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Dramatic weight loss over months

Hnrpiggies

Hnrpiggies

Junior Guinea Pig
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York, England, UK
My 3 year old (estimate) guinea pig has been losing loads of weight over the past year. I have not taken her to see a vet yet because she is still eating and drinking normally. She is still as active as she’s always been and still gets excited for veggies and also for cuddles.
She used to be a chunky pig for her age at one point when she was about 2 weighing more than 1200g. But this year the weight has just been falling off her.

I’ve done health checks, including her teeth. She seems completely fine.
She’s not incredibly bony or anything but she’s definitely noticeably thinner and lighter.
I don’t know if I should be worried. I’m going to weigh her in the morning. She’s been losing for about a year so it can’t have been fast but she has lost a lot.

I’m worried I’m not feeding enough or the right kinds of things. There is 5 pigs in the cage. I give them a pile of hay as and when they need it, usually every 2 or 3 days. They get about two bowls worth of fresh pellets to eat through the week. They get fresh veggies. They rarely get fruit. I think the last bit of fruit they had was one blueberry each last week. they get let out into the garden on the grass once a week (currently winter and I don’t like them being out too much in wet and cold weather).
I’m genuinely confused why she’s lost so much weight when still acts completely the same. I have another aprx 3y/o pig who seems to be losing weight too but not as much. I can’t afford a vet visit until next Saturday which is when I get paid but they’ve been fine the past year so there can’t be anything seriously wrong right?

How do I fatten her up a bit ?
is there a particular hay I should buy? They currently get meadow
Maybe I just need to feed them more but then how much is too much?
 
How much weight has she lost?

the fact she is losing weight means she either isn’t eating as much as you think or there is a medical issue that needs investigating. She needs to see a vet. Any weight loss of 50g is of concern. Hay is the most important part of the diet and any weight loss is usually due to not eating as much as you think.

In terms of how you are feeding them -

They need fresh hay constantly available. Putting hay in every 2-3 days could mean the hay isn’t fresh enough for them, theyve picked out their favourite bits and don’t want any more, meaning there are a few days they they may not be eating enough. I would be refreshing that much more often, perhaps if you’re throwing in loads of a time, so perhaps put a little less in each time but refill it multiple times per day. I refill the hay for all of my animals a minimum of three times every day.
Pellets - they should have just one tablespoon per pig per day. I would not put in two large bowls and leave them a week. This can cause them to eat too much pellets and not enough hay which can cause health issues. Mine get around half a tablespoon each (around 3 grams worth), they get half an hour to eat them and then any which are left I remove and throw away.

Please don’t let indoor piggies out into the garden at this time of year. The temperature fluctuation is too great.

Unfortunafely you cannot do thorough health checks yourself and you have not been able to check their teeth properly - only a vet can do that with proper equipment as it’s often the back teeth which will have problems and it’s not possible to see them properly.

You need to start to weigh any pig who is losing weight every day, stepping in with syringe feeding any who are losing weight each day as it means they aren’t eating enough hay, and then you will need to take them to see a vet.
 
I’ll add here that although my 5 girls don’t seem to have much of a hierarchy, she would 100% be the at the top of it. She has taken on a motherly role within the group, grooming and snuggling with the other pigs. She’s also the most confident.

The 3 younger pigs (2 that are about 1.5-2y/o and 1 that’s a few days off being 7 months old) are all really chunky, two of them (mother and daughter) have put on loads of weight the past few months so maybe it could be an age thing or that I’m not feeding enough for 5 pigs. My extremely shy pig (1.5-2y/o) is a healthy average weight which makes me question any relation to hierarchy.
 
Hierarchy and their weight is not related. They absolutely will have a hierarchy between them but it just may not be obvious to you.

If there are problems between them and bullying occurs then it can stop them eating enough and become withdrawn and that can mean they need separating but you absolutely must get them to a vet and have them Properly health checked before going down the route of assuming any issues with their bond.

If she is losing weight, then she either isn’t eating enough and/or she has an underlying health issue (which you need to rule out). Please confirm how much weight she is losing by weighing her daily and syringe feeding her to stop any further weight loss. As I said, any weight loss over 50 grams is of concern

Not Eating, Weight Loss And The Importance Of Syringe Feeding Fibre
Complete Syringe Feeding Guide

please do refresh their hay every single day and only feed the one tablespoon of pellets per pig. You need to use just five tablespoons per day not two large bowls full. You could scatter feed the pellets around the cage so they have to forage for them as It is a form of enrichment and will keep them occupied, but I do think two large bowls sounds like they could well be being overfed pellets and not getting enough fresh hay.

