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weight loss

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paddy&rog

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One of my gpigs seems to be losing weight - he is 2lb 1oz which seems skinny to me especially as his brother is 2lb 15oz - sorry can't get the hang of metric. He eats quite well and isn't being bullied, in fact I would say he's the most dominant of the two. The only thing I have noticed is that he seems to drink a lot of water- any ideas?

Thanks

p.s I will be ringing the vet 1st thing in the morning
 
How old is he? An older piggy can lose a little weight with time.

Is he weeing a lot? Is the wee a normal colour or is there anything different about it? (I'm wondering about kidneys here)

Has there been a change of diet or situation? Eg new hay, pellets, increase in temperature?

Best of luck at the vets.
 
I second the questions asked above, especially regarding his age and diet.

How often do you weigh him? How much weight has he lost in what period of time?
 
Hello and thank you for your replies, Roger is just under two years old - his poo and wee look normal and he was 3oz heavier 2 weeks ago. He does seem to eat normally but quite delicately unlike his brother who always stuffs his food down as if he's starving :). the only thing I have noticed is he drinks a lot more but at first I thought he was attention seeking - they live in an indoor cage in the utility room and like to make their presence felt when I come in ( there's a fridge in there)
The only other change in his behaviour is he's got very tame- he likes to curl up in your armpit ! and go to sleep

Can't get into the vets til tomorrow so will let you know the outcome then

Thanks again

Julie
 
Hello, took Roger to the vet yesterday - have to say am not very happy, she checked him over and suggested a blood test- couldn't get much from him, he's an extremely stroppy pig when the mood is on him lol so she just managed to get enough to say he's not diabetic --- I didn't know gpigs could be ?

Anyway at the mo he's on antibiotics ( Baytril) and seems to be ok- one good sign ( at least I hope so ) is that the water bottle was still nearly full when I got in from work today so fingers crossed. Anyway she couldn't find any lumps or signs he has polycystic kidneys so am hoping for the best and pampering him rotten. Do dry porridge oats help?

Julie
 
I had a gp years ago that was categorised as "underdeveloped" i.e. the runt of the litter - she was very small - didn't lose weight but just didn't gain much! I was told by the Vet to feed her bran - most pet shops sell this for horses but it is perfectly OK for gps - I gave it to her in a separate bowl to her dry food - she loved it and thrived, put on weight and became a much happier piggy!

Good luck with your little boy x
 
Corn on the cob is also good for putting up weight, but you can sprinkle porridge oats in with your pellets/muesli.

Have you got some probiotics along with your baytril? Baytril can be very harsh on the guts; so you want to make sure that your boy's appetite stays up as much as possible.

Make sure that your monitor the weight daily.
 
Hi, thank you for your replies, will try bran but what do you mean by probiotics? Sorry must be having a senior moment but all that comes to mind is yoghurt mallethead. Am off to supermarket and will get some corn on the cob. Roger has always been a bit " runt of the litter" since he had a chest infection last year and has never really fattened up since

Thanks

Julie
 
Thre's some information on probiotics in the linked thread below, it may help. I know what you mean about thinking yoghurt, you can get probiotic yoghurt drinks but obviously not for piggies; you can just get plain acidophilus capsules from a health food shop or you can pop into a pet shop and see what probiotics they sell. Your vets should also stock some, may be worth asking them too.

http://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=46964
 
Thanks

Hi Laura, thank you for advice- I got some capsules from the health food shop for Roger. He doesn't seem to be too bad, as far as I can tell he's gained an oz and he's eating really well. took advice re porridge and he likes eating a few oats out of the palm of my hand :) Also likes corn on the cob, not whole ones but the smallish ones so have got my fingers crossed

Anyway, thanks again to everyone for ideas and advice

Julie
 
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