Any Recommendations For Weight Gain?

[LornaBee91]

Hi all,
so I took one of my girls to the vet last week, shes been losing weight gradually over the last few months, this has now lead to hair loss & swollen paws. The vet has checked everything, hes asked me all the questions he possibly could about her health. Shes 600g at the mo. Eats fine, drinks fine, very energetic, very happy. He's said that unfortunatly because theres nothing actually wrong with her this means no medication could help cure what she does has, he thinks its possibly liver failure or a tumour

He's told me that although nothing can cure her, theres foods i can give her to help her gain weight and just help her for the rest of her duration such as porridge oats, biscuits, honey, baby food. I've tried ALL of this, she wont eat any of it. I've tried mixing it with stuff that she loves and still nothing is working. She'll only eat her fresh veg.
Is there any fattening foods that I can give my piggy other than this? Anything i can do to help with her hair loss or her swollen paws?

Also, shes in a hutch with her two sisters, who are completely healthy and more than double her size, the vet mentioed that she might be seen as the weakest of the pack to them and so my piggy is just giving up. Should i put her in a seperate hutch, will that help her health or make her worse?
I'm really really desperate for anything I can do to help my pig get better or live to the best she can, anything you guys can recommend would be greatly appreciated!

Thank you for your time!

 

[Wiebke]

Hi all,
so I took one of my girls to the vet last week, shes been losing weight gradually over the last few months, this has now lead to hair loss & swollen paws. The vet has checked everything, hes asked me all the questions he possibly could about her health. Shes 600g at the mo. Eats fine, drinks fine, very energetic, very happy. He's said that unfortunatly because theres nothing actually wrong with her this means no medication could help cure what she does has, he thinks its possibly liver failure or a tumour

He's told me that although nothing can cure her, theres foods i can give her to help her gain weight and just help her for the rest of her duration such as porridge oats, biscuits, honey, baby food. I've tried ALL of this, she wont eat any of it. I've tried mixing it with stuff that she loves and still nothing is working. She'll only eat her fresh veg.
Is there any fattening foods that I can give my piggy other than this? Anything i can do to help with her hair loss or her swollen paws?

Also, shes in a hutch with her two sisters, who are completely healthy and more than double her size, the vet mentioed that she might be seen as the weakest of the pack to them and so my piggy is just giving up. Should i put her in a seperate hutch, will that help her health or make her worse?
I'm really really desperate for anything I can do to help my pig get better or live to the best she can, anything you guys can recommend would be greatly appreciated!

Thank you for your time!

There is only a limited amount you can do when you are dealing with an undiagnosed organ failure, as the body is just not able to absorb and/or process nutrition fully anymore. You can offer her additional syringe feed made from mushed up pellets (which can be fattening), and offer a bit more sweetcorn or carrot, but don't expect it to work. More tips here.
The Importance Of Weighing - Ideal Weight / Overweight / Underweight

For the medical side, I am linking in @Abi_nurse and @helen105281 for you.

 

[JennaAnysse]

My Legolas became very unwell and lost nearly half his body mass dropping to 574g! It was awful. I used oats ( which luckily he loves ) and sugary fruits like apple, also pellets that are alfalfa based help to bulk them up. I check all of my piggies weight every week and thankfully he is 940g now, still got some fattening to do but he is getting there. I wouldn't recommend separating because this could cause some distress. I would make sure there are the same number of bowls to guinea pigs, putting hay in different areas and veg in different areas so the others cant bully or be territorial. Maybe put more veg/hay in then you normally would so there is plenty to munch at. Also get her teeth checked to rule out that problem! Hope she gets better.

 

[helen105281]

My skinny pig Katie is on the small side and we have been managing to keep her weight up with critical care in a bowl and not limiting her pellets. She also has the odd bit of carrot that the other pigs don't have. We know we are on borrowed time with her, so give her what we can to keep her weight up. She is a heart pig though so we have her on meds.

Has the vet checked her heart?

 

[MintyAndGarry (TEAS)]

Porridge oats are good for weight gain...they either love them or hate them, so if she likes them, you're on to a winner. You can disguise the oats by adding pureed veggies, to enhance the flavour.