Leeni
Junior Guinea Pig
Mimmi hasn't been doing too good lately. 28th of October I weighed her and was shocked that she had lost 150g in three weeks. I should have weighed the piggies more often but I was abroad a lot at the time 
. My husband took care of the piggies during that time and he is very good at it, so nothing to suspicious there.
So Mimmi was 680g and her normal weight had been 850g. She is quite a petite piggy so I think 850-900g is a ok weight for her. She is now a few months over 3 years old. She had seemed her usual happy and active self during this weight loss period, she was just wheeking for extra treats all the time. I thought it was because we had stopped gathering grass and other greens from outside and begun serving from the fridge which the piggies are not so exited about (I'm in Finland so we get frost in October), but maybe it was a symptom of her changed appetite. After looking at her behaviour carefully I thought it could be that she wasn't eating hay the usual way but was spending a lot of time choosing what she ate. She was eating veggies and pellets with good appetite but was sometimes twisting her face like there was a teeth problem or something wrong with her mouth. But the difference to normal was quite small. Still, her poop was small, so apparently she wasn't eating very much.
I immediately took her to vet's but since I wanted to have the appointment the same day I didn't get to bring her to my usual vet who is an expert. The vet inspected Mimmi's teeth (which were ok) but nothing much else. We got antibiotics for 10 days anyway.
After a few days I brought her to the vet I usually go to because I wasn't sure that this was all that could be done. We checked the teeth again, and they were perfect. The vet took an urine sample that showed +2 blood. Mimmi was diagnosed with possible urinal infection. She didn't show any pain while peeing but then again she drinks a lot (always has) so maybe that kept the pain away. There was no glucose or unusual amount of protein in the urine. X-rays were clean, no signs of bladder stones or tumors. We continued the antibiotics with a bigger dose for 3 weeks and now there is no blood in the urine. Her poop is ok. There was one day during antibiotics when she had diarrhea but that was fixed in less than a day.
At first I support fed Mimmi but found out that her weight was going up better when she was eating pellets (I feed her Oxbow young pellets). She eats hay seemingly ok and veggies too, but there must be something wrong still with how she eats hay. Now she weighs 762g but her weight seems to have got stuck there. And she will lose weight immediately if I take away the pellets. For a day she was over 780 but the next day only 750g and now 760-770 has been the highest point for many days.
I know there can be so many reasons why a piggy can lose weight but does anyone have any ideas what could cause this? I it just the urinal infection still causing her not to eat properly? Could there be parasites from the lawn in her guts?
. My husband took care of the piggies during that time and he is very good at it, so nothing to suspicious there. So Mimmi was 680g and her normal weight had been 850g. She is quite a petite piggy so I think 850-900g is a ok weight for her. She is now a few months over 3 years old. She had seemed her usual happy and active self during this weight loss period, she was just wheeking for extra treats all the time. I thought it was because we had stopped gathering grass and other greens from outside and begun serving from the fridge which the piggies are not so exited about (I'm in Finland so we get frost in October), but maybe it was a symptom of her changed appetite. After looking at her behaviour carefully I thought it could be that she wasn't eating hay the usual way but was spending a lot of time choosing what she ate. She was eating veggies and pellets with good appetite but was sometimes twisting her face like there was a teeth problem or something wrong with her mouth. But the difference to normal was quite small. Still, her poop was small, so apparently she wasn't eating very much.
I immediately took her to vet's but since I wanted to have the appointment the same day I didn't get to bring her to my usual vet who is an expert. The vet inspected Mimmi's teeth (which were ok) but nothing much else. We got antibiotics for 10 days anyway.
After a few days I brought her to the vet I usually go to because I wasn't sure that this was all that could be done. We checked the teeth again, and they were perfect. The vet took an urine sample that showed +2 blood. Mimmi was diagnosed with possible urinal infection. She didn't show any pain while peeing but then again she drinks a lot (always has) so maybe that kept the pain away. There was no glucose or unusual amount of protein in the urine. X-rays were clean, no signs of bladder stones or tumors. We continued the antibiotics with a bigger dose for 3 weeks and now there is no blood in the urine. Her poop is ok. There was one day during antibiotics when she had diarrhea but that was fixed in less than a day.
At first I support fed Mimmi but found out that her weight was going up better when she was eating pellets (I feed her Oxbow young pellets). She eats hay seemingly ok and veggies too, but there must be something wrong still with how she eats hay. Now she weighs 762g but her weight seems to have got stuck there. And she will lose weight immediately if I take away the pellets. For a day she was over 780 but the next day only 750g and now 760-770 has been the highest point for many days.
I know there can be so many reasons why a piggy can lose weight but does anyone have any ideas what could cause this? I it just the urinal infection still causing her not to eat properly? Could there be parasites from the lawn in her guts?
!
as she has already gone up more than 50 grams in a few weeks when Mimmi hasn't been well.