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Mystery weight loss

Dwarfpotato

Dwarfpotato

Junior Guinea Pig
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Tico used to be a steady 1100g. Since September she's been dropping about 10g a week and after she came in at 989g at her last weigh in I decided it was definitely time for the vet (had previously been hoping it would just go away if I ignored it). We're going this afternoon, and I'm just getting more and more worked up about what it's going to be.

She's about 3.5 years old and as far as I can tell is showing no other symptoms. Since coming back from the boarders 2-3 weeks ago she's been a bit more rumble strutty but that's died down now. She might have squeaked while peeing once or twice but it's hard to tell (she's often doing a different squeak while firing pee at her long suffering husboar). She demolishes her veg. If you put down a handful of fresh hay she dives straight in. She's louder than ever demanding her dinner.

I know you can't diagnose her from the information I have, but is there a chance it's not serious?
 
Dwarfpotato said:
Tico used to be a steady 1100g. Since September she's been dropping about 10g a week and after she came in at 989g at her last weigh in I decided it was definitely time for the vet (had previously been hoping it would just go away if I ignored it). We're going this afternoon, and I'm just getting more and more worked up about what it's going to be.

She's about 3.5 years old and as far as I can tell is showing no other symptoms. Since coming back from the boarders 2-3 weeks ago she's been a bit more rumble strutty but that's died down now. She might have squeaked while peeing once or twice but it's hard to tell (she's often doing a different squeak while firing pee at her long suffering husboar). She demolishes her veg. If you put down a handful of fresh hay she dives straight in. She's louder than ever demanding her dinner.

I know you can't diagnose her from the information I have, but is there a chance it's not serious?
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Hi and welcome

Mystery weight loss is by far my least favourite symptom since so very many widely disparate issues can be behind it, from curable ones to those that sadly aren't. I'd rather not go into the details of some of the more rare issues I have run into with piggies of mine over the years as that won't help you any.

The fact that she is eating fully and actually keen on more feed could potentially point towards a metabolic issue impacting on the nutrient absorption rather than a pain issue in the lower body (which is usually appetite dimming). Make sure that you mention it to your vet.

However, it all hangs on their hands-on examination and any further tests. Try to keep an open mind rather than fixate on anything and then being badly thrown when it turns out to be something else entirely. This is a tiger that you have to ride wherever it takes you without a map and any coordinates.
 
Thank you for the reply! I've now been to the vet. Mine is not an exotics and I'm not a huge fan of the "pig specialist". He said she seems healthy and that 1kg is a good weight for a pig. Not if she used to be 1.1kg...

He offered a conscious look at her teeth and an x-ray, but said he'd have to sedate her to do any work on them. Her front teeth look straight so I'd say teeth is unlikely as it's a slow problem, so for now I've got a referral letter to cat and rabbit. Does anyone know if they can do blood tests? My vet can't because apparently the volumes you get from a pig are too small.
 
Dwarfpotato said:
Thank you for the reply! I've now been to the vet. Mine is not an exotics and I'm not a huge fan of the "pig specialist". He said she seems healthy and that 1kg is a good weight for a pig. Not if she used to be 1.1kg...

He offered a conscious look at her teeth and an x-ray, but said he'd have to sedate her to do any work on them. Her front teeth look straight so I'd say teeth is unlikely as it's a slow problem, so for now I've got a referral letter to cat and rabbit. Does anyone know if they can do blood tests? My vet can't because apparently the volumes you get from a pig are too small.
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They should be able to if needed. All the best.
 
Hope you can get to the bottom of the issue and it’s nothing serious.
Just offering support.
Mystery weight loss is not nice to deal with
 
Just offering support. Mystery weight loss is my least favourite piggy problem. It often ends up as a process of elimination. It’s good thst you are getting a referral.
 
As always, Simon at C&R was amazing. Apparently she has some signs of ovarian cysts but probably small hormonal ones. She's also a bit sludgy but not too badly so. I mentioned that I thought her breathing was a bit abdominal and he said it wasn't too concerning. Then he took her out to check her teeth. When he came back he said that she was running out of oxygen straight away and there might be something up with her breathing after all. She and Cookie are staying overnight so she can get an ultrasound and possibly an x-ray tomorrow. She's in the best hands now!

