I have a sick skinny pig, and I need help identifying a "diagnosis" or source of her illness before it is too late. The vet won't see her for atleast a week, so I need help identifying the issue now so I can keep her stable until then. She is a black hairless guinea pig, about 3 years old, her symptoms are- weightloss desperation for food even though she always has food available, a couple of round circular sores on her back, and then her random splotches of skin have gotten lighter-like a light brown, so she currently has like a cow pattern even tho she is normally just black. this hasn't been going long, she is still eating well and has good energy overall. I've been a guinea pig owner for a long time and am extremely perplexed by this. and suggestions are appreciated
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Sick skinny pig
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Merab
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I can’t help other than say you need to push your vet for an emergency appointment.
Offering you my support
Offering you my support
Hi
Please step in with weighing daily on your kitchen scales first thing in the morning and with feeding support to make up for the lack of especially hay fibre. Wanting to eat but not being able to can be a sign of dental overgrowth in premolar and molar teeth, which can develp spurs if they are not ground down by the very abrasive silica in hay and grass fibre, which should make over three quarterrs of what a piggy eats in a day.
Have a look at the front teeth - are they nice and even or is the edge slanted (pointing towards one-sided eating, jagged irregular chewing movement, having a v-dip (restricted jaw movement or are the edges inward pointing and no longer meeting (overgrowth at the back of the mouth)? This method is not a fail-safe diagnosis and cannot replace a proper examination for what is actuall going on but it can give you an indication of where the problem could be located. Your feeding support at this time is crucial. The guide links below contain all the practical information and tips for helping you to get your piggy through this.
I think I would ask your vet to see your piggy more urgently if possible. Please weigh your piggy daily and if there’s weight loss please step in with syringe feeding.
PS: Changes in skin/hair colour can happen. You can find examples in this link here: