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Vet thinks Rosie is a bit thin...

martlou

Warren Veteran
Hello there

We went to the vets a couple of weeks ago for Rosie's myxo vaccination and we told the vet we thought she felt a bit bony. He had a good check over and agreed that her spine and 'bum bones' were quite pronounced.

She is as lively as ever, good appetite and perfectly well in herself. The vet said he thought it might be because she was moulting and to increase her pellets a bit (she's a good hay eater so probably couldn't improve this). We did this but Teddy ended up eating them (she's quite easily distracted from food) and he started to get sticky poos so we've had to put these back down to normal level.

We've now weighed her again as instructed, and she's possibly lost another few grams, but hard to tell as she wouldn't stay still on the scales. He's mentioned a possible worm infestation, and that we should Panacur her if she hadn't put any weight on. We'd have to do them both soon as they're going into BARC rescue for a week early June when we go away. We looked up worms and aside from the weight loss, she doesn't have any other symptoms mentioned.

He did say he didn't think it was anything to worry about as she's well and in very good condition. We also don't know how much weight she's lost because we don't actually know how much she weighed in the first place. But you do worry about your babies don't you ? :(

Anybody have any thoughts at all?
 
Are you sure she has lost weight rather than jou put her just moulting and lost fur so you can feel her bones more easily?

The vets should be able to check for worms but it would be worth doign a panacur course anyway especially if they are going on their hols.

Can you put her seperately just for feeding to make sure she gets her fair share? Did the vet check her teeth to make sure there are no probs and that she is eating properly?
 
I'd hand feed a few extra pellets per day, shouldn't need too many. It may be as your vet says she was moulting - which means expending extra energy on fur production, or somebun may be taking a slightly unfair share of the pellets ;)
 
Thanks both, it could well be that it's just that she's moulted so her coat is thinner, and he did explain that moulting required a lot of energy and because it's been hot they've probably moulted quicker than normal. He checked her teeth and said they were in perfect condition, so no problems there. I've also been hand feeding her some extra pellets, but she's not always interested (this is normal). She's just not as big an eater as Teddy.

We will Panacur as they are going on their jollies (though this is a concern as well - Ted went into stasis last time), but I think I'm probably just worrying over nothing. This has been going on for at least a couple of weeks and knowing how quickly buns go down hill I think we'd know by now if there was a bigger problem.

Here's our beautiful grey girl with her little buddy Teddy...
snuggling.jpg
 
I'd go along the panacur route and see if that helps. Perhaps feed her separately and give her extra carrot, etc.
 
If she's not keen on pellets you could try something like alfalfa - either as hay or cubes.
 
Thanks. I think I will ring the vet tomorrow to give him an update and see if he wants to see her or if we can just pick up the Panacur (which he previously said we could do). I'll also look for the alfalfa :)
 
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