Senior guinea pig weight change

[mls18]

I just weighed my guinea pigs for their weekly weigh in and I'm very concerned. My 6 year old male guinea pig is uasually 2 pounds 11/12 ounces, sometimes ten. Last week he was 2 pounds 11.6 ounces but this week hes dropped to 2 pounds 7.9 ounces. My floor is very uneaven so it could possibly be becouse of that but i weighed my other guinea pig and his weight seems normal so i dont know if its becouse of that. A few months ago he dropped to 2 pounds 9 ounces so i brought him to the vet and he was compeltely fine. I dont know what to do becouse I'm not sure if I'm just freaking out again or if somethings really wrong. I havent noticed any other signs of ilness (i have felt like he hasent been eating as much hay but i always think that so I'm not sure if its actually happening). What should i do?

 

[Wiebke]

I just weighed my guinea pigs for their weekly weigh in and I'm very concerned. My 6 year old male guinea pig is uasually 2 pounds 11/12 ounces, sometimes ten. Last week he was 2 pounds 11.6 ounces but this week hes dropped to 2 pounds 7.9 ounces. My floor is very uneaven so it could possibly be becouse of that but i weighed my other guinea pig and his weight seems normal so i dont know if its becouse of that. A few months ago he dropped to 2 pounds 9 ounces so i brought him to the vet and he was compeltely fine. I dont know what to do becouse I'm not sure if I'm just freaking out again or if somethings really wrong. I havent noticed any other signs of ilness (i have felt like he hasent been eating as much hay but i always think that so I'm not sure if its actually happening). What should i do?

Hi

Please take a deep breath. Older piggies will lose condition at some point when their bodies stop working optimally; the same does happen with old people. In guinea pigs is just all in fast forward because of their much quicker metabolism and short life spans.

As long as you have them checked that there is not acute underlying health issue or pain problem (like from arthritis), then it is just the normal aging process. 6 years is right in the middle of the average healthy life expectancy, so you and your boy are doing well.
I would recommend to use your kitchen scales on the work surface (which are better for a cavy's weight range than human scales) but make allowance that they may show a slightly different weight to the scales, so weigh first on the floor and then on the kitchen scales to register that difference the first time.
From then on in you just monitor any weight changes.

You may find these links here very helpful:
Caring for Older Piggies and Facing the End - A practical and supportive information collection
Weight - Monitoring and Management (including a chapter on how weight changes over the course of a life time)
How To Pick Up And Weigh Your Guinea Pigs Safely (with a video and useful pictures on how to weigh on kitchen scales).

PS: Please accept that since US metric pounds (500g) and UK imperials pounds (450g) differ in weight most noticeably in the relevant cavy weight range, we are only using grams on this forum in order to avoid any misunderstandings and any resulting misleading advice.

 

[mls18]

Hi

Please take a deep breath. Older piggies will lose condition at some point when their bodies stop working optimally; the same does happen with old people. In guinea pigs is just all in fast forward because of their much quicker metabolism and short life spans.

As long as you have them checked that there is not acute underlying health issue or pain problem (like from arthritis), then it is just the normal aging process. 6 years is right in the middle of the average healthy life expectancy, so you and your boy are doing well.
I would recommend to use your kitchen scales on the work surface (which are better for a cavy's weight range than human scales) but make allowance that they may show a slightly different weight to the scales, so weigh first on the floor and then on the kitchen scales to register that difference the first time.
From then on in you just monitor any weight changes.

You may find these links here very helpful:
Caring for Older Piggies and Facing the End - A practical and supportive information collection
Weight - Monitoring and Management (including a chapter on how weight changes over the course of a life time)
How To Pick Up And Weigh Your Guinea Pigs Safely (with a video and useful pictures on how to weigh on kitchen scales).

PS: Please accept that since US metric pounds (500g) and UK imperials pounds (450g) differ in weight most noticeably in the relevant cavy weight range, we are only using grams on this forum in order to avoid any misunderstandings and any resulting misleading advice.

Thank you so much! Sorry i didnt think about that(about ounces and grams). It says on the link that you sent that 100 grams requires a vet visit. You said that they loose weight as they get older but isent 100 grams in one week to much? Hes always been at a stable weight, besides for 50 gram diffrences.

 

[Claire W]

100g is a lot to lose in a week so if he has truly lost 100g then a vet check wouldn’t go amiss just to rule out any medical cause for the weight loss. My Edward is also 6. He weighed around 1100g in his prime but he’s now hovering around the 900g mark but he has been vet checked and there is nothing wrong so she put it down to his age

 

[mls18]

100g is a lot to lose in a week so if he has truly lost 100g then a vet check wouldn’t go amiss just to rule out any medical cause for the weight loss. My Edward is also 6. He weighed around 1100g in his prime but he’s now hovering around the 900g mark but he has been vet checked and there is nothing wrong so she put it down to his age

Ok thanks! Over how long did he loose those 200 grams?

 

[Claire W]

Ok thanks! Over how long did he loose those 200 grams?

About 6-12 months

 

[mls18]

About 6-12 months

Oh ok thank you.

 

[Wiebke]

Thank you so much! Sorry i didnt think about that(about ounces and grams). It says on the link that you sent that 100 grams requires a vet visit. You said that they loose weight as they get older but isent 100 grams in one week to much? Hes always been at a stable weight, besides for 50 gram diffrences.

100g in a week needs to be see by a vet because that is down to a health issue and not the aging process.
You can find the rules in the weight guide, which deals with all questions and aspects connected to weight.

 

[mls18]

100g in a week needs to be see by a vet because that is down to a health issue and not the aging process.
You can find the rules in the weight guide, which deals with all questions and aspects connected to weight.

Ok thank you!

 

[mls18]

Could he be loosing weight becouse he stopped eating as much pellets? I used to do unlimited pellets but I've recently switched to a tablespoon a day.

 

[mls18]

hes had unlimited pellets his whole life so could that be why?

Could he be loosing weight becouse he stopped eating as much pellets? I used to do unlimited pellets but I've recently switched to a tablespoon a day.

 

[Claire W]

If you have dramatically cut down his pellets, then yes, that could cause weight loss but I would still have him vet checked just to rule out anything medical

 

[mls18]

If you have dramatically cut down his pellets, then yes, that could cause weight loss but I would still have him vet checked just to rule out anything medical

Ok thank you.

 

[mls18]

Just wanted to update you guys, he went to the vet and he's completely fine. Its most probably just the pellets thank god!