Guinea loosing weight

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DarylandMurle

Post   » Mon Dec 04, 2017 10:47 am


My Guinea Pig is loosing weight following having his molars filed under gas anaesthetic over a week ago. We hand feed him (syringe) dual care every day he has been getting 20-30g of this at 3 hour intervals plus water about 20-40mls daily. We have had to separate him from the other 8 month old boar as there started to be a bit of bullying from the younger one. Since then I noticed the hair around his eyes has gone thin although today it looks a bit better than yesterday. He still doesn’t pick up food on his own but does show a bit of interest in it. The vet said his front teeth were trimmed back a little and these will grow back in a couple of weeks so just to continue handfeeding until then. Any advice?

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Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Mon Dec 04, 2017 11:08 am


How do his front teeth (incisors) look? Check over teeth_broken.html in case he filed them too short.
Did your guinea pig get pain medication?

It sounds like you are doing the right thing (hand feeding lots - handfeeding.html) It sometimes takes a while before they can eat on their own.

DarylandMurle

Post   » Mon Dec 04, 2017 12:12 pm


His bottom incisors are very short, the vet said they clipped them back a bit that’s why he can’t pick up food? The bottom ones sit right under the tongue the top incisors seem to have grown a little. I’m hoping they will meet in the middle.

The vet gave metacam for the pain but said to stop using it now and to continue with the emeprid until the bottle is empty, we have stopped this also as his stools are still a bit loose at times, Do you think this is correct to do this?

Could the hair loss around his eyes be stress from the bullying?

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Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Mon Dec 04, 2017 7:53 pm


It sounds like the vet cut them too short. I suspected this. At least they will grow out.

Do you have crisp clear pictures of the hair loss around the eyes? Are they watering? It could be fungal or from wetness.

Continue to watch for signs of pain though he may be fine.
www.guinealynx.info/pain.html

DarylandMurle

Post   » Wed Dec 13, 2017 6:01 pm


Just an update, Daryl has continued to loose weight despite the 20-30g feed and 20-40mls water daily. He’s still not picking food up on his own however it looks like he has been eating some pellets and we saw him (trying) to drink from the water bottle today. His weight today was 740g! He’s still alert and fairly active, as in he comes out of the bedroom more often than he did but he’s not running around the cage, he is still separated from the younger one who started to climb on top of him which upset Daryl.

His incisors at the top look quite long and the bottom incisors have grown but still small. Should I take him back to the vets to get the top ones trimmed?

His eyes are still missing hair right around the rims but not as extensive as the hair loss was, I’m sorry I can’t upload a picture. The other concern is the right eye seems to be receding or is it that his cheek is swollen? I’ve carefully had a feel around his cheecks and there doesn’t seem to be any swelling or discomfort.

When we feed him now he’s still not keen on the dual care feed but drinks loads of water he practically swallows the syringe. And makes a strange chewing sound. What should I do?

bpatters
And got the T-shirt

Post   » Wed Dec 13, 2017 6:39 pm


I definitely wouldn't have any more teeth cut. If the problem is that the vet cut the bottom ones too short, they'll sort themselves out when they meet again.

20-30 grams of supplemental food is not nearly enough for an adult guinea pig. The calculation is that a pig needs 100+ cc. of Critical Care or pellet slurry for every kilogram it weighs, every day, divided into 6-8 servings throughout the day and night. You adjust up or down according to the weight of the pig, and down if the pig is eating other things. So at 740 grams, your pig needs 75 cc. of supplemental food.

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