Introduction
1 Choosing the right place to medicate/feed your piggy
2 Guinea pig whispering and asserting your authority
3 Recovery products and emergency improvisation
4 Syringe recommendations
5 Weight monitoring: your biggest ally
6 Weight loss guidelines and when to step in with feeding
7 Syringe feeding amounts/frequency advice
8 Practical medication and syringing tips (incl. missed a dose)
9 Medicating and feeding cooperative guinea pigs (videos)
10 Medicating and feeding uncooperative guinea pigs (hold pictures and tips)
11 The line between life and death
12 Vet visits and emergency resources
13 'Force feeding' vs 'syringe feeding'
Introduction
This guide replaces our previous syringe feeding guide with more practical tips, in-depth info links and videos and pictures.
Medication and feeding support for a very ill guinea pig is a daunting prospect for any new owner; especially those that are unlucky enough to start with an ill piggy or that suddenly find themselves with a very ill guinea pig.
Most medication for small animals is unflavoured (except for metacam as painkillers still need to go down when anything else fails), which means that cooperation is not necessarily a given. The first lot may got in surprisingly well but one a piggy knows what is coming, things will change! It doesn't help that guinea pigs have roughly double the amount of taste buds compared to humans.
Guinea pigs seriously off their food also take quite a bit of struggle and lots of cajoling.
Please don't expect that you'll get it right on your first try; none of us has ever managed that. Like so much, it is down to practice, exerience and increasing confidence, which will will transmit to your piggy, too.
1 Choosing the right place to medicate/feed your piggy
Where you choose to sit and place your guinea pig for syringe feeding depends on how relaxed your piggies are and what works best for you.
Use your wipeable kitchen table for medication or syringe feeding a piggy of yours that is used to handling and grooming or do it on your lap if that is more comfy for you and your piggy. It has to work for you, too.
With new or very skittish piggies, it is best to sit on the floor (please close the door and make sure that there are no crannies your piggy can disappear into) so there is no risk of injury from a freak blind jump. They are rather good at working themselves out of a wrap.
For medicating, it can help to leave the piggy room as that can trigger their 'unresponsive prey' instinct, which makes medication easier; especially with a new piggy (apart from the jumping risk). Otherwise it is generally better to stay in the familiar room in order to keep stress levels low, especially with ill piggies.
2 Guinea pig whispering and asserting your authority
It doesn't just come in handy with new guinea pigs but being able to assure your ill guinea pig that you love them but need them to do what you want them to do (asserting your authority) does really help with cooperation and easing their fears.
The following links help you work around guinea pig prey instincts and how you can get crucial concepts across in their own social interactive language, which they will instantly understand.
Understanding Prey Animal Instincts, Guinea Pig Whispering and Cuddling Tips
How To Pick Up And Weigh Your Guinea Pigs Safely
Who is the Boss - Your Guinea Pig or You?
3 Recovery products and emergency improvisation
Why is hay/grass fibre based syringe feed so important?
About three quarters of what a guinea pig should eat in a day is hay and grass fibre. This is also what you have to replace with your feeding support. Veg (preferably green, ca. 50g/one small bowl) and 1 tablespoon of pellets together have taken over the role of supplementary wild forage in a guinea pig diet.
The problem is that you cannot control the hay intake by eye only; watching your piggy sitting in the hay and nibbling on a stalk or chewing crud can be horribly deceptive. The poo output by its very nature runs about a day (or even two in a slow gut) behind the even horizon so for monitoring the actual food intake, kitchen scales are a must - cheap ones from a supermarket or online are perfectly fine for the job.
Not Eating, Weight Loss And The Importance Of Syringe Feeding Fibre
Formula products and mushed up pellets
Powdered herbivore recovery formulas are best when you are dealing with a seriously ill guinea pig or one that needs longer term support, like when an antibiotic knocks out the appetite. Please use the information on the package to make up the formula to its optimal consistency. Also read the information to see whether you can use other products together with your recovery formula, like an extra pinch of probiotics.
If you are caught out, you can always soak your pellets or at the worst any soft bits in a mix in a little warm water. Start with the same volume of water to pellets and then work from there, adding water, little by little as needed. The mix should be just fluid enough to pass through a syringe without problems but not be too watery as that means less fibre per syringe feed. Since every brand of pellets reacts differently, there is no formula and you will have to work out the right consistency by trial and error. You'll get the hang of it!
Because pellet fibre is a lot rougher than recover powder, you will need to prep the syringe tip as shown in the picture. Cut off the tip with scissors just below where the syringe widens (and if needed the plunger, too) in order to allow the fibre to pass but still holding the plunger firmly in the syringe. You may have to rinse the syringe fairly often, so a glass or cup with water within each will be handy.
If your piggy is not fond of the taste of your recovery formula, you can try a mix with mushy pellets to see whether that works better.
If you are using filtered or bottled water for your guinea pigs, still use it for making up your recovery feed and for syringe feeding any water.
