Cinnamon is sick again.

Question
Okay, so my guinea pig has just gotten over having a URI and she seemed to be getting much better for a day or so eating normally breathing back to normal etc... but now she seems to be getting very thin again, not eating normal, her stomach seems to be to tough and full... I don't think she has been pooping as well.

I used this site once already to help me completely rid her of the URI I've used yogurt drops and dabs of vicks on her nose. I've also given her little amounts regular Robatussin and lots of water with vitamin c and a bit of unflavored Pedialyte.

Please anything u can suggest to help would be greatly appreciated.

Answer
Welcome back Scott. Thank you for returning. Losing weight is always a prime indicator of a pig's health. Have you checked to make sure her teeth are not overgrown, causing her not to be able to chew well?  

A guinea pig's teeth grow continuously and on occasion get overgrown making it hard if not impossibly to chew their food. The uppers should overlap the lower teeth just a little bit. It they do not they need to be trimmed.

It's almost impossible to diagnose her stomach size or condition by just a description, as I sure you can appreciate. Pedialyte is an excellent hydrator as well as replacing the necessary electrolytes she needs if she's not eating or drinking. You did not mention whether or not she's drinking. If she is I would be more suspicious of a tooth problem. If she's not drinking there's something else going on.

I'm not sure what the Robitussin was supposed to do for her as it's given as cough suppressant.  
Most respiratory infections in cavies aren't accompanied by a cough such as we see in humans.Weight loss is a big concern because a guinea pig doesn't have much reserve to begin with so even a little loss means a lot. There is a product you can get called Critical Care that is designed for use in small animals. It's a dietary supplement with extra calories and vitamins necessary to get them through these periods of stress. It can be compared to Ensure that is used for humans. It's formulated especially for the needs of animals. It should be readily available in any pet store in California.

I would recommend you give her supplements like Critical Care to keep her from losing more weight. The firm stomach may or may not mean she has an ovarian tumor. Most often they're seen on both sides but if there's only one it's almost always on the right side. No one has been able to tell us why, it's just the way it is.

I'm not suggesting that she does have a tumor, just tossing these ideas in my head tying to come up with a possible cause of this current problem. And of course if she did have there's the issue of what to do about it. Expensive surgery is not always an option for everyone, and it's not always a sure cure.  

You don't mention her age and that is important in getting to the bottom of weight loss. Having raised cavies for many years (and currently having a herd of 70+)the age related weight loss is common in late life. My personal experience has been that as they get over the age of 4 and start gradually losing weight it's an indicator that their time is getting near.  Four to five years is considered an average life expectancy, although nothing is written in stone. That's simply an average.

I'm not sure if I've really given you anything absolute to go on Scott, and I apologize for that. Even as a health care provider I can tell you we don't always have the perfect answer for our human patients even with the high tech testing and technology we have available.

My oldest cavy was close to 8 years old. Generally speaking 4 1/2 to 5 years has been the average lifespan.