Weight Loss Guinea pig eating but losing weight.

[Qwertage]

My guinea pig I've noticed is losing weight. I tried to go to my vet but she is out of town so I had to go to a new hospital I've never been to before. The doctor couldn't tell me why she was losing weight. He told me to give her yogurt drops? I dont think he knew what he was talking about. I'm concerned and my original vet wont be back until November. My guinea pig is eating normally, same diet, she doesnt move from her house much. She does have a roommate. (Her daughter) can anyone help me. Her weight right now is 870ounces I think he said

 

[bpatters]

Are you weighing her regularly? If not, how do you know she's losing?

How old is she? Any changes in her diet or her hay?

And you're right not to give her yogurt drops. What were they supposed to do?

 

[Qwertage]

She looks and feels smaller. I clip her nails once a month and this time when I picked her up she feels like shes definitely lost weight Shes about a year and 3 or 2 months. Her diet is the same as it's always been. Same hay.

 

[Qwertage]

The doctor said the yogurt drops have sugar and will make her gain weight. Hes crazy! Guinea pigs dont find yogurt drops in the wild, why would they need them now

 

[bpatters]

What exactly do you feed her? And how much of each item? What hay? What brand of pellets?

 

[Qwertage]

Cucumber, half a slice, 2 big leafs of leaf green lettuce, few pieces of fennel, a small slice of carrot, half a grape tomato, green, yellow or red pepper, maybe 1/3 of the pepper, few pieces of cilantro, occasionally a tiny piece of an apple (maybe 1 or 2 times a week) .. is what she eats pretty much every day. I believe it evens out to a cup or alittle more than a cup of veggies. The most of her food is in the moring , then she gets a night snack , which would be the cilantro or something. And I feed her just plain pellets , nothing is mixed with her pellets. No dried foods or anything. Her hay is western Timothy and orchard mixed By oxbow. And her pellet brand is Kaytee

 

[bpatters]

The first thing I'd do is switch her to either Oxbow or KMS Hayloft pellets. Kaytee pellets are pretty much crap, with poor nutritional value.

I'd cut back some of the veggies. Hay has the protein she needs, and you need to encourage her eating that.

I'd also recommend getting a kitchen scale (any big box store, for about $12-15). You need a kitchen scale that weighs up to about 5 pounds, in both ounces and grams. Weigh her daily, preferably in the morning before breakfast, and keep a record of her weights.