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Worried about Ellen’s weight

Claire W

Claire W

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Ellen is 4.3 years old. In her prime she weighed 1160g today she is weighing in at 950g. This has been a gradually decline in weight since the beginning of 2018. Ellen has IC and a history of diabetes which she has been in remission since she was 8 months old but she is regularly vet checked.

Should I be worried about her weight or is she ok for her age etc? Whenever she has an IC flare, she loses a little weight but struggles to regain it.

I can’t take her back to the vet again as she was there last month for nail trims and a full check over including teeth for her weight loss which my vet can’t find anything wrong and isn’t concerned
 
Weight loss is always a concern but l know that Ellen has been thoroughly checked over.
Sometimes you just have to wait and see l am afraid Claire.
Scrapper has been slowly losing weight as well with no obvious cause, we think it might be early kidney failure but he seems very well.
P.s he has another new wife, Demelza, bringing him up to 4 wives!20190531_132931.webp
 
I cant really help. But i can say that when Dots i.c flared up she was weighing lowest 920g and highest 990g this is roughly. She has put the weight back on from 920g to 965g now. But i think thats because she hasnt got that horrible tumour anymore and she feels alot better. I think Dots i.c is mild.
 
In her prime, Ellen was a bit overweight; when you count that off, she hasn't lost quite as much and she has been fairly stable around the kilo with a very, very gradual overall downhill trend of about 50g per year. She's been down to the kind of weight you are worrying about in previous IC flares when they were a bit stronger ones.

My own IC piggy Breila has also lost a little initial weight and is now just below a kilo, plus/minus depending on her own flares. I am not worried.

Seeing that Ellen's brother Scrapper has similar weight issues could indicate a genetic issue/disposition somewhere but thankfully so far it is not anything serious yet and Ellen has every expectation to reach the 5-7 years of a normal life span. ;)

She is being regularly checked by a very careful and thorough vet.
 
Wiebke said:
In her prime, Ellen was a bit overweight; when you count that off, she hasn't lost quite as much and she has been fairly stable around the kilo with a very, very gradual overall downhill trend of about 50g per year. She's been down to the kind of weight you are worrying about in previous IC flares when they were a bit stronger ones.

Seeing that her brother Scrapper has similar weight issues could indicate a genetic issue/disposition somewhere but thankfully so far it is not anything serious yet and Ellen has every expectation to reach the 5-7 years of a normal life span. ;)

She is being regularly checked by a very careful and thorough vet.
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Oh! Do you have a brother and sister each?☺
 
I think there is a psychological panic effect when you see the scales drop below 1000g! When Jezzy floof (who was originally a giant fatty whose feet bately touched the floor) dropped below a kilo after a course of baytril I was in a complete panic and so was the vet, although her normal healthy weight is about 1060g now there's something about losing the extra digit on the scales that seems very scary!
If the vet can't find anything wrong and she is still eating normally I'd say just continue to monitor and check she doesnt lose much more weight, must be tricky if she's at risk of diabetes because I guess you cant just load up on sweet potato and porridge oat carbs like we did with Jezzy!
 
Thank you. I shall try and stop worrying but if she gets to 900g, I will be having her vet checked again.

No she can’t have carbs to help fatten her up although she have the odd baby corn every so often but not enough to really help bulk her up.

Scrapper is just so adorable Barbara ❤️ and such a lucky boy :) I’m sorry that he may have early kidney failure but he looks happy enough xx
 
Claire W said:
Thank you. I shall try and stop worrying but if she gets to 900g, I will be having her vet checked again.

No she can’t have carbs to help fatten her up although she have the odd baby corn every so often but not enough to really help bulk her up.

Scrapper is just so adorable Barbara ❤ and such a lucky boy :) I’m sorry that he may have early kidney failure but he looks happy enough xx
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Thank you Claire. He sends love to his favourite aunty xx
 
I’ve weighed Ellen this morning and now I’m worried as she was only 920g so that’s a weight loss of 30g :( She’s acting normally and eating and drinking etc but is still having a bit of an IC flare.