It’s obviously only a rough guide but how much hay do you get through? I have five hay eating animals and use 20kg per month - about 5kg worth of hay per week.
 
Piggies&buns said:
How much weight has she lost?

the fact she is losing weight means she either isn’t eating as much as you think or there is a medical issue that needs investigating. She needs to see a vet. Any weight loss of 50g is of concern. Hay is the most important part of the diet and any weight loss is usually due to not eating as much as you think.

In terms of how you are feeding them -

They need fresh hay constantly available. Putting hay in every 2-3 days could mean the hay isn’t fresh enough for them, theyve picked out their favourite bits and don’t want any more, meaning there are a few days they they may not be eating enough. I would be refreshing that much more often, perhaps if you’re throwing in loads of a time, so perhaps put a little less in each time but refill it multiple times per day. I refill the hay for all of my animals a minimum of three times every day.
Pellets - they should have just one tablespoon per pig per day. I would not put in two large bowls and leave them a week. This can cause them to eat too much pellets and not enough hay which can cause health issues. Mine get around half a tablespoon each (around 3 grams worth), they get half an hour to eat them and then any which are left I remove and throw away.

Please don’t let indoor piggies out into the garden at this time of year. The temperature fluctuation is too great.

Unfortunafely you cannot do thorough health checks yourself and you have not been able to check their teeth properly - only a vet can do that with proper equipment as it’s often the back teeth which will have problems and it’s not possible to see them properly.

You need to start to weigh any pig who is losing weight every day, stepping in with syringe feeding any who are losing weight each day as it means they aren’t eating enough hay, and then you will need to take them to see a vet.
Click to expand...
Well the weight loss has been slow. Not
Piggies&buns said:
Hierarchy and their weight is not related. They absolutely will have a hierarchy between them but it just may not be obvious to you.

If there are problems between them and bullying occurs then it can stop them eating enough and become withdrawn and that can mean they need separating but you absolutely must get them to a vet and have them Properly health checked before going down the route of assuming any issues with their bond.

If she is losing weight, then she either isn’t eating enough and/or she has an underlying health issue (which you need to rule out). Please confirm how much weight she is losing by weighing her daily and syringe feeding her to stop any further weight loss. As I said, any weight loss over 50 grams is of concern

Not Eating, Weight Loss And The Importance Of Syringe Feeding Fibre
Complete Syringe Feeding Guide

please do refresh their hay every single day and only feed the one tablespoon of pellets per pig. You need to use just five tablespoons per day not two large bowls full. You could scatter feed the pellets around the cage so they have to forage for them as It is a form of enrichment and will keep them occupied, but I do think two large bowls sounds like they could well be being overfed pellets and not getting enough fresh hay.

It’s obviously only a rough guide but how much hay do you get through? I have five hay eating animals and use 20kg per month - about 5kg worth of hay per week.
Click to expand...
sbe doesn’t lose enough weekly for it to be noticeable to the eye or by handling her. It’s been so gradual that it hasn’t caused me concern because I hadn’t noticed it.

Between now and Saturday (when I get paid) I will feed smaller amounts of hay more often instead of large piles every other day. I used to do this but it became harder to keep on top of it with having 9 guinea pigs (in three cages) at one point, I got into the habit of feeding more but less often. I’ll go back to one or more times a day. She definitely isnt being bullied! She’s usually always first in line for everything because she’s so confident.

The pellets are spread throughout the week I was just giving an estimate of what it would be in the whole week. I will update on her weight when I’ve weighed her in the morning for the most up to date weight. And work out roughly what she’s lost in the year.

I think I fed her too much cucumber the other day and her poo became stringy and runny and was stuck in piles of poop rather than pellets. I haven’t given her much watery veg since and it’s gone back to normal. Could this one-off poo because I over fed her watery cucumber?
 
Weight loss doesn’t need to be visible to the eye - any time there is a weight loss on their weekly weight checks that forms part of a any gradual but continual downward weight loss over a period of time is still of concern once it totals 50 grams or more. How much weight has she lost?

Its good their bond seems intact. It brings it back to not eating enough for another reason and/or a health issue.

Yes, overfeeding veg on one occasion or continually feeding too much (they only need 50 grams worth of veg per day) can cause a digestive disruption. If this happens you need to stop feeding all veg and grass completely until poops normalise and then reintroduce veg slowly.
 
