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Weight Loss With No Symptoms

RingoandOlly

RingoandOlly

Junior Guinea Pig
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Hi,
I'm starting to get worried because over the past two days Olly lost 64g. He went down from 1219g to 1155g.

He's a pretty chubby pig but I don't understand why he has lost the weight as he is showing no symptoms of illness. The only thing I can think of is that my guinea pigs haven't been out in their run for the past two days because of rain so they aren't eating any grass.

Ringo lost a little too but went back up today (he does tend to fluctuate, though) Olly continue to lose weight, making the total of 64g weight loss. Does it sound like it's just because of the grass? I'm not sure because Ringo didn't lose much.

Thanks x
 
RingoandOlly said:
Hi,
I'm starting to get worried because over the past two days Olly lost 64g. He went down from 1219g to 1155g.

He's a pretty chubby pig but I don't understand why he has lost the weight as he is showing no symptoms of illness. The only thing I can think of is that my guinea pigs haven't been out in their run for the past two days because of rain so they aren't eating any grass.

Ringo lost a little too but went back up today (he does tend to fluctuate, though) Olly continue to lose weight, making the total of 64g weight loss. Does it sound like it's just because of the grass? I'm not sure because Ringo didn't lose much.

Thanks x
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That's a fairly significant weight loss. Keep monitoring him and if the weight loss continues get him checked out by your vet. Urinary problems can be 'silent' initially as can many other health problems and weight loss can be the first sign. Well done for picking up on this
 
I'd monitor it for a couple more days before it's time to worry. It's usually a loss of 50g a day that indicates an issue. But a consistent decline over a week or so is something to start looking into.
 
He lost another 3g yesterday. I will weigh him tomorrow again. He's eating as usual and running around. A few days ago I noticed some orange wee in the litter tray, is that normal?
 
Some veg can make their pee orange. And it can oxidise to a brown oranahe colour so it's nothing to be overly concerned about.

Keep up with the weighing. 3g is nothing at all so hopefully his weight loss has stopped.
 
grass is very nutricious and when I cannot give my sows any grass they loses 20-30 grams in one day and considering their weight of 800g the loss might be seen in percentage similar to yours.
I would cut some good grass tomorrow (as I always do) and I would feed Olly with it: if he gains the lost grams you will know that nothing bad is on the way.
Orange wee is normal...
 
Thanks! I thought the pee colour was normal, I read that somewhere :))
I gave them a bowl of grass yesterday, but like you say 3g is nothing. I will weigh him tomorrow and let you know if he has lost more or gained x
 
My piggies weight fluctuates up and down maybe 30g dependant oh whether they've been eating alot (grass/hay and nuggets) .. if it continues though i may suggest getting him looked over by a trusted vet, we had an other weight piggie who we were dieting, and because we were expecting his weight to come down we missed the starting signs of bloat.
 
I'm very worried now, Olly has lost more weight, the total now being 93g over 9 days. And, Ringo has lost 37g since I last weighed him which was 4 days ago; I'm not so worried about that because as I read, 30g is the difference between a full or empty bladder and 7g is nothing.
What shall I do? I'm back to school on Tuesday so I hope I can get a time to visit the vet after school. Also, I made the mistake of registering them with my local vet, assuming that all vets knew enough about guinea pigs but I'm wondering if I need to see a piggy specialist if weight loss is the only symptom? If so, does anyone any guinea pig specialists near Watford or in Herts? I'm freaking out!
 
My phone is old so I can't cut and paste from the vet locator but there is one in Camden. Have a check on there, there could be a vet you can get too.

When it happened to my Jon Snow I sent away a poop sample which came back positive for "fungal". The vet decided to treat with Itrafungal. After a week he stopped losing weight and he slowly increased again. He's not back to how he was but he's stable at least. I need to send off another poop sample for a retest but I keep forgetting.

Jon does have other digestive issues though so it might not be the same for Olly.
 
Their vet is park vet cassiobury but it's unclear whether they have a piggy specialist
 
Nine Lives St Albans is also supposed to be good but it seems that they are mainly rabbit specialists. It says their vets have 'experience with rabbits and regularly treat guinea pigs' so I may try them. If they're no good I might try the one in Broxbourne.
 
I'll ring up park vet to enquire about piggy specialists and then turn to Nine Lives. Why can't there just be a piggy vet, like, next door to me! :hb:
 
Success! I found a vet called Blythwood in Bushey after making a plea on Facebook. Apparently they're great for piggles!
 
If you need them I have heard Nine Lives are good, I believe Hazelcroft rescue in St Albans may use them.
 
So I picked him up to weigh him and he seemed all puffed up so we rushed him to the emergency vet in fear of bloat. However, I just ended up paying £109.96 to be told that he is a very healthy pig with perfect teeth but maybe cut out cabbage and make sure he's pooping okay. x
 
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