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MY LOVELY LENNY IS LOSING WEIGHT !!

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yyoung

yyoung

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My gorgeous Lenny is losing weight. He seems to be eating and drinking as normal but is losing weight. He was 1470grams .... very fat I know but he is now down to 1312g. I am more concerned that there doesn't seem to be a reason for it. He was eating Georges poo and I posted on that a few weeks ago but I haven't seen him eat poo for a while.

Any ideas ?
 
Thats a bit of a weight drop isn't it? I would whizz him the vet. Has he been more active than usual, different diet? Hope he is ok. :)
 
My gut feeling would probably be that his teeth might need a trim/filing. This can be done without an anesthetic. Good luck and hope he's ok :)
 
Take him to the vet and MAKE them do blood tests etc
I kept taking Charcoal to the vet, he must have seen about five different vets, and they all just said that there was no reason for his (very significant) weight loss.
Like a fool I thought that my gut instinct was wrong and that ALL of those vets COULDNT be wrong.
I just watched him waste away, giving my husband constant earache that something was seriously wrong.
The last week that it all happened Charcoal had dropped from about 1200g to 700g.
I took him back to the vet and for a change they actually checked his back teeth and they needed rasping, which they did that day, without anaestetic.
He seemed fine and cheered up and for a day he seemed to gain a few grams.
Then it all stopped and he went downhill rapidly, he actually lost another 100g in the time between rasping his teeth and him dying!...a matter of around 4 days!)
I took him to the vet that day knowing that it was the end.
The vet said that if he was a bit fatter then they would take bloods etc (oh funny, coulda done that 200-300g ago!) but that he didnt even have muscle mass any more, then they didnt know what else to say.
I said that I did and we put him to sleep, he would have been dead by nightfall anyway, but I didnt know if he was in any discomfort, so we helped him out.
What I am trying to say is...dont hesitate when a big weight loss occurs...take him straight to the vet and dont let them palm you off, force them to do more tests and get it all sorted.
I dont want anyone else to experience what I did for that 6 or so months, when I knew there was more to it, but let the 'professionals' influence me (they have you thinking that youre just a paranoid 'mama/papa') and I will NEVER let it go again, if it happens to one of my other piggies then I will INSIST that they take bloods etc
Good luck with Lenny, it may well be a very simple (and solveable) problem, but dont let it go on as long as I did.
Get your boy sorted and dont take no for an answer!
Good luck
xx Steph xx
 
hoping lenny gets better real soon, if he is drinking and eating normally then maybe it isn't teeth, if he was drinking more i would say kidneys. i would definately take him to the vets and have test done like bloods, ultrasound etc. is he pooping normally? get him to a piggy savy vet asap as piggies can go downhill fast. and steph sorry about charcoal know how frustrating vets can be. :tickedoff: :tickedoff: :tickedoff: sending hugs for lenny :smitten: :smitten: :smitten:
 
Lenny please don't loose anymore weight, you're a nice chubby boy :smitten: :smitten: :smitten: :smitten: :smitten:
It could be toofies or maybe he's got a tummy upset?
Sending wheeks of encouragement and heaps of loves from us both :smitten: :smitten: :smitten: :smitten: :smitten: :smitten: :smitten: :smitten:
 
I have an appointment today at 3:15pm ....... hopefully the vet should be able to shed some light on things. I have been watching him today and he is definitely eating okay....put in cucumber, carrots and spinach and he demolished the lot. His coat looks like it is getting a bit thinner and he always had a thick (albeit scruffy) coat.
 
hoping all goes well at the vet today. O0 sending hugs and healing vibes for lenny and hope all goes well. :smitten: :smitten: :smitten: make sure you get answers as to what is causing lenny's problem. will be thinking of you. O0 :smitten: :smitten: :smitten:
 
How old is he? My oldies have all lost weight in later years. My old girl I have at the moment is 6 and her hair has thinned over the last year and her weight has dropped. She still eats as much as she used to so I just put it down to old age.
 
It does not sound like a dental problem,and I do not think Lenny is old?.

There is a nasty disease called chronic renal failure or which there is no cure.The pigs lose weight gradually,but continue to eat well.In fact they will sometimes eat more than normal and they often drink a lot.This is a fairly common problem.There is no need to pts because it is not a painful condition and the pig can live for quite a long time.
 
Just an update.........

Took Lenny to the vets and to be fair he did give him a very thorough examination. Thoroughly checked his skin and flesh, his head and his rear and man bits....weighed him and definitely confirmed that he now weighs 1320g....when he was at vets a couple of weeks ago he was just under 1500g. He looked inside his mouth a lot as I had said to check his teeth thoroughly. Vets conclusion..... no idea .... but he has given me 5 days probiotics and asked me to take him back in 5 days which is Monday. He has asked me to keep a close check on him over these 5 days (which I do anyway).

Does anyone think this could be related to the night I tried to put all my boys in a new big home together and it was a disaster....I did post about it and Lenny was the only piggy who seemed to get injured even though I didn't actually see him fighting (it was all down to George and Hamish). Because I didn't see him fighting I thought he had mites and I got some xeno 450. I only gave him one treatment though as his 'wounds' healed up really well and nobody seemed to think it was mites so didn't want to put pesticides on him for nothing.... besides I figured that if it was mites then it would have affected more than just him (and it hasn't ). Lenny is now back in his old cage with George who he has been with from the pet shop as a baby. So they were only scrapping for a very short while as I only left them when I thought things had settled down. They were returned to their old cage the same day.

Does anyone think he could have been traumatised by this or am I being ridiculous...... prior to this event he was super pig....huge and scruffy and lovely.....
 
has anything changed for him like in diet, bedding etc? could he have got an injury from the fight you don't know about? as maryh said i would get a urine sample and ask for it to be tested even if you do this before monday to see if it is his kidneys. perhaps even he may have an infection from the fight from a wound. hoping you work out what is wrong with lenny, sending hugs and healing vibes :smitten: :smitten: :smitten:
perhaps give vedra a ring if you are too far away and talk to her i have heard she is a marvel with piggies she is in the UK and i am in oz. good luck O0 girls send :-* :-* :-*
Vedra runs the Cambridge Cavy Trust which is a fantastic facuility for guinea pigs

The Cambridge Cavy Trust (Info on the Gorgeous Guinea site)
Cambridge Cavy Trust (Registered Charity no 801103)
1 Splash Lane
Wyton
Huntingdon,
Cambs
PE28 2AF

Membership £25 per year includes quarterly worming, nail clipping and routine dental work free of charge, no consultancy fee.

Tel/Text Vedra's mobile 07721 026401
Hop ethis is helpful
 
I haven't really had a situation like that so I don't know to be honest. I would listen to the advice of others and then make a decision. Also listen to your gut feeling because sometimes they are right. Hope he perks up and puts on some weight :)
 
Just an update.......

I weighed Lenny this morning and he is up to 1341g. Not a huge weight gain but it is around 25g in 3 days which is not bad at all. I am getting hopeful. He looks sort of more 'padded out' if you know what I mean.

He's not impressed with the probiotic that I am syringe feeding him.....but I am getting it in ... eventually !

I am really hoping that he is starting to recover and that his weight loss was down to the fighting and his wounds (poor thing).

Fingers crossed.
 
COME ON LENNY :smitten: :smitten: :smitten: :smitten: :smitten: :smitten:

I hope he keeps gaining and gets back to his handsome self again :) :) :) :)
 
hoping lenny continues to improve :smitten: :smitten: :smitten: sending hugs and healing vibes to you both :smitten: :smitten: :smitten: girls send :-* :-* :-* come on handsome lenny you can do it O0
 
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