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Lost Weight?

Puddles1999

Puddles1999

Junior Guinea Pig
Joined
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Location
Carbondale, Illinois
Hi Everybody. My Minnie used to weigh around 1,000. Plus or minus 30 grams. However recently for the last few months she’s been weighing around 880-890. I weigh her every night at 8pm to get a more accurate reading.

She has been to the vet and she just came off baytril for a uti. However this weight problem was before the uti. She lost the weight but she’s maintaining where she’s at now. We drive a little under two hours to an exotic vet because there aren’t any decent ones around us. They say she’s in good health. She has issues with her tummy and gas. However she doesn’t have bloat or have any of those issues right now. What would be the cause of her losing that weight and then maintaining it now?
 
Puddles1999 said:
Hi Everybody. My Minnie used to weigh around 1,000. Plus or minus 30 grams. However recently for the last few months she’s been weighing around 880-890. I weigh her every night at 8pm to get a more accurate reading.

She has been to the vet and she just came off baytril for a uti. However this weight problem was before the uti. She lost the weight but she’s maintaining where she’s at now. We drive a little under two hours to an exotic vet because there aren’t any decent ones around us. They say she’s in good health. She has issues with her tummy and gas. However she doesn’t have bloat or have any of those issues right now. What would be the cause of her losing that weight and then maintaining it now?
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Hi

Mystery weight loss is my personal least favourite symptom because so many wildly different issues can be behind it and it can be rather tricky for a vet to work out what is behind it.

It could be something pushing on the gut if it is not severe bloat, including potentially a build-up of fluid in the body cavity caused by an internal growth etc. Has your vet checked for ovarian cysts?
 
Wiebke said:
Hi

Mystery weight loss is my personal least favourite symptom because so many wildly different issues can be behind it and it can be rather tricky for a vet to work out what is behind it.

It could be something pushing on the gut if it is not severe bloat, including potentially a build-up of fluid in the body cavity caused by an internal growth etc. Has your vet checked for ovarian cysts?
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I agree with you. She has not been checked for ovarian cysts. I will make an appointment for the near future for her to get an X-ray. I’m glad she’s maintaining her weight instead of consistently dropping it.

If she was to have ovarian cysts, what is the treatment like?
 
It’s good she isn’t constantly losing weight and has stabilised. The treatment for ovarian cysts ranges from hormone injections, draining of the cysts or a full spay but it depends on the nature of the cysts and something you would need to discuss with your vet on what they think the best treatment option would be x
 
Claire W said:
It’s good she isn’t constantly losing weight and has stabilised. The treatment for ovarian cysts ranges from hormone injections, draining of the cysts or a full spay but it depends on the nature of the cysts and something you would need to discuss with your vet on what they think the best treatment option would be x
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Thank you! ❤️ I did take a look at her nipples and on her right side, there was a small amount of crust on the one. The other nipple looked just fine. I usually check her nipples frequently and her belly, looking for hair loss, etc. I’ve never noticed anything until now. I guess it could just be a fluke thing.

I will make an appointment with her vet to get her looked at again. Would an X-ray be best to see if she has an ovarian cyst?

I wouldn’t feel comfortable having her spayed honestly. I’d be devastated to lose her. Granted, she is still fairly young? More middle aged I guess. Has anyone had great luck with hormone injections?
 
Wiebke said:
Hi

Here is more information on ovarian cysts. However, this is just one of many possibilities.
Sows: Behaviour and female health problems (including ovarian cysts)
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Thank you! 🥰 that is true. Now that I have noticed that there was some crust on her one nipple, it makes me wonder. The vet did mention utis can be a cause from hormone issues. She’s had utis in the past but with the 100g weight loss and the crusty nipple, it makes me nervous. I’ve only just recently discovered there was a little crust on the one nipple.
 
Puddles1999 said:
Thank you! ❤️ I did take a look at her nipples and on her right side, there was a small amount of crust on the one. The other nipple looked just fine. I usually check her nipples frequently and her belly, looking for hair loss, etc. I’ve never noticed anything until now. I guess it could just be a fluke thing.

I will make an appointment with her vet to get her looked at again. Would an X-ray be best to see if she has an ovarian cyst?

I wouldn’t feel comfortable having her spayed honestly. I’d be devastated to lose her. Granted, she is still fairly young? More middle aged I guess. Has anyone had great luck with hormone injections?
Click to expand...
Usually an ultrasound scan is carried out to check for anything reproductive including ovarian cysts. I think that @GPTV has used hormone injections in one of her piggies but I think hormone injections can only be used when the cysts are small and hormonal ones x
 
My RB Ellie gradually lost weight as she got older, her muscle mass seemed to reduce, but the 100+g seems to be a significant weight loss if its over a short period of time :(

Ellie had 2x 2 injections of HCG Chorulon injections, she was 6yrs old for the first 2, then had her second batch of 2 at 7yrs old.

My vet said she wasn't confident enough to operate on Ellie at her age (hers was a walnut sized ovarian cyst-diagnosed with a conscious ultrasound, after continuous uti's & very heavy genital bleeding).
Ellie didn't show any particular text book signs of ovarian cysts, she wasn't overly hormonal, no loss of hair on her sides, no crusty nipples, etc.

Generally speaking I couldn't find any information on negative side effects from the injections, it seemed to be a case of they either worked or they didn't.

They worked wonders with Ellie, she only had one bad bleed a few days after the first injection & never again :)

If you would like some more information, I'll find out my old threads for you :tu:

I'm not sure how relevant or accurate this is - but my vet said they would only do a cyst drain with an anaesthetised sow, my vet at the time wasn't used to operating on guineas & wasn't an exotics vet. That's why I opted for the injections.
The injections only seem to work for certain types of ovarian cysts, if you have a younger, generally healthy girl & a competent, experienced vet with a good track record of spays, this would probably be the best permanent option, although the most invasive & risky.

Hope this helps?
🤞🏻 You can get little Minnie sorted with a full & speedy recovery xx
 
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