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70g lost in a week, down 190g in total

P

PiggiePerson

New Born Pup
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Hi friends,

My poor baby boy Pepper (4.5 years) has been at a stable weight of around 1150g for the last few years, but noticed a couple of weeks ago that he was doing small wees (no blood, but he’s had this in the past a few times, latest at Christmas) and small poos, plus had lost some weight - dropping to 1030g. Most importantly he seemed to be in pain when going for a wee with some sad squeaks 😔 a trip to the vets last weekend put him on 2 weeks of 0.2ml of cat/GP metacam daily (0.4ml first dose) and a urine sample that I’m waiting back on. However he still seems to be in pain despite the meds and is now 960g. He seems to be eating ok, especially on the grass now the days are sunny - he gains about 10g after 30min outside!

I’m going to call the vet tomorrow morning but is there anything in the meantime that you would advise? I asked the vet last weekend if I should be syringe feeding him to get his weight up and she said no. I feel like I should be giving him some critical care…

Thank you in advance for your help xx
 
PiggiePerson said:
Hi friends,

My poor baby boy Pepper (4.5 years) has been at a stable weight of around 1150g for the last few years, but noticed a couple of weeks ago that he was doing small wees (no blood, but he’s had this in the past a few times, latest at Christmas) and small poos, plus had lost some weight - dropping to 1030g. Most importantly he seemed to be in pain when going for a wee with some sad squeaks 😔 a trip to the vets last weekend put him on 2 weeks of 0.2ml of cat/GP metacam daily (0.4ml first dose) and a urine sample that I’m waiting back on. However he still seems to be in pain despite the meds and is now 960g. He seems to be eating ok, especially on the grass now the days are sunny - he gains about 10g after 30min outside!

I’m going to call the vet tomorrow morning but is there anything in the meantime that you would advise? I asked the vet last weekend if I should be syringe feeding him to get his weight up and she said no. I feel like I should be giving him some critical care…

Thank you in advance for your help xx
Click to expand...

Hi

Smaller poos and pees (both food and water intake) in combination with an increased weight loss are pointing to a developing health/pain issue. Please switch to weighing on your kitchen scales first thing in the morning for best day to day comparison and to help you plan out the level of support feeding for the day. Step in with offering syringe feeding top up and up the level if the weigh continues to go down.

You may find this newer guide here helpful, which explains the different monitoring methods and what each contributes (or doesn't), how they combine so you can put any weight and appetite loss into its individual perspective and support your piggy optimally.
Weight and Weight Loss Explained: BMI, Weighing, Poos and Feeding Support

Please see a vet. That kind of amount of weight loss is significant enough to warrant an proper hands-on examination. Mystery weight loss without any clear pointers is one of the more difficult challenges for any owner or vet (it's my least favourite symptom because so many different problems can be behind it) but nevertheless, they need to be tackled.

All the best and please keep us updated.
 
Hi Wiebke, thanks so much for your reply. By way of an update:

Saw the vet on Monday morning. Teeth fine despite eating more slowly than normal and less hay intake.
Good news on the urine results, all levels within normal markers, no blood. Although frustrating that it doesn't tell us anything about Pepper's illness. Vet advised to stop the Metacam he'd been on for the last 10 days as it can be harsh on the kidneys, and switch to paracetamol. So he is on the following:

  • Paracetamol x2/day
  • Potassium Citrate x2/day
  • Gabapentin x3/day

Sadly Pepper is still continuing to lose weight - his weights since Monday's vet visit (taken in the morning):
  • Mon: 946g
  • Tues: 936g
  • Wed: 922g

I've started Fibreplex today as it's just arrived in the post, and have been syringe feeding Science Selective Recovery Plus since yesterday, as I was able to get this from another vets locally.

I'm not sure if it is just old age rather than a specific illness... but he has really slowed down, is very quiet where he is normally quite vocal, he is struggling to push his poop out as it is collecting in his sac (actually these are ok in terms of form, just smaller) - which suggests to me he is quite weak, in pain and potential digestive issues (especially as he is not really eating hay now, only lettuce, limited grass and the syringe feed). He seems to be in pain from his noises when I try to clean this out for him. I don't think he is dehydrated as he is drinking a lot. I'm not sure how he can get better from this sadly 🙁 but we will keep going to see if there is any improvement by the weekend.

Have updated the vet on the above also and she's said the next step to understand what's happening is an x-ray and bloods, which he'd need to be under general anaesthetic for. I'm not sure how I feel about this given his current state and how piggies are usually quite sensitive to GA. Would be keen to know what would you do from here?
 
I think for x-rays especially it is a very low does of anesthesia but I'm no expert of course.💐
 
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