Weights

[BambiPaws]

Hi,
I took both my piggies into the vets today, they're supposedly 11 weeks old now (according to pets at home)
The vet said they're underweight for their age,
They are 300g & 320g. Is this normal for their age?

One of them also has an eye infection and on a course of antibiotics which has now been passed to both my other piggies resulting in a £340 vet bill.

 

[Wiebke]

Hi,
I took both my piggies into the vets today, they're supposedly 11 weeks old now (according to pets at home)
The vet said they're underweight for their age,
They are 300g & 320g. Is this normal for their age?

One of them also has an eye infection and on a course of antibiotics which has now been passed to both my other piggies resulting in a £340 vet bill.

I am very sorry for your health troubles! Things can get very costly very quickly unfortunately. I hope that you can get on top of them quickly. It would be good to quarantine any new arrivals that have not come from a place with a mandatory quarantine, like a good rescue.
Importance Of Quarantine

Your piggies are a rather low weight. The average weight of a well cared for baby piggy of 3 weeks old is 250g. However, please do not panic. Guinea pigs don't reach adulthood until they are 15 months old, so there is plenty of time to catch up!
The best you can do is to put your piggies on a good general diet. As long as they put on weight every week, they are fine. Don't be tempted to overfeed. Piggies that grow very fast at first, but also stop growing fast sooner. From then on in, they start growing overweight as well as in length. With a normal good hay based diet, your piggies are going to realise their ideal genetically determined adult weight. Size doesn't determine how long they are going to live; good general health however does.
Recommendations For A Balanced General Guinea Pig Diet
The Importance Of Weighing - Ideal Weight / Overweight / Underweight

 

[BambiPaws]

Thank you I was panicking! They never stop eating and have unlimited hay & nuggets & fresh veggies twice a day although so far they will only touch cucumber so obviously not used to a varied diet.
I am kicking myself about buying from pets at home. I went back into the same store today to inform them of the infection and they said they know the other 10 they had have died

 

[Wiebke]

Thank you I was panicking! They never stop eating and have unlimited hay & nuggets & fresh veggies twice a day although so far they will only touch cucumber so obviously not used to a varied diet.
I am kicking myself about buying from pets at home. I went back into the same store today to inform them of the infection and they said they know the other 10 they had have died

You can reclaim any vet cost arising from an infection/pregnancy that has been contracted to the shop. Just present the itemised vet bill with your bill of sale if you have still got that. The only way to get them to clean up their act is to hurt them where they make the money. They have been selling you damaged ware in essence, and they are bound by the same rules as other businesses.

But they have been very lucky to have you! Please be careful to not overdo the pellets.

Rather than offering unlimited, feed veg and pellets in small portions in a bowl each (which you remove afterwards) that can be eaten in one go 2-3 times a day. That way, there is a lot less food hogging and no pellet bowl soiling. In the meantime they'll eat their unlimited hay, which should make around 80% of the daily food intake. Your babies are lacking guidance from an adult/older piggy in terms of veg. Have you considered trying grass and fresh herbs? That usually goes down well.

 

[rome_italy]

Hi @BambiPaws,
I am the owner of an "underweight" sow... I mean that when I adopted Calipso from the rescue she came home with poo test, check ups and a very good report from the vet, although she was skin&bones. When she was rescued and was 2months old her weight was 240g. But she was lively, started eating a lot following strict healthy rules at the rescue (they have a very good vet there). At home I went on with this rule, a diet based on fresh grass, hay and not more than 80-100g of vegs a day; and no pellets, only some as a treat. Her weight is rising constantly, but not that much if I compare her with the usual charts and the other piggies of her age. But she is strong! she had an eye infection which recovered spontaneously only thanks to her immunitary system (and a supplement of vit C). Today she is 6 months old and her weight is 670g, she climbs and jumps, she is extremely agile... she is maybe still underweight, but... who cares? also my daughter is considered underweight for the charts and is actually fine!
Don't worry! and... just some days ago I read a research on an italian newspaper (about nutrition in humans): it was about an experiment conducted on guinea pigs who were kept underweight (20-30% less than the weight they were supposed to have): they lived longer and healthier than the "normal" ones...
Anyway, check the weight and the poo. Be sure it has a normal shape.
A last thing: a supplement of vit C helps also immunitary system. I use Cebion drops for newborns, only 2 drops, I guess it helps especially when the body is fighting some battle...