Hello everyone! I am new to the forum and hoping to get some advice. So my guinea pig kinda stopped eating or eating very little all of the sudden about 2 weeks ago, he went from 1050 g to 985 at his lowest in just a few days. He even stopped eating his favorite Oxbow pellets. I had just taken him to his vet 2 months prior for his annual exam and the bet said everything was good. I took him to another vet to see what's going on, but she couldn't find anything wrong and sent me home with pain med and Oxbow critical care. Thank goodness he is much better now and seems to be back to his normal self. By the way he just turned 6. I ordered some Timothy 3rd cut and he loves it. I also give him veggies everyday. I am still giving him the critical care but just once a day (2 tablespoons). His weight now fluctuates between 998 to 1013 g and hasn't gain anymore than that for 5 days now. He still won't eat his pellets. I am wondering what to do next with everything. Sigh* I am staying positive that he'll get back to normal and gain weight. What should I do?
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New to forum and need advice please!
- Thread starter Bob's mom
- Start date
And sorry to hear he hasn’t been well.in terms of gaining weight again, then that is a much longer process, it can take months and, given his age, he may never do so. Its a case of his stabilising his weight so he isn’t losing and then whatever he gains is a bonus.
You can give him a small bowl of plain porridge oats just left in his cage for the extra calories, but definitely continue with the critical care and ensure he always has hay available. Don’t worry about not eating the pellets. They aren’t the most important part of the diet anyway and they should only have one tablespoon per day in any event.
Thank you so much for your reply. Okay, I will keep giving him the critical care and try the porridge. When do you think I should stop the critical care though? I was hoping to try stopping for today and see if he loses weight tomorrow morning. Thankfully, he is eating more and on his own now that I switched his hay from Orchard to Timothy 2nd cut mixed in with Timothy 3rd cut (3rd cut is new to his diet and he loves it). He even ate 3 pieces of pellets this morning but ran off after that. He used to love it, I am so puzzled as to what changed and if there's any trick to get him back on it. Thanks!
His daily weight checks are the gauge to when to stop critical care - if you stop and he loses too much weight then he isn’t ready for it to stop. If he is now maintaining well and eating well for himself , then you can try easing off on the critical care and seeing what happens when you weigh him the next day. You are going to get daily fluctuations though and weight loss is considered as loss when it is 50g or more.
You can leave a small bowl of critical care in the cage so he can get to it himself and stop syringing it to him and see how he goes.
Pellets are the least important part of the diet, as long as he is eating plenty of hay and his weight maintains then I wouldnt be too concerned over the pellets.
You can leave a small bowl of critical care in the cage so he can get to it himself and stop syringing it to him and see how he goes.
Pellets are the least important part of the diet, as long as he is eating plenty of hay and his weight maintains then I wouldnt be too concerned over the pellets.
That makes sense! I will try to ease him off and pray that he maintains his weight. I am just happy that as I've been sitting here with him for the past 40 min, he's been eating his hay along with a slice of green pepper. Thanks so much!
Merab
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Welcome to the forum.
Hope your boy does perk up.
Like @Piggies&buns I have put a small dish of critical care in the cage to help encourage mine to eat for themselves.
A small piece of mashed banana mixed in goes down very well.
Grated sweet potato with oats also helps.
Holding you in my thoughts
Hope your boy does perk up.
Like @Piggies&buns I have put a small dish of critical care in the cage to help encourage mine to eat for themselves.
A small piece of mashed banana mixed in goes down very well.
Grated sweet potato with oats also helps.
Holding you in my thoughts
Hi all,
I just wanted to give an update on my Bubbi. I decided to take him off the critical care 2 days ago as he was starting to act like himself again (chasing my hands around when I'm trying to clean his house, normal droppings and thank goodness eating hay by himself again.) His weight is constantly at 989, 990 for the past 2 mornings. I tried giving him oats but he won't touch it. I even got extra treats like the small pet select herbal blend, but no luck, the boy just won't eat anything new. Although he started eating the batch of Orchard grass that he initially stopped eating when the weight loss started so I think that's a good sign. I am spending a lot more time with him now and he seems to eat more when I'm around to entice him with hay. My question is how much weight should I expect him to slowly gain back each week? My goal is for him to gain at least 50 gram.....or is it even possible since you all mentioned older guinea pig might not gain weight back?
