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Weight Loss!

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guineapiglover8

guineapiglover8

New Born Pup
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Surrey B.C. Canada
I am new to this forum but I have an odd issue with one of my little girls, she started with her weight at an average of 800g andd lost about 10-30g a day for a bit until she got to 500g which is her current average but it seemed to happen overnight in the beginning she was almost a sort of bloated and tn the next morning she was super tiny. I have gone to the vet twice because she wasn't eating well and then she got some very soft poos that smelled horrid x-rays were taken but the vet said she couldn't find anything unless it had to do with the roots of her teeth growing wrong. Sophie is 4 years old woth three cagemates (al females) I don't know her ancestry at all but she did have an unintended litter when I got her. No apparent hair loss or drooling, but her stomach is sensitive and she walks a little hunched, it can't be vitamin c deficiency because i make sure she gets more than enough even using crushed human pills when needed. Any ideas anyone? Please help me figure out how to help her! Btw. She is on metacam (feline) right now at 0.2ml per 24hrs
 
Hi!

300g is a massive weight loss. Your vet doesnt sound like they are taking this seriously- have you checked the recommended vet locator at the top of the page for a more piggy knowledgable vet? If you havent already, please step in with syringe feeding.

Complete Syringe Feeding Guide

It sounds like she has abdominal pain, which really needs to be investigated.

I hope you can find a more piggy savvy vet near you x
 
Adelle said:
Hi!

300g is a massive weight loss. Your vet doesnt sound like they are taking this seriously- have you checked the recommended vet locator at the top of the page for a more piggy knowledgable vet? If you havent already, please step in with syringe feeding.

Complete Syringe Feeding Guide

It sounds like she has abdominal pain, which really needs to be investigated.

I hope you can find a more piggy savvy vet near you x
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Thanks, there aren't any good piggy vets around here sadly and I have been syringe feeding a bit, but she still gets super stressed out and I'm always afraid I might hurt her since she is especially fragile now:/ I just wish I knew what was going on:(
 
She sounds very much like she is in pain (hunching up is generally a symptom of pain in her main body). Has your vet checked her for an internal tumor/mass and for dental issues?

It is a massive weight loss and it sounds like she is very frail; some of her issues are from not getting enough food, which additionally destabilises the digestion, so she can be gassy one day but not the other.
Complete Syringe Feeding Guide

It is tough when you haven't got a piggy savvy vet within your reach. Unfortunately, I haven't found a single recommendation for your province on the Guinea Lynx list of vets. :(
 
Wiebke said:
She sounds very much like she is in pain (hunching up is generally a symptom of pain in her main body). Has your vet checked her for an internal tumor/mass and for dental issues?

It is a massive weight loss and it sounds like she is very frail; some of her issues are from not getting enough food, which additionally destabilises the digestion, so she can be gassy one day but not the other.
Complete Syringe Feeding Guide

It is tough when you haven't got a piggy savvy vet within your reach. Unfortunately, I haven't found a single recommendation for your province on the Guinea Lynx list of vets. :(
Click to expand...
Yeah we really need a good vet out here, she was checked for external issues and nothing was apparently found in the x-rays. My vet referred me to a small animals dental clinic for a $450 exam to check her teeth, but thats a lot of money for an exam that might turn up with nothing (I don't have support from my parents for the vet or anything so I am trying to do the best i can off of my small jobs) How much of her pellets should i be syringe feeding daily? I bought an alfalfa based pellet bag recently because she used to be on it, in hopes she would be more encouraged to eat and she would get more fibre (they were her favourite before I could afford oxbow) I've been mixing oxbow and the alfalfa in water, she willingly eats about 5-7mls and wants to stop aka spits anymore out.
 
The details of how much to syringe are in the guide above^, the less you can get in to her, the more you often you need to feed. 450 is steep so i understand your worry with that, but i think she needs a general vet check rather than just teeth as she is presenting with abdominal pain first and foremost. Could you ring round the different vets, explain your situation and find out if theres a general vet thats competant enough with pigs to help her?x
 
She looks frail bless her. She really needs a vet to find out what is wrong with her, keeping her weight up with syringe feeding is absolutely vital x
 
guineapiglover8 said:
Thanks, I have gone through every single possible vet around here and none say they are experienced enough for her issue:(
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What a pickle and must be so stressful for you both. I think what you need to do is go with the vet you have mlst confidence in (i know that will be hard) and request a further abdominal xray, and an ultrasound if they cant find anything on xray. They will be able to scan all the organs and find anything out of the ordinary as this is routine with any domestic pet. Id suggest you ask them to check her ovaries by ultrasound for any masses or cysts, her bladder for any thickening or masses and her liver for the same issues. A urine sample is good for picking up issues too if you could manage to take one with you. Listening to the heart and lungs should also be done, but this is pretty basic practice.

Obviously I'm not a vet but just trying to give you some ideas to put to your vet to try and diagnose her issues so she isnt left suffering. I really feel for you, i cant imagine how difficult it all must be x
 
guineapiglover8 said:
Do you happen to know what a Guinea pigs breathing rate should be? I wanted to check that as well..
Click to expand...

It varies massively- does it seem to different to her usual breathing when she was healthy? Her breathing should be calm, regular and not heavy.. Laboured breathing isnt normal and her sides shouldnt be heaving in and out hard.. There she shouldnt be any breathing noises i.e wheezing, crackling, coughing or spluttering.

