Feeding An Older Piggie

[gingy pig]

Hi all, I've got ginge who's 7, still active,& potters about like the OAP that he is. He has access to grass when weather is good along with daily veg & herb during the week. He's on burgess mint food which I'm thinking of changing as they all seem bored of it & none of their coats look glossy,more dry looking. And hay,obviously ;-) so, is there anything else I should be giving him ? He has lost weight slowly,not a massive amount but enough to make him look a bit boney- vet says all ok- just age. Just want to keep him as healthy as possible & get him through another winter if we can x

 

[biscandmatt]

older piggies seem to appreciate either warm pellet mash (especially in winter) or a small amount of something like critical care. obviously it's full of fibre and everything they need and can give them that little boost

 

[gingy pig]

Thanks, will give that a try, he's such a lovely piggy just want to make sure he has the best in his pensionerhood! :-)

 

[biscandmatt]

Thanks, will give that a try, he's such a lovely piggy just want to make sure he has the best in his pensionerhood! :-)

he's a great age

 

[Wiebke]

My seven year old Ffraid loves her mildly heated snuggle safe unless it is very warm and she is also very keen on having her pellets served mashed in warm boiled and then cooled down water.

Encourage yours to be as active as they want to be.

 

[Bluebell]

Is seven really considered old? Mine usually get into their teens, and one nearly made it to 20!
Two of my recent piggies have come from pet shop origins though so I doubt that they will live so long.

 

[gingy pig]

Is seven really considered old? Mine usually get into their teens, and one nearly made it to 20!

wow! They really get that old? That's amazing, you must have piggies with long life genes! :-)

 

[biscandmatt]

Is seven really considered old? Mine usually get into their teens, and one nearly made it to 20!
Two of my recent piggies have come from pet shop origins though so I doubt that they will live so long.

yes, it is considered older. average is 4-7, or 5-7, can't remember which. 5+ is definitely classed as older though

would love to hear about your older piggies. the world record age is thought to be about 14 years i think...!

 

[Wiebke]

The average life expectancy is 5-6 years; most healthy piggies die between 4-7 years. The indiscriminate mass breeding for shops or commercial and backyard breeding is not helping to keep the age up. From about 4-5 years onwards, a guinea pig is classed as an older citizen.

The current official Guiness book record holder is a 17 year old Australian guinea pig that passed away last year. The piggies of my childhood were longer lived (one lived to nearly ten years old and I knew older ones), but these days, they seem pretty rare.

 

[Bluebell]

Well tbh for a long time they were all members of the same family as I bred them on from my original ones - and they came from a specialist. Two of my current ones must be several years old though so I had a bit of a start thinking they would be considered old!

 

[Bluebell]

14! No I've had several go over that! But true, they were not pet shop bred!

 

[biscandmatt]

Well tbh for a long time they were all members of the same family as I bred them on from my original ones - and they came from a specialist. Two of my current ones must be several years old though so I had a bit of a start thinking they would be considered old!

i was going to ask if they all had the same genes because to have one reach their teens would be unusual, but it makes sense if they were all related

 

[Bluebell]

Yes, I lost my last two at ten and they were not of that family - now I'm thinking that I will lose these earlier too, I had got used to them living into their teens. They were all what we called then "rosette" guinea pigs. My current ones are smooth coated.