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Slow weight loss and gagging

GuineaDobbin

GuineaDobbin

Junior Guinea Pig
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Hi folks, Jojo is one of our boars who has slowly been losing weight for the last year, at least since he came to live with us. (He was near 1400g a year ago, he hit 986 today).

At first I assumed it was due to the stress of the move, followed by his failed bond. He had stabilised and even periodically put on weight (when he was successfully bonded with his girls he put on 80g or so) but the trend has always been down.

He is only about four, so it would be very early onset for age-related wasting. His eating and drinking seem to be fine. He has no serious lumps or bumps.

I have noticed recently he sometimes chokes. I've seen it twice, so it must happen other times too. Once I cleared it with piggie heimlich, the other time he sorted it. Is it possible there is some kind of obstruction that would interfere with his eating?

Any other suggestions would be welcome!

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Jojo enjoying a death nap.
 
GuineaDobbin said:
Hi folks, Jojo is one of our boars who has slowly been losing weight for the last year, at least since he came to live with us. (He was near 1400g a year ago, he hit 986 today).

At first I assumed it was due to the stress of the move, followed by his failed bond. He had stabilised and even periodically put on weight (when he was successfully bonded with his girls he put on 80g or so) but the trend has always been down.

He is only about four, so it would be very early onset for age-related wasting. His eating and drinking seem to be fine. He has no serious lumps or bumps.

I have noticed recently he sometimes chokes. I've seen it twice, so it must happen other times too. Once I cleared it with piggie heimlich, the other time he sorted it. Is it possible there is some kind of obstruction that would interfere with his eating?

Any other suggestions would be welcome!

View attachment 278379

Jojo enjoying a death nap.
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Hi

Jojo is gorgeous! ❤️

Please have him vet checked; including his mouth, especially the crucial grinding back teeth for potential overgrowth of spurs that could trap the tongue, oral thrush in mouth as well as his neck and back of the neck for potential swelling that could make swallowing more difficult.

Offer him some extra food in a bowl as long as he has an appetite and can eat; like some recovery formula, mushed pellets etc. as he is obviously starting to no longer eat as much hard hay fibre.
 
Aww bless Jojo, I hope the vets can determine what’s going on and help him feel better.
 
I hope jojo gets on ok at the vets. Hopefully they can figure out what’s causing the weight loss. Such a cute piggy 🩵
 
If he's losing weight and sometimes 'choking' or having to clear something from his mouth, I would suggest he get his back teeth checked by a vet with guinea pig dental experiences. Sometimes the back teeth can overgrow even though the front teeth look fine- pigs with back teeth issues may get things stuck and/or their tongue trapped as the back molars grow inwards. If she see your pig paw at their face while chewing or pulling back their lips while chewing, that's another sign that there's an issue with back molars. All the best and hope it gets sorted out soon!
 
Thanks all, Monday was inconclusive, so he was back seeing Uncle Kevin today for bloods and a deep inspection on his back molars.

He had a little roughness on his back teeth, that caused some catching during the inspection. This has been filed down.

We will have to see what the blood test says.

Hopefully he will feel better now for his smoother teeth and that will be that. He's happy to be home and eating and drinking with enthusiasm, so not too much the worse for wear for the anaesthetic.
 
Well, his weight dropped a bit, but I've been doing a supplemental feeding every day of pellet mash with emeraid and harrisons flora fauna. He likes it and will eat his first course off the spoon.

Thr last couple of nights he has more or less held his weight after feeding, only losing about 5g off his after-feed weigh-in. I have no idea whether this is it for the long-term or not. He has emerprid twice daily, is this sustainable?
 
Jojo has had his bloods back from the vet!

He has a couple of indicators that his liver is not 100% happy. Vet has suggested an ultrasound, and some liver supplements such as milk thistle.

Has anyone got recommendations for supplements for liver support?
 
GuineaDobbin said:
Thank you, I'd be very grateful!
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Hi, so an ultrasound scan was helpful as it showed my guinea pig has inflammation of the gall bladder and what looks like fatty deposits on the liver. Unfortunately, all we can try now is cat liver tablets to see if they help (luckily, she seems very happy and comfortable at the moment).

