Weight loss but nothing else

[Guinea Fan]

Ok, trying not to panic here but Matilda has lost some weight. I thought she felt lighter when I picked her up so I weighed her and she was 967gms, compared to 1030gms 3 weeks ago, neither of which are exact as she will not stand still in the bowl. She just felt lighter so I guessed.

She is still eating though, leaps on her food in the morning, runs over to me to eat whatever treat I poke through the bars and is loving this extra summer, in the run eating grass all day.

She has had extra exercise, as I have started to feel confident enough to let them free range on the grass, with me always watching. So they are running up and down our lawn for half an hour every night. I have also changed her food and she has a bowl of Burgess excel pellets as well as a bowl of Gertie Guinea Pig, both of which she seems to like, but not sure if she is eating more of one that the other.

As far as I know her wee's and poo's are fine and she is bright eyed and bushy tailed (well not bushy tailed but you know what I mean). In fact Saturday they were running round and round their run and jumping over each other like I thought only rabbits did.

Any thoughts?

 

[Wiebke]

How old is she? Have you had her (back) teeth checked? It is pften deceptive seeing a piggy eat and chew. Please weigh her more regularly.
http://www.guinealynx.info/weigh.html
Here is a list of things that can cause loss of appetite:
http://www.guinealynx.info/anorexia.html

All the best - I know how worrying it is when you know that something is not right, but can't see what is wrong!

 

[Guinea Fan]

she is 13 months old. I haven't had anything checked yet.

She doesn't seem to have lost her appetite, she is still eating normally as far as I can tell

 

[sport_billy]

Agree with Wiebke, definately weigh regulary, it's often the biggest indication of probs. I would get her teeth checked by a vet to rule anything teeth probs out. Hope it turns out to be nothing, it''s a good sign she seems well in herself.

 

[Guinea Fan]

The vets scales weighed her at 1000 grams exactly. He could find nothing wrong with her, so suggested I pop back and borrow their scales to weigh her, so I will do that next week

 

[Sappho]

I am going through the same thing with my Bertie at the moment - losing weight, or just not putting on weight, while seeming totally fine in all other respects. The only thing with him is that this last two weeks his poops have become rather pungent. We're currently investigating a possible internal parasitic or fungal infection, one that has probably built up over time and means his gut might be finding it difficult to take on all the nutrients he needs.

Laura at the guinea helpline has been great in helping us with info - we're going to do some urine tests (I might get mine done at the vets just to make doubly sure) to rule out anything like kidney problems or diabetes.

All the best with little Matilda, I'll be interested to see how she gets on. xx

 

[Guinea Fan]

Thank you and the same to Bertie. The vet did say Matilda's poops were a bit on the small side, but didn't seem concerned. How old is Bertie? Matilda is 13 months.

Is that Bertie on your avatar? He could be Matilda's brother

 

[Sappho]

Yeah, that's my bertie He's actually just turned 5!

 

[Guinea Fan]

Aren't they alike? My Maurice pig started losing weight as he got older.

 

[Wiebke]

How is Matilda? It would be good if you could get some digital scales - even though they won't show exactly the same weight as the vets, you could weigh her daily and see whether she is still losing as your home scales will show you that.

Smaller than normal poos indicate generally that there is not enough food intake for some reason.

 

[Guinea Fan]

I have digital scales but she just won't stand still, they jump around so much I can't decide how much she weighs let alone see any weight loss

She eats plenty I think, she certainly seems to eat all day

 

[Glynis]

My girls are used to being weighed.......but what i did to get them used to it was give them a little treat to eat whilst i weighed them.....usually only something small tho, you have to be quick! If you do it often enough they soon realise it's something they just has to be done
My scales are digital and i use a large dinner plate........ i then turn on the scales and then get one of the girls and pop them on it...... then once weighed pop her into their house and then in turn put the next one on (usually Onyx first and then Velvet last)