I'm a New Guinea Pig Mom to some Rescue Piggies and need Help Regarding one of my younger girls. Any Information Helps! She is thin and has hair loss.

[Ally815707415]

So my Young Female Guinea Pig Abigail isn't looking too good she was always chunky and had a beautiful coat of hair. But I started noticed that she got Really thin and she has big patches of hair loss. She still has an appetite and I don't really see her itching or chewing but I did just separate her from the group of girls she lives with so I can verify that shes eating enough and to see if maybe she is itching or chewing on herself. But I'm very worried about her because when I first rescued all these Guinea Pigs there were two of them that looked super skinny but they didn't have hair loss but they were eating, drinking water, plus having veggies, and they had hay. But they were in bad shape so I scheduled a vet appointment but one ended up passing away a couple days before the appointment and the other passed the day of the appointment. And even though I didn't know them that long I beat myself up thinking that I didn't do good enough or I could of tried harder. And I still feel that way. And so now I see one of my younger girls who looks super fragile and is having extreme hair thinning. I'm worried for her. So I'm reaching out any way I can to get any insight on the possible cause.

 

[Piggies&buns]

I’m sorry to hear this.

Please reunite her with the other piggies. Being away from them will be stressful for her which will not help.
If they have been separated for longer than 24 hours then you must follow the neutral territory rebonding process. Please don’t just put her back in the cage if they’ve been apart for a few days already.

Bonding and Interaction: Illustrated social behaviours and bonding dynamics


Separating her will not allow you to know she is eating enough - hay is their main food intake which cannot be gauged by eye.

The only way you can tell a piggy is eating enough is via the routine lifelong weekly weight checks. You then need to switch to daily weight checks when you have health concerns so you can more closely monitor.

If she is losing weight then you must step in and syringe feed her a recovery feed or mushed pellets to stop the weight loss. Any weight loss of 50g or more is of concern.
It is essential she is weighed daily while she is unwell as it is the only way to know you are getting enough syringe feed into her

Please do see a vet for diagnosis and any necessary treatment.

Emergency and Crisis Care as well as Bridging Care until a Vet Appointment
Not Eating, Weight Loss And The Importance Of Syringe Feeding Fibre
All About Syringe Feeding and Medicating Guinea Pigs with Videos and Pictures
Weight - Monitoring and Management

 

[Piggies&buns]

To add, as she seems to have already lost enough weight that you say she is now much thinner, please don’t wait to confirm weight loss with a weight check today and tomorrow before starting syringe feeding - it is essential it is started right now.
You will need to feed her as much as she will take at each sitting and feed her around every two hours. She needs a minimum of 40-60ml in each 24 hour period but it could be as much as 100ml she needs to take depending on what the daily weight checks tell you.