(I also feel very vindicated that my vet said there was nothing to worry about and Simon found multiple potential problems.)
 
Tico had her scans today. The ultrasound showed nothing (which implies she doesn't have an enlarged heart or fluid around it). The x-ray didn't have much. No stones in her bladder, kidneys or ureter. Maybe a bit of something funny in her spine but not concerning. Nothing visibly wrong with her lungs (the picture wasn't 100% clear because pigs are small and awkward), but through the day multiple people noticed that her breathing seems laboured. We're going to try a course of frusol to see if it helps matters. Right now she's happy to be home and is tucking into some hay.

Here's a picture of her tucking into some emeraid, just to make sure everything is still working after the sedative. It's a shame that screaming at the top of your lungs and biting everyone doesn't stop your armpit being shaved...
 

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No real progress yet. She's now been on the frusol for a week and a half. She still appears to be breathing quite hard but Simon did say she's on a very low dose (0.15ml, twice a day). I've started separating them at veg time because she's a very slow eater and Cookie was eating more than his fair share. I don't know if it's the frusol or the extra veg but she did gain 10g last week. Unfortunately she gained that from a very low low of 969g (at her peak she was hovering around 1.1kg), but it's something. I'm going to give her another week and see what happens.

I see from your thread that your vet has said your pigs look healthy. Pigs are just so stressful aren't they? I'm prone to fussing about my pigs so I understand your anxiety. As Wiebke has said, if their ribs still feel good then hopefully it's just excess weight they've lost. An extra 5g loss from one day to the next sounds like they're plateauing a bit? Perhaps you can try giving them a little emeraid just to ease your worries, but if the weight loss has slowed then it sounds like it is just the change in temperatures.

I give mine blankets inside the cage so that they can snuggle underneath them. Tico thinks it's fantastic. I've attached a picture of their house right now. The blanket is over a playsticks type house so they can choose how wrapped up to be.

When I got Cookie he lost 100g in a week and lost another 50g in the following weeks. We never found anything wrong with him and assume he was just a porker who was very nervous about his new home. After two years he's slowly climbed back up but never reached his previous high.

I'm sorry for rambling... You are a caring owner who is keeping a good eye on them so if the exotics vet does turn out to be wrong and they are unwell, you will spot it as quickly as it could be spotted :)
 

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I’m sorry there hasn’t been any major improvements but I am glad that Tico has at least not lost anymore weight and has gained 10g. I hope she continues to gain now she’s taking the frusol.

Thank you for having a look at my thread. Yes pigs are so stressful. Vet said he could do bloods on Esme but wants to only do that as a last resort as he can’t find anything wrong with her and blood work is stressful.

I just wish she’d stop losing.

I love the little house you’ve made and will look at doing that myself x
 
Simon mentioned bloods to me but said often with pigs you can't see anything until whatever is causing it is really bad because the volumes are just so small. So I think your vet is right - it's not worth the stress to her yet.

Ps. I briefly fostered a pig I called Esme. She was a black/tan aby and impossible to take photos of! She had the best butt swirls :)
 

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Update: Tico gained 10g after one week on the frusol, but lost 13g the second week. It doesn't seem to be working so we're off to the vet again tomorrow.
Of course life is never simple, so Tico's housemate Cookie had an attack of bloat yesterday. I'm kicking myself for not spotting it before he lost 80g, poor little boy! He seems to have a very sensitive stomach and he hasn't eaten anything bad at all to cause it. Lots of pro c and emeraid and he's getting back to his usual annoying self.
 
Dwarfpotato said:
Update: Tico gained 10g after one week on the frusol, but lost 13g the second week. It doesn't seem to be working so we're off to the vet again tomorrow.
Of course life is never simple, so Tico's housemate Cookie had an attack of bloat yesterday. I'm kicking myself for not spotting it before he lost 80g, poor little boy! He seems to have a very sensitive stomach and he hasn't eaten anything bad at all to cause it. Lots of pro c and emeraid and he's getting back to his usual annoying self.
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HUGS

10g is about the difference in weight after a big pee. At least Tico is hopefully able to hold his weight. Heart meds eitehr work or they don't, as I know from my own piggies.