Hnrpiggies said:
Well the weight loss has been slow. She doesn’t lose enough weekly for it to be noticeable to the eye or by handling her. It’s been so gradual that it hasn’t caused me concern because I hadn’t noticed it.

Between now and Saturday (when I get paid) I will feed smaller amounts of hay more often instead of large piles every other day. I used to do this but it became harder to keep on top of it with having 9 guinea pigs (in three cages) at one point, I got into the habit of feeding more but less often. I’ll go back to one or more times a day. She definitely isnt being bullied! She’s usually always first in line for everything because she’s so confident.

The pellets are spread throughout the week I was just giving an estimate of what it would be in the whole week. I will update on her weight when I’ve weighed her in the morning for the most up to date weight. And work out roughly what she’s lost in the year.

I think I fed her too much cucumber the other day and her poo became stringy and runny and was stuck in piles of poop rather than pellets. I haven’t given her much watery veg since and it’s gone back to normal. Could this one-off poo because I over fed her watery cucumber?
[/QUOT
Click to expand...
 
Piggies&buns said:
Weight loss doesn’t need to be visible to the eye - any time there is a weight loss on their weekly weight checks that forms part of a any gradual but continual downward weight loss over a period of time is still of concern once it totals 50 grams or more. How much weight has she lost?

Its good their bond seems intact. It brings it back to not eating enough for another reason and/or a health issue.

Yes, overfeeding veg on one occasion or continually feeding too much (they only need 50 grams worth of veg per day) can cause a digestive disruption. If this happens you need to stop feeding all veg and grass completely until poops normalise and then reint
Click to expand...
Piggies&buns said:
Weight loss doesn’t need to be visible to the eye - any time there is a weight loss on their weekly weight checks that forms part of a any gradual but continual downward weight loss over a period of time is still of concern once it totals 50 grams or more. How much weight has she lost?

Its good their bond seems intact. It brings it back to not eating enough for another reason and/or a health issue.

Yes, overfeeding veg on one occasion or continually feeding too much (they only need 50 grams worth of veg per day) can cause a digestive disruption. If this happens you need to stop feeding all veg and grass completely until poops normalise and then reintroduce veg slowly.
Click to expand...
she’s lost well over 50g in total. In the first few months she lost 200g. But she has lost a fair amount more since then. I thought because it was slow weight loss is wasn’t as dangerous. I read on other guinea pig sites that as long as it’s not 50g or more per week then it’s usually nothing to worry about.
 
Hnrpiggies said:
she’s lost well over 50g in total. In the first few months she lost 200g. But she has lost a fair amount more since then. I thought because it was slow weight loss is wasn’t as dangerous. I read on other guinea pig sites that as long as it’s not 50g or more per week then it’s usually nothing to worry about.
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While a sudden drop of weight in one go requires immediate action, a gradual but continual weight loss is just as concerning and even more so now it has totalled such a lot of weight loss. Please step in and support feed her to stop any further weight loss. Weighing her every day will tell you how much you need to syringe to her in a 24 hour period to stop any further losses. Please have her seen by a vet.
Weight - Monitoring and Management
 
This amount of weight loss is definitely a cause for concern, and needs investigating by the vet. 3 years old is really in the prime of life, too young for old age related weight loss- and even an older piggy should still get a vet check if their weight starts to drop, to check their is no underlying health issue.
 
Don't know if my experience will be of any relevance but will add it anyway - last year i had a pig that kept losing weight and it turned out to be a problem with his liver.

We never found exactly what it was but it was a simple blood test that revealed some kind of problem. They found his liver enzymes were abnormally high. As he was almost 7 yrs old with advanced arthritis and bladder sludge we put him on palliative care. He went on for quite a few weeks with this liver problem.

Had he been younger, without other issues, we would have been able to have had more investigations to reveal exactly what was going on.

So definitely worth a vet trip - there is so much they can do these days and your 3 year old could potentially go on another 4 or 5 yrs with the right treatment.
 
A steady weight loss needs to be investigated latest when it passes 100g. The recommended weekly weigh-in and body once-over is there is to monitor both fast changes to the body and the weight but also to keep an eye on slowly developing health issues that do not come with obvious symptoms.

'Mystery weight loss' is my least favourite symptom because there it such a lot of things that can hide behind that - but it needs to be vet checked so you can treat what is treatable while there is still time and buy your girl a normal life time if possible. Vet services have been kept running throughout the pandemic.
 
