Weight One of my guineas lost 2.5 ounces over three days

[Ediamon1]

Hi everyone,

I did my weekly weigh-in 5 days ago which showed that my younger guinea James had lost 1.5 ounces. I gave them extra food the next day and then weighed him again two days later where he had lost another ounce. I gave him more dry food and some of his favorite veggies which he happily ate up.

For some context, James has been going through puberty, and he and Quincy have been chattering more and getting slightly more aggressive with each other. Also, during the period of his weight loss, James has seemed much more lethargic and mostly sits in one of the hideys that he likes.

Since the point where he was down 2.5 ounces, I've weighed him twice each day and he's stayed at the same weight for three days now. To be honest, he's a pretty shy guy in general and I'm not sure if I'm just being paranoid thinking that he's been lethargic. I know 2.5 ounces is definitely when I should start to be alarmed, but it's not clear if he's sick/sick anymore and I really don't want to pay for a vet visit if I dont have to.

My only other idea is that his weight loss has something to do with possible bullying from Quincy. They do square off and chatter at each other fairly often, but it's never escalated to a full fight. Their cage is really big and he has plenty of access to food when Quincy is doing his own thing.

If someone could give me some advice in light of his maintaining weight, I would really appreciate it. Do you think a vet visit is called for? If not, why else might he have lost weight? Thanks for your help.

 

[bpatters]

Lethargy + weight loss = vet visit, IMO. Those are both serious signs of something wrong.

 

[Ediamon1]

But what do you make of that he isn't losing weight anymore? And you didn't address that the weight loss could be due to bullying? I'm also out of the house during the day, so it's hard to say whether he has lethargy or is just resting because it's later in the day.

I'm just pretty strapped for money right now, so going to the vet just to have them tell me nothing is wrong or to keep a closer eye on him will be pretty disappointing.

 

[bpatters]

It'll be even more disappointing if your pig dies from lack of vet care.

Unless he's being kept from food, bullying shouldn't cause a pig to lose that much weight in that short a period of time.

I can't know what's wrong with your pig. All I can tell you is that if I had a lethargic pig who'd lost that much weight, I'd be off to the vet. You need a vet fund, because the question isn't "WILL my pig need a vet?" but "WHEN will my pig need a vet?" In my experience, animals get sick at the worst possible times for me. It's never convenient, but it is important to be ready when it happens.

 

[Guinea Pig Papa]

I'd have to second @bpatters. He's a young pig, as you've stated that he's just hitting puberty. What is his total weight to start with? 70 grams is a good chunk of weight to lose in a short period of time, and couple that with lethargy would tell me right off the bat that something is wrong.

I would much rather spend the money and be told nothing is wrong, than to wait until it's too late. And too late can happened EXTREMELY quickly with a guinea pig.