skinny pig losing weight

Question
Hi, I have an approximately 2 and a half year old male skinny pig named Harry and in the past 2 weeks or so I started noticing that he had been looking thinner & thinner so I took him to the vet last Thursday and she basically told me that there was nothing wrong with him in regards to his lung sounds and she couldn't feel any lumps anywhere on his body. She also said she couldn't take any blood from him as it could possibly kill him. She told me his losing weight could be a factor of many things ie: cancer, old age, etc. She sent me home with a weeks worth of pain medication to give him every night and said that there was nothing else she or I could do. He's eating normally but getting bonier & bonier to the point where I can see them sticking out. Is there anything else I can do for him? Please help!

Answer
Presumably she checked his teeth for malocclusion? If the teeth are out of alignment it prevents them from being able to chew their food. Although 2 1/2 is certainly not old some pigs age faster than others. I suspect there's an underlying problem other than age related wasting, but it's extremely difficult to diagnose some things with guinea pigs. Also the cost would be enormous and the outcome would probably be the same.

Weight loss is always a red flag. Unfortunately sometimes we can't find the cause. If he's eating normally that would seem to rule out a dental problem. You might get some Critical Care to supplement his diet and give him the additional calories and nutrients he needs.

I know this isn't much help for you. I wish I had an absolute answer for this. It's heartbreaking when things like this happen and we can't do anything about it.