• Discussions taking place within this forum are intended for the purpose of assisting you in discussing options with your vet. Any other use of advice given here is done so at your risk, is solely your responsibility and not that of this forum or its owner. Before posting it is your responsibility you abide by this Statement

Dental How To Encourage Gp To Eat Veg After Dental Surgery?

Grass does seem to work like magic, when they won't eat anything else. I also find they seem to like different veggies, to those that they have preferred before being poorly. Not sure if they associate their normal foods with feeling ill (a bit like we are after having a tummy bug) but I have noticed that their tastes seem to change considerably.
 
Yes I was thinking that Stormy may well be put off her fave veggies, having associated them with pain. I will have to look into grass options then...
 
We have all the piggies out for floor time, even Stormy was exploring at first! Scattered veg everywhere, again she was interested but then on offering small bits, nope.
Have to say, I do think she looks sort of "uncomfortable" in her body and wondering if her bowels are bothering her more than I thought.
 
That is very possible (gassiness), I can see how easily that could happen. No I don't have any drugs for that. Would I need to see a vet for a prescription or is there something I can give a try if she doesn't improve in the next day? I'd rather not have to take her out yet again!
She is definitely still pooing, small ones.
 
I don't know. She is on the gut stimulant (Ciasipride, if i've spelt that right).
Her stomach doesn't feel bloated or hard to me, though. I am making sure to pop some water in her mouth, about 0.3ml per every couple of ml food, maybe I should give her more in case she's not drinking as much from the bowl as I think?

I read online that pineapple aids digestion, I didn't know piggies could have pineapple?! I have one in the kitchen!
 
Reading up about bloat, scary stuff! I don't think it's that though, she's not all bloated with hard stomach around the ribs etc...
 
I'm having my usual evening low point. Only 46 ml managed so far today, and that was even though I've been really concentrating on repeatedly feeding her. I honestly would literally have to have her sat with me the whole day, in order to give her 120ml.

Meanwhile, she got very excited half an hour ago when I brought out radicchio, which she has always loved but they haven't had for a while (i think before her teeth issues). She was even chasing the other piggies for theirs, but as usual not opening her mouth to try and pick any up or take from my hands. I managed to push a little bit in for her in the end which she ate, but after that she was uninterested in me persisting in giving her more. Admittedly her mouth still had mush in (it constantly does unless a lot of time has gone by since the last feed). Nor was she interested in the few veg I grated/cut very small for her earlier, even though she wheeked for them. It's so heart breaking, I miss giving her her veg and having her munch it so quickly and happily.

At this point in time I just can't imagine her ever trying to eat anything by herself :( I'm so tired (I got up in the night to feed her and I think I will tonight too, given how little she's eaten yet again so far), and I can't believe I have to do this every day indefinitely, I just want to see her try to pick up something with her mouth and then I'd have hope but there's been no sign of that. Meanwhile she definitely does keep stopping and hunching up as if she's about to do a poo (but doesn't). Because she's been with the other piggies the whole time or else being fed (when she won't poo anyway), it isn't easy to tell whether she's pooed today... I might need to leave her out in the pen on her own again overnight to make sure she is...

I don't know what we're gonna do if this keeps going on and on, our lives are on hold. Simon said she will take some time to learn how to eat without her bottom incisors, but how long? How can we support her to even start, to realise she can do it? I don't know what to do, cos so far leaving veg there for her, however small, seems completely pointless.
 
I have many guinea pigs here, who have adapted to eating with missing incisors. I think your piggy has just lost confidence. I really wish you could get some grass. I find it works every time, with a piggy who has lost confidence in eating. Once they can manage that, then they come on in leaps and bounds.
 
I will try and order some grass! Yes it's definitely like she's lost confidence. Not lost the will yet, but lost the confidence.

I just had a nice time feeding her, she was actually for the first time reaching for & grabbing the syringe with her mouth! Normally it's me having to hold her up and put it in, but she was sat contentedly on my lap reaching for it some of the time (i held it near her) when she was ready for the next bit! She hadn't done that yet, so that felt good! It's felt horrible feeling like I'm bothering her all the time! It may be because I gave her a bit of the mashed nuggets in the middle of the session, also this afternoon I switched back to Science Recovery for a change for her, maybe she prefers that one to the Oxbow! Also, it means, if she was reaching for and opening her mouth to grab the syringe then surely she can grab veg............. So maybe there is hope after all.
It's an emotional roller coaster ride huh. I'll be getting her out of the cage again soon, I'll have some veg ready for her as well just in case.
 
Thanks :) Yes you're amazing to do what you do! And supporting on here as well. I would have felt so alone and more afraid if it wasn't for this forum!
 
Just been reading how easy it is to grow wheatgrass, so I might have to try that!
 
It's really positive that she's attempting to grab the syringe. It's always disheartening when a piggy is not eating but the feeling of relief when they finally start eating is worth it!

Wheatgrass is super easy to grow, I sometimes do it in the Winter. Do you know anyone with a garden who could possibly have grass? (Apologies if it's a silly question you've probably thought of this already).
 
we don't manage to get 120ml into Pendleton. I'd say we manage about six 15ml feeds a day, and that is just enough to sustain his weight.
It can be such a roller coaster with dental pigs (as we've discovered these past 6 weeks!) Some days they aren't interested in food, other days they are. We've found that trying lots and lots of different foods helps; he seems to fancy different things each day. We've had success with: lettuce, chopped up cabbage leaves, spinach leaves, dill, flat leaf parsely (and sometimes curly parsely), kale...today he ate a few bits of apple and carrott that we'd shaved into long, flat shavings. Anything larger than a few mm thick and he can't eat it. Whereas yesterday he wasn't at all interested in any veg.
Pendleton has also been pooing much less regularly since we've been syringe feeding too. Sometimes he doesn't do any for 24 hours, and then does a whole load all at once. We try to do a syringe of dual-care every so often, since that is supposed to aid digestive health.

I do wonder whether there is still some work to be done on your piggy's teeth. It sounds like the dental work hasn't had the same effect that Pendleton's had. He seemed much perkier the same day, but it sounds like your pig is still uncomfortable. :( As suggested above, maybe increase the metacam dose, and/or do more doses throughout the day. Pigs metabolise it quite quickly I think, so it can wear off fast. We do three 0.2ml a day, but I think you can go even higher than that. We also have some vetagesic, which we use when he has a very bad day.
 
Pendleton also gets gassy too. We've been using a small dose if Infacol (gripe water). Also, if you can encourage her to run around that can shift some of the gas.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top