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Critical care feedings

Sheemwon

Sheemwon

New Born Pup
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KSA
My guinea pig suddenly lost weight and wouldn’t eat as much as before but she didn’t lose much weight and still get excited and call for food.. I bought oxbow critical care food but she is running away after sniffing it and seems scared! Is that a normal thing ? I tried it with my other piggies and they all have the same reaction 👀
 

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First and foremost I would have her vet checked to find out why she is losing weight. Make sure your vet checks the back teeth. Losing weight is usually because they're not eating enough hay which should be making up 80% of the diet. Weigh her daily instead of weekly. Her reaction to the critical care is normal. Some piggies like it and some don't. You can mush up some of her usual pellets with warm water if she doesn't like the critical care.
 
Claire W said:
First and foremost I would have her vet checked to find out why she is losing weight. Her reaction to the critical care is normal. Some piggies like it and some don't. You can mush up some of her usual pellets with warm water if she doesn't like the critical care.
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The problem is that we don’t have exotic vets here .. if i cut her food in smaller pieces she would eat it and noticed that her teeth has a gap so I figured it’s teeth problem because she only eat hay leaves and leave the hard food
 
I am sorry that you are short of exotic vets but sadly, she does need to see a vet especially if she is having problems with her teeth. Just feeding her critical care isn't going to make the problem go away :( Do you have any rescues local to you? Perhaps you could ask them which vets they use
 
Sheemwon said:
I didn’t weigh her I noticed by holding her that her belly lost some fat .. she is 895g now
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You need to weigh her every day now you are noticing she isnt eating enough hay. The daily weight checks are essential so you can feed her the right amount of critical care in each 24 hour period to stop weight loss.

As Claire has rightly said, syringe feeding is an emergency measure to stop weight loss and keep the gut functioning but it wont cure any health issue. You really do need to see a vet to find out why she isnt eating enough on her own
 
Claire W said:
I am sorry that you are short of exotic vets but sadly, she does need to see a vet especially if she is having problems with her teeth. Just feeding her critical care isn't going to make the problem go away :( Do you have any rescues local to you? Perhaps you could ask them which vets they use
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Guinea pigs isn’t popular here so the vets and rescues here only treat cats and dogs
 
Piggies&buns said:
You need to weigh her every day now you are noticing she isnt eating enough hay. The daily weight checks are essential so you can feed her the right amount of critical care in each 24 hour period to stop weight loss.

As Claire has rightly said, syringe feeding is an emergency measure to stop weight loss and keep the gut functioning but it wont cure any health issue. You really do need to see a vet to find out why she isnt eating enough on her own
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Thank you .. i will weigh her everyday and try to feed her the critical care with hay and pallets
 
Sorry about your piggy. Are you in Saudi Arabia? Would a cat and dog vet make an exception and have a look? Maybe another thing that might help is pain medication, but again just a stop gap.
 
Black piggies said:
Sorry about your piggy. Are you in Saudi Arabia? Would a cat and dog vet make an exception and have a look? Maybe another thing that might help is pain medication, but again just a stop gap.
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Yes .. i tried many vets before and they don’t even know how to hold guinea pigs and one vet gave my piggie antibiotic and she died a few days after taking it
 
Sheemwon said:
Yes .. i tried many vets before and they don’t even know how to hold guinea pigs and one vet gave my piggie antibiotic and she died a few days after taking it
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That's awful, I feel for your situation. It's bad enough here, but you can travel to a decent vet if need be.
When I had a dental guinea pig, I didn't realise how limited some vets are and didn't appreciate how serious it was, and after several botched dental works, I had to have him put down in the end. I thought I could keep feeding him but without eating hay, teeth will usually get worse.
Would you have any chance to travel to a vet? Or you feel they'd all be unable to help, or worse?
 
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