Loss Appetite??

[emilycoco]

Hi all,

I am a newbie here. One of my piggies, she used to be plump and round. But recently, few months back, she start to lose weight. I have brought her to see the vet beforehand, but, the vet said she is OK. She is with us for about 3-4yrs time. What makes me headache is, her usual fave vegetables, she refused to eat them, instead, she rather consume her pellets. She would stand in her pellet boxes for long time looking outside of her cage while eating her pellets. Sometimes, she just stared into space. I am rather worried about her.

What wrong with her? Is she getting old thus, refusing to eat veg?Her consumption amount has reduced alot. Now she pretty bonny.
Or she is depressed? I have let her take a walk and a run in the grass. She is ok. Not walking alot, but busy munching the grass. Now, i am unsure what to do next. I have just purchase a different type of pellets to attract her appetite.Hope it works...

Please share your opinion. Thanks!

 

[Piglet]

Hi there and welcome to the forums

Loss of appetite is a MAJOR issue and I would say that your vet does not seem very knowledgable with guinea pigs. If she is not eating, then she may not be getting enough vitamins.

How old do you think she is? I doubt it is old age - even old pigs love eating!

She needs a buddy - why is she on her own?

Pellets should only be given as a supplement - try taking them out and leaving vegatables overnight. Good luck!

 

[dagwellismypigy]

I think you need to find a different vet. https://www.guinealynx.info/vet.html Loss of appetite can bee a sign of many different illnesses, alot of them could be fatal. You need to get to a cavy savvy vet ASAP.

 

[emilycoco]

hi piglet,

Thanks for relpying. I separate her from another gal. Cos' my another gal has fungus problem. Patches of hair loss symptom. Thus, the vet told me to separate them to stop from spreading. Another thing, is my this fungus gal, is not getting better, despite been on medication for weeks. Is there any medicine, application type that works for her problem?
My hands are now full with these 2 gals problem. =(

 

[Piglet]

Aww, I'm sorry to hear that you are having problems with both. It must be difficult!

Well that is sensible to seperate her. What fungal problem is it? What antibiotics/medicine is she on? Are you sure it's fungal or skin? It could be mites or lice which can be easily treated at home. Tell us more information and we can help

 

[Ly&Pigs]

If it's a fungus get some Nizoral shampoo and bathe her in it once a week for a couple of weeks or so. My Bubba had a fungus and the Nizoral cleared it up. Your one sow may be depressed because she is not with her buddy right now. I would find another more cavy savvy vet to take her to. Is she eating hay pretty well? And how does her urine and poos look?

 

[Piglet]

Ly, what were the symptoms of the fungal problem? Furlong still has these flakes on his skin after being treated for both mites and lice. I have no idea what they are. We have nizoral shampoo at home and I was thinking of bathing him in it.

 

[emilycoco]

Nizoral shampoo? is that for human hair shampoo in green bottle?
My girl has patches of hair loss, and skin flakes....she has been injected with those mites injection. But different doc, confirmed it is fungus.

Oh dear, i have to bring my little one to see doc then..oh no...

 

[Piglet]

Nizoral is a human shampoo and it treats dandruff. We have a pink bottle over here. Ivermectin (the mites injection) will not help with a fungal infection.

 

[emilycoco]

Yeah, the doc is find that it is weird that the medicine she prescribed doesnt works out...thus, she inject the mites injection in case.

Oh, ok, just poured straight from the bottle and shower her? wouldn't it be alittle to harsh for her skin?

 

[Piglet]

I don't know - first read this https://www.guinealynx.com/hairloss.html#fungus

 

[Ly&Pigs]

Bubba had one small patch of flaky dried skin on his back with hairloss. No other hairloss at all. I didn't take him to the vet as it just looked like fungus to me. I used a rag, wet the spot and an area around the spot, got a few drops of Nizoral and rubbed it around in my fingers well with a little water and then put it on the wet area on Bubba's back, worked it in well, left it sit for 2-3 minutes then rinsed very well. I retreated the spot about a week later and no problems since then and the hair has grown back.

 

[emilycoco]

I brought both of them to the vet. Coco, the one with loss appetite, the vet helped her to trim her teeth..it grew too long. That's Ok, so i expect that she will resume alittle of her appetite. But to my dismay, no, the problem still exist. I observed that when she bite her food, she couldnt break it to pieces..it like,her mouth just touch her food, hovering around it. Is it possible that her teeth lost it sharpness..or that is something wrong with her mouth?
For emily, the vet said it is Ok to bath them with nizoral. Told me to bath them with it for every 4 days..and let it sit for 10mins..

 

[Ly&Pigs]

Her teeth are probably sore from the trimming. How long has it been since her teeth were trimmed? You may have to supplement with critical care or a pellet mash for a few days.

 

[emilycoco]

today, i brought her to the vet again today. They found out her molar teeth stick out..something like that. So they will file her cheek teeth, but she will be under sedative for an hour. After the whole thing, she still can't chew much. It seems her teeth lose her sharpness or something. But, I give her a day or two for her to recover.Perhaps her teeth is still sore or something.The vet didnt mentioned any soft food for her. Is it normal that she is can't bite sharply for now.?

 

[rabbitsncavyluv]

You need to handfeed her especially if she is already underweight. She cannot afford to lose more weight. https://www.guinealynx.info/handfeeding.html

Did they give you any painkillers or anything?

 

[emilycoco]

Hi,


This is bad...she is not eating now, after i posted last time. She has a few bites on her cucumber.Her fave, then she stopped. Oh dear..I am at loss...what is wrong with her. We fed her a apple.She is happy with it, but still a few bites. She is hungry, but no appetite to swallow..this is not a good sign. She used to be a good eater. I tried handfed her, but no used. Alittle tiny bite on the leaf.The 2nd vet that i consulted, gave me bodyweight, which i tried to forcefeed her a few times which she hated it.

This coming saturday, i am going to bring her to see the vet again....really helpless that she is not eating..

 

[pigsnchins]

You absolutely must get some food into her. Try mixing your pellet mash or Critical Care with a little baby food (pumpkin seems to be popular). Sometimes that makes them more interested in eating it. Also, you may want to syringe her some PediaLyte (the unflavored kind) to help her stay hydrated. Make sure to follow the instructions from here https://www.guinealynx.info/handfeeding.html to help prevent aspiration of the food or fluids.

 

[AmiableAnimals]

Yes, you MUST forcefeed her a pellet slurry or ideally critical care, or she will starve to death - you must do it! PLEASE look at the link pigsnchins gave you and follow the directions. You can also try syringing her some squash baby food with some vitamin C mixed in into her mouth - not in place of the other but if that's eaiser to do right away, to get something into her. I oftten mix some of the babyfood into the pellet slurry/critical care to improve flavor.

 

[Ly&Pigs]

Don't wait until Saturday as it might be too late. Get her in to see a vet ASAP. Also follow the advice that pigsnchins and Amiable gave you. It will mean the difference between life and death.