My piggy is hiding a lot

[devoted piggy carer]

Hello, my 2 year old piggy, Maisy, was hiding from me whenever I reached out to stroke her a few days ago.This was very strange for her as she is such a calm girl. I have been giving her a probiotic in her veggies and natural flower essence remedies that are perfectly safe for piggies to calm her down. She responded extremely well to these and is now almost back to her usual self. But I am still worried about what caused it, and if there's any underlying problems. She is eating fine, drinking fine, and weeing fine. although I'm not sure weather she is pooing, because she did not do a single one when out for a long cuddle, she did a wee, that's usually followed by poos, and none came. I also noticed that the water in her water bottle has gone down more than usual. It could've been her friend, but seeing that she has other symptoms then its most likely to be her. I checked if it was leaking, but it wasn't... Is a vet visit nessasery? And if so what could they do to help? Thank you so much for any sort of advice. Xx

 

[Piggies&buns]

Please switch from the routine weekly weight checks and instead weigh her each morning. This is the only way to check whether she is actually eating enough hay. Hay is their main food intake and you cannot gauge its intake by eye - even a small reduction in intake can have a big effect.
If she is losing weight then you need to step in with syringe feeding and see a vet.

If a piggy isn’t pooping then it usually means they are not eating enough hay.

A change in behaviour can sometimes be a sign that they are feeling well, so yes, do see a vet if you are at all concerned.

I’ve added guides with detailed practical information below to help you further:

Emergency and Crisis Care as well as Bridging Care until a Vet Appointment
How to Improvise Feeding Support in an Emergency
Weight and Weight Loss Explained: BMI, Weighing, Poos and Feeding Support
Weight monitoring and management
All About Syringe Feeding and Medicating Guinea Pigs with Videos and Pictures

 

[Wiebke]

Hi and welcome

Please take the time to read our information links with lots of practical tips, advice and information which we cannot repeat in full in every post we make, seeing that we all do this for free in our own free time. You will find our guides very helpful as it contains all the how-to details.

My fingers are firmly crossed for Maisy.

 

[Truffolo]

Hello, my 2 year old piggy, Maisy, was hiding from me whenever I reached out to stroke her a few days ago.This was very strange for her as she is such a calm girl. I have been giving her a probiotic in her veggies and natural flower essence remedies that are perfectly safe for piggies to calm her down. She responded extremely well to these and is now almost back to her usual self. But I am still worried about what caused it, and if there's any underlying problems. She is eating fine, drinking fine, and weeing fine. although I'm not sure weather she is pooing, because she did not do a single one when out for a long cuddle, she did a wee, that's usually followed by poos, and none came. I also noticed that the water in her water bottle has gone down more than usual. It could've been her friend, but seeing that she has other symptoms then its most likely to be her. I checked if it was leaking, but it wasn't... Is a vet visit nessasery? And if so what could they do to help? Thank you so much for any sort of advice. Xx

The best thing to do is to see your vet, who can listen to her tummy and feel for unusual masses or bloating. Poor girl, if her behaviour has changed there must be something going on. Your vet can give you meds to encourage her digestion. Weighing her is important as well, but the best thing is to take her off to your vet urgently. Good luck, let us know how things go

 

[devoted piggy carer]

Please switch from the routine weekly weight checks and instead weigh her each morning. This is the only way to check whether she is actually eating enough hay. Hay is their main food intake and you cannot gauge its intake by eye - even a small reduction in intake can have a big effect.
If she is losing weight then you need to step in with syringe feeding and see a vet.

If a piggy isn’t pooping then it usually means they are not eating enough hay.

A change in behaviour can sometimes be a sign that they are feeling well, so yes, do see a vet if you are at all concerned.

I’ve added guides with detailed practical information below to help you further:

Emergency and Crisis Care as well as Bridging Care until a Vet Appointment
How to Improvise Feeding Support in an Emergency
Weight and Weight Loss Explained: BMI, Weighing, Poos and Feeding Support
Weight monitoring and management
All About Syringe Feeding and Medicating Guinea Pigs with Videos and Pictures

Thank you very much for your advice ❤

 

[devoted piggy carer]

Hi and welcome

Please take the time to read our information links with lots of practical tips, advice and information which we cannot repeat in full in every post we make, seeing that we all do this for free in our own free time. You will find our guides very helpful as it contains all the how-to details.

My fingers are firmly crossed for Maisy.

Ok thank you very much will do ❤

 

[devoted piggy carer]

The best thing to do is to see your vet, who can listen to her tummy and feel for unusual masses or bloating. Poor girl, if her behaviour has changed there must be something going on. Your vet can give you meds to encourage her digestion. Weighing her is important as well, but the best thing is to take her off to your vet urgently. Good luck, let us know how things go

Ok thank you very much for your advice I'll let you know how she gets on ❤

 

[devoted piggy carer]

Ok thank you very much for your advice I'll let you know how she gets on ❤

Hi, here's an update: she is pooping now as normal, I don't know why she wasn't before. we took Maisy to the vets, and it turns out that she is all good and healthy! I am very relieved. The vet thinks that her stange behavior is due to hormones, as she is around two and a half now, she is not coming into heat anymore, They can go a bit funny when this happens. Thanks again for your help ❤

 

[Piggies&buns]

Hi, here's an update: she is pooping now as normal, I don't know why she wasn't before. we took Maisy to the vets, and it turns out that she is all good and healthy! I am very relieved. The vet thinks that her stange behavior is due to hormones, as she is around two and a half now, she is not coming into heat anymore, They can go a bit funny when this happens. Thanks again for your help ❤

Piggies stop pooping if they are not eating enough as a result of an illness, digestive upset etc - that is the only reason and hence our advice to always step in with syringe feeding and more frequent weight checks. Poop output is 1-2 days behind food intake so by the time you notice poops have stopped (if you haven’t been weighing) then they haven’t been eating enough for a couple of days and you’ve lost the critical time to step in with help and prevent stasis. Their bodies are basically food processing conveyors and lack of poop is always something to take seriously.

I'm glad she is healthy but I’m afraid what your vet has told you about her no longer going into heat based on her age and ‘going funny’ because of it is wrong. The only time sows stop going into heat is if they are spayed.
She will go into season every 15-17 days (assuming she is never spayed) and will remain fertile for her entire life - there is simply no menopause in guinea pigs.
I’d suggest that you might want to look for a vet more knowledgeable in piggies if at all possible.

What can happen once a sow is over 2 years old is they can develop ovarian cysts which can cause them to become grumpy and seem constantly hormonal. These cysts can sometimes require treatments and possibly surgery in some cases.

Sows: Behaviour and Female Health Problems (including mounting and ovarian cysts)