Can weight loss be due to stress?

[peachydays]

Here's the situation: I can't remember exactly when the last time I weighed my boy Max was, but the absolute earliest it was, was November 2011, because it was after I got my new boy Giggy. Max weighed 898 grams.

Last night we were playing and I was giving him scritches, and I noticed that I could feel that little bone that's sort of near their armpit. I weighed him, and he was 775 grams.

There has been a lot of change for Max within the past month:
- Moved Giggy down to the basement (he had been upstairs in his quarantine age)
- Last week Romeo passed away (they weren't caged together, but Romeo's cage had been next to Max for nearly 2 years....Max is blind so he couldn't see Romeo, but I know he could sense him there)

I've been around long enough now to know that the only way to diagnose teeth issues are a vet visit and xrays. Before I rush him to the vet though, I'm going to monitor his weight for a week or two. He is still voraciously chewing and eating. If you put a piece of hay in front of him while he's sleeping, he'll eat it, half asleep. He is my little piggy chunky pops.

Those of you who know me, know I will do whatever I need to do for my boy, as I have always done for all my chins. I just don't know if I can take the emotional toll of teeth issues again, and I'm looking for a ray of hope. Could this weight loss be due to stress?

 

[Brittany]

I think weight loss can be due to stress:

I'm going through something similar with Lady. She dropped about 40g over the course of a few weeks and was only eating 1/2 her Beaphar. This coincided with me breaking up with Paul. I felt bad because I knew that all of my crying and emotions were making everyone tense.

I had just decided to take her in to the vet when she started eating again. She's put half the weight back on in the last week, so I'm hoping it was just related to stress. It's been about 10 months since our last trip to the vet. I'm glad she's doing better, but I'm still thinking about taking her in to see if anything has changed. She's being extra picky about hay lately, and I want to make sure I'm not missing anything.

How does his poop look? Is he showing any other symptoms. It's such a tough call :-(

 

[peachydays]

Britt, his poos look great, and he's producing them in massive quantities. He was sleeping just now, and I picked a few of the stemmiest/stalkiest pieces of hay from his holder, and put them in front of him, and he tore into them like they were the last pieces of hay on earth. I weighed his food bowl last night, and it was 480g, just now it was down to 473g. This means he consumed 7g....Max does not waste food. Every single pellet is consumed. There are no pellets discarded near the bowl...every pellet is good enough for him. Seriously, every time he eats it's like he thinks he may never get food again.

I've started a little spreadsheet to keep track of things over the next couple weeks. I'll be weighing him each night and weighing his food bowl. I've also decided to move Giggy's cage to where Romeo's used to be.

I don't want to fool myself or anything, but I really am wondering if it's stress. I'm kicking myself for not keeping better weight records.

I'll keep you guys updated.

 

[Dragonflye]

I think you are doing the right thing Shayna. I would just keep watching and weighing, but if he is eating, drinking, and eliminating, I wouldn't obscess about it. (hard to do, I know...) It could be stress, I wouldn't rule it out...

 

[greychins]

Best of luck!

We've definitely had chins loose weight due to stress. Especially rescues, it's not uncommon for some rescues to drop some weight in the first few weeks they're here.... and they usually eventually gain it back. Besides weighing rescues when they first come in, all the chins here get weighed every ~15 days (beginning of month and middle of month). I used to only weigh now and then, and had no system about it, but now that we weigh so often, we catch problems before they become full blown disasters. Not saying yours is, but sometimes in a month or two, a chin can lose a lot of weight, and it's caught quicker if the chin is being weighed more often.

I think keeping track of his weight and seeing how he does is a great idea. And if he's still eating voraciously and pooing and all, I don't see a reason to rush to the vet. Just let it play out and see how it goes. Good luck!