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Vet said gp was obese... opinions please

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Vida

Vida

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The last of my boars, Rudy, the dad, was neutered today. The vet said the op went well but that he is obese and needs to lose weight. Before the op, he weighed in just over 1200gr. I thought this was alright. In fact, mummy gp, Matty weighs more than that, and now I'm worried if they are eating too much. They get a bowl of pellets a day and fresh veg in the morning and a slice of fruit in the afternoon. Is he really obese?
 
I would totally ignore this. I was told the same about my Amina and she is 1100g. They do not seem to understand guinea pigs. This is just my opinion though.
 
I've read on here somewhere that a guinea pig is only obese if it cannot lift it's tummy of the floor when running about. I wouldn't have thought that 1200g would be obese :{. My Lexi has weighed more than that before but she wasn't "obese".

P.S. As long as they get exercise (i.e. enough room in the cage to run about and/or floor time) then the chances are they won't be or get overweight
 
What a load of rubbish! grrrr
I have two boars, one weighs 1200g and the other 1400g! They look a healthy size and shape to me.....
 
JoJo weighed in at 1.35kg just before his op. The only negative thing about this was the little monkey took more GA to doze off than the other two, as he had more weight on him, lol
 
Total rubbish, Treacle is 1.3kg and just a big piggie. If your piggie is running around happily exercising then they are fine. Some pigs are bigger than others....
 
Rubbish- piggies come in all shapes and sizez. I have two girls and two boys. Theo is the lighest weighing in at 940g. Harry is about 1300g. Neither are porky- yeah harry is heavier but he's a lot bigger bones than Theo and they're weight is stable so they are defo not obese. I genuinly thinks its difficult and takes a lot of over feeding pellets for piggies to be overweight given they are grazing animals on vegetable matter.
 
For most piggies this would be an acceptable weight, but for a guinea pig with a small frame this would be rather overweight. I do find it very strange how people seem to think that the heavier the guinea pig the better. Why is it acceptable for a guinea pig to be overweight and yet not for a cat or a dog or us humans either? I have recently seem some very overweight guinea pigs and the overweight ones often do not breath well under anaesthetic plus they also suffer other health issues.
 
Pigs DO come in all shapes and sizes, and as such, 1200g for one pig maybe ok, 1200g for another pig may be far too much.

I had 2 litter mates, Big Dave is 1400g, and is a good healthy weight. Boxy was 750g and also a good healthy weight. If Boxy was 1400g, he'd be horrifically obese.

Guinea pigs, like any other animal, can become overweight. Plump/chubby/whatever may be cute, but is it healthy? I don't think it is! My Jeff has been on a diet (restricted pellets and carefully chosen veg!) as he was too fat in my eyes.

Overweight animals (be it an elephant or a mouse) find it harder to cope with an anesethetic, and an overweight animal can be more likely to need one!

The fat that you see is subcutaneous fat, fat that is stored under the skin. The dangerous fat is the one you can't see - visceral fat is laid down around the organs and it's that that causes problems, particularly for the heart and liver.

Personally, I think guinea pigs can be too fat, and I have strived to (try!) and make sure that mine aren't!
 
Some good points made by Amanda and Debbie.

I don't think the weight of YOUR piggie sounds excessive though and as long as they have a good diet and exercise and I wouldnt worry. Again, this is why weighing piggies regularly is good as excessive gains or losses are the first indicator of health troubles and illness.

My eldest boar, Fuzzy, was overweight, at just over 1.7kg, i just thought he was a big boy. He was VERY indulged after Peanut passed last February though and when I suspected diabetes due to his double cataracts I took him to a vet and we worked out what needed to be cut down on to help. I changed his food from gerty to burgess, LOADS more hay, less dry food as a whole and no sweet veggies. He now wavers between 1.4kg and 1.450kg and is much more active, although getting him a friend in June last year helped too, Tyler keeps him on his toes! :))
 
The vet texts rely on breeder based weights and give generally weights that are too low compared to your regular pet on a good balanced diet; which is why many piggies are called obese even though they aren't.
 
Various vets that saw our old dog, Fred, would say he was 'obese'... he wasn't, it was just fur :))

Piggies need a bit of fat on them though, like humans and all animals. If they were completely blob-like and weren't bothering to move enough in the day, then you should worry!
 
Thank you all.

I will keep a close eye on him and carry on monitoring his weight. I think he is ok, but will make sure he doesn't get fatter.
 
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