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Weight Loss Worries

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Guineapigfeet

Guineapigfeet

Adult Guinea Pig
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Worried about my Chewie, I weigh them every Saturday and this week she dropped by 48g to 800g. Both the others dropped a bit too, but only about 10g, so I'm not concerned. Weighed her again this morning and she'd dropped a couple of g but nothing major and weighed her again this evening and she's gone down another 15g or so :-( will weigh again in the morning.
I think it warrants a vet visit? Will take gloves as she's a bit bitey! She's eating normally and all the poops are normal and there's just as many of them. I assume she's drinking ok but I've only ever seen her drink once! She's totally her normal cantankerous self and if I didn't weigh them I wouldn't have anything to worry about! (Ignorance as they say is bliss) Worried mummy
 
Guineapigfeet said:
Worried about my Chewie, I weigh them every Saturday and this week she dropped by 48g to 800g. Both the others dropped a bit too, but only about 10g, so I'm not concerned. Weighed her again this morning and she'd dropped a couple of g but nothing major and weighed her again this evening and she's gone down another 15g or so :-( will weigh again in the morning.
I think it warrants a vet visit? Will take gloves as she's a bit bitey! She's eating normally and all the poops are normal and there's just as many of them. I assume she's drinking ok but I've only ever seen her drink once! She's totally her normal cantankerous self and if I didn't weigh them I wouldn't have anything to worry about! (Ignorance as they say is bliss) Worried mummy
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The daily weight changes can be up to 30g, so I would keep an eye on her and see how she is tomorrow evening when you weigh her at the same time in the feeding cycle as yesterday for a comparable result. I find weighing piggies just before their dinner helpful, as bladder and tummy are hopefully fairly empty. If she has lost more weight compared to tonight's weigh-in, then I would definitely recommend to see the vet.

As to biting, you may find the tips in this thread her helpful: " Biting" And What You Can Do
 
Thank you, I'll do just that.

I do the things in the bitey guide, and she's not too bad really - she just doesn't like being handled! She's only actually bitten me once and it wasn't in anger, but she does threaten!
 
She was 797g this morning, which is about 20g more than last night and the same as yesterday morning.
I guess it is good that she's steady?

She gave me a right run around trying to put her in the weighing tube - I tried to do it quickly to minimise stress, but she just wasn't cooperating!
Upon release she was first out of hiding to start munching their breakfast veg which is definitely good.
 
I weighed her after work (which may have been a error as its not a 'normal' time) and she's up to 829g but I've decided to make an appointment anyway, for my peace of mind if nothing else! So she's off to the vets for 10.10 tomorrow.
 
Vets was inconclusive but very positive;
No sign of bloat or impaction in her abdomen and no sign of anything there that shouldn't be.
Skin, coat, eyes, ears, tummy and bottom etc all healthy.
She's a good body condition so although she's lost weight she's not underweight.
Incisors are 'perfect' and her back teeth all look completely fine too. She couldn't see the very very back ones as there was too much hay (apparently this is a good sign though) but Chewie was waving her tounge around so vet could see that it had no marks or lesions on it which suggests that the teeth she couldn't see were also ok with no spurs etc.
Chewie only tried to bite her once and only nibbled me a little bit. She was really very well behaved and the vet was pleased to see her so lively, she stole some food from Rey in the boxy too, as normally when they see poorly pigs they are really quite ill. She also had a coo over the other two! Got a follow up weigh in for two weeks time but if she drops more or feels ill in the mean time obviously I go in sooner!
 
Always good to check at the vets,I'm pleased she is in good condition.I'm going to start a weight book for my piggies,weight every two weeks and monitor more frequently if a big loss.ive recently had a piggie a short time,did not weight her as frequently as should have,someone else has weighted this lady and is now unwell and has needed a vet check.so thats a wakeup call for myself to weight all my 20 piggies regularly.well done for taking to the vet promptly.:)
 
I'm weighing her every morning now before breakfast. What sort of weight loss should I be worried about? She was 10g lighter this morning than yesterday morning, but she could have just had a pee?
 
Guineapigfeet said:
I'm weighing her every morning now before breakfast. What sort of weight loss should I be worried about? She was 10g lighter this morning than yesterday morning, but she could have just had a pee?
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I think 30g is the difference between a full bladder and an empty one so 10g is nothing to worry about if it's just the one day.
 
It's been a week since the first visit and I have a check up next Tuesday. I forgot to mention above that the vet also checked her heart and lungs and both were fine - heart was beating very fast but she was quite scared.
She has remained a stable weight this week with some small fluctuations within normal boundaries ( somewhere between 780 and 800 g) But she hasn't put on any weight.
She remains her normal slightly belligerent self and isn't giving me additional cause for concern. Does any one have any experience as to what course the vet is likely to suggest? To keep an eye on her and see how she goes or are there certain tests that they may (or should?) run? I would be reluctant to put her through anything invasive as she just a seen so well! Of course I will be talking to vet herself next week!
 
I wouldn't be too worried :) A steady, consistent weight loss would be more indicative of an illness like worms perhaps, but I've found my piggies weights fluctuate 20g or so between each weigh in :) It's great news that vet has found her to be ok :D
 
Guineapigfeet said:
It's been a week since the first visit and I have a check up next Tuesday. I forgot to mention above that the vet also checked her heart and lungs and both were fine - heart was beating very fast but she was quite scared.
She has remained a stable weight this week with some small fluctuations within normal boundaries ( somewhere between 780 and 800 g) But she hasn't put on any weight.
She remains her normal slightly belligerent self and isn't giving me additional cause for concern. Does any one have any experience as to what course the vet is likely to suggest? To keep an eye on her and see how she goes or are there certain tests that they may (or should?) run? I would be reluctant to put her through anything invasive as she just a seen so well! Of course I will be talking to vet herself next week!
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Daily weight fluctuations of around 30g are normal; it simply means that she is holding her weight. Your vet will palpitate and may suggest a scan under minimal sedation if necessary. Any further steps will depend on his findings (or lack thereof).
All the best!
 
Thanks! She palpated (is that the word?) Chewie last time and everything was normal, so hopefully it will be next week too! Will of course update here
 
Back from her weigh in and turns out the scales the vets used for her are broken! I didn't think to ask what the original weight was as I'd weighed her myself that morning - if I had I'd have been able to tell them it was not working correctly! She was weighed as 830g originaly which was about 50g too much. The vet popped her on the scales today and said 'wow, that's a massive weight loss for two weeks, she's lost half her body weight' to which I replied 'no, she hasn't, please check again' he took her to another scale and it brought up a much more likely weight! But my scales at home are much more sensitive as they've designed for flour and not cats!

I've just got to keep an eye as she has been very stable for the past two weeks with a slight upwards trend. He said he will speak to another vet who keeps rodents to see if there's another pellet which would be better for her (without making the others fat). He did say she's a very small pig and I said she's the biggest of the three! But as rescues, I don't know what sort of start they had. So all OK for now I guess - just play it by ear
 
The vet nurse rang back talk to me about feeding and possible other foods to help build her up again and suggested feeding them alfalfa hay as well as regular hay but I would a bit concerned about the calcium content and the others getting fat! Chewie isn't thin, you can't feel her ribs without poking abit but she's still hovering around 800g. the other two are still gaining weight steadily so I don't think they've stopped growing yet. I think I just need reassurance that alfalfa won't harm the others if I feed it!
 
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