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Underweight?!

  • Thread starter Thread starter bekkie
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bekkie

I have a 6 or 7 year old girl named Ruby. She's just getting over a tough case of mites and she's not looking too good. She's quite skinny! I gave her her bath today which is to help with the mites (vet advised I give regular washes with this stuff and keep her clean and the cage clean too) and it's working but I noticed when the hair is wet and stuck flat to her body you can see her hip bones sticking out!

I knew she was a bit thin because she's a lot lighter than her daughter and she looks a bit scrawny but I'm not sure how to feed her up.

She seems to eat enough. Pellets, hay, carrots and apples. She doesn't hold back or have trouble eating either. So do you reckon that as she recovers from the mites she'll naturally grow back to her proper weight or should I try feeding extra? The amount I give them feels just the right and they still sometimes leave bits behind and don't finish everything. But they do eat enough. So I'm not sure if there's food I can give her that will help her weight because I think by getting her a bit plumper it will also help her general overall health and immune system so she doesn't get ill again.

What do you suggest?
 
Hi, you might be doing this already but a wide variety of different veggies/herbs/fruit/fresh grass will help with her overall health. (A little bit of lots of different things)

Hopefully someone else will post about which foods might help her to put on wieght... I hope she carries on feeling better :)
 
Tupeny said:
Hi, you might be doing this already but a wide variety of different veggies/herbs/fruit/fresh grass will help with her overall health. (A little bit of lots of different things)
Click to expand...

I don't really know which foods are particularly good for weight gain, but I'd definitely agree with Tupeny, in that it's important to give a selection of different veg etc. I'd advise only giving carrot and apple as occasional treats, due to the high sugar content and apple can also sometimes cause mouth sores (although I'm sure you would've already noticed if this was the case with your piggy).

50g of fresh veg/fruit per day, per pig, is the general rule. If you're not already splitting this daily allowance into 2 servings then I'd try that too (one in the morning and then one later in the afternoon/evening)

Really hope you find something that works x
 
I'm no expert but I'm just thinking....has Ruby been skinny for a long time or has it been quite a gradual thing? At her age I think it is quite normal to gradually 'thin out a bit', although if she's very skinny or it's been a rapid weight loss then that sounds like more than just an old age thing. I would definitely start weighing her regularly, if you don't already, so you can keep an eye on her weight.

Another thing that springs to mind is worms. If a guinea pig is eating plenty but still losing weight then sometimes a heavy parasite load can be the cause. Did Ruby receive any other mite treatment in addition to the shampoo? I think I'm right in saying that some mite treatments also treat worms, so she may have already been treated for that.
 
Older piggies tend to lose condition slowly and struggle to put weight back on after an illness. You can try some starchy foods like sweetcorn or porridge oats, but she may not put the weight back on at her age.

It would be good if you would weigh all your piggies once a week; it helps you to keep a good eye on their health! http://www.guinealynx.info/weigh.html
 
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