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Guinea pig losing weight

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Guineapigs65

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My 2 year old guinea pig has been steadily losing weight for the last few months , hes a Lunkaria and his weight went from 889g to 675g
 
Please urgently step in and syringe feed your piggy to stop him from losing any more weight. You can use his normal pellets mushed up with water or get a proper recovery feed (which tends to be higher in fibre).
Anything between 50-100g of weight loss requires steps to be taken but over 100g of loss becomes an urgent situation. Your piggy has lost over 200g of weight so it is essential he gets immediate help.

Please switch to weighing him at the same time every day so you can monitor that you are giving enough syringe feed in each 24 hour period. You could need to feed every couple of hours. You are aiming for a minimum of 40-60 of syringe feed in each 24 hour period, but anything up to 100ml per day could be needed to stop him from losing weight.

Please see a vet to find out why your piggy is not eating enough hay to maintain his weight by himself.

The guides below provide further information

All About Syringe Feeding and Medicating Guinea Pigs with Videos and Pictures
Emergency and Crisis Care as well as Bridging Care until a Vet Appointment
Not Eating, Weight Loss And The Importance Of Syringe Feeding Fibre
 
Piggies&buns said:
Please urgently step in and syringe feed your piggy to stop him from losing any more weight. You can use his normal pellets mushed up with water or get a proper recovery feed (which tends to be higher in fibre).
Anything between 50-100g of weight loss requires steps to be taken but over 100g of loss becomes an urgent situation. Your piggy has lost over 200g of weight so it is essential he gets immediate help.

Please switch to weighing him at the same time every day so you can monitor that you are giving enough syringe feed in each 24 hour period. You could need to feed every couple of hours. You are aiming for a minimum of 40-60 of syringe feed in each 24 hour period, but anything up to 100ml per day could be needed to stop him from losing weight.

Please see a vet to find out why your piggy is not eating enough hay to maintain his weight by himself.

The guides below provide further information

All About Syringe Feeding and Medicating Guinea Pigs with Videos and Pictures
Emergency and Crisis Care as well as Bridging Care until a Vet Appointment
Not Eating, Weight Loss And The Importance Of Syringe Feeding Fibre
Click to expand...
Okay thank you so much
 
Good luck at the vets. I hope they can find the cause of the weight loss and its easily treatable.
 
Piggies&buns said:
Please urgently step in and syringe feed your piggy to stop him from losing any more weight. You can use his normal pellets mushed up with water or get a proper recovery feed (which tends to be higher in fibre).
Anything between 50-100g of weight loss requires steps to be taken but over 100g of loss becomes an urgent situation. Your piggy has lost over 200g of weight so it is essential he gets immediate help.

Please switch to weighing him at the same time every day so you can monitor that you are giving enough syringe feed in each 24 hour period. You could need to feed every couple of hours. You are aiming for a minimum of 40-60 of syringe feed in each 24 hour period, but anything up to 100ml per day could be needed to stop him from losing weight.

Please see a vet to find out why your piggy is not eating enough hay to maintain his weight by himself.

The guides below provide further information

All About Syringe Feeding and Medicating Guinea Pigs with Videos and Pictures
Emergency and Crisis Care as well as Bridging Care until a Vet Appointment
Not Eating, Weight Loss And The Importance Of Syringe Feeding Fibre
Click to expand...
He eats a lot of hay and doesn't seem to have trouble eating or anything like that
 
Guineapigs65 said:
He eats a lot of hay and doesn't seem to have trouble eating or anything like that
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You cannot judge hay intake by eye. He may appear to be eating but he can’t be eating anywhere near enough - if he was eating enough he wouldn’t be losing weight.
Please do urgently step in with syringe feeding and see a vet
 
Piggies&buns said:
You cannot judge hay intake by eye. He may appear to be eating but he can’t be eating anywhere near enough - if he was eating enough he wouldn’t be losing weight.
Please do urgently step in with syringe feeding and see a vet
Click to expand...
Yes I have started syringe feeding him and I'm going to get him to a vet
 
Guineapigs65 said:
Yes I have started syringe feeding him and I'm going to get him to a vet
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Weigh him daily also so you can be sure you are feeding him enough and do let us know how you get on at the vet.
A medical angle always needs to be checked out first, but to double check, do he and his companion get on well? Do they live indoors or outdoors?
 
Piggies&buns said:
Weigh him daily also so you can be sure you are feeding him enough and do let us know how you get on at the vet.
A medical angle always needs to be checked out first, but to double check, do he and his companion get on well? Do they live indoors or outdoors?
Click to expand...
He doesn't have a companion as he died , we tried bonding him with another guinea pig but they didn't get along , and he lives indoors
 
Guineapigs65 said:
No
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Ok, which occurred first then?
If he has been alone for a while, then once health issues are ruled out, he may simply be lonely.
Do try to use the assistance of a rescue centre to find him a new companion (after health issues are ruled out), as he is very young to be alone.
 
Piggies&buns said:
Ok, which occurred first then?
If he has been alone for a while, then once health issues are ruled out, he may simply be lonely.
Do try to use the assistance of a rescue centre to find him a new companion (after health issues are ruled out), as he is very young to be alone.
Click to expand...
His companion died first , about 4 months ago
 
And you said he has been losing weight for the last few months so once the vet has checked him out, we would recommend you get in touch With rescues to find him a new compatible companion. Often piggies get on with life but occasionally they can struggle deeply being alone and these kinds of issues can crop up.

Looking After a Bereaved Guinea Pig
 
Piggies&buns said:
And you said he has been losing weight for the last few months so once the vet has checked him out, we would recommend you get in touch With rescues to find him a new compatible companion. Often piggies get on with life but occasionally they can struggle deeply being alone and these kinds of issues can crop up.

Looking After a Bereaved Guinea Pig
Click to expand...
Okay thank you
 
Guineapigs65 said:
I dont have any 1ml syringes would a 3ml one be ok?
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It’ll have to do for now, but do try to get some 1ml syringes.
They can only take about 0.3ml in their mouths at a time so if you are using a 3ml syringe then you must be very careful not to syringe too much at one time
 
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