How do I help my guinea pig loose weight?

[Phoebe+Winnie+Poppy+Chloe]

Hi! You may have seen in pictures, My guinea pig Faith is very overweight (she is the black and white one). I haven't been feeding her unhealthy foods, and I've only been feeding her pellets and timothy hay. I feed her lettuce occasionally, but she's still VERY overweight. I am very worried because obesity in guinea pigs can cause arthritis and heart disease. Do any of you know how I can get her to loose weight? Thank you so much. Here is a few photos of how overweight she is:
Faith is the Black and white one

 

[Piggies&buns]

What makes you think she is overweight? There is no average weight for guinea pigs.
The number on the scales is not indicative of what is healthy for her as an individual. Instead you need to check her heft. Please do not do anything to make your piggy lose weight unless a vet tells you it is essential to do so.

The healthy guinea pig diet consists of unlimited hay, 50g of a variety of leafy vegetables each day and just one tablespoon of pellets each day.
Hay should be 80% of he daily food intake
Veg should be 15% of the daily food Intake
Pellets just 5% of the daily food intake
Pellets are the least important part of the diet and Too many pellets aren’t good for them and can contribute to health issues.

Long Term Balanced General And Special Needs Guinea Pig Diets
Weight - Monitoring and Management

 

[Phoebe+Winnie+Poppy+Chloe]

What makes you think she is overweight? There is no average weight for guinea pigs.
The number on the scales is not indicative of what is healthy for her as an individual. Instead you need to check her heft. Please do not do anything to make your piggy lose weight unless a vet tells you it is essential to do so.

The healthy guinea pig diet consists of unlimited hay, 50g of a variety of leafy vegetables each day and just one tablespoon of pellets each day.
Hay should be 80% of he daily food intake
Veg should be 15% of the daily food Intake
Pellets just 5% of the daily food intake
Pellets are the least important part of the diet and Too many pellets aren’t good for them and can contribute to health issues.

Long Term Balanced General And Special Needs Guinea Pig Diets
Weight - Monitoring and Management

I have this forum because I love having discussions about guinea pigs, not because I consider myself an expert. Thank you very much for your advice, that's exactly why I wanted people to join me here. Great idea! That's exactly what I need to do starting today.

 

[Wiebke]

Hi! You may have seen in pictures, My guinea pig Faith is very overweight (she is the black and white one). I haven't been feeding her unhealthy foods, and I've only been feeding her pellets and timothy hay. I feed her lettuce occasionally, but she's still VERY overweight. I am very worried because obesity in guinea pigs can cause arthritis and heart disease. Do any of you know how I can get her to loose weight? Thank you so much. Here is a few photos of how overweight she is:
View attachment 183948View attachment 183949View attachment 183950Faith is the Black and white oneView attachment 183951View attachment 183952

Hi!

She looks a perfectly healthy weight for her size to me. There is no indication of her belly touching the floor or fat rolls.

Please take a feel around the ribcage. In a healthy piggy, just can just feel the ribs. In an underweight piggy, you can feel every single rib standing out and in an overweight piggy, you can't feel the ribs at all. Yours is not looking particularly chunky to me, honestly. Since the weight range of adult piggies runs from around 700-800g - 1400g or more, just going by the absolute weight means that half the piggies that are perfectly healthy in themselves and will live perfectly long healthy lives will fall arbitrarily out of the norm as not average.
Also keep in mind that the weight is not just stable and the same all life long. Piggies have ages when they are generally a weighing a bit more during the peak of their lives before gradually losing it in older age again. Top piggies will also generally weigh a bit more than an underpiggy in a group because they have the right to first access. These are all things you have to factor in. None of them is life-shortening or unhealthy in any way.

As long as you keep the pellets to 1 tablespoon per piggy per day and stay off sugary veg like carrots and fruit as well as lots of naughty treats in combination with healthy exercise and plenty of space, overweight is actually very difficult to achieve because guinea pigs have

Please take the time to carefully read out weight guide, which looks at all aspects of weight and weight management. Feeling for the heft/BMI around the ribcage is crucial because that tells you whether your piggy is playing in the right ball park for there specific age and size or not. Just having a panic attack because your vet tells you or you just think she is fat because she is bigger than a companion won't help her if you try to starve unnecessarily.
Here is the link: Weight - Monitoring and Management

 

[Claire W]

She doesn't look overweight to me either. She's just a big guinea pig. My late Erika weighed 1500g in her prime slimming down to 1300g as she got older

 

[weepweeps]

She’s a beauty .

 

[Phoebe+Winnie+Poppy+Chloe]

She’s a beauty .

Thank you!

 

[Black piggies]

she looks perfect to me