tough cookie!) to make her sleep and then brought her out to me for the injection. She’s home now and waiting on a call back from the crematorium. I just know it’ll be when I go to the toilet!
Rey seems OK so far, she started eating as soon as I put her back in her cage. Seems very big now for just one small pig.
 
They did call when I was on the toilet! Going to drop her off this afternoon
 
I’m so sorry for your loss. You did the very best till the end and I hope you made lots of happy memories. Take care of yourself.
 
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