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Losing rapid weight!

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cookiepig123

cookiepig123

Junior Guinea Pig
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As many of you may know we have been having a series of problems with Toffee since hid cagemate died. We have now come to realise that he has been losing weight at and alarming speed! I will place a before and after photo below. He has been eating the same if not more than the rest of the pigs (appart from our little hurdle today but has been eating veggies and hay) and I'm just reallyy worried about him. We can't have him weighed as we tried on our scales and they wouldn't pick up his weight.

Before (Only a few weeks ago)

IMG_0047.jpg


After (Today)

2012-11-22200921_zpsf700c84f.jpg
 
WOAH, poor sausage!

Do you have any critical care? Amazon do fine grind for £9 and normal for £8 something.. Plus postage you might be spending nearly £11/12. If you dont have that right now I have a packet at home of normal which I kept spare for my girl but I'm still working on one pack already.. so I can send you the spare one guaranteed next day delivery for free just PM me!

You've ruled out dental? He may have a bacterial imbalance so he cannot breakdown the food he's eating and so absorbe the nutrients. My girl went through the exact same thing when her cagemate died, ate away and put nothing on. I put a teddy in her cage and she talks to it and grooms it, I gave her critical care with probiotics, vit c and 50% baby food (strawberry and apple by elle).. plus all her normal veggies and hay and water. Also, porridge oats mixed with dandelion shreds. About 2 weeks on that and she is finally hovering 880gms not 820. Plus her mood has shot up.

Hopefully he's having a low mood spell and its not clinical problems. Try transfaunation - mix a few healthy poops into the (warm but not hot!) critical care from some of your other pigs. this will help repopulate his insides with the good stuff. Make sure the poop is no mroe than an hour old to get the most useful bacteria.

Let us know what happens!
 
Oh no poor little guy! Hope some more experienced members can help you with his weight loss! Have you been syringe feeding him at all? That will be good to keep his gut going. I know sometimes they can get depressed after their friend has died. Is he with another pig now to take his mind off it?
Hope he gets better soon! :)
 
I have no experience on this hon, when my humphrey lost his buddy he became depressed but he never lost weight.

If that was my pig and going on how thin he looks in comparison i could only assume that something else was wrong. I'd have him looked over by a vet and see if they can spot anything.

I really hope its nothing serious. Poor fella x
 
I've made an appointment with the vets for tomorrow just to make sure there's no dental issues or he's not seriously ill. I have mushed up his pellets and he's hoovered them, he's been chomping on a piece of carrot for about 5 minutes so I'm kind of hopeful that it's not dental since he's chewing. Will keep everyone up to date on how he goes on at the vets.
 
cookiepig123 said:
I've made an appointment with the vets for tomorrow just to make sure there's no dental issues or he's not seriously ill. I have mushed up his pellets and he's hoovered them, he's been chomping on a piece of carrot for about 5 minutes so I'm kind of hopeful that it's not dental since he's chewing. Will keep everyone up to date on how he goes on at the vets.
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Really do hope he'll be ok hon x
 
Aww hope everything goes ok! Let us know how he goes on x x
 
Mushed pellets are good, see if your vet can prescribe some higher energy supplements and be sure to snap up some probiotics whilst you're there.

I'm assuming he's not dribbling or swiping at his mouth with his paws when he eats? This is a good sign, normally if they show mechanical difficulties and the teeth look good you've got something strange happening with the tongue. Ask the vet to check the gumline behind the front lower incisors aswell. My girl keeps getting hair stuck behind the lip and behind the teeth because her tongue can't move forwards far enough.
 
Oh no poor thing, he has lost a lot... As others have said, vet needs to check teeth as a starter and go from there. Definitely get some syringe feed in him, critical care is a godsend and lays worth keeping a packet in, in case of emergencies.

On the issue of weighing, I can't stress how important it is to weigh piggies, it is often our first indication to they are poorly - being prey animals they hide illness well. I can recommend these digital scales from Argos, they are fairly cheap and reliable http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/8422996.htm

Hope you can get some answers at the vets, lots of love to Toffee and to you x x
 
I feel quite distressed after looking at him now compared to before, the poor little chap, as others have said, you need to get some syringe food into him as a matter of urgency, critical care is great, but until you can lay your hands on some, you need to carry on with the mushed pellets, its great that he eats them of his own accord, but you need to top him up with a syringe, using gentle force if needed and just get more into him, i cannot stress the importance of this enough.

Big hugs to you and some really strong vibes for poor Toffee x
 
Apparently he can't find a reason for this weight loss, he told me to go out and buy criti-care which I did, so we're syringe feeding him that, keeping up with his mushed up pellets and giving him ALOT more food than usual. Hoping to see results soon :) thanks everyone who sent their love, Toffee appreciates it greatly.
 
One of my girls has lost 200g since the end of August due to surgery. I have been feeding porridge oats soaked in hot water and adding a mashed banana served warm. The pigs go nuts for it and even though Ellie (the pig who has lost weight) isn't a fan of banana, even she has had a nibble.

Just to add, I only feed this a couple of times a week and use one banana between four pigs.

Readigrass fed in moderation is also a good weight gainer due to its high calorie content. Again, don't feed too much as it has a lot of calcium in it.

I hope Toffee starts to put a little weight on for you soon xx
 
How old is he?

Increased appetite and weight loss may well be a sign of renal failure. I had a renal pig, and it only dawned on me that I was getting through a 10kg bag of nuggets in about a month when he was alive, compared to a 2kg bag a month now, for the same number of pigs. They eat loads, and still lose weight. How much is he drinking/urinating?
 
Amanda1801 said:
How old is he?

Increased appetite and weight loss may well be a sign of renal failure. I had a renal pig, and it only dawned on me that I was getting through a 10kg bag of nuggets in about a month when he was alive, compared to a 2kg bag a month now, for the same number of pigs. They eat loads, and still lose weight. How much is he drinking/urinating?
Click to expand...

He's drinking like a trooper and weeing like one too! He will be 5 in Janurary
 
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