Please continue syringe feeding as its absolutely vital. Follow the guide posted above. And contacting vets and requesting scans or xrays to try and find the problem with her needs to be done asap.. She cant stay like this, she seems to be in pain from what you are describing, and she is desperately thin with a huge weight loss.

I'm praying you find someone that can help soon x
 
Adelle said:
What a pickle and must be so stressful for you both. I think what you need to do is go with the vet you have mlst confidence in (i know that will be hard) and request a further abdominal xray, and an ultrasound if they cant find anything on xray. They will be able to scan all the organs and find anything out of the ordinary as this is routine with any domestic pet. Id suggest you ask them to check her ovaries by ultrasound for any masses or cysts, her bladder for any thickening or masses and her liver for the same issues. A urine sample is good for picking up issues too if you could manage to take one with you. Listening to the heart and lungs should also be done, but this is pretty basic practice.

Obviously I'm not a vet but just trying to give you some ideas to put to your vet to try and diagnose her issues so she isnt left suffering. I really feel for you, i cant imagine how difficult it all must be x
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Thank you so much for your quick responses and support it means a lot to us, I will try hard to get my vets to continue looking. Do you think she would recover well from anesthesia though? The first time she wasn't as bad as she is now..
 
guineapiglover8 said:
Thank you so much for your quick responses and support it means a lot to us, I will try hard to get my vets to continue looking. Do you think she would recover well from anesthesia though? The first time she wasn't as bad as she is now..
Click to expand...

Xrays and scans should be able to be done consciously i.e without any sedation or anaesthesia. I think it would be highly risky in her current condition, especially since you dont know whats wrong with her. But fighting for her to get a diagnosis is the most important thing right now, as this poor baby is not a happy piggy x
 
Adelle said:
It varies massively- does it seem to different to her usual breathing when she was healthy? Her breathing should be calm, regular and not heavy.. Laboured breathing isnt normal and her sides shouldnt be heaving in and out hard.. There she shouldnt be any breathing noises i.e wheezing, crackling, coughing or spluttering.

Please continue syringe feeding as its absolutely vital. Follow the guide posted above. And contacting vets and requesting scans or xrays to try and find the problem with her needs to be done asap.. She cant stay like this, she seems to be in pain from what you are describing, and she is desperately thin with a huge weight loss.

I'm praying you find someone that can help soon x
Click to expand...
Thanks, I am too:(
 
Adelle said:
Xrays and scans should be able to be done consciously i.e without any sedation or anaesthesia. I think it would be highly risky in her current condition, especially since you dont know whats wrong with her. But fighting for her to get a diagnosis is the most important thing right now, as this poor baby is not a happy piggy x
Click to expand...
Ok, my vets put her under last time for a simple body x-ray
 
guineapiglover8 said:
Thanks, I am too:(
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Will be thinking of you both and please keep us updated.

Just want to mention, the metacam 0.2ml is what i would expect for a piggy at her weight (my vet usually prescribes me 0.4ml cat metacam for a 1kg piggy) but my vet has also advised me that this dose can be given twice a day for a short period of time (which would be 0.2ml every 12 hours in your case).

My vet is piggy savvy, and has prescribed this dose several times with no adverse effects. Again, i am
Not a vet and i cant advise on dosing medication, but it may be something you want to check with your vet to reduce her pain short term until you get a diagnosis.

Obviously this would be between you and your vet, as i can only provide advice from personal experience i've had with piggy vets for my sows. May be something to enquire about x
 
guineapiglover8 said:
Ok, my vets put her under last time for a simple body x-ray
Click to expand...

Request a conscious one next time- less stress on her poorly body and chances are she will sit still if shes feeling so ill so wont need anaesthetised, which would be risky in her current state x
 
Adelle said:
Will be thinking of you both and please keep us updated.

Just want to mention, the metacam 0.2ml is what i would expect for a piggy at her weight (my vet usually prescribes me 0.4ml cat metacam for a 1kg piggy) but my vet has also advised me that this dose can be given twice a day for a short period of time (which would be 0.2ml every 12 hours in your case).

My vet is piggy savvy, and has prescribed this dose several times with no adverse effects. Again, i am
Not a vet and i cant advise on dosing medication, but it may be something you want to check with your vet to reduce her pain short term until you get a diagnosis.

Obviously this would be between you and your vet, as i can only provide advice from personal experience i've had with piggy vets for my sows. May be something to enquire about x
Click to expand...
Thanks i will make sure to ask about this:)
 
guineapiglover8 said:
Yeah we really need a good vet out here, she was checked for external issues and nothing was apparently found in the x-rays. My vet referred me to a small animals dental clinic for a $450 exam to check her teeth, but thats a lot of money for an exam that might turn up with nothing (I don't have support from my parents for the vet or anything so I am trying to do the best i can off of my small jobs) How much of her pellets should i be syringe feeding daily? I bought an alfalfa based pellet bag recently because she used to be on it, in hopes she would be more encouraged to eat and she would get more fibre (they were her favourite before I could afford oxbow) I've been mixing oxbow and the alfalfa in water, she willingly eats about 5-7mls and wants to stop aka spits anymore out.
Click to expand...

Please read our syringe feeding guide. It gives you all the necessary information, including how much/how often to feed.

Please be aware that any dental issues are only going to get any worse, they won't go away by themselves.
 
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