Probiotics, 'poo soup' and vitamin C
Please be aware that most recovery formula products are enriched with vitamin C and probiotics, but if needed, check on the packaging. Pellets are also enriched with vitamin C, so your piggy off their veg will still get some and won't develop scurvy unless they have accustomed to constant high levels of vitamin C supplements, which can ironically cause scurvy symptoms if they suddenly drop even if real levels are still above normal.
A 2-3 booster course in guinea pigs not on an extra vitamin C supplement can help boost the immune system in ull guinea pigs. If your piggies are already on a supplement or if in doubt, please speak to your vet.
Probiotics and homemade 'poo soup' (i.e. live gut microbiome transfer from a healthy companion when made correctly) can help, especially if the gut is impacted by an antibiotic or there are digestive problems. 'Poo soup', i.e. the water in which totally freshly dropped pellets have been soaked shortly, can be more effective than probiotic powder - but it all hinges on getting the microbiome into the digestive tract while still alive.
Here is our guide to the most common support product brands, including internationally available ones, as well as how to make 'poo soup' (which is not quite as gross as it sounds!): Probiotics, Recovery Foods And Vitamin C: Overview With Product Links
Our First Aid Kit also contains recommendations for emergency care tips: First Aid Kit: Easily available non-medication support products for an emergency
4 Syringe recommendations
We are generally finding needle-free 1 ml syringes the most helpful and widely available around the world (online, from your pharmacy or vets) because they are generally easier to control than larger syringes and there is less of a risk of accidental aspiration if suddenly a lot comes out. It is also much easier to cut off the tip with scissors if you are emergency feeding pellets.
Many vets will dispense their medication with 1 ml syringes. You can always ask the receptionist for an extra syringe to keep in case of an emergency.
For the UK, Supreme Science Recovery syringes are also recommended for syringe feeding with good control. It comes down to personal preference. Please make sure that your feed mix doesn't contain any hard lumps.
Supreme Science Recovery Syringe
5 Weight monitoring: Your biggest ally
If you judge the level of care by the poo output and size, you are forever running behind event and also don't have a precise idea of your piggy's weight loss and how much extra feed they need.
Ideally, you switch from the life-long once weekly health monitoring weigh-in (catching slowly developing issues hopefully before they become an emergency) to weighing daily at the same time. Personally, I prefer first thing in the morning because that is when the weight is at its lowest - which makes for the clearest day to day comparison - and I can then tailor my level of care and feeding aim accordingly for the coming day.
The weight swing over 24 hours is roughly in a 30-40g band. The more often you weigh at different times of the day, the more the weight will jump around. You can only ever compare two weights taken at the same point of the day/in the feeding cycle. But you cannot compare a morning and an evening weigh-in without allowing for the natural daily weight oscillation and rather just check whether they are still in that band or whether they are above or below it in comparison. Weighing more often than once daily can however become rather counter-productive and only help to feed your own anxiety and stress but it won't help your piggy.
The weigh-in before the first feed in the morning neatly avoids that problem and the weight monitoring trap.
Our weight and weight loss guides will also teach you how to check whether any weight loss is a serious problem or whether your piggy still has fighting strength by feeling for the 'heft' around the ribcage. An overweight piggy can dump 100-200g very quickly without being at risk whereas a weight loss of 100g in a dainty piggy is very concerning. This may also help members with anxiety to put any weight loss into perspective.
Weight - Monitoring and Management (incl. Underweight and Overweight Care)
6 Weight loss guidelines and when to step in with feeding
Here are the guidelines along which you can judge whether and how quickly you need to see a vet.
If in any doubt, please see a vet sooner rather than later. In an emergency, please make an appointment first before asking us.
For understanding all the various ways of checking weight and food intake and what each of them does, you will find this guide here helpful: Weight and Weight Loss Explained: BMI, Weighing, Poos and Feeding Support
- 30g / 1 oz: Normal daily weight swing
Any weight gain or loss within this band does not count because the difference between a full bladder and a full gut and an empty bladder and gut can be up to 40g and because the weight is swinging in this bandwidth throughout the day.
- 50g / 2 oz: Go on alert!
Switch to weighing daily at the same time and book a vet appointment if the weight loss continues.
See a vet within 24 hours if a guinea pig is losing this amount within 24 hours (i.e. 'promptly') and step in with syringe feeding top up.
If the weight loss is much slower but steady, see a vet during regular opening hours within a week, ideally as soon as you can get an appointment during regular opening hours.
- 100g / 3 oz: You need to see a vet as an emergency if the weight loss has happened within in 1-3 days!
If your guinea pig has lost 100g within 24 hours, it has not eaten or drunk at all during this time and is in acute danger of dying. See a vet or emergency service at any time of the day or night ASAP!
Step in with syringe feeding and watering if your guinea pig can still swallow and process food. Never simply empty a syringe full into the mouth of a severely ill guinea pig!
Emergency, Crisis and Bridging Care until a Vet Appointment
If the large weight loss has happened gradually over a period of weeks or months, please see a vet during regular opening hours within a week, ideally as quickly as you can make an appointment; especially if has started to speed up. Step in with top-up feeding support until you can see a vet if the weight loss rate is speeding up and you can't be seen quickly.
