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Old Guinea Pig

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smr1001

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We have had one of our guinea pigs for 4 years and we believe she was at least one year old when we got here making her 5 years plus now.

Earlier on this year she lost 4oz of weight over a short period of time. We took her to the vets but they could find nothing wrong and her teeth appeared fine. With the arrival of lots of fresh grass she put the weight back on but has now lost it again.

She is still lively and eating but she has got alot more picky with her food and is not so interested in competing with her cage mates anymore. We have tried feeding her seperately with similar results. She is also spending alot more time sat quietly on her own.

I think she is slowly fading with old age but have had no previous experience of this and am not sure what to expect. I would be grateful if any other members with experience of guinea pigs dying of old age could shed some light on their experiences and how best to deal with this.
 
I've got some oldies here and they vary. Some continue as normal right up to when they die... others gradually do get smaller, thinner, weaker, more tired. Captain Jack is my oldest, he was 5 when he came in, he spends most of the day asleep and is deaf, still eats well but is prone to the runs. He has lost weight and is now about 750g but isn't losing any more and his teeth are fine. He also had major surgery a few months ago so is on borrowed time.

Carry on with weekly weighing (more often if you're worried) and it might be worth a second opinion on her teeth - did they look at the back ones? Some vets don't. It's sometimes easy to put things down to 'old age', and it might well be, but the symptoms might also be something that can be treated. If you're worried I'd see another vet.

Hope she's ok

Sophie
x
 
I've an older girl here. Bupu who we were told is 4 years old but she could be a little older. She lost 4oz in weight and went down to 1lb 5oz! She is now 1lb 8oz and there is no reason for the weight loss.

Perhaps its just old age, we shrink we age perhaps guineas do too.
 
my oldest piggy went to the bridge last year at the ripe old age of 9, she lost lots of weight as she aged and shrunk considerably, although she still had a really good appetite, she wasn't as active as she aged and eventually spent most of her time sitting in the same place which caused problems with her feet which i used perfect paws ointment on, apart from being less active and being a bit stiff she was quite happy but i did move her into the house permanantly to make her more comfortable :)
 
If you do get her teeth looked at again then do not let it be done under a GA.
 
We have just had to have one of our girlies spayed as she had an ovarian cyst and had lost weight due to that. I wonder if it could be your girls problem too if not the teeth.
She doesn't sound that old to me to be losing weight, or fading. We have a male here who is at least 8 years old who is very active and lively and a very good weight.
I think I would be wanting more investigations done.
Good Luck with her I hope you can get her right.
 
In the ideal world guineas would live to the age of 8 but sometimes genetics etc can mean they fade quicker then we would expect or like. Guinea Pigs have 14 Birthdays a year so a 4 year old would be 56 not old in all honesty and in no way are pigs who slow down are 'dying'. I refer back to Bupu who has slowed down but is still eating and drinking and now gaining slowly. I hardly think I will get her back to the weight that she was though.
 
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