Dilly's Piggies
Teenage Guinea Pig
My 3 year old sow Lottie has had issues with her weight from the time she turned 1 year old, which is obviously a very long time, she has had countless vet visits, tests and treatments, clinically Lottie is in perfect health and should not be underweight like she is...
Lottie has had a somewhat traumatic life, when she turned 1 year old I introduced a new pig (Dolly) to her herd, it was Lottie, her sister Harriet and her Mum Tizzie, they were a strong family unit and adding a new baby pig was quite disruptive for them. Dolly is a now 2 year old Lunkarya sow and was 8 weeks old at the time I introduced her, introductions went well, there were no negative behaviours but it did jumble their dynamics of course and they found this stressful.
Shortly after introducing Dolly, all 3 (Lottie, Harriet and Tizzie) developed extreme hormonal behaviour, I took them to Simon Maddock and he successfully spayed all 3 of them, Tizzie and Harriet had ovarian cysts but Lottie did not, however since Simon already had her open on the table he thought best to go ahead and spay her anyway. Harriet and Lottie did great and fully recovered, but unfortunately Tizzie did not make it, this was very traumatic for Lottie especially, those 3 were a very tight family unit and couldn't be without each other. I believe this triggered a major depressive episode for Lottie and this is where her weight issues began.
Since then Lottie's weight is constantly jumping around, she can gain 50g one day and lose 50g the next, some days she barely eats and others she eats everything in sight. She often spends her time asleep in her snuggle sack, it seems she can't be bothered to come out. They have a huge 6x4 cage and I wonder if this cage is too big for Lottie, she seems to do better in a smaller cage where everything is easily accessible. I do wonder if she has arthritis, this hasn't been looked into yet and it will be our next task.
Lottie weighs on average 950g which is not a bad weight, however when we body condition score her she is underweight, all of her bones are prominent, she feels like a skeleton especially along her top line, her spine, shoulders and hips etc are all sticking out. Me and my vet agree Lottie should weigh at least 1000g, 1100g would be preferred.
Lottie went in to the vet again last week for a general anaesthetic to have a blood test to check for an underlying health issue and to also have her teeth properly looked at. Unfortunately the vet wasn't able to get enough blood from her to test but did manage to check her teeth and they are in perfect condition. So we're still none the wiser regarding underlying conditions like kidney, liver or thyroid issues but her teeth are not the problem at least.
Since having this procedure it has stressed Lottie even further, she was 925g before and now she weighs 820g, this is why I'm reluctant to put Lottie through more testing because she doesn't cope well with it, it's hard to decide what is best for her...
I wondered if Dolly is the issue, Dolly being younger tends to be in their faces a lot and often rumble struts and pushes Lottie and Harriet around, Harriet is stronger so can hold her own but Lottie is too fragile and sweet natured to stick up for herself, so I think she is being bullied away from food and has kinda given up, hence why she just sleeps in her house all the time and doesn't bother coming out to eat or drink.
I put Lottie and Harriet in their own 2x4 cage tonight and Lottie has suddenly gone from 820g up to 890g, this is incredible and further tells me that perhaps Dolly is the problem...
I'd love to know what you all think about this situation now you know the story and background about Lottie's struggles, do you think it's worth putting Lottie through further testing given how hard it is for her and do you think she is better off living with her best friend Harriet in a smaller cage and I put Dolly with another friend? Dolly is not an aggressive pig at all, she's just a bit too 'in your face' for Lottie I think given the age gaps. Also, do you think Lottie possibly has arthritis? She tends to hop with her back legs rather than walk too.
The immediate improvement is just shocking to me... Obviously I'm going to keep monitoring Lottie to make sure this is the right decision, I don't like to split up herds especially when it's not a clear cut case, I'm having to guess here and go off what I'm seeing, it's hard and I'd really appreciate any advice... thank you!
Lottie has had a somewhat traumatic life, when she turned 1 year old I introduced a new pig (Dolly) to her herd, it was Lottie, her sister Harriet and her Mum Tizzie, they were a strong family unit and adding a new baby pig was quite disruptive for them. Dolly is a now 2 year old Lunkarya sow and was 8 weeks old at the time I introduced her, introductions went well, there were no negative behaviours but it did jumble their dynamics of course and they found this stressful.
Shortly after introducing Dolly, all 3 (Lottie, Harriet and Tizzie) developed extreme hormonal behaviour, I took them to Simon Maddock and he successfully spayed all 3 of them, Tizzie and Harriet had ovarian cysts but Lottie did not, however since Simon already had her open on the table he thought best to go ahead and spay her anyway. Harriet and Lottie did great and fully recovered, but unfortunately Tizzie did not make it, this was very traumatic for Lottie especially, those 3 were a very tight family unit and couldn't be without each other. I believe this triggered a major depressive episode for Lottie and this is where her weight issues began.
Since then Lottie's weight is constantly jumping around, she can gain 50g one day and lose 50g the next, some days she barely eats and others she eats everything in sight. She often spends her time asleep in her snuggle sack, it seems she can't be bothered to come out. They have a huge 6x4 cage and I wonder if this cage is too big for Lottie, she seems to do better in a smaller cage where everything is easily accessible. I do wonder if she has arthritis, this hasn't been looked into yet and it will be our next task.
Lottie weighs on average 950g which is not a bad weight, however when we body condition score her she is underweight, all of her bones are prominent, she feels like a skeleton especially along her top line, her spine, shoulders and hips etc are all sticking out. Me and my vet agree Lottie should weigh at least 1000g, 1100g would be preferred.
Lottie went in to the vet again last week for a general anaesthetic to have a blood test to check for an underlying health issue and to also have her teeth properly looked at. Unfortunately the vet wasn't able to get enough blood from her to test but did manage to check her teeth and they are in perfect condition. So we're still none the wiser regarding underlying conditions like kidney, liver or thyroid issues but her teeth are not the problem at least.
Since having this procedure it has stressed Lottie even further, she was 925g before and now she weighs 820g, this is why I'm reluctant to put Lottie through more testing because she doesn't cope well with it, it's hard to decide what is best for her...
I wondered if Dolly is the issue, Dolly being younger tends to be in their faces a lot and often rumble struts and pushes Lottie and Harriet around, Harriet is stronger so can hold her own but Lottie is too fragile and sweet natured to stick up for herself, so I think she is being bullied away from food and has kinda given up, hence why she just sleeps in her house all the time and doesn't bother coming out to eat or drink.
I put Lottie and Harriet in their own 2x4 cage tonight and Lottie has suddenly gone from 820g up to 890g, this is incredible and further tells me that perhaps Dolly is the problem...
I'd love to know what you all think about this situation now you know the story and background about Lottie's struggles, do you think it's worth putting Lottie through further testing given how hard it is for her and do you think she is better off living with her best friend Harriet in a smaller cage and I put Dolly with another friend? Dolly is not an aggressive pig at all, she's just a bit too 'in your face' for Lottie I think given the age gaps. Also, do you think Lottie possibly has arthritis? She tends to hop with her back legs rather than walk too.
The immediate improvement is just shocking to me... Obviously I'm going to keep monitoring Lottie to make sure this is the right decision, I don't like to split up herds especially when it's not a clear cut case, I'm having to guess here and go off what I'm seeing, it's hard and I'd really appreciate any advice... thank you!