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Weight changes - should I be worrying?

LondonLady

LondonLady

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Apologies for this question. I don't know if there is something to worry about or if I'm just being silly. I do tend to be a compulsive worrier :(

I'm still very new to guinea pigs and constantly worry that I'm not looking after them properly. I've had Toffee and Biscuit for nearly 6 months now and they seem very happy. Very lively, always excited when I let them out into their play pen every morning and when it's veggie time or when they hear the hay bag rustling.
They make it very clear that they do NOT want to be picked up and this makes weighing them a bit of a challenge. (I actually think I'm more stressed than they are) Despite that I continue to weigh them once a week and it seems strange to me that Toffee seems to be putting on weight all the time and Biscuit has lost weight over the past few weeks. Not very much but there is a definite upward trend with Toffee and downward with Biscuit. I was wondering if someone more knowledgeable than me could be kind enough to look at the attached weight chart and let me know if this is normal or something I should be concerned about. Thank you so much.

In case it helps, Toffee is a neutered boar aged about one and a half and Biscuit is a sow aged between 2 and 3.
 

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While she isn’t losing a lot in one go, she is now on a downward trend and has lost 60g from her heaviest four weeks ago. A weight loss of 50g in one go is of concern and requires immediate action, and a gradual loss of getting towards 100g requires action. I would be looking to have a vet check done, switch to weighing daily and step in with syringe feeds to stop the weight loss while you/your vet investigates the cause.

Weight - Monitoring and Management
Not Eating, Weight Loss And The Importance Of Syringe Feeding Fibre
 
I agree with @Piggies&buns you might want to take Biscuit in for a well visit. The vet will be able to investigate the weight loss and try to solve it. As for Toffee I would not be very concerned about gradual weight gain over a period of time. A 21g weight gain in a month is pretty normal.
 
Thank you for the replies. I'll keep an eye on Biscuit's weight over the next few days and if she loses any more I'll get her to the vet. thanks again.
 
LondonLady said:
Thank you for the replies. I'll keep an eye on Biscuit's weight over the next few days and if she loses any more I'll get her to the vet. thanks again.
Click to expand...

Hi!

The weight loss is not yet worrying; adult weight can swing around ca. 50g over the course of a year (keep in mind that we do not talk about weight loss below that amount of weight) but if there is a distinct downward trend, then it is worth going on alert. keep in mind that it is at this stage often very difficult to work out what could be at the bottom because of lack of symptoms. Be also aware that the more obsessively to watch and weigh, you are only feeding your own anxiety but practically change nothing else. If you can, please delegate the job of weighing and watching to another member. Right now, you are on the very borderline between normal and a potential problem but nothing more yet.

Please be aware that more often you weigh, the more jumps in weight you get as belly and bladder are not equally full all the time. The daily weight swings in about a 30-40g band over the course of 24 hours. That is why we recommend to always weigh at the same time in the feeding cycle. I prefer to do this by weighing any ill or worry piggies before their breakfast when weight is usually at its lowest in 24 hours.

You can find more helpful information about weight monitoring and things you have to take into consideration in our comprehensicve weight guide, which looks at all aspects connected with weight. Here is the link: Weight - Monitoring and Management

I hope that this helps you? All the best that it is hopefully turning out to be just one of these things but nothing more.
 
Thank you Wiebke, that makes a lot of sense.
I live on my own so there's no-one to weigh the piggies for me but I'll try to keep my anxiety under control!
I'm reading the weight guide now.
 
LondonLady said:
Thank you Wiebke, that makes a lot of sense.
I live on my own so there's no-one to weigh the piggies for me but I'll try to keep my anxiety under control!
I'm reading the weight guide now.
Click to expand...

Don't be tempted to weigh more than once daily and try to stop yourself from hovering anxiously and obsessively watching for the least symptom to appear.

Our weight guide and its companion, the body checking guide are both part of our comprehensive New Owners guides collection, which is aiming to answer in much more depth and detail all the most common questions and concerns than we can usually explain in a post as well as helping you to learn what is normal and what not, when and how to see a vet; learn to understand guinea pig behaviour, guinea pigs as a fascinating and complex prey animal species in their own right and how to ineract with them in terms they will instantly understand ('piggy whispering'). It is worth to bookmark the link, browse, read and re-read at need because you will take away different things at different stages of experience. You will find many of the green links in our threads in the collection: Getting Started - New Owners' Most Helpful Guides

Our full and even more extensive information collection is best accessed via the guides shortcut on the top bar where we have been able to lay it out in thematical order - something we cannot do with the links at the top of each section. Guinea Pig Care & Information Guides
 
Update: Biscuit has lost a bit more weight. Not very much but I've weighed her three times since I last posted and she was a few grams lighter each time. I phoned the vet yesterday and she's booked in for next Wednesday (that's the earliest they can see her.) I've been watching her eating hay and she seems to be chewing more slowly. I'm wondering if she has a problem with her teeth. Or I could be imagining it. Everything else seems normal. She still gets excited at veggie time. I hand feed them their veggies in the morning and she can't wait to get at them. But I know hay is the most important thing and I do get the feeling that she's not eating as much as she should. She seems to be pooing and weeing normally.
 
Hope there’s nothing seriously amiss with Biscuit and the vet can solve the mystery.
It is worrying when they lose weight and there’s no obvious reason.
You are clearly a good owner in picking up a potential problem so promptly.
Holding you in my thoughts
 
Me again. This morning I noticed a mark on Biscuit's back and when I picked her up to look more closely it turned out to be a scab. I don't know how long it's been like that and I've no idea what caused it. I feel awful for not noticing it earlier. Could this be why she's losing weight? She's booked in to see the vet on Weds - is there anything I can do/should do in the meantime?
 

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She doesn't seem to be in pain. She squealed when I picked her up - but she always does. When I touched the scab she didn't react at all so I don't think it's hurting her. I feel so helpless.
 
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