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Feeding porridge oats as weight gain supplement?

MildredMaudeandEnid

MildredMaudeandEnid

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Hello

I'm just wondering if anyone has fed their piggies oats to help maintain their weight? My piggy, Enid, has chronic respiratory disease and, even though she doesn't have an acute infection at the moment, she struggles to keep her weight up (down to 610g from 630g). I know she's quite small to begin with (vet thinks she was probably the runt of her litter) so can't afford to let it dip lower.

She's eating and drinking and playing quite happily so we're not in syringe feeding territory but a local rescue recommended giving her a few porridge oats everyday to feed her up a bit.

Has anyone else done this before? How much and how often should I feed her?

She is seeing the vet next week so will be mentioning her weight then.

Thanks!
 
Yes porridge oats are a good weight gain food for supporting ill and elderly piggies.
Just dry oats are fine, or you can mix them with some high calorie grated veg- our vet (and our piggies!) like grated sweet potato, most piggies like grated carrots, some like grated apple or even mashed banana with their oats.
As long as she is still eating plenty hay or grass or a hay based recovery food as well, the extra calories can support appetite and weight but cannot replace the essentials in the diet which really is mainly hay!
 
PigglePuggle said:
Yes porridge oats are a good weight gain food for supporting ill and elderly piggies.
Just dry oats are fine, or you can mix them with some high calorie grated veg- our vet (and our piggies!) like grated sweet potato, most piggies like grated carrots, some like grated apple or even mashed banana with their oats.
As long as she is still eating plenty hay or grass or a hay based recovery food as well, the extra calories can support appetite and weight but cannot replace the essentials in the diet which really is mainly hay!
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Thanks for the input. She eats all her pellets and veggies and is usually found in her hay loft munching away. I think her laboured breathing just burns a lot of calories. I'll try the oats tonight and see if she likes them. I have some blueberries so might mash a couple up with it.
 
I've just started feeding oats, and think I'll maybe moisten it as per advice above. I've adopted two new piggies, Peruvians, both small, one very small and skinny but seems fine like yours, who apparently had a sister before who was the same. They all came from the same breeder. Is that Enid in your avatar? She's almost the spitting image of one of my new Peruvians, she's in my avatar but been clipped.
 
Black piggies said:
I've just started feeding oats, and think I'll maybe moisten it as per advice above. I've adopted two new piggies, Peruvians, both small, one very small and skinny but seems fine like yours, who apparently had a sister before who was the same. They all came from the same breeder. Is that Enid in your avatar? She's almost the spitting image of one of my new Peruvians, she's in my avatar but been clipped.
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That's Maude. She has no trouble maintaining her weight! She's my chonker!😂

This is little Enid. She's an abyssinian. I got her from a shelter in March and she had a URI on top of her chronic issues. She's had another one since but is doing well on maintenance treatment now.20210523_140557.webp
 
Aw gorgeous girls. It's a worry when they're so low in weight. I too have plumpies I don't worry about 😊
 
Aw I'm glad Enid liked it. She looks such a sweet piggy. Does she like critical care OK?
I haven't tried the veg in oats yet, sounds very tasty. My underweight piglet Mishka is taking her new oats and is still bouncing around like usual somehow!
 
Black piggies said:
Aw I'm glad Enid liked it. She looks such a sweet piggy. Does she like critical care OK?
I haven't tried the veg in oats yet, sounds very tasty. My underweight piglet Mishka is taking her new oats and is still bouncing around like usual somehow!
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She's not a massive fan of critical care but thought I might be able to sneak some in with the mushy apple!
 
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