Piggies&buns said:
Weight loss doesn’t need to be visible to the eye - any time there is a weight loss on their weekly weight checks that forms part of a any gradual but continual downward weight loss over a period of time is still of concern once it totals 50 grams or more. How much weight has she lost?

Its good their bond seems intact. It brings it back to not eating enough for another reason and/or a health issue.

Yes, overfeeding veg on one occasion or continually feeding too much (they only need 50 grams worth of veg per day) can cause a digestive disruption. If this happens you need to stop feeding all veg and grass completely until poops normalise and then reintroduce veg slowly.
Click to expand...
She’s currently 854g. She was 1228g last year, at her heaviest. She’s booked into the vets today
 
Wiebke said:
A steady weight loss needs to be investigated latest when it passes 100g. The recommended weekly weigh-in and body once-over is there is to monitor both fast changes to the body and the weight but also to keep an eye on slowly developing health issues that do not come with obvious symptoms.

'Mystery weight loss' is my least favourite symptom because there it such a lot of things that can hide behind that - but it needs to be vet checked so you can treat what is treatable while there is still time and buy your girl a normal life time if possible. Vet services have been kept running throughout the pandemic.
Click to expand...
She’s booked in today. She’s gone from 1228g to 854g in the space of a year. I had no idea it could indicate something bad. I thought she was just levelling out her weight if that makes sense. Like ‘losing puppy fat’
 
tabelmabel said:
Don't know if my experience will be of any relevance but will add it anyway - last year i had a pig that kept losing weight and it turned out to be a problem with his liver.

We never found exactly what it was but it was a simple blood test that revealed some kind of problem. They found his liver enzymes were abnormally high. As he was almost 7 yrs old with advanced arthritis and bladder sludge we put him on palliative care. He went on for quite a few weeks with this liver problem.

Had he been younger, without other issues, we would have been able to have had more investigations to reveal exactly what was going on.

So definitely worth a vet trip - there is so much they can do these days and your 3 year old could potentially go on another 4 or 5 yrs with the right treatment.
Click to expand...
Thank you. She’s booked in to see the vets today. Our vets never look into it thoroughly though so I hope they do when they hear how much she’s lost. Gone from 1228g-854 In a year. I genuinely thought she was just losing the extra fat she gained while growing like when kids ‘lose their puppy fat’
 
That is a big weight loss - hopefully the vet will get to the root of it and be able to solve it. If you are uk based, check out the recommended vets on here if you have no joy with your local vet.

And guinea lynx has recommended vets for USA
 
How did it go and what did the vet say? They don’t lose extra fat because they shouldn’t have it. The weight they put on is expected and they generally reach their ‘target weight’ once they’re out of their teenage phase.

If you ever see a downward trend again (fingers crossed it won’t happen though) then take them to the vet.
 
Siikibam said:
How did it go and what did the vet say? They don’t lose extra fat because they shouldn’t have it. The weight they put on is expected and they generally reach their ‘target weight’ once they’re out of their teenage phase.

If you ever see a downward trend again (fingers crossed it won’t happen though) then take them to the vet.
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They said she seemed overall healthy but reacted negatively when they touched her spine. She wheeked in pain. They’ve given me a weeks worth of anti inflammatory medication and said to go back if there’s no improvement to get an X-ray. She said there may be a mass somewhere. Does anyone know if she could be feeling stomach pain on her back /spine or is this unrelated? It confused me haha
 
I’m afraid we can’t know as we’re not qualified and didn’t examine her. Did the vet feel a lump/growth on her back? Hope the anti inflammatory works and it’s something simple.
 
Siikibam said:
I’m afraid we can’t know as we’re not qualified and didn’t examine her. Did the vet feel a lump/growth on her back? Hope the anti inflammatory works and it’s something simple.
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No. She just said the guinea pig seemed to be in a lot of pain when her spine was pressed on. She doesn’t seem to react when I touch her back though. I don’t know much about guinea pigs anatomy but I was trying to figure out which organs are close to the spine to see if it could be something wrong with one of the organs close to her back. Apparently if the inflammatory meds don’t work she’ll need an x-ray but she never said what the meds were for. I didn’t really get any proper answers.
 
I have a small update. She’s been on her anti inflammatory medicine and new eating schedule for 3 days now and she’s already gained 34g. My princess is on the mend ☺️
 
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