Danielle Smith
Teenage Guinea Pig
My saga with Tubs is detailed here.
We've been syringe feeding him for a month now. In the last couple weeks, he takes a few bits of hay by himself, eats veggies and snacks he likes (coriander, lettuce, peaflakes; he'll often have a go at other veg like pepper too if you leave it in there for an hour or so), and has been seen taking a single bite of pellets.
However, he just doesn't seem hungry; he won't eat Critical Care or mushed pellets off a spoon like he did after his neuter op. I've been switching around pellets veggies and hay to find something he likes (vet said he might like his old pellets less as they remind him of feeling rotten), but I'm not having any luck. I'm having to syringe feed him for 3 hours a day.
His weight has stayed relatively stable, but bobs up and down depending on whether we managed to get a few mls extra syringe feed into him during that time. He still the lowest weight he's ever been (755g at 18 months from just over 1kg a month and a half ago).
The vet said he's improved massively from how he was. His teeth are fine and he isn't bloated as such. She did remark that he felt very gassy and indeed he was trumping away as she palpated his abdomen... However, she doesn't think he should be given more gut stimulant or any gripe water as he's still pooing fine. She thinks the gassiness is due to the fact his tummy is a bit empty; on a good day I can feed him up to 60 ml of really thick syringe feed but it's usually around 40ml.
I'm a bit stuck; how can I get him to eat for himself if he doesn't have an appetite? He only eats things he likes, and sprinkling the beloved probiotic on everything doesn't fool him, he just licks it off! I don't mind feeding him for the forseeable future, but I'm really worried about when we go away on holiday and he needs to be boarded. It's a lot of extra work I'm not sure someone else could do.
He's a really fussy pig and is very difficult to get syringe feed in. I have to resort to propping him up against my chest; even my experienced OH can't manage to feed him in this position as he tosses his head about so much. He gets really distressed when we wrap him and try to syringe feed in a more normal position. We've tried not syringe feeding for half a day to encourage him to eat for himself but he just lost 30g and looked awful.
Any advice is very much appreciated. Were at the end of our tether I'm afraid. We recently bonded him with two little sows and he seems a lot happier, rumbling about and generally moving more (though his bumblefoot still isn't better) but it's still not encouraging him to eat! He's not on any drugs as such at the moment, only Vit C and probiotic.
Tagging @furryfriends (TEAS) as she might have some experience with this.
We've been syringe feeding him for a month now. In the last couple weeks, he takes a few bits of hay by himself, eats veggies and snacks he likes (coriander, lettuce, peaflakes; he'll often have a go at other veg like pepper too if you leave it in there for an hour or so), and has been seen taking a single bite of pellets.
However, he just doesn't seem hungry; he won't eat Critical Care or mushed pellets off a spoon like he did after his neuter op. I've been switching around pellets veggies and hay to find something he likes (vet said he might like his old pellets less as they remind him of feeling rotten), but I'm not having any luck. I'm having to syringe feed him for 3 hours a day.
His weight has stayed relatively stable, but bobs up and down depending on whether we managed to get a few mls extra syringe feed into him during that time. He still the lowest weight he's ever been (755g at 18 months from just over 1kg a month and a half ago).
The vet said he's improved massively from how he was. His teeth are fine and he isn't bloated as such. She did remark that he felt very gassy and indeed he was trumping away as she palpated his abdomen... However, she doesn't think he should be given more gut stimulant or any gripe water as he's still pooing fine. She thinks the gassiness is due to the fact his tummy is a bit empty; on a good day I can feed him up to 60 ml of really thick syringe feed but it's usually around 40ml.
I'm a bit stuck; how can I get him to eat for himself if he doesn't have an appetite? He only eats things he likes, and sprinkling the beloved probiotic on everything doesn't fool him, he just licks it off! I don't mind feeding him for the forseeable future, but I'm really worried about when we go away on holiday and he needs to be boarded. It's a lot of extra work I'm not sure someone else could do.
He's a really fussy pig and is very difficult to get syringe feed in. I have to resort to propping him up against my chest; even my experienced OH can't manage to feed him in this position as he tosses his head about so much. He gets really distressed when we wrap him and try to syringe feed in a more normal position. We've tried not syringe feeding for half a day to encourage him to eat for himself but he just lost 30g and looked awful.
Any advice is very much appreciated. Were at the end of our tether I'm afraid. We recently bonded him with two little sows and he seems a lot happier, rumbling about and generally moving more (though his bumblefoot still isn't better) but it's still not encouraging him to eat! He's not on any drugs as such at the moment, only Vit C and probiotic.
Tagging @furryfriends (TEAS) as she might have some experience with this.
)? His teeth were checked 2-3 weeks ago and were absolutely fine, and his poos are great (if not quite enough of them). This all started when some of his abdominal lymph nodes became incredibly inflamed and he lost 120g over a fortnight. My partner is wondering if he went into partial stasis when he was ill, and if that might have had a lasting effect on his digestive system...
)? While he has no issues with eating veggies like lettuce and cucumber, he's a little slower at carrot and pepper, and slower at eating hay than he used to be... He can't do pellets at all, he does very odd things with moving it around his mouth which did make me think teeth issues were at play...