7 Syringe feeding amounts and frequency
You need to feed the more often, if necessary around the clock, the less food your piggy is able to get down in a session.
You offer water, as much as they want to take, after about every 5 ml or whenever your piggy starts chewing on the crud. With piggies eating less than 5 ml in one go, you offer water after about every five portions; do not squirt it, just trickle a very little and allow them to swallow. If I piggy really doesn't want water, they will let know.
Here are some practical guide lines:
- Total loss of appetite
5-10 ml in one sitting. Not eating at all and very lethargic.
Feed every two hours during the day and once during the night. Aim for 40-60 ml in 24 hours and try to get as close to 40 ml with the very worst. Adjust the amount of feed to their swallowing strength, trickle water into the mouth. In the extremely weak, you may be getting perhaps just 1-2 ml in with every sitting.
If this lasts for more than a few days you need to make sure that you yourself get enough sleep and rest to stand the distance.
- Partial eating and recovery
10-25 ml in one sitting. Picky/slow eating, dropping foods that can no longer be chewed and ignoring/dropping of whole food groups.
Make sure that you weigh daily because watching a piggy sitting in hay chewing on crud in the mouth or eating three stalks of hay and little veg can be extremely deceptive. Weighing can also help you with the need to increase or decrease feeding sessions.
Aim for 60-90 ml per day in 3-4 sessions during the day - the frequency depends on how much a piggy eats in a session. 15 ml is generally the average.
- Reintroducing solid foods
Once your piggy is showing more interest in their feed you can start to reintroduce solids. Start with a little fresh parsley, dill or coriander/cilantro (good for trace elements), or a little fresh dog pee free growing grass (which is high in vitamin C). These are generally the first foods that are going down best before you then add more veg with every following meal. It often helps to stimulate the appetite with some syringe feed first and then also finish off with more feed. Offer pellets dry and soaked for extra calories.
For dental piggies that struggle with solids please shred any soft veg into fine strips and feed fresh grass if possible.
Extra porridge oats can also help with the weight if they can chew them.
- Top-up or support feeding (losing weight while still eating/not yet eating enough to hold weight)
Offer recovery mix or mushed pellets in a bowl after their normal feed to encourage regular eating and giving the weight a little boost.
Plain dry porridge oats can also help to boost the weight. A little shredded carrot is a treat but like banana, please feed only in small amounts to ensure that your piggy is eating all the silica rich grass/hay fibre that they need for their dental wellbeing and gut health.
Maelog and his topping up bowl of mushed pellets and recovery formula mix
- Terminally ill guinea pigs
It is always one of the most difficult times when terminally ill piggies come towards the end of their life. There is a constant and very stressful up and down.
One of the ways to work out whether a piggy still has enough zest for life or not is by feeding from a spoon rather than by syringe. This way, your piggy has full control over their food intake and will make the decision for you.
You can avoid falling into the trap of support feeding for longer than your piggy has the will to live, which makes the burden of when to let go a lot harder for you.
More tips and help for looking after terminally ill guinea pigs: A Practical and Sensitive Guide to Dying, Terminal Illness and Euthanasia in Guinea Pigs
8 Practical medication and syringing tips
What amount goes safely into the mouth?
The most important rule when medicating or syringe is to never just squirting a lot of fluid or feed into the mouth as it can lead to aspiration (food going into the lungs and causing pneumonia) or it can go up into the nose, making breathing more difficult for a while.
Insert the syringe from the side in the gap between incisors and back teeth ideally about 1 cm into the mouth and squeeze gently - you want to be far enough inside the mouth that you piggy cannot spit things out again but not too far back either. Please watch the videos in the next chapter for the actual how-to as how the and how far the syringe is going into the mouth.
The difference between actively sucking or not
A healthy adult piggy can hold about 0.5 ml in their mouth; youngsters or ill piggies about 0.3 ml and newborns and the very weak only about 0.1 ml at once. Adjust the amount to the age and the state of your guinea pig and always wait until the previous lot has gone down if they are not taking their medication or feed on their own. Never hurry with this!
You can keep up a gentle push speed if your piggy is actively eating/drinking from the syringe; they will tell you if you are too slow or if they want more by the end of the syringe! Stop as soon as they have had had enough; they will move off the syringe.
If a piggy really loves their medication or feed they won't let go and you can play a bit of tug of war with them. I've the odd piggy that I needed two syringe for to keep them fed - one for chewing on the now empty syringe (that would not be surrendered) and the other to refill quickly and have ready as soon the as previous syringe was finally dropped...
Foul-tasting medication tips
Firstly, remember our whispering tips! Reassurance of love and a gentle reminder of your dominance beforehand and then more piggies kisses and big fuss with lots of praise afterwards.
It is generally easier to give unflavoured medication just like it is, as quickly as possible in one fell swoop. Follow it up with a mouthful of water to wash away the bad taste and then a little healthy veg or forage treat. The water before the treat is important as otherwise the treat will taste of the medication and may put your piggy off it.