Thank you!
I just wanted to give an update on my Bubbi. I decided to take him off the critical care 2 days ago as he was starting to act like himself again (chasing my hands around when I'm trying to clean his house, normal droppings and thank goodness eating hay by himself again.) His weight is constantly at 989, 990 for the past 2 mornings. I tried giving him oats but he won't touch it. I even got extra treats like the small pet select herbal blend, but no luck, the boy just won't eat anything new. Although he started eating the batch of Orchard grass that he initially stopped eating when the weight loss started so I think that's a good sign. I am spending a lot more time with him now and he seems to eat more when I'm around to entice him with hay. My question is how much weight should I expect him to slowly gain back each week? My goal is for him to gain at least 50 gram.....or is it even possible since you all mentioned older guinea pig might not gain weight back?
Thank you!
Little Ones
Forum Donator 2023/24
My 6 year old lost a lot of weight due to illness the middle of last year. He went from being about 1250 to around 900-1000. Now, he weighs generally between 1050-1100. You’re likely not to see an increase in weight given the age. Please don’t make it a goal to have him increase as it likely won’t happen quickly but it’ll be a very slow increase over several months. There also won’t be a huge increase overall either. The thing that is most important is that he is maintaining his weight. Any gaining over time is a bonus.
You just need to monitor his weight and ensure he isn’t losing weight, and then to see any weight he does gain back as a bonus. He may not regain anything and he may now stay consistent at around 1000g. Expecting a consistent weekly weight gain in a 6 year old piggy is unrealistic
I see. Just so strange for his weight loss to happen and the vet can't find anything wrong. I wish there was a clear diagnostic. Yes, I am going to keep monitoring. I found another exotic vet who's a little further (45 min drive from my house) and she's supposed to be pretty good based on all the reviews. Do you think I should maybe give her a try and have her figure out what happened? Or if his weight continues to stabilise and he's eating fine, instead of stressing him out by taking him there, I should just let him be?
I know he just turned six and he's a senior but In my heart, I just really wish he will live until at least 8. It's great having these little guys but when they start to age, I just can't help feeling a bit sad knowing the inevitable. Sorry for being like this......
I know he just turned six and he's a senior but In my heart, I just really wish he will live until at least 8. It's great having these little guys but when they start to age, I just can't help feeling a bit sad knowing the inevitable. Sorry for being like this......
Little Ones
Forum Donator 2023/24
I’d get a second opinion. It might also be worth asking for a conscious x-ray too. The vet might want to do a blood test and X-ray under anaesthetic for investigation but with the age they might not want to, too.
I had a piggy who died of gastric dilation, a condition that is nearly always fatal. A few weeks before he died, he started loosing weight. We took him to the best vet in the country who didn’t find anything. Then a week before he died, he developed anorexia. On his final day, he developed a twisted gut and began vomiting (rodents can’t vomit). We took him to the vet as an emergency. They did a conscious X-ray and found the stomach dilation so had to sedate him to remove the extreme gas build up. However, we had caught it too late and he died not long after we arrived home.
Not saying your piggy has the same thing, but doing a conscious X-ray might at least be worth it due to the unexplained weight loss and your piggies age which means further testing via bloods might not be possible
I had a piggy who died of gastric dilation, a condition that is nearly always fatal. A few weeks before he died, he started loosing weight. We took him to the best vet in the country who didn’t find anything. Then a week before he died, he developed anorexia. On his final day, he developed a twisted gut and began vomiting (rodents can’t vomit). We took him to the vet as an emergency. They did a conscious X-ray and found the stomach dilation so had to sedate him to remove the extreme gas build up. However, we had caught it too late and he died not long after we arrived home.
Not saying your piggy has the same thing, but doing a conscious X-ray might at least be worth it due to the unexplained weight loss and your piggies age which means further testing via bloods might not be possible
I'm sorry about your piggie. You said a few weeks before he passed, he started losing weight, did he ever return to his normal self before the anorexia? Again, sorry to hear....
Yeah, I was afraid they wouldn't recommend doing blood work because he would have to be put under, but I guess at least the X-rays might clarify something.
Yeah, I was afraid they wouldn't recommend doing blood work because he would have to be put under, but I guess at least the X-rays might clarify something.