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100g weight loss

lauryn1289

lauryn1289

Junior Guinea Pig
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Hi everyone, probably my billionth post here lately lol. My boy Ollie was weighed at the vets today and came on at 1kg, his last weight check I did was about 1.11kg if I remember correctly so give or take 100g weight loss. I only just kinda registered his weight went down now. He does have mange mites right now, had his first Ivermectin dose today, and had been picking at his back the past couple days and scratching and probably a bit annoyed. Took a week to get him seen for the mites unfortunately, would it be plausible that might’ve affected his appetite? The vet was thinking losing both of his neighbour pigs within 2 weeks and getting another neighbour has stressed him out a bit, been a big change for him, and affected his immune system a bit for the mites to pop up, so curious if maybe the weight loss may be related. I have been worried he seems a bit cranky and not as spritely but he also had a skin scrape at the vet which he absolutely hated and it did hurt him a bit, was his first time at the vet today too and the mites so I could be overthinking that and he may just be understandably a bit irate at the moment and need to relax. I changed his bedding last night and as usual got loads of popcorns so!

There doesn’t seem to be anything else up with him, he was feral at the vet today as he usually is but I’m a worrier. His poops look normal too and he did a humongous cloudy pee at the vet, so everything there seems okay. I know poops are a day or so behind but I assume he didn’t lose 100g overnight so I’m using them as a bit of a gauge for some stuff. I’ll weigh him again tomorrow to check his hay intake but just not sure if I should be concerned about the loss! If his weight is unchanged tomorrow or goes even lower I’ll start syringing him some critical care.
 
You are right to be concerned. I’d weigh daily on your own scales for a few days to gauge what is going on. It could just be that the stress of losing his friends and feeling uncomfortable with mites has impacted his appetite. It’s good that the vet couldn’t find anything else wrong. If he loses more tomorrow I agree with starting syringe feeding. Good luck.
 
weepweeps said:
You are right to be concerned. I’d weigh daily on your own scales for a few days to gauge what is going on. It could just be that the stress of losing his friends and feeling uncomfortable with mites has impacted his appetite. It’s good that the vet couldn’t find anything else wrong. If he loses more tomorrow I agree with starting syringe feeding. Good luck.
Click to expand...

Switch from weighing once weekly on your kitchen scales to weighing daily first thing in the mornin for best day to day comparison.

If the weight keeps going down, I would recommend that you supplement with a bowl of recovery feed or a mix of
mushed pellets and recovery feed. If he is still eating seemingly normally and ther weight loss is not large, then you are just topping up and do not syringe feed, which is a lot more hassle. Give the companion a little taster whily your affected boy is tucking into the bowl outside the cage so he doesn't smell like having had something extra. :)
It is likely that his loss and the mange mites discomfort are behind it. You should hopefully see the weight loss levelling out in the next three days and gradually starting to go up again.
All About Syringe Feeding and Medicating Guinea Pigs with Videos and Pictures

The first two days with ivermectin are usually rather uncomfortable so please brace for that. After that things will calm down a bit but the itching will gradually up as you come closer to the second application; then you have another two days and the itching should be pretty much gone. A third application is there to catch any stragglers and prevent a return. :

The weight in itself is nowhere near any area of concern.
 
Wiebke said:
Switch from weighing once weekly on your kitchen scales to weighing daily first thing in the mornin for best day to day comparison.

If the weight keeps going down, I would recommend that you supplement with a bowl of recovery feed or a mix of
mushed pellets and recovery feed. If he is still eating seemingly normally and ther weight loss is not large, then you are just topping up and do not syringe feed, which is a lot more hassle. Give the companion a little taster whily your affected boy is tucking into the bowl outside the cage so he doesn't smell like having had something extra. :)
It is likely that his loss and the mange mites discomfort are behind it. You should hopefully see the weight loss levelling out in the next three days and gradually starting to go up again.
All About Syringe Feeding and Medicating Guinea Pigs with Videos and Pictures

The first two days with ivermectin are usually rather uncomfortable so please brace for that. After that things will calm down a bit but the itching will gradually up as you come closer to the second application; then you have another two days and the itching should be pretty much gone. A third application is there to catch any stragglers and prevent a return. :

The weight in itself is nowhere near any area of concern.
Click to expand...
I’ll weigh him in the morning first thing! I actually mix their Versela Laga Cavia Complete pellets from time to time with critical care because sometimes they’re a bit picky and don’t like those pellets much. He actually quite likes critical care and just voluntarily accepted about 6mls of it :) He’s tucked into his some hay now with some red pepper and a couple pea flakes. My other boy Eggs would down the whole bag of critical care if he could, he goes wild for it and loves being syringe fed as a treat, so when he sees Eggs gets something he usually wants it too.

My OTRB boy Kip had been on Ivermectin a few times over his 6 and a half years of life so I do have a little bit of experience with it thankfully! As expected the Ivermectin on his neck is driving him up the wall, poor thing. Can’t blame him for being. cranky today! This made me feel much better thank you again, I’m doting on him a bit too much and being extra paranoid since his 2 friends did pass in such a short amount of time.
 
weepweeps said:
You are right to be concerned. I’d weigh daily on your own scales for a few days to gauge what is going on. It could just be that the stress of losing his friends and feeling uncomfortable with mites has impacted his appetite. It’s good that the vet couldn’t find anything else wrong. If he loses more tomorrow I agree with starting syringe feeding. Good luck.
Click to expand...
Hopefully it is just stress and him being uncomfortable, poor little thing! He has such a tough exterior and behaves more like a small feral dog than a guinea pig but deep down he’s a softie :no: I hate to think he’s stressed. I’ll keep a close eye and the weight continues to change I’ll get him back to the vet, thank you!
 
Keep a check of him on your own scales as that will be more consistent than going from the weight of a different set of scales.
 
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