The other method is to suck up the medication followed by the same amount of ribena (UK brand) or other strong flavoured berry juice or squash to try and cover up the bad taste. However, this may need two goes to get all into the mouth and may not work if the taste is not fully masked and or juice flavour is not to your piggy's taste. It also comes with a big sugar load.
Prepare for a mess!
When syringe feeding or medicating, make sure that you have a lap or table cover and that you preferably wear an old pullover or t-shirt as it can get messy. Be aware that the first lot is often going down well but that once your piggy knows what is coming, they may no longer be willing to cooperate.
With unpleasant tasting medication, it is generally easier to get it down in one lot and rather follow up with some water to help wash the taste away with a little of their favourite veg to deal with any lingering bad taste.
You can also mix the medication with the same amount of ribena or other squash but this means that you have to get more than syringe full down and there is a lot of sugar in the squash. Guinea pigs have double the amount of taste buds to humans...
Missed a dose of medication?
It can happen that you miss or have to miss a dose of medication.
Don't panic! This link here gives you the rules when you are safe to give the medication late and when you need skip forwards to the next regular dose.
Missed a Dose of Medication? - The Rules
9 Medicating and feeding cooperative guinea pigs (videos)
These two links contain videos with practical tips on how to syringe train and syringe feed cooperative guinea pigs:
Syringe training with plain water (with permission of Cavy Corner)
Medicating (with permission of @furryfriends (TEAS) )
10 Medicating and feeding struggling guinea pigs (pictures of holds)
Dealing with wiggly piggies and piggies that really hate meds or do not feel like eating can be a struggle. It can really help of you turn it into a two person job with one person holding and controlling the piggy with both hands and the other then free to control the head/jaw and the syringe with their hands. Practice and experience really matters, so please don't feel discouraged if you struiggle at first; we have all been there.
Also be aware that piggies have their personal tricks, from screaming their head off to head butting, cork-screwing, kick-boxing etc or any combination thereof. Learning those quirks and working around them, will help.
Controlling the head in piggies not at risk of blind jumping
You put the thumb and index finger on the jaw joint and controll the head movement and mouth that way. Please don't use excessive force!
Here is a way of controlling a wiggly piggy with your upper body and one hand.
Hold the against your upper body and control with your weaker hand. Use your thumb and index finger to control the jaw while fix the piggy's upper body with your other three fingers. Make sure that the front legs don't have any purchase against your fingers. If needed, lean back a little.
This method has been working for several forum members with tricky customers.
Getting feed and medication into a piggy that really doesn't want it is not easy or quick. You have to stay tough, persist and keep in mind that if you give up, then they won't get better and may at the worst die.
11 The line between life and death
It can sadly happen that even with your best care and medical support your guinea pig won't make it or that they deteriorate before they can be seen by a vet. We are dealing with all the practical but also ethical questions around this subject in a separate guide to help you through this most difficult time; especially when you cannot get support when you really need it.
Chapter 2 and 3 in the guide link below deal specifically and in practical detail with helping you spot whether your guinea pig is still fighting for their life or whether their body has started to close down and they are no longer able to process any feed. It also includes very practical advice what you can do for a dying guinea pig at home and how the natural dying process runs if you do not have access to UK of hours vet care or can't get there quickly enough.
A Practical and Sensitive Guide to Dying, Terminal Illness and Euthanasia in Guinea Pigs
How to contact a vet out of hours
12 Vet visits and emergency/post-op care resources
Here is some helpful information on spotting illness, work out whether you are dealing with an emergency or not and a link to our Emergency, Crisis and Bridging Care one-stop information bundle to help you find a vet and keep your piggy alive until you can be see and until they have recovered enough that they can fend for themselves again.
Having any new guinea pigs registered at your vet's right from the start will make access easier.
This link contains tips on who quickly you should see a vet depending on the nature of the problem:
How Soon Should My Guinea Pig See A Vet? - A Quick Guide
Our one-stop information and practical care bundle for emergencies, critical illness and bridging care until you can see a vet. Good for bookmarking so you do not have do dig around when already stressed out!
This guide here is part of the collection.
Emergency, Crisis and Bridging Care until a Vet Appointment
Practical tips on how to support piggies that are not stirring much from their lair during their illness:
Looking after guinea pigs with limited or no mobility
More practical advice on post-op care:
Tips For Post-operative Care
Neutering operations: Considerations, post-op care and a successful recovery example
Tips For Vet Visits
A guide to vets fees, insurance and payment support.
13 'Force feeding' vs 'syringe feeding'
This is a personal request from me. On social media and especially in the younger generation the expression 'force feeding' instead of 'syringe feeding' or 'support feeding' is sadly rather common. It is not just semantics.
Unfortunately, this can give a wrong impression and can easily lead to aspiration (feed getting into the lungs, causing pneumonia) or asphyxiation (choking) if too much feed is just pumped in without giving the piggy time to swallow and/or breathe.
For me, is also a very disrespectful expression toward a living, feeling being in need of our best loving care and support; especially in view of the connotation that force-feeding has with torture.
