JuneMapleWillow
Junior Guinea Pig
- Joined
- Jul 27, 2025
- Messages
- 7
- Reaction score
- 19
- Points
- 85
Hi, I'm looking for any kind of advice.
3 weeks ago we adopted a newly castrated boar from an rspca rescue centre. He had been surrendered by a family who could no longer care for him, he was then castrated and fostered by another family before being adopted by us. His estimated age was said to be 4yo.
To say we were disappointed was an understatement. At first meet we noticed he was incredibly skinny, weepy eyed and (I wish I had taken a photo, I'd never seen anything like it) his nails were 3x the length they should be. It was like he was walking on high heels, it was horrendous. The very first thing I did when I got him home was cut them as far as I could, I have cut them again yesterday to a normal length.
They told us when he was castrated (June 24th) he weighed ~900 grams and had a healthy appetite/teeth etc. As of last night he weighs 630g and we are trying last measures to stabilise his weight or he will sadly be put to sleep. We have weighed him every day, his weight has stopped dropping but it's not improving. He was losing 30g a day for a week or so, but still he is very active and curious and pretty friendly.
Because he was adopted through rspca, we have taken him to their vet twice for free. The first vet said there was basically nothing wrong with him and asked me if his weepy eyes were normal, when I said no she didn't even bring it up again. She gave him a gut stimulant, I don't know the name of the drug but it was injected. The second vet recognised he was seriously unwell and offered an x ray but said they're a charity and there's not much more they can do, which I understand. His x ray revealed slight arthritis in his hip but nothing else. He's had his teeth checked but only by the first vet and she identified no problems. They were also checked as part of his pre op. He will only eat leafy greens, sometimes hay and critical care, he won't eat anything remotely hard. Watching him trying to eat is awful, he will make weak attempts to bite at things but ultimately give up. His front teeth look normal though. We've been spoon/syringe feeding him critical care but it doesn't seem to be doing much. Any fruit / veg left in his cage will not be touched
He doesn't have much of an appetite, he will eat little amounts often but nothing aside from that. He drinks quite a lot of water, so I'm concerned it could be something like diabetes. We've tried him on baytril (?) in case there's some kind of infection, which might be what has stabilised his weight but who knows. He is also on metacam for any pain he might be in. He's barely passed any poop, and when he has it's been misshapen and small. He's had the occasional normal looking one though.
We have 6 girls which he has been living next to, and he has interacted with them a little bit through the bars. He doesn't seem stressed at all by them or I would have removed him.
I think that is everything, so yeah we are on week 3 and still at a loss. He's a lovely boy so it would be a shame to see him go, but 630g is an extremely low weight and I can't allow him to drop anymore than that-- it wouldn't be fair on him.
Our first experience adopting from a rescue centre instead of private rescues and it's been awful
Thank you.
3 weeks ago we adopted a newly castrated boar from an rspca rescue centre. He had been surrendered by a family who could no longer care for him, he was then castrated and fostered by another family before being adopted by us. His estimated age was said to be 4yo.
To say we were disappointed was an understatement. At first meet we noticed he was incredibly skinny, weepy eyed and (I wish I had taken a photo, I'd never seen anything like it) his nails were 3x the length they should be. It was like he was walking on high heels, it was horrendous. The very first thing I did when I got him home was cut them as far as I could, I have cut them again yesterday to a normal length.
They told us when he was castrated (June 24th) he weighed ~900 grams and had a healthy appetite/teeth etc. As of last night he weighs 630g and we are trying last measures to stabilise his weight or he will sadly be put to sleep. We have weighed him every day, his weight has stopped dropping but it's not improving. He was losing 30g a day for a week or so, but still he is very active and curious and pretty friendly.
Because he was adopted through rspca, we have taken him to their vet twice for free. The first vet said there was basically nothing wrong with him and asked me if his weepy eyes were normal, when I said no she didn't even bring it up again. She gave him a gut stimulant, I don't know the name of the drug but it was injected. The second vet recognised he was seriously unwell and offered an x ray but said they're a charity and there's not much more they can do, which I understand. His x ray revealed slight arthritis in his hip but nothing else. He's had his teeth checked but only by the first vet and she identified no problems. They were also checked as part of his pre op. He will only eat leafy greens, sometimes hay and critical care, he won't eat anything remotely hard. Watching him trying to eat is awful, he will make weak attempts to bite at things but ultimately give up. His front teeth look normal though. We've been spoon/syringe feeding him critical care but it doesn't seem to be doing much. Any fruit / veg left in his cage will not be touched
He doesn't have much of an appetite, he will eat little amounts often but nothing aside from that. He drinks quite a lot of water, so I'm concerned it could be something like diabetes. We've tried him on baytril (?) in case there's some kind of infection, which might be what has stabilised his weight but who knows. He is also on metacam for any pain he might be in. He's barely passed any poop, and when he has it's been misshapen and small. He's had the occasional normal looking one though.
We have 6 girls which he has been living next to, and he has interacted with them a little bit through the bars. He doesn't seem stressed at all by them or I would have removed him.
I think that is everything, so yeah we are on week 3 and still at a loss. He's a lovely boy so it would be a shame to see him go, but 630g is an extremely low weight and I can't allow him to drop anymore than that-- it wouldn't be fair on him.
Our first experience adopting from a rescue centre instead of private rescues and it's been awful
Thank you.
I’m so sorry 
