Guinea pig lost her wheeker

[Tribble Troubler]

My oldest guinea pig is about to turn 9 and has never been a noisy girl, she rarely wheeks loudly and is happy to have the younger girls get my attention to bring veggies. The other day she was in an unusually active mood, and did a popcorn on her way to say good morning, then she opened her mouth wide and instead of a noisy wheek, she made a kind of airy sound. I've seen her do this a few other times over the last 6 months or so, and she hasn't actually successfully wheeked in a long time. She's still pretty healthy, although she has arthritis in her back legs that slows her down, and I've had trouble keeping her weight up.

I guess I'm just wondering if piggies lose their ability to call loudly when they age or if something is wrong? She's the oldest piggy I've known, so I've been guessing it's just age catching up to her. Just wondering if anyone else has seen this. I tried t get a video, but she has never been super wheeky, so I always end up filming her looking at me confused while the other girls make lots of noise for treats.

 

[Wiebke]

My oldest guinea pig is about to turn 9 and has never been a noisy girl, she rarely wheeks loudly and is happy to have the younger girls get my attention to bring veggies. The other day she was in an unusually active mood, and did a popcorn on her way to say good morning, then she opened her mouth wide and instead of a noisy wheek, she made a kind of airy sound. I've seen her do this a few other times over the last 6 months or so, and she hasn't actually successfully wheeked in a long time. She's still pretty healthy, although she has arthritis in her back legs that slows her down, and I've had trouble keeping her weight up.

I guess I'm just wondering if piggies lose their ability to call loudly when they age or if something is wrong? She's the oldest piggy I've known, so I've been guessing it's just age catching up to her. Just wondering if anyone else has seen this. I tried t get a video, but she has never been super wheeky, so I always end up filming her looking at me confused while the other girls make lots of noise for treats.

Hi

Occasionally, piggies lose their 'big wheek', mostly during the second half of their lives. I have had this happen with a few of mine over the years. There is nothing you can do about it (once a piggy loses their big wheek they will generally not recover it) and it is generally not illness related. I know of only one case with a somewhat younger piggy (If I remember correctly) where this was the case.
It is more likely that as the airways gradually loose their condition and become somewhat flappier that the big wheek can be impacted, the same as some older piggies can start snoring for instance.

9 years is a grand age!

 

[Wheekallweek]

Aw bless her. Some of ours have done "airy wheeks" - it's normally the golden oldies!

 

[Claire W]

My late Erika lost her wheek when she got older. It’s perfectly normal

 

[Merab]

Merab lost her wheek as she grew older too