1 Choosing the right place to medicate/feed your piggy
2 Guinea pig whispering and asserting your authority
3 Recovery products and emergency improvisation
4 Syringe recommendations
5 Weight monitoring: your biggest ally
6 Weight loss guidelines and when to step in with feeding
7 Syringe feeding amounts/frequency advice
8 Practical medication and syringing tips (incl. missed a dose)
9 Medicating and feeding cooperative guinea pigs (videos)
10 Medicating and feeding uncooperative guinea pigs (hold pictures and tips)
11 The line between life and death
12 Vet visits and emergency resources
13 'Force feeding' vs 'syringe feeding'
Introduction
This guide replaces our previous syringe feeding guide with more practical tips, in-depth info links and videos and pictures.
Medication and feeding support for a very ill guinea pig is a daunting prospect for any new owner; especially those that are unlucky enough to start with an ill piggy or that suddenly find themselves with a very ill guinea pig.
Most medication for small animals is unflavoured (except for metacam as painkillers still need to go down when anything else fails), which means that cooperation is not necessarily a given. The first lot may got in surprisingly well but one a piggy knows what is coming, things will change! It doesn't help that guinea pigs have roughly double the amount of taste buds compared to humans.
Guinea pigs seriously off their food also take quite a bit of struggle and lots of cajoling.
Please don't expect that you'll get it right on your first try; none of us has ever managed that. Like so much, it is down to practice, exerience and increasing confidence, which will will transmit to your piggy, too.
1 Choosing the right place to medicate/feed your piggy
Where you choose to sit and place your guinea pig for syringe feeding depends on how relaxed your piggies are and what works best for you.
Use your wipeable kitchen table for medication or syringe feeding a piggy of yours that is used to handling and grooming or do it on your lap if that is more comfy for you and your piggy. It has to work for you, too.
With new or very skittish piggies, it is best to sit on the floor (please close the door and make sure that there are no crannies your piggy can disappear into) so there is no risk of injury from a freak blind jump. They are rather good at working themselves out of a wrap.
For medicating, it can help to leave the piggy room as that can trigger their 'unresponsive prey' instinct, which makes medication easier; especially with a new piggy (apart from the jumping risk). Otherwise it is generally better to stay in the familiar room in order to keep stress levels low, especially with ill piggies.
2 Guinea pig whispering and asserting your authority
It doesn't just come in handy with new guinea pigs but being able to assure your ill guinea pig that you love them but need them to do what you want them to do (asserting your authority) does really help with cooperation and easing their fears.
The following links help you work around guinea pig prey instincts and how you can get crucial concepts across in their own social interactive language, which they will instantly understand.
Understanding Prey Animal Instincts, Guinea Pig Whispering and Cuddling Tips
How To Pick Up And Weigh Your Guinea Pigs Safely
Who is the Boss - Your Guinea Pig or You?
3 Recovery products and emergency improvisation
Why is hay/grass fibre based syringe feed so important?
About three quarters of what a guinea pig should eat in a day is hay and grass fibre. This is also what you have to replace with your feeding support. Veg (preferably green, ca. 50g/one small bowl) and 1 tablespoon of pellets together have taken over the role of supplementary wild forage in a guinea pig diet.
The problem is that you cannot control the hay intake by eye only; watching your piggy sitting in the hay and nibbling on a stalk or chewing crud can be horribly deceptive. The poo output by its very nature runs about a day (or even two in a slow gut) behind the even horizon so for monitoring the actual food intake, kitchen scales are a must - cheap ones from a supermarket or online are perfectly fine for the job.
Not Eating, Weight Loss And The Importance Of Syringe Feeding Fibre
Formula products and mushed up pellets
Powdered herbivore recovery formulas are best when you are dealing with a seriously ill guinea pig or one that needs longer term support, like when an antibiotic knocks out the appetite. Please use the information on the package to make up the formula to its optimal consistency. Also read the information to see whether you can use other products together with your recovery formula, like an extra pinch of probiotics.
If you are caught out, you can always soak your pellets or at the worst any soft bits in a mix in a little warm water. Start with the same volume of water to pellets and then work from there, adding water, little by little as needed. The mix should be just fluid enough to pass through a syringe without problems but not be too watery as that means less fibre per syringe feed. Since every brand of pellets reacts differently, there is no formula and you will have to work out the right consistency by trial and error. You'll get the hang of it!
Because pellet fibre is a lot rougher than recover powder, you will need to prep the syringe tip as shown in the picture. Cut off the tip with scissors just below where the syringe widens (and if needed the plunger, too) in order to allow the fibre to pass but still holding the plunger firmly in the syringe. You may have to rinse the syringe fairly often, so a glass or cup with water within each will be handy.
If your piggy is not fond of the taste of your recovery formula, you can try a mix with mushy pellets to see whether that works better.
If you are using filtered or bottled water for your guinea pigs, still use it for making up your recovery feed and for syringe feeding any water.
