Guinea Pig won’t eat!

[Tori11247]

Hi everyone!
My little gussy pig seems to of lost his appetite over the last week. He wouldn’t finish his full bowl of veggies and now he won’t touch them at all! He eats small amounts of grass in the garden and some dandelion leaves. He’s been to 2 different vets this week and they have said that he doesn’t appear to be in any pain and they check him over and can’t see anything wrong with him. We have had to start syringe feeding him because he’s losing weight. Has anyone got any advice? I hate seeing my piggie like this (

 

[Piggies&buns]

He definitely needs syringe feeding regularly if he isn’t eating any hay for himself.
What areas did the vet check when you took him in?

 

[Wiebke]

Hi everyone!
My little gussy pig seems to of lost his appetite over the last week. He wouldn’t finish his full bowl of veggies and now he won’t touch them at all! He eats small amounts of grass in the garden and some dandelion leaves. He’s been to 2 different vets this week and they have said that he doesn’t appear to be in any pain and they check him over and can’t see anything wrong with him. We have had to start syringe feeding him because he’s losing weight. Has anyone got any advice? I hate seeing my piggie like this (

Hi and welcome!

Have the vets checked the teeth (including the back teeth) and have they checked for any swelling in the mouth area re. a potentially developing dental root abscess? It can in my own experience make itself known before it blows up.

The fact that your boy is only eating soft foods now is rather pointing towards discomfort when chewing like you yourself are switching to foods you don't have to chew when you have toothache. Fresh grass and and finely shredded lettuce was all my Dylan would eat when he developed a jaw abscess last December.

Could you please tell us which county you are in? This will play into any further recommendations.

Here is our syringe feeding guide. Please keep in mind that hay is normally making 80% of the daily food intake so you have to replace a lot more food than people who measure portion size only by veg and pellets are a aware of: Complete Syringe Feeding Guide

 

[Tori11247]

Checked the teeth, stomach for any abdominal problems and they weighed him. He’s going to see a specialist on Thursday as that’s what the vet suggested. His eyes are bright and he’s very alert. It’s heartbreaking to see him not eating

He definitely needs syringe feeding regularly if he isn’t eating any hay for himself.
What areas did the vet check when you took him in?

 

[Tori11247]

Hi and welcome!

Have the vets checked the teeth (including the back teeth) and have they checked for any swelling in the mouth area re. a potentially developing dental root abscess? It can in my own experience make itself known before it blows up.

The fact that your boy is only eating soft foods now is rather pointing towards discomfort when chewing like you yourself are switching to foods you don't have to chew when you have toothache. Fresh grass and and finely shredded lettuce was all my Dylan would eat when he developed a jaw abscess last December.

Could you please tell us which county you are in? This will play into any further recommendations.

Here is our syringe feeding guide. Please keep in mind that hay is normally making 80% of the daily food intake so you have to replace a lot more food than people who measure portion size only by veg and pellets are a aware of: Complete Syringe Feeding Guide

They have checked his teeth and they can’t see any problems. I’m from the UK. If you don’t mind me asking, did your pig recover? I hate seeing gus not eating

 

[Wiebke]

They have checked his teeth and they can’t see any problems. I’m from the UK. If you don’t mind me asking, did your pig recover? I hate seeing gus not eating

Yes, Dylan has fully recovered and is currently still happily tucking into some fresh grass from the garden as I type this. Two courses of zithromax and high metacam have thankfully settled his abscess down. He was lucky in that the abscess was not so far developed as to break through the zithromax over Christmas and that it has stayed put. Even though he completely lost his appetite towards the end because of the strong antibiotic and had to be syringe fed round the clock over New Year until his check up appointment after the holidays.
Here is a link to a video I took of Dylan during the time he was on treatment:

But my Hywel ended up with a fully developed incisor root abscess some time after developing the kind of eating issues you are reporting and despite being seen by a piggy savvy vet promptly - the abscess initially only manifested as a toothache without any other symptoms yet. And a piggy can unfortunately not tell you that!
PS: Despite Hywel's incisor root abscess turning into quite a saga and requiring two operations due to some unfortunate circumstances beyond my control, he lived to within 2 weeks of his 7th birthday and died from another problem.

