Unexplained weight loss please help!

[Mirandapear]

Hello,

My guinea pig Tony has been gradually losing weight for a few months now and I’m starting to get really worried. He’s 2.5 years old and now weighs 930g. At his heaviest about a year ago he was 1175g but I didn’t notice he was losing weight until December when he weighed 1090g. I took him to the vet then and he thought it was because my other two pigs (females who are both just under 1200g) were pushing him out. I’ve been making sure he gets extra food and he’s till eating and drinking but he’s continued to lose weight. I took him to a different vet last Thursday who checked him over and didn’t find any masses or bloat or any problems with his back teeth. He said it could be an issue with his gut and that he’s not absorbing nutrients properly. He gave me some Science Selective Recovery powder to syringe feed him and said this may help his gut. Any ideas what it could be? I’m so worried about him and I love him sooo much . I’ve tried to syringe feed him but he absolutely hates (I’ve also tried critical care, he’s not a fan of that either) it so I’m trying to sneak it into his food, I just want to make him better. Should I ask for a blood test or will this distress him even more? The vet said he would need to be sedated for this.

If anyone has any advice I would really appreciate it!

 

[Siikibam]

I’m sorry to hear your boy is worrying you so much. Given it’s a continual downward trend, I would try and get a third opinion. I’ll link to recommended vets below.

Recommended Guinea Pig Vets

You may just have to be a little firmer when giving him the critical care. Try giving him 5ml every 2 hours. You are aiming for minimum 60ml in a 24 hour period. Unfortunately extra food won’t work. Weight loss can be due to something medical but also because they’re not eating enough hay. Hence the need to give fibre. Have you tried offering it to him in a bowl or on a spoon? Perhaps you could also try his pellets soaked in hot water. You can then syringe feed it to him once it’s cooked. You have to make it quite watery so it passes through the syringe. Or perhaps try him on another type of critical care.

Please also start weighing him once daily (preferably morning) to see whether he’s getting enough top up. I’ll also link to syringe feeding guides below. I’ve got everything crossed that someone can work out what is going on with him.

Not Eating, Weight Loss And The Importance Of Syringe Feeding Fibre
Complete Syringe Feeding Guide

 

[Mirandapear]

Hello,

My guinea pig Tony has been gradually losing weight for a few months now and I’m starting to get really worried. He’s 2.5 years old and now weighs 930g. At his heaviest about a year ago he was 1175g but I didn’t notice he was losing weight until December when he weighed 1090g. I took him to the vet then and he thought it was because my other two pigs (females who are both just under 1200g) were pushing him out. I’ve been making sure he gets extra food and he’s till eating and drinking but he’s continued to lose weight. I took him to a different vet last Thursday who checked him over and didn’t find any masses or bloat or any problems with his back teeth. He said it could be an issue with his gut and that he’s not absorbing nutrients properly. He gave me some Science Selective Recovery powder to syringe feed him and said this may help his gut. Any ideas what it could be? I’m so worried about him and I love him sooo much . I’ve tried to syringe feed him but he absolutely hates (I’ve also tried critical care, he’s not a fan of that either) it so I’m trying to sneak it into his food, I just want to make him better. Should I ask for a blood test or will this distress him even more? The vet said he would need to be sedated for this.

If anyone has any advice I would really appreciate it!

 

[Piggies&buns]

I can only echo the advice Siikibam has already given you - you need to keep up with daily weight checks and syringe feed as much as you can to keep his weight as stable as possible at those daily weight checks.
If he isn’t eating enough hay, you can’t sneak anything in as he just wont maintain weight that way. You need to directly get the recovery feed slurry into him if he isn’t eating enough hay to maintain his weight

All About Syringe Feeding and Medicating Guinea Pigs with Videos and Pictures

Unexplained weight loss is difficult and finding out the root cause not always easy. All you can do at home is continue with the syringe feeding along with consultation with a cavy savvy vet
Is your vet one on our recommended vets list?
Recommended Guinea Pig Vets

Medical issues always need to be dealt with first, but have you seen the girls stopping him from eating?
Do you have multiple hay piles around the cage?

I have merged your new post with the post you made yesterday. We ask that you keep to one thread for the same subject so that we can see the background, previous posts and offer ongoing support.

 

[Wiebke]

Please take the time to read the links. They contain all the practical how-to tips and detailed information that we cannot repeat in full in every single post.

'Mystery weight loss' is personally my least favourite symptom because so many different things can be behind it. Generally there is either an obstruction somewhere in the digestive tract between the mouth and the anus behind it or there is a pain issue somewhere in the body where the pain/discomfort is not yet so bad for the piggy that they are no no longer able to suppress symptoms as the prey animals they are. That leaves unfortunately a very wide field which makes even the start of an investigation difficult. I feel for you; I've been there often enough over the years and have usually come up against yet another different thing...
Our pain guide may help you spot the often rather subtle signs of pain when they finally appear, so you can at least narrow it hopefully down to which area of the body to home in or whether it is an issue that is not related to pain but that may have other symptoms: Signs of Pain in Guinea Pigs

Until then, please support your guinea pig with the appropriate level feeding support in relation to the weight loss/loss in food intake in order to give them as much of a chance to make it. No medical treatment will be of use if your piggy's body is closing down from lack of feed.

 

[Mirandapear]

Thanks for all your replies guys!

I’m keeping up the critical care. He seems to be very picky with hay, either not interested or will only eat particular strands.

I’ve had a look at the ‘signs of pain’ link I think maybe he’s doing ‘Bunching up and stopping to sleep on the side’. He’s not hunching when he wees and I can’t tell if he’s lying down a lot because he has low energy from not eating enough or if he’s in pain. He’s still about 920g ish.

I have another appointment at the vet on Thursday and I’m wondering if I should ask for a blood test. They said he would need to be sedated for this, do you think this would stress him out too much and isn’t worth it?

I’ve looked on your vet list and the closest is C J Hall but it said they’re not taking new patients and I would need to get a referral from my vet. I just feel like I’m running out of time and don’t know what to do for the best

 

[Wiebke]

Thanks for all your replies guys!

I’m keeping up the critical care. He seems to be very picky with hay, either not interested or will only eat particular strands.

I’ve had a look at the ‘signs of pain’ link I think maybe he’s doing ‘Bunching up and stopping to sleep on the side’. He’s not hunching when he wees and I can’t tell if he’s lying down a lot because he has low energy from not eating enough or if he’s in pain. He’s still about 920g ish.

I have another appointment at the vet on Thursday and I’m wondering if I should ask for a blood test. They said he would need to be sedated for this, do you think this would stress him out too much and isn’t worth it?

I’ve looked on your vet list and the closest is C J Hall but it said they’re not taking new patients and I would need to get a referral from my vet. I just feel like I’m running out of time and don’t know what to do for the best

The blood test should not be too stressful and may help find out what is going on inside his body.
Piggies are not the easiest species to get blood from. The sedation should not take very long, so he should not have any problems from that.

Sadly, lots of vets and vet nurses have gone back to Europe because of Brexit or left the profession during or after the pandemic and there are not enough coming through the courses to replace the extra losses on top of the high attrition rate in the profession. This means that the best clinics are being overwhelmed and have had to limit access to protect their personnel as a result of the shortage.

All the best!