Probiotics, 'poo soup' and vitamin C
Please be aware that most recovery formula products are enriched with vitamin C and probiotics, but if needed, check on the packaging. Pellets are also enriched with vitamin C, so your piggy off their veg will still get some and won't develop scurvy unless they have accustomed to constant high levels of vitamin C supplements, which can ironically cause scurvy symptoms if they suddenly drop even if real levels are still above normal.
A 2-3 booster course in guinea pigs not on an extra vitamin C supplement can help boost the immune system in ull guinea pigs. If your piggies are already on a supplement or if in doubt, please speak to your vet.
Probiotics and homemade 'poo soup' (i.e. live gut microbiome transfer from a healthy companion when made correctly) can help, especially if the gut is impacted by an antibiotic or there are digestive problems. 'Poo soup', i.e. the water in which totally freshly dropped pellets have been soaked shortly, can be more effective than probiotic powder - but it all hinges on getting the microbiome into the digestive tract while still alive.
Here is our guide to the most common support product brands, including internationally available ones, as well as how to make 'poo soup' (which is not quite as gross as it sounds!): Probiotics, Recovery Foods And Vitamin C: Overview With Product Links
Our First Aid Kit also contains recommendations for emergency care tips: First Aid Kit: Easily available non-medication support products for an emergency
4 Syringe recommendations
We are generally finding needle-free 1 ml syringes the most helpful and widely available around the world (online, from your pharmacy or vets) because they are generally easier to control than larger syringes and there is less of a risk of accidental aspiration if suddenly a lot comes out. It is also much easier to cut off the tip with scissors if you are emergency feeding pellets.
Many vets will dispense their medication with 1 ml syringes. You can always ask the receptionist for an extra syringe to keep in case of an emergency.
For the UK, Supreme Science Recovery syringes are also recommended for syringe feeding with good control. It comes down to personal preference. Please make sure that your feed mix doesn't contain any hard lumps.
Supreme Science Recovery Syringe
5 Weight monitoring: Your biggest ally
If you judge the level of care by the poo output and size, you are forever running behind event and also don't have a precise idea of your piggy's weight loss and how much extra feed they need.
Ideally, you switch from the life-long once weekly health monitoring weigh-in (catching slowly developing issues hopefully before they become an emergency) to weighing daily at the same time. Personally, I prefer first thing in the morning because that is when the weight is at its lowest - which makes for the clearest day to day comparison - and I can then tailor my level of care and feeding aim accordingly for the coming day.
The weight swing over 24 hours is roughly in a 30-40g band. The more often you weigh at different times of the day, the more the weight will jump around. You can only ever compare two weights taken at the same point of the day/in the feeding cycle. But you cannot compare a morning and an evening weigh-in without allowing for the natural daily weight oscillation and rather just check whether they are still in that band or whether they are above or below it in comparison. Weighing more often than once daily can however become rather counter-productive and only help to feed your own anxiety and stress but it won't help your piggy.
The weigh-in before the first feed in the morning neatly avoids that problem and the weight monitoring trap.
Our weight and weight loss guides will also teach you how to check whether any weight loss is a serious problem or whether your piggy still has fighting strength by feeling for the 'heft' around the ribcage. An overweight piggy can dump 100-200g very quickly without being at risk whereas a weight loss of 100g in a dainty piggy is very concerning. This may also help members with anxiety to put any weight loss into perspective.
Weight - Monitoring and Management (incl. Underweight and Overweight Care)
6 Weight loss guidelines and when to step in with feeding
Here are the guidelines along which you can judge whether and how quickly you need to see a vet.
If in any doubt, please see a vet sooner rather than later. In an emergency, please make an appointment first before asking us.
For understanding all the various ways of checking weight and food intake and what each of them does, you will find this guide here helpful: Weight and Weight Loss Explained: BMI, Weighing, Poos and Feeding Support
- 30g / 1 oz: Normal daily weight swing
Any weight gain or loss within this band does not count because the difference between a full bladder and a full gut and an empty bladder and gut can be up to 40g and because the weight is swinging in this bandwidth throughout the day.
- 50g / 2 oz: Go on alert!
Switch to weighing daily at the same time and book a vet appointment if the weight loss continues.
See a vet within 24 hours if a guinea pig is losing this amount within 24 hours (i.e. 'promptly') and step in with syringe feeding top up.
If the weight loss is much slower but steady, see a vet during regular opening hours within a week, ideally as soon as you can get an appointment during regular opening hours.
- 100g / 3 oz: You need to see a vet as an emergency if the weight loss has happened within in 1-3 days!
If your guinea pig has lost 100g within 24 hours, it has not eaten or drunk at all during this time and is in acute danger of dying. See a vet or emergency service at any time of the day or night ASAP!
Step in with syringe feeding and watering if your guinea pig can still swallow and process food. Never simply empty a syringe full into the mouth of a severely ill guinea pig!
Emergency, Crisis and Bridging Care until a Vet Appointment
If the large weight loss has happened gradually over a period of weeks or months, please see a vet during regular opening hours within a week, ideally as quickly as you can make an appointment; especially if has started to speed up. Step in with top-up feeding support until you can see a vet if the weight loss rate is speeding up and you can't be seen quickly.