However mystery weight loss and loss of a appetite is a very wide field and my least favourite symptom because it can be so difficult to pin it down especially when there are not even any pointers as to where the issue could be located!

 

[Merab]

Welcome to the forum.
I can only offer support and hope that all goes well on Thursday.
When any of mine have needed support feeding I find that some grated sweet potato with raw oats goes down well.
They also have enjoyed some mashed banana in with the Critical Care or mushed pellets.

Holding you in my thoughts

 

[Tori11247]

Welcome to the forum.
I can only offer support and hope that all goes well on Thursday.
When any of mine have needed support feeding I find that some grated sweet potato with raw oats goes down well.
They also have enjoyed some mashed banana in with the Critical Care or mushed pellets.

Holding you in my thoughts

Thank you so much it means a lot! When syringe feeding, did your piggies get their appetite back?

 

[Merab]

Thank you so much it means a lot! When syringe feeding, did your piggies get their appetite back?

Yes they did, except for Jemimah who had a tumour and I was just boosting her calories to help her retain some weight.
Mostly I have only needed to syringe feed post-op piggies .
I have also left a dish of the syringe feed ( with mashed banana) in the cage to encourage them to eat for themselves.

 

[Tori11247]

Yes, Dylan has fully recovered and is currently still happily tucking into some fresh grass from the garden as I type this. Two courses of zithromax and high metacam have thankfully settled his abscess down. He was lucky in that the abscess was not so far developed as to break through the zithromax over Christmas and that it has stayed put. Even though he completely lost his appetite towards the end because of the strong antibiotic and had to be syringe fed round the clock over New Year until his check up appointment after the holidays.
Here is a link to a video I took of Dylan during the time he was on treatment:

But my Hywel ended up with a fully developed incisor root abscess some time after developing the kind of eating issues you are reporting and despite being seen by a piggy savvy vet promptly - the abscess initially only manifested as a toothache without any other symptoms yet. And a piggy can unfortunately not tell you that!
PS: Despite Hywel's incisor root abscess turning into quite a saga and requiring two operations due to some unfortunate circumstances beyond my control, he lived to within 2 weeks of his 7th birthday and died from another problem.

However mystery weight loss and loss of a appetite is a very wide field and my least favourite symptom because it can be so difficult to pin it down especially when there are not even any pointers as to where the issue could be located!

I’m so happy Dylan made a full recovery! He’s a very sweet piggie! I’m going to keep syringe feeding and see what the specialist says on Thursday. It’s so annoying that they can’t find anything wrong! Something must be causing him to eat so little

 

[Wiebke]

I’m so happy Dylan made a full recovery! He’s a very sweet piggie! I’m going to keep syringe feeding and see what the specialist says on Thursday. It’s so annoying that they can’t find anything wrong! Something must be causing him to eat so little

If it turns out tooth related, please contact the Cat&Rabbit Care Clinic in Northampton. They are the best and most guinea pig dental vets in the whole country as do about 25 dentals every week for piggies from as far as Cornwall and Ediburgh. That is more than most vets see in their whole career. Hywel would definitely have not lived for as long as he did (since my local vets were not able to deal with abscess) and Dylan would be struggling with an abscess had he not be put on the correct medication without the clinic. The Cat&Rabbit with Simon and Kim Maddock at the helm only sees cats, rabbits and guinea pigs and other small furries so while they are not exotic vets, they are very experienced in these species.
Vet Locator
Cat and Rabbit Care Clinic | Northlands Vets

That is the reason why I have enquired about your more detailed location. Guinea pig dentals are not something that is featured in any vet's curriculum.

Of course it can turn out to be something completely different!

All the best!