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Bad Weight Loss? Heaving? Please Help?

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guineapigemily

guineapigemily

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I just weighed both my piggies and the usually gain/lose somewhere between 30g normally less a week and these are the results after weight them.
Sam-
10 days ago: 1245g
today: 1168g
loss of: 77g

Pip-
10 days ago: 1275g
today: 1252g
loss of: 23g

My concern is usually they are around the same weight with a 10-30g leeway.
Just before i weighed them i gave them each a berry nibblot as i had just purchased them and wanted to see if they liked them, soon after feeding them Sam jolted his body and opened his mouth like he was trying to heave something up. Is this normal for piggies? If they get something stuck do they do this? he only did it for a couple seconds.
I was concerned and heath checked him, he looked fine. i gave him some pellets to eat but he wouldn't eat them so i let him out for a run to see if thats what he wanted. He was running around my room, across the landing and in other rooms just like normal and was being as bouncy as normal. I put him back and he ate some pellets and had a drink.
Am i worrying too much? should i keep an eye on him? could he just have not been hungry at the time? or got the treat stuck, just like a human would?
Pip and Sam both get the exact same diet :) P@H nuggets with a little bit of Burgess nuggets. Veggies when i have them and occasional treats.
 
It sounds like it could be heaving hiccups, is he ok now? does his breathing seem normal?
 
Ooo, didnt know piggies could get hiccups, thats interesting :) yes, his breathing seems normal and so does he :)
 
I would not worry at this stage then. Keep an eye on the weightloss though, I would weigh him daily at the same time each day for the next week and if he drops any further get him checked by a vet.
 
Okay, thankyou, thats a relief. I will be sure to weigh him everyday and ill definitely keep an eye on him. Hope hes okay. Thankyou Helen x
 
That is a considerable weight loss; please switch to weighing daily at the same time and keep a close eye on it. If it continues, please see the vet for a check up.

Guinea pigs can get things stuck in their throat and the can also have what is alled "heaving hiccups" when things go down the wrong way further; the latter should hopefully stop after a few heaves. Otherwise see an out-of-hours vet.
http://www.oginet.com/pgurney/Heaving-hiccups-guinea-pigs.shtml
 
thats what i was thinking :( i will hopefully see a vet if he continues to lose weight. My parents are abit harsh i guess (in a reasonable way) when it comes to vets because they are expensive but i have a little bit of money in a pot and if i really explain to them then they will let me, as obviously they understand that pets need to go to the vets at least once in their life.
Oh, really thats something ive never heard. He stopped after 2 heaves or so and them seemed fine :) Thankyou so much!
 
Make sure that you weigh at the same time in the feeding cycle, as just the difference between a full and empty belly and bladder can make 30g.

Could you give him a little checkover and see whether are any clues? Also look at his poos and eating patterns. At the moment, you are in the "alert" stage, not yet the "see a vet straight away" phase (that is with 100g of weight loss).
https://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/threads/guinea-pig-body-quirks.58854/
 
Okay i will try and weigh him around 6om ish every day :)
I will give him a checkover tommorow, he is asleep at the moment and i will be soon to so don't want to disturb him. okay, thankyou for the advice. I really hope it could have just been down to a full bladder or something?
 
Is it possible that what looked like heaving was him trying to dislodge something caught in the back of his mouth? Sometimes this can be a sign of dental issues. Sundae would always open/close her mouth, pull her lips back, and otherwise look like she was trying to dislodge something in her throat when her molars were overgrown. Dental issues can also cause weight loss. I would keep an eye on the weight and consider getting the teeth looked at if it continues to trend down.
 
Weight loss can be caused by lots of things. Often there is some pain involved that impinges on the appetite. Overgrowing molars is just one vector that Freela has specifically mentioned in connection with the heaving hiccups, but then your vet will have to travel down the body or even need a scan to diagnose... :(

It is too early to panic yet, though!
 
I think out of anything its most likely to be his teeth that are the problem, hopefully its nothing. I weighed him again today and he has lost 2g. Is that anything to be concerned about?
 
Thankyou all for your help :) i really do appreciate everyone's efforts on this forum :)
 
guineapigemily said:
I think out of anything its most likely to be his teeth that are the problem, hopefully its nothing. I weighed him again today and he has lost 2g. Is that anything to be concerned about?
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No - the daily variation between a full/empty bladder and/or tummy can be as much as 30g, so his weight is stable. To exclude these variations as much it is recommended to weigh at the same time after a meal in order to get a decent reading. What you are looking for is either a major short term weight loss or a continuous slow downward trend, which can happen in steps over the course of days or weeks. ;)
 
Ahh okay, so say if i gave pellets at 5pm, i'd weigh him at 5:30pm and do that everyday? i weighed him at 3:28pm, i know it was a bit early but i wasn't quite sure what a was looking for. Thankyou for explaining :) anyway, his weight today at 3:28 was 1198g. So i assume at this point he had a full bladder. I will start to weigh him at the exact same time everyday, after his meal as you said. Thankyou again.
 
guineapigemily said:
Ahh okay, so say if i gave pellets at 5pm, i'd weigh him at 5:30pm and do that everyday? i weighed him at 3:28pm, i know it was a bit early but i wasn't quite sure what a was looking for. Thankyou for explaining :) anyway, his weight today at 3:28 was 1198g. So i assume at this point he had a full bladder. I will start to weigh him at the exact same time everyday, after his meal as you said. Thankyou again.
Click to expand...

Yes, ideally you always try to weigh at the same time in relation to his last meal, so you get comparable results. It doesn't matter when you weigh, just as long as you always weigh at the same time in the feeding cycle, so the tummy is always equally full or empty.
 
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