7 Syringe feeding amounts and frequency
You need to feed the more often, if necessary around the clock, the less food your piggy is able to get down in a session.
You offer water, as much as they want to take, after about every 5 ml or whenever your piggy starts chewing on the crud. With piggies eating less than 5 ml in one go, you offer water after about every five portions; do not squirt it, just trickle a very little and allow them to swallow. If I piggy really doesn't want water, they will let know.
Here are some practical guide lines:
- Total loss of appetite
5-10 ml in one sitting. Not eating at all and very lethargic.
Feed every two hours during the day and once during the night. Aim for 40-60 ml in 24 hours and try to get as close to 40 ml with the very worst. Adjust the amount of feed to their swallowing strength, trickle water into the mouth. In the extremely weak, you may be getting perhaps just 1-2 ml in with every sitting.
If this lasts for more than a few days you need to make sure that you yourself get enough sleep and rest to stand the distance.
- Partial eating and recovery
10-25 ml in one sitting. Picky/slow eating, dropping foods that can no longer be chewed and ignoring/dropping of whole food groups.
Make sure that you weigh daily because watching a piggy sitting in hay chewing on crud in the mouth or eating three stalks of hay and little veg can be extremely deceptive. Weighing can also help you with the need to increase or decrease feeding sessions.
Aim for 60-90 ml per day in 3-4 sessions during the day - the frequency depends on how much a piggy eats in a session. 15 ml is generally the average.
- Reintroducing solid foods
Once your piggy is showing more interest in their feed you can start to reintroduce solids. Start with a little fresh parsley, dill or coriander/cilantro (good for trace elements), or a little fresh dog pee free growing grass (which is high in vitamin C). These are generally the first foods that are going down best before you then add more veg with every following meal. It often helps to stimulate the appetite with some syringe feed first and then also finish off with more feed. Offer pellets dry and soaked for extra calories.
For dental piggies that struggle with solids please shred any soft veg into fine strips and feed fresh grass if possible.
Extra porridge oats can also help with the weight if they can chew them.
- Top-up or support feeding (losing weight while still eating/not yet eating enough to hold weight)
Offer recovery mix or mushed pellets in a bowl after their normal feed to encourage regular eating and giving the weight a little boost.
Plain dry porridge oats can also help to boost the weight. A little shredded carrot is a treat but like banana, please feed only in small amounts to ensure that your piggy is eating all the silica rich grass/hay fibre that they need for their dental wellbeing and gut health.
Maelog and his topping up bowl of mushed pellets and recovery formula mix
- Terminally ill guinea pigs
It is always one of the most difficult times when terminally ill piggies come towards the end of their life. There is a constant and very stressful up and down.
One of the ways to work out whether a piggy still has enough zest for life or not is by feeding from a spoon rather than by syringe. This way, your piggy has full control over their food intake and will make the decision for you.
You can avoid falling into the trap of support feeding for longer than your piggy has the will to live, which makes the burden of when to let go a lot harder for you.
More tips and help for looking after terminally ill guinea pigs: A Practical and Sensitive Guide to Dying, Terminal Illness and Euthanasia in Guinea Pigs
8 Practical medication and syringing tips
What amount goes safely into the mouth?
The most important rule when medicating or syringe is to never just squirting a lot of fluid or feed into the mouth as it can lead to aspiration (food going into the lungs and causing pneumonia) or it can go up into the nose, making breathing more difficult for a while.
Insert the syringe from the side in the gap between incisors and back teeth ideally about 1 cm into the mouth and squeeze gently - you want to be far enough inside the mouth that you piggy cannot spit things out again but not too far back either. Please watch the videos in the next chapter for the actual how-to as how the and how far the syringe is going into the mouth.
The difference between actively sucking or not
A healthy adult piggy can hold about 0.5 ml in their mouth; youngsters or ill piggies about 0.3 ml and newborns and the very weak only about 0.1 ml at once. Adjust the amount to the age and the state of your guinea pig and always wait until the previous lot has gone down if they are not taking their medication or feed on their own. Never hurry with this!
You can keep up a gentle push speed if your piggy is actively eating/drinking from the syringe; they will tell you if you are too slow or if they want more by the end of the syringe! Stop as soon as they have had had enough; they will move off the syringe.
If a piggy really loves their medication or feed they won't let go and you can play a bit of tug of war with them. I've the odd piggy that I needed two syringe for to keep them fed - one for chewing on the now empty syringe (that would not be surrendered) and the other to refill quickly and have ready as soon the as previous syringe was finally dropped...
Foul-tasting medication tips
Firstly, remember our whispering tips! Reassurance of love and a gentle reminder of your dominance beforehand and then more piggies kisses and big fuss with lots of praise afterwards.
It is generally easier to give unflavoured medication just like it is, as quickly as possible in one fell swoop. Follow it up with a mouthful of water to wash away the bad taste and then a little healthy veg or forage treat. The water before the treat is important as otherwise the treat will taste of the medication and may put your piggy off it.
