How do I make my piggy podgy(er)?!

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Tommies Mam

Tommies Mam

Adult Guinea Pig
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Been to the vets today and my piggies a bit underweight (he weighs 1llb 12 oz). He is a rescue piggy and is 4 years old, he had his two bottom teeth missing and his cage mate whom he is now seperated from, kept nicking his food when he was rescued so I guessing that, that is a contributing factor in his low weight.

I am ensuring that he always has dried food availalable and his much loved alfalfa cubes on the go plus he gets lots of fresh vegatable and fruit-he likes leafy greans, banana, the occasional carrot and fennel (his fave!). He has a pretty good appetite.

Can anyone help me in advising ways of helping to get his weight back on him?
 
Sounds like you are doing just fine, he is bound to put weight on, give him a little time. I have heard that dry porridge oats can add weight to them quite quickly, a little sprinkled on their dry food but I think it more puts fat on than condition. It probably isn`t really necessary :)
How did he get on at the vets today? :smitten:
 
the reason i ask is because as soon as my piggies get some fresh grass in their bellies, either picked by hand or knawed themselves, they seem so much more satisfied than their veg, fruit and feed given on a daily basis.
 
He's indoors, but I have fresh grass plants in the house for them plus I have just order a huge bag of dried grass for them (I have three) and he loves fresh grass.

Lavenderjade, thanks for your enquiry. The vet thinks he may be starting with a chest infection so he's on baytril for 5 days and his teeth haven't grown back on fantastic allignement so he may need some more work on them at a later date.
 
how are his poo poo's? I have just had a female 9 weeks old that was picked on by 2 other piggies of mine, She stopped eating and drinking completely then had horrendous runs. Vet said it was stress. She gave me an ace vial or stuff (forget the name) for her gut, and it sorted her out big time, since then she has started to eat and drink again, even talk to me and feel happy being handled, and she has put on weight this past week too. Just got to tackle introducing her to the other females again - not looking forward to that.
 
Normal he had some probs initially when he first went into rescue but it was cleared up with some help from the vets
 
thats a good sign.

Every night I get at least one of my pigs out for what i call 'comfy time' on the sofa, and let them crawl and poo anywhere, and have a real good look and smell around, (plus get spoilt rotten on their own with treats and cuddles). I really do believe that it helps them encourage their own personalities away form other pigs, and enjoy their time with you themselves. i have 6 at the mo, but more soon as still waiting for Penny to drop. She is a week overdue! But I do think that it helps to handle our pets as much as possible as long as it doesnt upset them, and we can reward each other just as much with the bonds we make.
 
Remember to give him a probiotic with the baytril such as bio lapis to keep his gut flora in good working order ;)
Keep us posted on the lovely fella, he has quite a fan club on here O0

Well done for looking after him so beautifully, you are a great piggy mummy :)
 
Oh dear the meds wont help much as you probably already know... tend to put them off their food :-\ :-\ :-\
Once he's over that, lots of fresh hay, pellets and veggies O0 O0 O0 O0 and TLC but hey, he's been getting that from you anyways :smitten: :smitten: :smitten:
It's sooo obvious he's loving his forever home :smitten: :smitten: :smitten:
Sending some healing wheeks from Duke for him O0 O0 O0 O0
 
Hey there! How's the little fella now?

I used to breed guineas and had a couple of u/d ones. The fab folk at Kent Coastal Cavy Club told me about Burgess Supa Guinea feed - it's brill! It's sometimes a little bit pricier than Gerty but not usually by much.

They've now changed the look of it to pellet form (it looks a bit like dry cat or dog food now) cos lots of piggies were being crafty and only eatin the bits they like. At least this way you know the pigs are gettin all the goodness.

I've just got one little piggy now - black self - 7 weeks old today - he's fab - loves muchin away on the Supa Guinea.

Good luck xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
 
Hi Wanda
We use a mix that we call Build and calm for the chinchillas if they come in underweight.I am not sure if it is ok for guinea pigs or not though :-\
I cant see why it shouldnt be ok though but I will try and find out

Build & Calm Mix

A mix to help build up underweight chinnys. Can be used as a little treat a couple of times per week for any chinny.
You Can also use it post-op eg. after dental surgery, as it can be sore for your chinny when eating. I find it encourages them to eat.

It smells lovely and has lots of nutritional ingredients along with calming herbs such as chamomile flowers and marjoram. The herbs aid digestion in combination with bran, hemp seed and linseed. This mix also contains Echinacea which is said to help boost the immune system.

This mix contains amongst others:

Calming Herbs
Chamomile Flowers
Marjoram
Bran
Hemp Seed
Linseed
Echinacea
 
Darky said:
Sokel, were you supposed to paste all of that? ;D
Click to expand...
Opps thats what I get for copy and pasteing off our web site ::)
 
Mine felt a bit underweight when i first got her but she seems to be getting a bit fatter now which is good because winter is coming soon!
 
Teddy & Larry were quite thin when I got them a few months back, they were 7 months old then. Now they are chubsters ;D They wolf down their supa guinea excel pellets, big bowl of fresh veg twice a day, dried grass (fresh grass a bit crappy now), timothy hay and meadow hay. Larry especially has triple chins ;D
 
Thanks for an interesting thread Tommies Mam. Our rescue Jazz is also quite small, he's about 10 months old and weighs in at 1lb 9oz and compared to our lot he feels very light. He eats well, loves pretty much everything he is offered but hasn't gained weight in the 2 months we've had him. We take him out of the group and feed him veggies by hand to make sure he is getting his fair share and he still tucks in when its food time for everyone. I know he's still got a bit of growing to do so am hoping he will fill out over the next couple of months.
 
Thanks so much for your help and advice. I started him on science selective recovery tonight, wouldn't take it off a spoon tried a syringe-not a chance he hates it and lets it run straight back out not matter how tiny an amount I give him, now I am wearing it. Rather like doingthe medication round at work really!. He is eating really well though-tucking into an apple right now. He's such a little darling 0:)
 
How about trying Cavy Performance? It's on the SPH Supplies website. It is a bit pricey but am sure it'll be worth it if it works! Good luck! :smitten:
 
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