How Do You Put A Gp On A Diet?

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Twolardyboars

Twolardyboars

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I took my (new rescued) boars to the vets as thought they had bloat, they didn't they are just a bit overweight, cue me being embarrassed! Vet said they need a diet and to reduce hard feed and up hay loads. I have given them lots of fresh hay, but obviously need to give them their veg, but what kind of portion sizes do I give? She said little and often so they don't gauge but I'm still clueless. In a day they probably have the equivalent of half a carrot each, a leaf of cabbage, about a quarter of pepper and a few sprigs of kale. Is that ok? I think I'm giving too much?
 
I think carrot is high in sugar so maybe cut down on those and they only need a teaspoon of pellets each a day
 
I would definitely cut down on the carrots, personally I only feed a small amount as an occasional treat due to the sugar content. I have no idea why everywhere says they can be fed daily, they're high in sugar!

Cabbage can give your piggies bloat if fed every day. I would cut down on that a bit too (not related to their weight though, it's just so they don't get bloated in the future), perhaps feed a little less and not quite as often (e.g. a quarter of a leaf per piggy, 2-4 times a week). :)

Generally about a cupful of veg every day is good, feed maybe two types of veg in the morning and two in the evening. Different veggies you can feed include coriander, dark leafy lettuce such as cos/romaine/sweet gem (no iceberg), cucumber, spring greens, celery (cut into inch-long slices so they don't choke on the strings), dill, parsley. More piggy veg listed here: https://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk...veg-and-fruit-list-with-vitamin-c-grading.42/

Kale is great because it's rich in Vitamin C, but may I suggest not feeding it every single day as it is high in calcium? Twice a week is good. Too much calcium contributes to bladder stones. And they only need one Vitamin C-rich veg per day, so on the days you are feeding kale, don't feed pepper. Just a suggestion. :)

Good luck with your piggies! It sounds like that rescue is not very good, they shouldn't put up overweight piggies for adoption without telling people they are overweight and making sure you know they have to be on a diet. You shouldn't have had to go to the vet in order to find that out. Unless you got them from gumtree or somewhere similar, in which case the previous owner was probably not very knowledgeable about piggies.
 
Thanks so much for the responses. Will look to cut down and revisit what I give them. Tbh the vet didn't use the word 'overweight' but that one in particular had a very round tummy, which I think is my own fault from my feeding.

One is a smaller boy who's got a bit rounder since I've had him. I couldn't fault the rescue centre, totally my fault.

I've tried putting hay in toilet rolls for fun but is there another way to get them to fill up on the hay?
 
Just make sure they have plenty in a hay rack or hay bag or I've seen people putting it in big paper bags. Hay should always be available to a guinea pig, always as it says in the link I gave you it's 80% of their diet and it helps keep their teeth down.
 
I have been reading through your post and what you have been through sounds too formal :-( my Apple went though almost exactly what you have described. She started off with an upset tummy, was given meds (not batril) then got blote, she had x-rays & scans which showed she has very small cysts but was told this was not the cause, after 2 weeks of hand feeding every 2 hours she suddenly got a cough we rushed her to the out of hours vets and after a lot of US trying to come up with new treatments and the vet shutting everything down on everything we come up with, he told us she was VERRY VERRY unlikely to make it and she was oversaly in pain we made the heart breaking decision to let her "go to sleep" peacefully.

Now I feel physically sick to think if we had known about these injections & got them she may have got better.

I have everything crossed that your little one makes a full recovery. x
 
Oh and make sure they get plenty of exercise every day, that helps them to loose excess weight. An hour of exerise a day at the minimum, but more is always better. A larger cage is great too. :)
 
Thanks for your posts. I gave a quarter of a cabbage leaf and a slice of pepper before work this morning and lots of cuddles. I got home and let them have a run around and all fine. Whilst running around I gave them a bit of coriander - or it might have been parsley? - each. Put Mr Lardy in and it's as though he's grown since then! He's rounder. How is this possible? Still eating and drinking - and poohing. I noticed him doing a few poos all in one go and one got a bit stuck.

How can I keep on top of this round/diet thing?

They have a great sized run and a big off grass area play in, so they are keeping active.
 
Because I've cut back on veg they are going mad with eating hay! I've also not given pellets this eve? How is he getting fatter?
 
Bless you, I haven't seen any other posts from you so apologies if you have already posted information. How old are your boys expected to be? Once a piggy is fully grown they don't need unlimited access to pellets. I usually do a cup between two per day and I always make sure they have plenty of hay. I just put the hay in a big pile as they like to jump into it and burrow. As said above, carrots can be fattening so maybe cut down on the amount of carrot you feed them. I would give them a week or two to see if there's any change and if not maybe look into whether there is a cavy savvy vet nearby that you can get a second opinion from?
 
Thank you lady Kelly. It's as he goes round, then he's not, then he's round again. I've had them for a week and a bit and they are two boars. I'm waiting for the new run to arrive, but I'd like to think that when I'm in home they'll be out loads, but now I'm panicking that they'll never be able to do that because of Mr lardys ability to keep getting round.
 
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