Guinea pig not eating if we're not around.

[Dom R]

Hi all,

I'm just wanting some advice for my current situation with my boy, Stu, 1.5 years old.

We lost our old boy, Coco (6 years 10 months) last Thursday due to an assumed and suddent heart issue (possibly stroke?), Stu knew this and we showed him once we got back from the vets we showed him for closure.

We got Stu neutered the next day, thinking that sooner would be better as we'd like a change and have a group of one boar and 2-3 sows. In hindsight we should've waited a little bit (not sure if it would've made a difference). However since his op he's not been eating by himself, and only eating while he's sat with us. I've been having to syringe feed him to keep his weight stable at 1150-1180g. Pre-op weight was 1240g, and I weighed him a few days before that at 1280g. Syringe feeds every 2-3 hours and I feed 10-15ml of food in that time. I also put probiotics in there to help keep his guts healthy.

Unforunately his neuter wound got infected and swelled up, so I had to take him back and he got some antibiotics (Septrin, 0.4ml twice daily), and he's on Meloxaid at 0.8ml twice daily, the dog strength. The infected area seems to have gone down a lot now, so appears to be working.

While we're away he just seems to go to sleep, but looking at him he's bright in himself, definitely has the energy to put up a fight while syringe feeding at times. His poops are all normal and frequent.

The couple of questions I have are:
Is this a combination of now feeling lonely (He's currently my only pig, so would be understandable), and the infection, or more likely to be one rather than the other?

Would fostering a piggy help him in this situation? I assume it would help narrow down either of the above. If we were to do this they would be side by side, rather than mixed.

As we're after a small group of girls, is it worth searching for it now, even though there's at least 5 weeks before they can be mixed? I can easily separate the enclosure, as I have 2 90x160 dining tables with C&C grids around the edge and using fleece bedding, so I can put a good gap between them, so there's no risk of breaking in (I hope that makes sense)?

What would you do in this situation?

 

[Piggies&buns]

I'm sorry for your loss.

Is he only being syringe fed or is he independently eating hay and veg (albeit only when he is sat with you)?

It’s of course difficult to know whether he is grieving and not eating due to that or if it’s the infection. You are right in that if he hadn’t been neutered and he still didn’t eat then you would know he was in acute pining. Equally if you hadn’t neutered him and are set on having sows then you would have lost time waiting for neutering/recovering etc.

There would be pros and cons to getting new ones now and to waiting to get new piggies.

- If you get new piggies now, you won’t know whether they are actually going to be compatible until you put them together so you would need a backup plan in case the bonding failed when the time came.
- rescuing could still take a few weeks (although that would then mean he is closer to being able to be bonded anyway) so if he is in acute pining then that isn’t going to change. in a case of acute pining, getting a new friend is the priority no matter how you get said new friend.

Really it’s going to come down to what you feel is the best solution.
Personally, if there is an even a chance he isn’t eating due to being lonely, I would take the risk of getting new friends now and just hope the bonding works.

Do also consider that too much of a gap between the tables/cages would remove their ability to properly interact.

 

[Dom R]

I'm sorry for your loss.

Is he only being syringe fed or is he independently eating hay and veg (albeit only when he is sat with you)?

It’s of course difficult to know whether he is grieving and not eating due to that or if it’s the infection. You are right in that if he hadn’t been neutered and he still didn’t eat then you would know he was in acute pining. Equally if you hadn’t neutered him and are set on having sows then you would have lost time waiting for neutering/recovering etc.

There would be pros and cons to getting new ones now and to waiting to get new piggies.

- If you get new piggies now, you won’t know whether they are actually going to be compatible until you put them together so you would need a backup plan in case the bonding failed when the time came.
- rescuing could still take a few weeks (although that would then mean he is closer to being able to be bonded anyway) so if he is in acute pining then that isn’t going to change. in a case of acute pining, getting a new friend is the priority no matter how you get said new friend.

Really it’s going to come down to what you feel is the best solution.
Personally, if there is an even a chance he isn’t eating due to being lonely, I would take the risk of getting new friends now and just hope the bonding works.

Do also consider that too much of a gap between the tables/cages would remove their ability to properly interact.

He will independantly eat hay/vey while sat with us. We've been having him sat on the sofa with us and a pile of hay, and we've done a mixture of syringe feeding and he will end up jumping off of our laps into his hay and sit there munching it. So he does have a bit of appetite.

It's a very awkward situation with pros and cons everywhere (Like you said).

I don't mind if they don't end up getting on, although it would be nice, of course.

If you know, how much of a gap is too much? If I was to find some sows for him what would be best, I can't change the height of the enclosures, which is what I've seen, but I can add a roof/extra barriers and leave them closer if that's better. Any size reference to a reasonable gap would be helpful