Why Is My Guinea Pig Losing Weight? Reasons And How To Handle It

Guinea pigs are small-sized naturally. However, they may experience significant weight loss at some point in their life due to certain health conditions. The weight of your guinea pig is one of the determinants of his well-being.

Hence, you might ask, “why is my guinea pig losing weight? Loss of appetite, teeth troubles or malocclusion, bacterial and viral infections, impoverished diet, harsh temperature, deficiency of vitamin C, and malnourishment. Also, the most powerful guinea pig may consume all the food, leaving nothing for others.”

However, a healthy guinea pig is expected to weigh a certain number of g/kg depending on its size. Here we’ll show you other factors that contribute to the weight loss of your guinea pig in this article.

Reasons For Weight Loss In Guinea Pig

A healthy-looking guinea pig may reduce weight because of some underlying health problems. Also, environmental changes and climate conditions can severely affect the well-being of a guinea pig and eventually result in weight loss. Thus, below are some reasons why your guinea pig may be losing weight.

Loss Of Appetite

Appetite loss is caused by different factors like UTI(urinary tract infections), bloating of the stomach and upper respiratory problems. However, these health conditions shouldn’t be neglected as they tamper with their ability to feed properly.

So you must visit the vet immediately because weight loss in guinea pigs caused by loss of appetite requires urgent attention. This is to avoid any further negative impact on them.

Dehydration

If your guinea pig suffers from dehydration, it’ll most likely lose some ounces in its weight. Water is life and lack of adequate and clean water is a threat to life. So provide them with enough water daily to stay hydrated.

Dental Troubles

If the dentition of your guinea pig is not well aligned, they’ll have serious dental troubles which will prevent them from feeding well. Thus, Malocclusion can cause pain and discomfort for them and the teeth may be unable to bite or chew food.

Deficiency Of Vitamin C

Lack of vitamin C in the body has several negative effects on the human body and the same goes for the guinea pig. You’d notice weakness and tiredness in your pig.

Also, this deficiency may result in constant bleeding on any external wound and may not heal soon. Diarrhea can set in, and difficulty in eating is experienced as well which will eventually end up in weight loss.

Bacterial And Viral Infection

Infections are very harmful to the health of every living thing and the guinea pig is no exception. Allowing bacterial or viral infections to stay in their body will affect their health and reduce their weight drastically. Visit a vet today immediately.

Impoverished Diet

A poor diet isn’t the best for your guinea pig. If you don’t give them an adequate balanced diet in all of their meals, you’ll see them going down. Hence, ensure good diets for them.

Harsh Temperature

Extreme weather conditions will take a toll on them and cause weight reduction. Make sure their habitat is properly ventilated and always in the best weather condition suitable for them; not too hot or too cold.

Environmental Changes

It takes a while for guinea pigs to adapt to a new environment. Also, when a guinea pig is joined with another one in a crate, it won’t be easy to familiarise with the new family. The change in environment affects them greatly and may cause weight loss.

Malnourishment

Where two or three guinea pigs stay, most times there’s always a stronger one than the others who eat up all the food. This act will leave others malnourished and starved and with time begin to lose weight. So, look out for this problem and handle it appropriately.

Signs Of Weight Loss In Guinea Pigs

Before you discover the evident reduction in the weight of your guinea pigs, you’d notice some unhealthy signs exhibited by your piggy. So the characters below are some signs that your guinea pig is losing some weight.

Frequently Urinating

If your guinea pig urinates frequently, it’s a sign that it may be diabetic. Diabetes causes frequent urination, which results in weight loss.

Skinny Body

You’d literally feel or see the visible bones, and spines of your Guinea pig once it’s underweight.

Rough skin

An underweight guinea pig’s skin will puff up and appear rough when you touch it.

More Squeaks

They’d make more sounds and defecate scantily inside the cage.

Weakness

Another sign of weight loss is that you’d notice that your guinea pig appears tired and weak most times. They’d sleep often and remain in one position for a long time.

The Standard Weight Of A Healthy Guinea Pig

An adult male healthy guinea pig weighs more than a female. The male weighs 2 pounds to 3 pounds (900g to 1200g). While the female weighs between 1.5 pounds to 2.5 pounds (700g to 900g). A baby cavy weighs 100 grams at birth.

The Guinea Pig’s Average Healthy Weight From Birth To 3 Years

Weekly weigh-ins are important to know when your guinea pig is not doing well. This will be a guide to help you monitor their growth rate.

Age	Weight
Birth	100g (between 60g to 130g)
1 week	130g ( between 100g to 150g)
2 weeks	170g ( between 150g to 200g)
3 weeks	210g ( between 170g to 210g)
1 month	280g (between 260g to 380g)
2 months	440g (between 400g to 500g)
3 months	550g (between 500g to 600g)
4 months	610g ( between 540g to 700g)
8 months	800g (between 660g to 900g)
1 year	950g (between 900g to 1000g)
3 years	1080g (between 1000g to 1250g)

Note that age varies by age, gender and breed. Also, their genetics, environment, diet and general health determine their size and weight.

How To Promote Weight Gain In Your Guinea Pig

• Ensure to give them vitamin C on a daily basis to help them boost their immune system. This will also help to prevent some bacteria and some other diseases. They should consume between 10 to 60 mg of vitamin C every day.
• Again, provide them with sufficient high-quality hay to feed. Include oats in their meal. You can prepare oat porridge with some lactose-free milk and little water for your piggy as well.
• Vegetables are also good to improve their overall health and promote a healthy weight. Feed them regularly with balanced diets and give antibiotics to eliminate all kinds of infections. Visit the vet often for checkups. Watch this video to lear more

Best Food For Guinea Pig To Gain Weight

These foods will help your pet piggy to gain a healthy weight.

Alfalfa Hay

Add the alfalfa hay to their diet. Guinea pigs are fond of this hay, it is rich in protein, calories and calcium. Likewise, it is best for young guinea pigs, lactating piggies, sick and pregnant guinea pigs. But not best for full-grown guinea pigs because of its rich calcium content.

Timothy Hay And Orchard Grass Hay

This variety of hay is among the most recommended hay for your guinea pig.

Plain Oats

Oats are a good source of fiber and carbohydrates and will help greatly in gaining weight.

Vitamin C

This acts as a supplement and helps to boost the immune system. Also, it helps to increase the appetite of the guinea pig. You can choose vegetables high in vitamin C or give them vitamin C supplements.

Fruits And Vegetables

Feed them with varieties of fruits and vegetables, especially those high in vitamin C, and ensure to add them to their daily diets to promote weight gain. Check this video for further guidance

Frequently Asked Questions

There are several questions asked by owners of guinea pigs, who are seeking clarity about some facts. So we’d like to give answers to these two FAQs.

Conclusion

Weight loss in guinea pigs should not be neglected, once noticed, trace the cause of the weight loss and handle it immediately. In this article, we’ve mentioned different signs, causes, and remedies for weight loss in your guinea pig.

Resources and References:

• https://link.springer.com/article/10.3758/BF03331389
• https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7158311/