How is Chipy able to eat Pellets but NOT veggies?

[PingandChipy]

Chipy had his teeth trimmed, molars and incisors on Tuesday. He is 6 years old and I was quite worried about him being sedated. He had this same procedure last April and it took him about 3 weeks to be able to eat properly.

He is trying his hardest to eat veggies but everytime he has it in his mouth he just gums it and it falls out. I've been cutting them up in all shapes and sizes and trying everything from carrots grated, green peppers chopped small, parsley in little pieces to mushy bananas. Everything falls out after he gums it.

The weridest thing is he CAN eat his pellets. It's so strange. It is Martins' brand and they crumble easily with water. So the only thing I can think of is that when he gums them his salvia makes them breakdown and he's able to swallow the small pieces. Oh and another weird thing. He was able to eat hay that I stuck in his mouth.

I don't understand how he can eat those things but not veggies. And he is trying SO hard to eat the veggies.

Any thoughts, ideas?

 

[paulag]

He's probably still quite sore at the moment, it will get better Did they give you any painkillers for him? Metacam can be helpful although isn't very strong.

You could try him with some little bits of chopped fruit. He's not going to come to any real harm without veg for a few days. Although the main concern is that he starts eating hay and the like to wear them correctly fairly soon. But at the moment his sore mouth needs to heal a little so it's good news that he's seating pellets.

Paula

 

[GoodbyMyLove]

If you lack painkillers you might be able to make a herbal tea if you got dried herbs in the house. camomile is great for a lot of things, I've used it when one of my pigs had a sore mounth.

Most of all give it time, are you 100% positive he's eating pellets? That's better then eating nothing.

 

[PingandChipy]

He is on metcam once a day for 7 days. Yep I saw him eat 3 in a row and swallow them after he chewed them awhile.

 

[Wiebke]

I think you are right - it is the pellets mushing up. It would be actually better for him if you turned them into a mush and fed him like that. It is good that he is able to eat hay and pellets - that is what he needs right now. If you wish, you can syringe pureed veg (cut the tip off of one syringe). Make sure that he is also getting enough fluids.

If I were you, I would look for harder pellets to help keeping his molars ground down once he is able to chew again.

 

[PingandChipy]

Hi,

I made a mush last night of his pellets but they ended up getting stuck in the syringe. So I am going to stick to giving him the critical care with baby food puree. I'm using a huge cathetar syringe so I thought it wouldn't get stuck. but it just pressed all the water out and the pellets stayed in the syringe ending up in a hard mass. Very strange.

You made a really good point about the pellets. I never thought of that. I'm going to get some different ones and mix them in with the other pellets to slowly switch over. I mean I'm going to do this right away for my other 3 pigs and then once Chipy is eating better I will slowly switch him too.

Thanks so much.

 

[Guinea Slave]

I don't know if this helps but I had a similar problem syringing soaked dry food so I ground it up first with a pestle and mortar and that helped a lot....

 

[Wiebke]

Can he lick up the mush or takes it from a spoon?

 

[PingandChipy]

I weighed Chipy this morning and he is 2.0 lbs,. After I fed him he was 2.1. This is good right? Should he weight more after feeding?

 

[PingandChipy]

Can he lick up the mush or takes it from a spoon?

He refuses to lick up anything. I watched him eat some more pellets this morning after I fed him bananas and critcal care. I also syringe fed him puree carrots.