The other method is to suck up the medication followed by the same amount of ribena (UK brand) or other strong flavoured berry juice or squash to try and cover up the bad taste. However, this may need two goes to get all into the mouth and may not work if the taste is not fully masked and or juice flavour is not to your piggy's taste. It also comes with a big sugar load.
Prepare for a mess!
When syringe feeding or medicating, make sure that you have a lap or table cover and that you preferably wear an old pullover or t-shirt as it can get messy. Be aware that the first lot is often going down well but that once your piggy knows what is coming, they may no longer be willing to cooperate.
With unpleasant tasting medication, it is generally easier to get it down in one lot and rather follow up with some water to help wash the taste away with a little of their favourite veg to deal with any lingering bad taste.
You can also mix the medication with the same amount of ribena or other squash but this means that you have to get more than syringe full down and there is a lot of sugar in the squash. Guinea pigs have double the amount of taste buds to humans...
Missed a dose of medication?
It can happen that you miss or have to miss a dose of medication.
Don't panic! This link here gives you the rules when you are safe to give the medication late and when you need skip forwards to the next regular dose.
Missed a Dose of Medication? - The Rules
9 Medicating and feeding cooperative guinea pigs (videos)
These two links contain videos with practical tips on how to syringe train and syringe feed cooperative guinea pigs:
Syringe training with plain water (with permission of Cavy Corner)
Medicating (with permission of @furryfriends (TEAS) )
10 Medicating and feeding struggling guinea pigs (pictures of holds)
Dealing with wiggly piggies and piggies that really hate meds or do not feel like eating can be a struggle. It can really help of you turn it into a two person job with one person holding and controlling the piggy with both hands and the other then free to control the head/jaw and the syringe with their hands. Practice and experience really matters, so please don't feel discouraged if you struiggle at first; we have all been there.
Also be aware that piggies have their personal tricks, from screaming their head off to head butting, cork-screwing, kick-boxing etc or any combination thereof. Learning those quirks and working around them, will help.
Controlling the head in piggies not at risk of blind jumping
You put the thumb and index finger on the jaw joint and controll the head movement and mouth that way. Please don't use excessive force!
Here is a way of controlling a wiggly piggy with your upper body and one hand.
Hold the against your upper body and control with your weaker hand. Use your thumb and index finger to control the jaw while fix the piggy's upper body with your other three fingers. Make sure that the front legs don't have any purchase against your fingers. If needed, lean back a little.
This method has been working for several forum members with tricky customers.
Getting feed and medication into a piggy that really doesn't want it is not easy or quick. You have to stay tough, persist and keep in mind that if you give up, then they won't get better and may at the worst die.
11 The line between life and death
It can sadly happen that even with your best care and medical support your guinea pig won't make it or that they deteriorate before they can be seen by a vet. We are dealing with all the practical but also ethical questions around this subject in a separate guide to help you through this most difficult time; especially when you cannot get support when you really need it.
Chapter 2 and 3 in the guide link below deal specifically and in practical detail with helping you spot whether your guinea pig is still fighting for their life or whether their body has started to close down and they are no longer able to process any feed. It also includes very practical advice what you can do for a dying guinea pig at home and how the natural dying process runs if you do not have access to UK of hours vet care or can't get there quickly enough.
A Practical and Sensitive Guide to Dying, Terminal Illness and Euthanasia in Guinea Pigs
How to contact a vet out of hours
12 Vet visits and emergency/post-op care resources
Here is some helpful information on spotting illness, work out whether you are dealing with an emergency or not and a link to our Emergency, Crisis and Bridging Care one-stop information bundle to help you find a vet and keep your piggy alive until you can be see and until they have recovered enough that they can fend for themselves again.
Having any new guinea pigs registered at your vet's right from the start will make access easier.
This link contains tips on who quickly you should see a vet depending on the nature of the problem:
How Soon Should My Guinea Pig See A Vet? - A Quick Guide
Our one-stop information and practical care bundle for emergencies, critical illness and bridging care until you can see a vet. Good for bookmarking so you do not have do dig around when already stressed out!
This guide here is part of the collection.
Emergency, Crisis and Bridging Care until a Vet Appointment
Practical tips on how to support piggies that are not stirring much from their lair during their illness:
Looking after guinea pigs with limited or no mobility
More practical advice on post-op care:
Tips For Post-operative Care
Neutering operations: Considerations, post-op care and a successful recovery example
Tips For Vet Visits
A guide to vets fees, insurance and payment support.
13 'Force feeding' vs 'syringe feeding'
This is a personal request from me. On social media and especially in the younger generation the expression 'force feeding' instead of 'syringe feeding' or 'support feeding' is sadly rather common. It is not just semantics.
Unfortunately, this can give a wrong impression and can easily lead to aspiration (feed getting into the lungs, causing pneumonia) or asphyxiation (choking) if too much feed is just pumped in without giving the piggy time to swallow and/or breathe.
For me, is also a very disrespectful expression toward a living, feeling being in need of our best loving care and support; especially in view of the connotation that force-feeding has with torture.