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Holly has lost weight since her spay op

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Thanks! Yes, she's stuffing her face with veggies fine - she really should be able to maintain her weight based on what she's eating (although I never see her at the dried food). She's definitely eating hay, although it's obviously impossible to say how much.

I feel I have a bizarre group in my cage at the moment - a porky gassy girl who really is overweight, a skinny girl who needs porking up, and one that's just about OK! I sometimes get Holly out for sneaky extra feeds.
 
That is a worry fingers crossed she can gain some weight. everyone says corn is good for that. Would use it myself but for some reason my lot hate it!
 
That's a thought... will get some I think. :)

I'm actually tempted to buy some unhealthy muesli to try to tempt her with, and give her some sneaky extra feeds of. It took me bloomin' ages to get them to tolerate Cavy Cuisine, but none of them have ever really been keen. I'm not letting the other two at it though!
 
Although Bupu wasn't spayed she went through a weight loss of 4oz in May she is slowly gaining and we still don't know why. I used the museli as she won't eat corn and that has helped. Although ideally I would prefer to gain weight through veggies but it wasn't happening for her. :)
 
Well I'm sitting here with Holly, who is absolutely stuffing her face with a muesli mix (picky piggies! rolleyes), plus babycorn, greens, corriander and carrot.

I now have to make the decision whether to add it half and half (with Cavy Cuisine) to the food in the cage, or just to keep getting her out for sneaky feeds. I have a feeling she's just gone right off the Cavy Cuisine since her spay, given that she has never been keen on it anyway.
 
Raw beetroot IS good for bulking up, i normally grate mine into some broad bran and give it as a sort of bran mash!

(BE CAREFULL with beetroot - it stains everything and will make their poop purple - wash your hands after cutting it up - i went to answer the front door once still holding my beetroot knife and i nearly gave the postman a heart attack - woman with big knife and dripping blood/beetroot juice).:))

Best of luck with her.

Ali
 
amentalcat said:
Raw beetroot IS good for bulking up, i normally grate mine into some broad bran and give it as a sort of bran mash!

(BE CAREFULL with beetroot - it stains everything and will make their poop purple - wash your hands after cutting it up - i went to answer the front door once still holding my beetroot knife and i nearly gave the postman a heart attack - woman with big knife and dripping blood/beetroot juice).:))
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:)) Would love to have seen the look on the posties face!
 
:)) Will add beetroot to the shopping list too!

I think i'm going to have to give in and put half and half muesli and cavy cuisine in the cage. At least then she can graze on it throughout the day. The other 2 are going to think it's Christmas! rolleyes
 
I'm really unsure of what to do with Holly these days... :(

I got the Daktarin down to once a day and, predictably, Holly started going downhill again, eating less and losing weight. So, I've stepped it back up to 3 x a day, and I predict that she'll increase weight again. I keep wondering if it's her throat rather than her mouth, although I don't know why that would make her eat strangely sometimes (she gets food trapped in her mouth that she wants to dislodge).

I seem to be able to keep her at around 900 g with a combination of 3 x a day Daktarin oral gel, and an extra meal a day of baby corn, carrot and dried food (muesli).
 
That Holly pig is giving me nothing but grey hairs! :{

Seriously, she just starts putting on weight steadily day by day, only to suddenly go downhill again. Some days it's so confusing that I can't even begin to list her symptoms.

This morning she wouldn't eat her veggie breakfast at all. :( So, I got her out and syringed lots of water into her, which she took voluntarily, then she ate about half of it. I grated up some carrot, in case it was her mouth that was sore, but she wouldn't touch that. Instead, she ate some dried food, and a bit of lettuce. She also nibbled on some hay when I put her back in the cage.

So, to summarise, this is what helps her (and to me it really doesn't make a lot of sense):

- Daktarin oral gel
- Oral Ivermectin (whereas Panacur didn't help)
 
Have you spoken with furryfriends? She had longterm weight problems with her Pops, who has finally started to put on weight again big time.

I am sorry that I cannot help you more - in these situations it's find out what works and go with it... Frustrating for you!
 
I'm wondering whether the Daktarin is going into her gut and helping there, ie that it's a red herring with the mouth. Maybe it is fungal after all (although I don't think ivermectin is anti fungal).