Some of the dietary advice I received:
The best hay to use for liver disease is either timothy, meadow or orchard. Veg to avoid is cabbage and broccoli. You can include different dried herbs that can have some benefit and mix them with the hay, these include dandelion leaves, chamomile, and marigold.

I still need to enquire about milk thistle as I don’t know if she can have this in conjunction with her meds.

Hope your liver piggy is doing OK!
 
thewheakybeans said:
Hi, so an ultrasound scan was helpful as it showed my guinea pig has inflammation of the gall bladder and what looks like fatty deposits on the liver. Unfortunately, all we can try now is cat liver tablets to see if they help (luckily, she seems very happy and comfortable at the moment).

Some of the dietary advice I received:
The best hay to use for liver disease is either timothy, meadow or orchard. Veg to avoid is cabbage and broccoli. You can include different dried herbs that can have some benefit and mix them with the hay, these include dandelion leaves, chamomile, and marigold.

I still need to enquire about milk thistle as I don’t know if she can have this in conjunction with her meds.

Hope your liver piggy is doing OK!
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Thank you! As of the last few days he seems to have stabilised a bit, though I'd like him a bit heavier!

I'd love to hear how it's going with your little squidge, how are they taking the medication?
 
GuineaDobbin said:
Thank you! As of the last few days he seems to have stabilised a bit, though I'd like him a bit heavier!

I'd love to hear how it's going with your little squidge, how are they taking the medication?
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Macchiato is taking one tablet of Denamarin a day. It is crushed and mixed into her Emeraid which she gets twice daily so she is none the wiser. She was not impressed with being directly syringed the stuff! Her weight is stable and I’ve not noticed an improvement difference after five days. Only time will tell.
 
We have switched our boy to grain-free pellets and so far he's gained about 40g... of course that may not be related. I have skimmed a study and some study summaries that suggest grains can cause fatty liver issues in pigs, so reckoned it was worth a punt.

We got scientific select grain free, fwiw.
 
GuineaDobbin said:
We have switched our boy to grain-free pellets and so far he's gained about 40g... of course that may not be related. I have skimmed a study and some study summaries that suggest grains can cause fatty liver issues in pigs, so reckoned it was worth a punt.

We got scientific select grain free, fwiw.
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Yes I feed my girlies this already. The only thing I can possibly think of is Macchiato has been on Loxicom very long term as she’s had a whole series of health issues over the years and I don’t know if this has now negatively impacted on the liver…

I hope both our piggies can be made more comfortable at least.
 
thewheakybeans said:
Yes I feed my girlies this already. The only thing I can possibly think of is Macchiato has been on Loxicom very long term as she’s had a whole series of health issues over the years and I don’t know if this has now negatively impacted on the liver…

I hope both our piggies can be made more comfortable at least.
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We can only work with what we find, and if she needed the loxicom then she needed it! And it may be unrelated anyhow, it is quite frustrating the lack of data on such things.

Jojo has been over 1060g twice this week now. He got a big kiss and told how clever he was.
 
Hope Jojo continues becoming a chunky boy! Macchiato has remained the same but at this point, I’m just doing everything I can to keep her weight stable and hope it doesn’t drop further now she’s on the daily Denamarin.
 
GuineaDobbin said:
Jojo has been at or over 1100g this week, several days running. We are delighted!

How is Macchiato @thewheakybeans ?
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Jojo is on a roll! Macchiato’s weight has been stable on 1 tbsp of Emeraid a day (with her daily Denamarin tablet crushed and mixed in). Her pain comes and goes although we have upped the Loxicom she gets twice a day to see if that’ll help. Can’t say the Denamarin has made any difference unfortunately :( She seems happy and comfortable for the most part.
 
thewheakybeans said:
Jojo is on a roll! Macchiato’s weight has been stable on 1 tbsp of Emeraid a day (with her daily Denamarin tablet crushed and mixed in). Her pain comes and goes although we have upped the Loxicom she gets twice a day to see if that’ll help. Can’t say the Denamarin has made any difference unfortunately :( She seems happy and comfortable for the most part.
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That is a mixed bag! Happy and comfortable is doing good though.
 
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