Very sorry about Cookie. If a piggy goes off food but turns up to nibble on their dinner or run off with the pice you would usually not notice immediately, not if the mate is polishing off any leftovers... Please do not beat yourself up; things can happen very, very quickly in the piggy world. Sometimes, it can be downright scary.

Hang on in there. You are doing your very best and that is all you can ever do.
 
Today we went back to the vet. Simon had another good squeeze and a poke. He said her womb feels a little hard, which is unusual. He also had a look at her lady parts and said they were open, but as I don't track her seasons that could be normal or not. I showed him a video of her making little snorting noises while munching some lettuce.

We've decided to try a course of antibiotics next, just in case it's her breathing. If that doesn't work the next step will be a spay but he's confident she'd get through it ok.

Meanwhile Cookie gained 42g at this morning's weigh, so I think he's on the mend! Tico kindly donated some poops yesterday so he's getting the best stuff.
 
The antibiotics did nothing so the next step is a spay. We a chaotic December and first half of January so I've only just booked it. Her cysts look to be getting worse (to my untrained eye) so even if this doesn't solve the weight loss at least she won't be feeling quite as funny. She's just spent two weeks at the boarders and came home 25g up, at 970g, so she seems to be holding steady despite all the upheaval. Now I just get to stress about putting her through surgery when she might have a breathing problem!
 
Poor you!

Fingers crossed that all goes well and that the cysts are at the bottom of the problem.
 
This morning I dropped off Tico for her spay. The vet (I assume Kim) gave her a check over beforehand and is suspicious of her thyroid. Hormones/metabolism were mentioned in this thread way back in October time when I first started it! Well done Wiebke, on to something as always.

I am stressing very badly about the operation - Kim said it's about 90% survival rate for healthy guinea pigs and Tico has breathing problems so it's lower than that. They're going to do the spay and try to get blood at the same time to measure her thyroid and health in general. So this is just an update to let me stress about it to people who understand!
 
Dwarfpotato said:
This morning I dropped off Tico for her spay. The vet (I assume Kim) gave her a check over beforehand and is suspicious of her thyroid. Hormones/metabolism were mentioned in this thread way back in October time when I first started it! Well done Wiebke, on to something as always.

I am stressing very badly about the operation - Kim said it's about 90% survival rate for healthy guinea pigs and Tico has breathing problems so it's lower than that. They're going to do the spay and try to get blood at the same time to measure her thyroid and health in general. So this is just an update to let me stress about it to people who understand!
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HUGS

The wait is always the worst because there is nothing you can do and you feel helpless. You can deal with good news and bad news but no news is worst. If you feel overwhelmed, please send Tico gentle green healing vibes as a Mindfulness exercise and ideally do something that needs enough concentration to absorb your mind but nothing where cannot afford to make a mistake if possible.

Kim is in my opinion the better diagnostician of the Maddocks. She is always very thorough and considered. I rate her very highly. Simon has a gift for fiddly ops.

Anyway, fingers firmly crossed.
 
Update from Simon! Good and bad news. The good: she's awake, has had 30ml of food, and she's pottering around her cage with hubby Cookie. she definitely had cysts, and fairly gnarly ones at that, so it's great that it's all gone. They also managed to take the bloods and her thyroid is fine and her other organs are working well too.

The less good news: during the hysterectomy portion, they found cervical cancer. They are hoping they got it all but the margins are smaller than they'd like. Time to spoil my little pig absolutely rotten.

Pig tax: Tico during a bit of floor time yesterday. She kindly peed on my carpet no less than six times. What a good girl. I hate that carpet.

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Glad the surgery went well and I hope Tico recovers fully.
Sorry about the cancer diagnosis though. Hopefully they did get it all and there will be no recurrence
 
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