I'm wondering whether I should try Dida next... :{
 
Can you pm alcesterpigs or CCC4 about this - they are closest to what we have in terms of medical experts on here!
 
Hi Sarah, sorry to hear things are still so up and down with poor Holly! I think assuming this could be a systemic fungal problem might be a good next step. Dida is probably worth trying at this stage, half a tablet twice daily for 4-6 weeks (depending on response).

Interesting that the Panacur didn't work, although perhaps a longer course as discussed a month or two ago would work. I apologise greatly for not getting back to you with dosage, I am ashamed to admit I totally forgot. :red I can find out for you this morning if you are still interested?

PS Thank you for the reference Wiebke. :)
 
CCC4 said:
Hi Sarah, sorry to hear things are still so up and down with poor Holly! I think assuming this could be a systemic fungal problem might be a good next step. Dida is probably worth trying at this stage, half a tablet twice daily for 4-6 weeks (depending on response).

Interesting that the Panacur didn't work, although perhaps a longer course as discussed a month or two ago would work. I apologise greatly for not getting back to you with dosage, I am ashamed to admit I totally forgot. :red I can find out for you this morning if you are still interested?
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It's odd about the Panacur, isn't it? Oral ivermectin always has good results, but Panacur actually made her weight plummet (although it could have been coincedence, as it was only a one-off dosage).

It's great to have avenues to try still, so anything you could find out about the Panacur dosage would obviously be useful and I'd be very grateful. :) I have some Four Seasons wormer on order, which is going to be my next thing to try, since she has just had her final ivermectin follow up last night (and predictably is eating her breakfast this morning - I hope to see some weight gain later too). Someone has also mentioned the possibility of Eimeria infection also.
 
Just tried ringing Vedra but can't get through at the moment. Will keep trying and get back to you soon as I've spoken to her.

I was hoping to find something about the dose in Tuppy's notes but it seems I did not post it anywhere - very odd!
 
Got through to her mid afternoon! The dosage for an intensive course of Panacur (or Valbazen) in cases of suspected systemic fungal is:

0.4ml first day
0.2ml subsequent days

The course should last around 9-11 days, so you will have the first 0.4ml dose, and then the remaining 8-10 doses will be at the reduced dose.

Even if you decide not to go with it, I hope the info is of some use!
 
Thanks so much for doing that. I'll definitely hold it in reserve! :)

I've just had Holly out for her daily weigh in and extra feed. She has become a complete monkey now, as she enjoys climbing out of her tray rather than sitting and eating like she used to. rolleyes She's definitely still picky with her food, and only 848 g, but that's a lot better than this time yesterday (818 g, the new low).

These piggies will be the death of me!
 
Good to hear she is on the up! Let's hope it stays that way. :)

I also really hope things ease up for you soon, it is very stressful, especially when you don't quite know what is going on! I had two years of constant illnesses with my lot, luckily none mysterious, even so it was very draining and unfortunately only ended with the loss of each sickly pig. They were all a good age, just had rotten luck with their health in the last year for each of them.

I feel sure something will work for Holly. I know it's not on topic, but how is Cassie? Have you got on top of her gas yet? I found Buscopan was a major help for my gassy pigs - one dose and they are deflated! Not had any sensitive/sore tummies for a while now.
 
Yeah, I know what you mean, Laura. I really don't think Holly will be with me for much longer, but I'm trying to do everything I can and yet prepare for the worst at the same time. :(

Unfortunately, Gassie Cassie is still really much the same. :( With her, she is mostly always the same sort of size, so I haven't actually tried the Buscopan yet - mainly because I didn't think I could give it every day. What definitely doesn't help is that Holly's diet is having to have top priority, and it's bloomin' difficult to be feeding two piggies in the same cage with completely different dietary requirements. You can imagine! rolleyes
 
Well, it's been a while, and I've been trying to rule things out. The Ivomec confused me, as it did seem to help slightly, so I started to think it might be parasitic. The Four Seasons wormer didn't help though.

So, I went back to the original theory that it was fungal, given that the Daktarin oral gel helps so much. I've started Holly on a course of Dida and... she has reached her target weight today of 950 g! 8) I never thought that would happen! She has a new target now of 1 kg, which would be nice and tubby/safe for her.
 
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