Jane Eyre
New Born Pup
One year ago, we adopted two guinea pig sisters we named Nora and Beryl. They are almost 2 years old, sotheir still young piggies. These two sisters have markedly different personalities; Nora is confident, fiesty, bold, chubby, and whole-heartedly in love with food. Beryl, on the other hand, is extremely nervous, timid, and hesitant. She typically follows Nora around the cage nervously, which irritates Nora. However, these piggies live together well with minor (normal) disputes.
3 months ago, we noticed that Beryl had lost weight, and a weigh in showed that she had lost 3 oz. We started separating them at meal time to ensure that Berly was able to eat her veggies in peace. Roughly 2 weeks after her weigh in, Beryl continued to lose weight. We started feeding her veggies in the morning in addition to her nightly feeding. We bought new hay, and have currently tried her on Timothy hay, orchard grass, sweet grass, oat hay, botanical hay, and alfalfa from different companies. Nora likes all the hay we've bought, but Berly will only bite the hay, nose through it, and turn away. From her heaviest, she has lost a total of 9 oz, 5 of which have been in the past three months.
We took her to a vet in mid July, and he examined her mouth but could not find any dental problems. He also could not feel any lumps/ tumours and suggested limiting her veggies to try and mae her more interested in hay. We also bought Oxbow Critical Care, which we are feeding to Beryl 6 times a day, 3 tsps per feeding. I've added ground up vitamin B to try and boost her appetite, and we've also added vitamin C to the water bottle. We have also had blood work done on Beryl, but everything came back at normal levels, prooving that she doesn't have any infections. I've tried hand feeding her hay, and tonight I even put the hay in the fridge to see if she would prefer it cold, but she still won't eat it. We also got her a little stuffed animal so she could have some "company" beside Nora, but it hasn't made any difference.
Feeding Beryl Critical Care has become extremely constaining and expensive. She adamantly refuses to eat her hay or kibble. I think nearly all of her daily calories come from the Critical Care we are force feeding her every few hours. We give her lettuce and some other veggies every night, which is the only thing she will eat by herself. After nearly a month of Critical Care she still has not gained any weight. She used to weight 2.5 pounds, but she is now hovering just above 2 lb. Her problem, whatever it is, is extremely frustrating. I don't know why she won't eat! We weigh her every morning and every night, and since her weight drops up to 2 oz over night, I think she's starving herself through the night.
She used to love her hay (I think it was Timothy hay) but now she just won't eat any hay or kibble. I've tried giving her grass, but after two days, she isn't interested any more. We cannot continue to feed her Critical Care every couple of hours for the rest of her life, and yet there doesn't seem to be anything medically wrong with her. I often see Nora foraging through the hay during the day, but Beryl just lies down all the time. It is as though she just isn't interested in food any more. Is this fussiness or something else?
ANY help, ideas, or guidance would be greatly appreciated. I think we've tried everything. I want to help my little piggie, but I just don't know what to do.
3 months ago, we noticed that Beryl had lost weight, and a weigh in showed that she had lost 3 oz. We started separating them at meal time to ensure that Berly was able to eat her veggies in peace. Roughly 2 weeks after her weigh in, Beryl continued to lose weight. We started feeding her veggies in the morning in addition to her nightly feeding. We bought new hay, and have currently tried her on Timothy hay, orchard grass, sweet grass, oat hay, botanical hay, and alfalfa from different companies. Nora likes all the hay we've bought, but Berly will only bite the hay, nose through it, and turn away. From her heaviest, she has lost a total of 9 oz, 5 of which have been in the past three months.
We took her to a vet in mid July, and he examined her mouth but could not find any dental problems. He also could not feel any lumps/ tumours and suggested limiting her veggies to try and mae her more interested in hay. We also bought Oxbow Critical Care, which we are feeding to Beryl 6 times a day, 3 tsps per feeding. I've added ground up vitamin B to try and boost her appetite, and we've also added vitamin C to the water bottle. We have also had blood work done on Beryl, but everything came back at normal levels, prooving that she doesn't have any infections. I've tried hand feeding her hay, and tonight I even put the hay in the fridge to see if she would prefer it cold, but she still won't eat it. We also got her a little stuffed animal so she could have some "company" beside Nora, but it hasn't made any difference.
Feeding Beryl Critical Care has become extremely constaining and expensive. She adamantly refuses to eat her hay or kibble. I think nearly all of her daily calories come from the Critical Care we are force feeding her every few hours. We give her lettuce and some other veggies every night, which is the only thing she will eat by herself. After nearly a month of Critical Care she still has not gained any weight. She used to weight 2.5 pounds, but she is now hovering just above 2 lb. Her problem, whatever it is, is extremely frustrating. I don't know why she won't eat! We weigh her every morning and every night, and since her weight drops up to 2 oz over night, I think she's starving herself through the night.
She used to love her hay (I think it was Timothy hay) but now she just won't eat any hay or kibble. I've tried giving her grass, but after two days, she isn't interested any more. We cannot continue to feed her Critical Care every couple of hours for the rest of her life, and yet there doesn't seem to be anything medically wrong with her. I often see Nora foraging through the hay during the day, but Beryl just lies down all the time. It is as though she just isn't interested in food any more. Is this fussiness or something else?
ANY help, ideas, or guidance would be greatly appreciated. I think we've tried everything. I want to help my little piggie, but I just don't know what to do.
