Hello I’m new here but my brother has been having a problem with his pet Guinea pig Winston she has been barely drinking if at all and she pretty much either in her hide or under the bed. We tried taking her to the vet but they couldn’t find anything wrong with her but since Wednesday she hasn’t been acting herself when we call her she usually super excited and runs up to us but as of late she’s hasn’t been responding. She’s been eating as normal and we have been giving her vitamin C meds that the vet gave us I just don’t know what else to do. I heard that Guinea pigs get anxious to change and my brother just rearranged his room recently but that was like 2 weeks ago and she was fine then I just don’t know what else to do any information will be help. Thx in advance
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Help needed please
- Thread starter jv966956
- Start date
If you are ever concerned about your guinea pigs it is important to switch from the routine weekly weight checks and instead weigh them each morning. The weight checks are the only way to ensure that a piggy is actually eating enough hay. Hay is their main food intake but you can’t tell a piggy is eating enough by watching them.
If a piggy is losing weight then they are not eating enough hay and you must step in with syringe feeding a recovery feed.
The need to drink comes before the need to eat so if a piggy is eating enough then they will be drinking enough. If she is losing weight due to not eating; then she may not be drinking enough either and it means that there is most likely something wrong and further vet checks will be needed to find out what is wrong with her.
Vitamin c is not a medication and guinea pigs with a healthy balanced diet do not need additional vitamin c to be given to them.
Does she have a friend? Guinea pigs should not be kept alone.
How old is she?
How long have you had her?
Is it hot where you are? Is the room she is kept in cool enough etc?
Weight - Monitoring and Management
If a piggy is losing weight then they are not eating enough hay and you must step in with syringe feeding a recovery feed.
The need to drink comes before the need to eat so if a piggy is eating enough then they will be drinking enough. If she is losing weight due to not eating; then she may not be drinking enough either and it means that there is most likely something wrong and further vet checks will be needed to find out what is wrong with her.
Vitamin c is not a medication and guinea pigs with a healthy balanced diet do not need additional vitamin c to be given to them.
Does she have a friend? Guinea pigs should not be kept alone.
How old is she?
How long have you had her?
Is it hot where you are? Is the room she is kept in cool enough etc?
Weight - Monitoring and Management
She does have a friend but she doesn’t seem to like her all that much because she tends to ignore her.
Her age is unknown we got her from a family friend and we’ve had her for a few months
Yes the room she is in is kept cool there is a fan and AC in the room with her.
I have another appointment coming up soon for her so I will ask the vet if her weight has gone done and how I can get her back to eating and drinking normally
With no firm set of symptoms it is difficult to pinpoint an issue
You can’t wait for a vet appointment for weight checks - you need to do it yourself at home each morning with a set of digital kitchen scales and keep a record of those weight checks. This needs to be done daily when a piggy is unwell or each week as part of routine care when they are otherwise healthy.
A poorly piggy can lose a dangerous amount of weight within 24-48 hours so you simply cannot wait.
You need to syringe feed if she is losing weight due to not eating enough hay. A poorly piggy won’t eat on their own hence the need to syringe feed if there is weight loss of 50g. You can’t wait before stepping in if there is an issue
Please read the green links I had added in.
Emergency and Crisis Care as well as Bridging Care until a Vet Appointment
All About Syringe Feeding and Medicating Guinea Pigs with Videos and Pictures
She will like her friend. She isn’t ignoring her. Their communication is via scent and body language, they don’t need to be physically playing to be communicating and interacting
You can’t wait for a vet appointment for weight checks - you need to do it yourself at home each morning with a set of digital kitchen scales and keep a record of those weight checks. This needs to be done daily when a piggy is unwell or each week as part of routine care when they are otherwise healthy.
A poorly piggy can lose a dangerous amount of weight within 24-48 hours so you simply cannot wait.
You need to syringe feed if she is losing weight due to not eating enough hay. A poorly piggy won’t eat on their own hence the need to syringe feed if there is weight loss of 50g. You can’t wait before stepping in if there is an issue
Please read the green links I had added in.
Emergency and Crisis Care as well as Bridging Care until a Vet Appointment
All About Syringe Feeding and Medicating Guinea Pigs with Videos and Pictures
She will like her friend. She isn’t ignoring her. Their communication is via scent and body language, they don’t need to be physically playing to be communicating and interacting
To add though, if she is deliberately isolating herself from her friend if previously they were playing together, then that can be a sign that she is not feeling well
Hi and welcome
Please make sure that you monitor the weight for instant feedback and the poo output, which runs 1-2 days behind. The need to drink comes before the need to eat, so if your piggy is not drinking you always need to check that they are still enough hay which makes over three quarters of the daily food intake and which you simply cannot judge by eye.
Step in with feeding support asap. Guinea pigs are prey animals, they cannot fast for days. getting some cheap normal kitchen scales from a superstore or online is enough but the scales are your best ally when a piggy is ill; it can sometimes quite literally make the difference between making it through or not.
These links explain it all and tell you how to go about:
Weight Loss Explained: BMI, Weighing, Poos and Feeding Support
How to Improvise Feeding Support in an Emergency
Additionally, please check bottles etc. Also look out for symptoms of dehydration. You can find them in this link here:
All About Drinking And Bottles
Emergency and Crisis Care as well as Bridging Care until a Vet Appointment
All the best. You clearly care about your piggies.
Use mushed pellets if you don’t have a proper recovery feed such as oxbow critical care
How to Improvise Feeding Support in an Emergency
The guides have been specifically written for owners without previous experience to talk you through it all. Our forum is UK based but we have members and enquiries from literally all over the world with very different time zones. Our guides are always accessible even during our down time.
Here is the access link to our very comprehensive information resource, which you may want to bookmark: Comprehensive Owners' Practical and Supportive Information Collection
Oxbow critical care is different to the oxbow nuggets/pellets you would feed daily.
Critical care is a high fibre recovery feed for poorly animals.
You can use her normal pellets and mush them with water to syringe feed though as it’s the emergency alternative.
The emeraid is absolutely fine - it’s the same type of product as critical care
It’s a syringe feed which you give to poorly animals.
Hi
Yes, this is recovery formula, just a different brand. Good for stepping in. How much have you given in 24 hours?
This is why the daily weight checks are so important. You don’t necessarily give the amount the vet told you, the give the amount necessary to keep her weight stable each day.
The syringe feeding guides linked in above explain more but you need to feed a minimum of 40-60ml per day. More than that could be needed but it depends how unwell she is as to how much she will take.
Merab
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Merab
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Lots of information here and people happy to answer questions.