Weight Loss

Question
We've had our guinea pig for a year. She was fine until recently. She now is 1/2 the size, skinny...can feel her bones. It came on all of a sudden. Only changes we made, we have cedar bedding now(free of dust)and we gave her alfalfa along with her hay....Is there any way either of these caused her change? Her eyes look blue, and are coated with a film, it appears that she has mucus come out of her rear-end. you can feel her ribs really bad. A week ago she seemed fine. She was drinking yesterday, so that has not stopped.

Answer
Hello Amy,

First and foremost, don't use ANY cedar. The oils in it (not the dust) are the problem. They can cause liver damge among other things. You didn't mention her age, but I'm assuming she was young when you got her. Based on the rapid appearance of cataracts (her new blue eyes) and sudden weight loss, I suspect diabetes that coupled with the fact that you recently added alphalpha. Alphalpha, while merely a bit fattening to normal Guinea Pigs, can cause problems for diabetics because of the high fat content. That may be what triggered this. I reccommend taking her to the vet and having her checked for that, the sooner the better. Like in humans, diabetes can be deadly if ignored and also like in humans, can be easliy managed and they can live long happy lives in spite of it. I'm going to send you a link to a webpage that talks a bit about diabetes in pigs and at the bottom of the page is an email link you can use to ask someone who has dealt with diabetic pigs first hand. She should be able to give you tips on their special care. She may also have an intestinal bacteria (based on the mucus information) and the cataracts maybe a coincidence, so if she doesn't have diabetes (and possibly it would be wise even if she does, just to be sure), I would have the vet check for that. Also, make sure she keeps eating and drinking. I also recommend switching her pellets and hay to timothy (check ingredients in pellets, find ones that list Timothy first instead of alphalpha)instead, if it's diabetes, that should help a bit. Good luck with your girl and I hope she is feeling better soon. If you have anymore questions, I'll do my best to answer them.

http://members.shaw.ca/patriciasimon/diabetes.htm

-kkat
www.geocities.com/abyssinianguineapigs