LittleSqueakers
Well-known Member
Cavy Slave
- Joined
- Sep 30, 2014
- Posts
- 422
- Joined
- Sep 30, 2014
- Messages
- 422
Hi, everyone. So, I'm a little concerned about my 3-yr-old Teddy boar, Tribble. He doesn't seem critically ill at the moment, but I'm beginning to wonder if there might be something chronic going on.
He's lost about 2.5 ounces over the last 3 months, which I know isn't a lot, but he's starting to appear somewhat thin to me, especially after I bathed him yesterday (I was rather shocked at how thin he is under that puffy coat).
He also seems a lot less active during the daytime when I compare to his 1.5-yr-old cagemate. I'm at work during the day most days, so I don't know for sure what his normal daytime activity level is (he has usually slept a lot during the day in the past), but it feels to me like he doesn't wake up often enough to eat hay and drink water.
I have also been noticing for the last month or two the appearance of occasional small, tail-ended poops, lighter in color than what I'm used to seeing. I have watched Tribble and he does occasionally pass these, but just as often he passes normal stools as well. For that matter, his younger cagemate has these stools occasionally too.
Finally, the last several months he gets these occasional bouts in the evening of "seeming off"; doesn't want to play, doesn't want to move, just wants to sit and be left alone. This occurs maybe once a week for 1-2 nights. I feel like during these "off" times I notice a slight limp. Typically, allowing him to lay on my tummy for a little bit or turning on the electric heating pad under the fleece seems to help a lot and it usually will go away.
Other than these things that I've noticed, he does not seem at all sick. He has traditionally been most active in the mornings and evenings, and during these times he is still very active, playful, popcorns, eats all his food with gusto.
He has in the last month or so decided to start drinking water while he eats his pellets, but overall water consumption does not seem to have changed; urine amounts and appearance are normal.
He also is less inclined to eat his pellets these last few months. Just a few days ago I decided to start giving him an extra Vit. C supplement on top of the normal vit.C they both get daily in their veggies. I also decided to try using a different hay to get him to eat more. I wonder if maybe he doesn't like the hay I'm currently providing because it's from a different supplier than our usual.
Anyway, if anyone could provide their thoughts and suggestions as to whether this is something to worry about, or if it warrants a vet visit, or if it's just my over-anxious imagination getting to me, I would be most grateful!
He's lost about 2.5 ounces over the last 3 months, which I know isn't a lot, but he's starting to appear somewhat thin to me, especially after I bathed him yesterday (I was rather shocked at how thin he is under that puffy coat).
He also seems a lot less active during the daytime when I compare to his 1.5-yr-old cagemate. I'm at work during the day most days, so I don't know for sure what his normal daytime activity level is (he has usually slept a lot during the day in the past), but it feels to me like he doesn't wake up often enough to eat hay and drink water.
I have also been noticing for the last month or two the appearance of occasional small, tail-ended poops, lighter in color than what I'm used to seeing. I have watched Tribble and he does occasionally pass these, but just as often he passes normal stools as well. For that matter, his younger cagemate has these stools occasionally too.
Finally, the last several months he gets these occasional bouts in the evening of "seeming off"; doesn't want to play, doesn't want to move, just wants to sit and be left alone. This occurs maybe once a week for 1-2 nights. I feel like during these "off" times I notice a slight limp. Typically, allowing him to lay on my tummy for a little bit or turning on the electric heating pad under the fleece seems to help a lot and it usually will go away.
Other than these things that I've noticed, he does not seem at all sick. He has traditionally been most active in the mornings and evenings, and during these times he is still very active, playful, popcorns, eats all his food with gusto.
He has in the last month or so decided to start drinking water while he eats his pellets, but overall water consumption does not seem to have changed; urine amounts and appearance are normal.
He also is less inclined to eat his pellets these last few months. Just a few days ago I decided to start giving him an extra Vit. C supplement on top of the normal vit.C they both get daily in their veggies. I also decided to try using a different hay to get him to eat more. I wonder if maybe he doesn't like the hay I'm currently providing because it's from a different supplier than our usual.
Anyway, if anyone could provide their thoughts and suggestions as to whether this is something to worry about, or if it warrants a vet visit, or if it's just my over-anxious imagination getting to me, I would be most grateful!
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