She’s at the vets for nail trims and check ups next Friday with Edward but should I take her sooner? Why does she keep losing :(
 
Poor Ellen! If you know its an IC flare up and have some medication already she might be ok until friday if she's still eating, maybe syringe feed her some CC and extra water?
But of course if you are worried and this recent weight loss is more sudden get her straight to the vets, you know her best and an extra vet trip might help you be less worried!
Hugs and healing wheeks x
 
So, I’ve weighed her this morning and she was 880g :( I then weighed her after breakfast and she was 930g which is 20g heavier than yesterday after her breakfast so I’m assuming it can’t be her teeth?
 
Claire W said:
So, I’ve weighed her this morning and she was 880g :( I then weighed her after breakfast and she was 930g which is 20g heavier than yesterday after her breakfast so I’m assuming it can’t be her teeth?
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No, it is not her teeth.

If you weigh daily, you need to always do it either before or after a meal, as it can make up to 50g difference. You can't compare weights before a meal with weights after a meal for that reason; not if you are looking for trends in weights from one day to the next. The weight swings over the course of a day are too large and serve only to trigger your anxiety. Please do NOT weigh more than once daily and always at the same point in the feeding cycle.
 
Bless her, my Rupert would do the same with his troublesome bladder and issues and worried me sick too with his weight swings. Could never get him past 950g after his second stone. Hope she’s ok xx
 
Wiebke said:
No, it is not her teeth.

If you weigh daily, you need to always do it either before or after a meal, as it can make up to 50g difference. You can't compare weights before a meal with weights after a meal for that reason; not if you are looking for trends in weights from one day to the next. The weight swings over the course of a day are too large and serve only to trigger your anxiety. Please do NOT weigh more than once daily and always at the same point in the feeding cycle.
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I usually weigh before feeding but weighed her after breakfast as well to day to check that she’s eating.

But she was only 875g before breakfast, she was 950g before breakfast at the beginning of last month :(
 
Claire W said:
I usually weigh before feeding but weighed her after breakfast as well to day to check that she’s eating.

But she was only 875g before breakfast, she was 950g before breakfast at the beginning of last month :(
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See your vet during regular hours and when convenient if you are worried over the continuing slow downwards trend once it is in the range of 50-100g. it is not a matter of emergency. Have her check the kidneys and her glucose levels.
 
Wiebke said:
See your vet during regular hours and when convenient if you are worried over the continuing slow downwards trend once it is in the range of 50-100g. it is not a matter of emergency. Have her check the kidneys and her glucose levels.
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Thank you. She has a vet appointment next Friday 14th June anyway for nail trims and check ups with Edward anyway. Will it wait until then? She isn’t drinking anymore than usual. I’ve just given them a big handful of grass and dandelion leaves
 
Claire W said:
Thank you. She has a vet appointment next Friday 14th June anyway for nail trims and check ups with Edward anyway. Will it wait until then? She isn’t drinking anymore than usual. I’ve just given them a big handful of grass and dandelion leaves
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Yes, it can wait until then, as it is not a sudden and quick weight loss.

Have you taken into account that you have not been well lately and not able to look after your piggies as normal?
 
Claire W said:
It’s stressful isn’t it? Did Rupert ever get below 900g with his weight swings?
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Yes he went down to 840g I think at his lowest (first thing in the morn before food) :( that was towards the end of his life though and he was coming up to 7 so a bit different to your situation with Ellen. He was having some really good and really bad days bless him and weight all over the place xx and yeah v stressful! :( x
 
Wiebke said:
Yes, it can wait until then, as it is not a sudden and quick weight loss.

Have you taken into account that you have not been well lately and not able to look after your piggies as normal?
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Thank you. I shall leave the appointment until Friday and no, I hadn’t taken being unwell in to account
 
alpacasqueak said:
Yes he went down to 840g I think at his lowest (first thing in the morn before food) :( that was towards the end of his life though and he was coming up to 7 so a bit different to your situation with Ellen. He was having some really good and really bad days bless him and weight all over the place xx and yeah v stressful! :( x
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Ellen’s weight is all over the place at the minute too but she is seeming fine. I hate getting so stressed out over them :( x
 
Claire W said:
Ellen’s weight is all over the place at the minute too but she is seeming fine. I hate getting so stressed out over them :( x
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It’s hard not to though when we love them so much! It’s good she’s seeming happy xx
 
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