Hello,
I recently took all my guinea pigs to an only exotic vet clinic for nail trims and check ups. They mentioned that all of them are slightly overweight with my male being the worst off. I think she said for a body shape he is a 7 on the scale (with 4 being ideal).
I know animals being overweight is really bad for their health so I feel terrible. I just don't understand how it is possible. The share a 2x9 cxc cage with only tunnels or forests so they can zoom around if they choose. Their daily diet is unlimited Small pet Select Hay, 1 oxbow vitamin c tab, 1/8 cup/pig of KMS pellets (measured out), and 3-4 cups veggies with red/green leaf lettuce making up the bulk. They get fruit maybe once a week (such as a blueberry, grape half, chunk of watermelon etc) but that is it.
My vet recommended increasing floor time to daily ( I was doing 1-2x per week), cutting back on carrots, and fruit treats. She also mentioned cutting back or taking out the pellets entirely and to up the vitamin c tab to 2/day.
What do you guys think? Is there anything else I should do? I am trying to increase the floor time but it takes a long time to get them out of the cage so it hasn't been happening as much. I also don't feel comfortable eliminating their pellets since my boar doesn't consistently eat veggies.
I recently took all my guinea pigs to an only exotic vet clinic for nail trims and check ups. They mentioned that all of them are slightly overweight with my male being the worst off. I think she said for a body shape he is a 7 on the scale (with 4 being ideal).
I know animals being overweight is really bad for their health so I feel terrible. I just don't understand how it is possible. The share a 2x9 cxc cage with only tunnels or forests so they can zoom around if they choose. Their daily diet is unlimited Small pet Select Hay, 1 oxbow vitamin c tab, 1/8 cup/pig of KMS pellets (measured out), and 3-4 cups veggies with red/green leaf lettuce making up the bulk. They get fruit maybe once a week (such as a blueberry, grape half, chunk of watermelon etc) but that is it.
My vet recommended increasing floor time to daily ( I was doing 1-2x per week), cutting back on carrots, and fruit treats. She also mentioned cutting back or taking out the pellets entirely and to up the vitamin c tab to 2/day.
What do you guys think? Is there anything else I should do? I am trying to increase the floor time but it takes a long time to get them out of the cage so it hasn't been happening as much. I also don't feel comfortable eliminating their pellets since my boar doesn't consistently eat veggies.