Vet Now Or Wait And See?

[Sue and Smartie]

I've thought twice about posting this, as my issue is in no way as serious as some on this board but I would appreciate your thoughts on this.
I have two boars, both neutered. I do not know how old they are, the rescue didn't know either. When I got them they weighed about 1200g each. I found out though that both boys love eating, and their weight has gradually increased until now they weigh in at around 1500g each. I weighed at the weekend and one of them (Pedro) has lost about 120g. Panda is still at 1500g. Both pigs look very healthy, their eyes are bright, they are lively and interested in things and are eating, pooing and weeing as usual. I looked on guinea lynx website and their advice is that if a pig loses four ounces or more, go straight to the vet. Four ounces is about 120g so that got me worried.
If they were your pigs would you take them today? Or do you think I could monitor his weight for a few days?

 

[piggyfan]

Do not feel you cannot post if you do not feel something is life threatening. If you are worried then you did the right thing by posting. If it was me I would weigh him in a few days and if he has lost more weight take him to the vet. The reason I say that is because he is still a healthy weight. Others may feel he should see a vet right away though.

 

[Wiebke]

I agree with piggyfan. As your boy is rather on the heavy side, he will lose his excess weight more quickly.

Weight loss without obvious signs is always hard to tackle. Look out for increased water intake (kidneys, diabetes, UTI), how he eats (slower than normal? That could indicate a problem with his teeth - the crucial ones are the pre-molars, which you cannot see), check out his penis and the area around it carefully (sometimes a build-up of boar glue and muck can be very painful and even cause an infection in the long term; this can also trigger weight loss), a "silent" bladder stone can also cause weight loss without other obvious symptoms. Check his poos.

Please monitor closely and weigh daily to see if the weight loss is continuing. If necessary, feed him away from his mate and see if that makes a difference. I would recommend to make sure that you get a vet appointment before Christmas so your vet can check on those points that you can't.

 

[Sue and Smartie]

Thank you both.
His poos are absolutely normal. He was doing one as I put him on the scales and it looked OK to me. I will watch him eat and see if I can spot anything wrong, and weigh him again in a couple of days to see if he's lost any more. Can't say I'm thrilled about the thought of checking out his penis but needs must! I might get my neighbour to hold him for me while I do it, she's always fascinated by things like that
I can easily get him to the vet if I have to, will see what the scales say in a couple of days and maybe have a chat with the small animal vet.

btw Wiebke I LOL'd at your tactful description - on the heavy side. In our house they're known as The Porkers

 

[Abi_nurse]

I concur. Wait and see, weigh them both in a few days and see if the weightloss is continuing or a simple blip, possibly not eaten as many pellets this week for example.

x.

 

[Sue and Smartie]

I weighed Pedro again yesterday evening and he showed a gain of 15 grammes. This has put my mind at ease somewhat although I am going to weigh him every few days for a while to make sure.

 

[piggyfan]

Let's hope his weight has stabilised now.

 

[gizzy]

Hi there I hope Pedro has stabilised now,

another cause for sudden weight loss , although not that common in guinea pigs , is intestinal parasites

It wouldn't do any harm to collect a few samples of poo each day, this way if it does start to lose weight again, you should have enough for your vet to do A broad-spectrum poo analysis, (3 day cross-section, is usually the best)

Your vet may opt for a basic poo float,, which is useful for detecting larger intestinal parasites, but a broad-spectrum Poo analysis will be able to determine, for certain whether there are any microscopic(protozoa) type parasites this test is slightly more expensive but it could save you money and the long run