Hay Refusal

Question
Hi Andy. I'm a owner of a 2~3 year old guinea pig. I'm proud to say that up to today, absolutely no health problems appeared in Bush(my pig).

However, I gave him his normal ration of hay for a day. He refused to eat. I just wanted to see what was wrong with him. It's been a week, and he hasn't touched his hay. I just gave him a new ration of hay, and he still isn't interested in it. I am sickly worried.

The thing is, he is showing no sign of illness. He doesn't have diarrhea and discharge from his eyes/nose/etc. He is very active, shows absolutely no signs of lethargy, no itchiness, etc. In other words, he is perfectly healthy.

And if I didn't mention this before, he eats his pellets. He always finishes his daily ration of pellets. It is just the timothy hay that he suddenly stopped eating.

What happened to him? I also ask you to not mention... vets. First of all, I am shocked at how much they cost(sometimes more than my own doctors). More importantly, I live out in the "less urban" area, where there are all necessities such as Target, markets, banks, etc, but there are generally less people, and one can say that it is a bit "rural" compared to a busy, bustling city like Los Angeles. So in short, the closest guinea pig vet is 200 miles away (Los Angeles). If you must say that he needs to visit a vet, do say so. I'll go. However, if you can identify what is wrong, and if there are "home remedies" for it, I would very much appreciate it.

Thanks in advance.

Answer
Hi Raymond

I have learned today how much more vets in USA cost than our vets in UK!

Initially, I would try replacing the timothy hay with standard grass hay. Timothy hay contains different nutrients and it may be he doesnt need these right now. Let me know the results.

Andy

PS I doubt very much there are any health problems based on what you have told me :)