Help - Not Eating

[kiera]

hello guys I'm looking advice 2 months ago ive took poppy to the vets because she wasnt eating and she was just peeing but not doing pops and they said they it was something about stress that affecting her system.Shes on the recovery feed and medicine but thats helped but shes losing much weight because shes so so skinny and ive done everything even hand feeding her to make shes eating but she only eating wee tiny bites of her food and thats not like her because shes loves her food like her sister amy

 

[pnwgranny]

Have you tried syringe feeding her critical care. Ask you vet first.

 

[DM030819]

It sounds like it could be teeth problems. Have a good guinea pig vet have a look at them for you. If it's not that then a good guinea pig vet will be able to work out what it going on.

In the meantime you need to be aggressively hand fed. You need to get enough food into her to maintain weight. That can be from anywhere between 60ml to 120ml of mixed food. It is a massive task but it's the only thing we can do.

If you're not able to do this then you need to make the visit to a good vet a priority. I had to hand feed a pig a month ago and I admit to it being hard work. See if there is someone who will share the task with you. A friend helped me syringe feed one of my pigs for a week a few years ago.

 

[kiera]

It sounds like it could be teeth problems. Have a good guinea pig vet have a look at them for you. If it's not that then a good guinea pig vet will be able to work out what it going on.

In the meantime you need to be aggressively hand fed. You need to get enough food into her to maintain weight. That can be from anywhere between 60ml to 120ml of mixed food. It is a massive task but it's the only thing we can do.

If you're not able to do this then you need to make the visit to a good vet a priority. I had to hand feed a pig a month ago and I admit to it being hard work. See if there is someone who will share the task with you. A friend helped me syringe feed one of my pigs for a week a few years ago.

thanks ill ask the vet on monday since already taken on there

 

[Wiebke]

hello guys I'm looking advice 2 months ago ive took poppy to the vets because she wasnt eating and she was just peeing but not doing pops and they said they it was something about stress that affecting her system.Shes on the recovery feed and medicine but thats helped but shes losing much weight because shes so so skinny and ive done everything even hand feeding her to make shes eating but she only eating wee tiny bites of her food and thats not like her because shes loves her food like her sister amy

Have your vets checked
- her back teeth for overgrown molars?
- her kidneys; for diabetes; for internal tumours?

Guinea pigs just don't stop eating because of stress. Can you get to a more piggy savvy vet? Please continue to syringe feed and water her as much as possible.

The more often the less she can take in in one go; if she is very weak and struggles to swallow, you can give her only about 0.1 ml (one tenth of a small syringe) in one go; also offer her as much water as she will take. A guinea pig needs 40-60 ml a day in syringe feed or solids to just keep the guts going; a healthy guinea pig is eating about the equivalent of 120 ml in 24 hours, around 80% of that is hay.

 

[kiera]

Have your vets checked
- her back teeth for overgrown molars?
- her kidneys; for diabetes; for internal tumours?

Guinea pigs just don't stop eating because of stress. Can you get to a more piggy savvy vet? Please continue to syringe feed and water her as much as possible.

The more often the less she can take in in one go; if she is very weak and struggles to swallow, you can give her only about 0.1 ml (one tenth of a small syringe) in one go; also offer her as much water as she will take. A guinea pig needs 40-60 ml a day in syringe feed or solids to just keep the guts going; a healthy guinea pig is eating about the equivalent of 120 ml in 24 hours, around 80% of that is hay.

she drinks alot of water because i clean their water bottle every morning and shes always there drining it all till its finished

 

[VickiA]

If your piggy is drinking over 300mls of water (assuming that is the size of the bottle) then that is abnormal. The large water volume could be due to kidney failure, diabetes or othe disorders (thyroid etc). Please ask your vet to check the back teeth, and has a blood test been taken to check for thyroid, kidneys etc?

 

[Adelle]

I've found one of my girls guzzles water when she's in pain; whereas the other stops drinking completely when she's in pain. Every pig is different but she is showing you something is wrong, even if the drinking isn't a direct result of a related issue such as kidneys or diabetes.
I too would recommend seeing a more piggy knowledgable vet X