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Weight Loss

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Leigh P

Junior Guinea Pig
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I would appreciate some help with this one. I will give a brief history... Pip is an un-neutered 3.5yr old boar, he lost his cage mate on Easter Monday and we have, after noticing how quiet he was, got him a new cage mate (Dexter - boar -14weeks). Pip was doing quite well but then started going downhill with his appetite and weight about 2 weeks ago - he was a healthy 1kg and is now around 600g.

I took Pip to the vet who couldn't find anything wrong, but prescribed Baytril for 10 days and also gave an anti-inflammatory "just in case". Pip's appetite still isn't brilliant and I am worried about his weight as I can feel his bones and he seems to be quite wobbly on his back legs (although doesn't seem to be in any pain). I don't know what else a vet can do apart from give more antibiotics (which stop Pip eating) or do scans/xrays which I really cannot afford.

He quite often has a wet underside from urine, but I believe this is because he isn't moving around much and sits in his wee. He doesn't make any noise when urinating and its a normal colour, so I don't think its a urine infection or stones. I always give him a quick bath or wash down to clean him up, which perks him up a bit.

My hand feeding regime is as follows:

1. 1st thing (about 6.30am) I syringe feed approx 5-6ml of Recovery feed and syringe water with some extra vitamins (approx 3-4 ml) - as much as he'll take. This then seems to whet his appetite and he'll eat some lettuce, spinach or cucumber.

2. I will feed him again when I get in from work at about 3pm... the same as above. I will then feed him once more before bedtime. I give him water throughout the day when I am home via a syringe, which he is happy to take and they also have two water bottles in the indoor cage.

I put fresh grass, veggies, hay and dry food in at all times, and also dot the food around the cage so that Dexter doesn't eat it all before Pip gets there.

I did notice that Dexter took some of Pips food from in front of him the other day - I was wondering if he is more dominant and is stopping Pip from eating...? There hasn't been any aggression or fighting, they seem to get on fine.

I have given Metatone on some days, but don't want to keep putting stuff into Pip if its not doing any good. He also has Fibreplex to keep things going through. His poos are small and quite dry, but still regular.

If I continue with my feeding regime, and Pip hasn't an underlying problem, how long before I should start to see some improvement in weight? Will it be days or weeks? I just need to have a focus to get me through this as its quite heart breaking.

Thanks for any help given.
 
There is definitely something going on as 400g is an awful lot of weight to lose. Is the vet you saw experienced in guinea pigs? If not please check the recommded vets locator to see if there is one near you. I would recommend going here if you can:

http://www.rvc.ac.uk/BAH/BSAH-vet-in-camden.cfm

He really does need to see another vet, it may be that they would let you pay in instalments, it is worth asking.

For the Metatone this needs to be given as a course 0.5ml once a day for 1 week and 0.3ml once a day for a second week, not in dribs and drabs.

Also, he may need to be on pain relief as a pig that is in pain doens't eat.

My thoughts include:

A heart issue:

A common symtom is vast weight loss, but also:
Laboured breathing
Blue tinges to nose, lips, ears etc
Rapid breathing
Recurrent Upper or lower respiratory infections
Bumblefoot
Hooting followed by a cough
Random coughing, especially when eating
Difficult to rouse from sleep
Bloated abdomen due to sucking in air when trying to breathe

Stones

Dental issues - can he eat anything on his own?

Oral thrush

He really does need to see another vet as he cannot go on like this.

If you are able to get to Northampton at all then the best vet he could see is Simon Maddock at the Cat and Rabbit clinic.
 
We had his teeth thoroughly checked at the last appointment and nothing untoward was seen. The heart symptoms don't match his condition either (thank goodness). He has itched around one of his eyes (I noticed that about 3 weeks ago) so treated him with Bephar Mite treatment (two pippettes due to his weight then), and doesn't seem to be itching any more, although the hair has not grown back yet.

His eyes are still bright and he wants to eat - he can eat when he wants and doesn't have any troubles chewing.

He is not snotty or coughing, no weepy eyes, the only thing that he seems to do is sit in his wee.

Could it be that he doesn't feel good around his cage mate? Could it be that simple? He is quite a lively little boy and runs around everywhere and eats everything.

I will start the Metatone today as stated in the above post, thanks for the advice.

I do have some Metacam but wouldn't give it to him unless advised to by a vet.

I wouldn't be able to get to either of the vets mentioned as I live in Shepperton, Middx. I did see an ad from a local vet saying that they had a guinea pig experienced vet, so maybe I should give them a call.

Thanks for all help so far.
 
With that amount of weight loss, it is very likely a health issue of some sort, but it may need some sleuthing by a specialist to get to the bottom of it. Has your vet excluded bladder stones and has he had a good look at the back teeth?

Diabetes/kidney issues or an internal tumor can also be behind massive weight loss.

Please weigh your boy daily to control his food intake and if necessary top him up with hand feed to prevent him from losing any more. 600g is very low; he can't afford to lose much more! Also make sure that he is drinking and offer him water with a syringe: https://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/threads/complete-hand-feeding-guide.115359/

We have got a piggy savvy vet locator on the top bar: https://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/pages/guinea-pig-vet-locator/
 
thanks... he has been syringe fed and watered every day on a regular basis so I know that he is getting some goodness. I have been ringing around for a cavy savvy vet and will find one near to me soon (I am sure)
 
It may be possible to get to the vets in Camden by train. They have a great exotics team and Abinurse on here works there. I just looked it up and looks like it would take about an hour to get into London and then maybe a tube to Camden? Looks like it would take you as long to get there as it would me if I needed to go at any point.

When it is a mystery like this a specialist vet is often needed to work out what is wrong. I am thinking it may be something with his bladder if he is sitting in his wee a lot, stones or a UTI can make them incontinent and lose weight, as can a tumour as Wiebke has said.
 
helen105281 said:
Also has he ever had any fungal issues?
Click to expand...
Why did you ask if there had been fungal problems? Could this be an issue? I did treat pip for mites a couple of weeks ago as he was scratching around his eyes and was losing hair there so it may have been fungal instead...?
 
There can be systemic fungal issues if a pig had a fungal condition that had gone untreated and it can cause weight loss. For example, my Buzz had an untreated fungal condition that he must have had for ages before he came to us and he ended up with systemic mycosis where it affected numerous organs and he ended up with brain damage and eventual lung problems, and we lost him to Pneumonia in the end. Not everyone will agree with a mycosis diagnosis though but I know of a pig with a history of fungal issues that died recently and when the vet did a post mortem they carried out a different type of culture and found fungal spores in the lungs. Just trying to give you a bit of background, not saying that this is what is wrong with your boy. It just can be a cause of weight loss but so can lots of other things.
 
I have remembered that when I took Pip to the vets at Easter, the vet said that she felt one of his kidneys was a slightly odd shape but nothing of any concern... maybe this was the start of a larger problem? I have been asking around to see if there is a good piggie vet around but no-one specialises anywhere near here. I may just go to a local one that I haven't seen before (had a recommendation for general guinea pig care) and see what they say.

My boy was worse this morning, he just wanted to cuddle up to me and wasn't at all interested in my hand feeding - had to force feed him in the end which was upsetting. I got some Metatone into him and about 6ml of Recovery feed plus some water with vitamins in. I also gave him 0.3ml of Metacam (he was prescribed 0.5ml before but as he has lost weight I thought he'd need less) just in case he is also in pain. I will call around the vets when I get home this afternoon and hopefully take him later today... got a bad feeling that they won't be able to do anything though.
 
I have posted on your other thread. Just wanted to acknowledge your post here.
 
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