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How To Fatten Up A Guinea Pig?

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Kirsty

Kirsty

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Hi everyone,
My guinea pig is underweight, does anyone have any ways in which i can try fatten him up? He always has lots of hay available of a good quality and food, and always gets veg and fruit a day. He's recently been up well and is still under medication but the most worrying thing is his weight, do you have any advise on how I could fatten him up?

Thank you :)
 
How much does he weigh and how old is he? What medication is he on?

If one of mine is underweight I tend to give syringe feed in addition to their normal feed but I know some people feed things like oats and bran to put weight on pigs. I tried to give my late Nigel bran as he was tiny due to heart issues but he would not touch it.
 
He weighs 1 pound 15. and he is around 3 years old, he's on metican and another medication for his gut. Which I cannot remember the name atm!

He's eating like normal, but doesn't seem to be eating enough as he is loosing weight still. He was always around the same weight as my other guinea pig which weighs 3pounds (little chunker) but now he's half the weight and tiny :( been vets and he's undergoing vet treatment at the mo but I just want something to speed up weight gain atm really...
 
Just converted it and looks like that is about 880g? Metacam is pain relief, the other medication may be Emeprid which is a gut stimulant. Some vets also prescribe Zantac.

Is the weight loss from his illness or has it been happening over time? I just had a look at your old thread, what made the vet think he may have a URI? low weight can be a sign of heart issues and so can recurring URIs so it would be a good idea to ask the vets to check for this in case.

Have you looked at the recommended vets locator?

From the other threads it looks like it was a bloat type issue from lack of probiotics with the Baytril. However, if he is prone to issues with gas it will affect his eating so it is important to get on top of that.

I would give him supplementary feeds using critical care or recovery food.
 
Kirsty said:
He weighs 1 pound 15. and he is around 3 years old, he's on metican and another medication for his gut. Which I cannot remember the name atm!

He's eating like normal, but doesn't seem to be eating enough as he is loosing weight still. He was always around the same weight as my other guinea pig which weighs 3pounds (little chunker) but now he's half the weight and tiny :( been vets and he's undergoing vet treatment at the mo but I just want something to speed up weight gain atm really...
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Is his weight in British (450g) or American (500g) pounds? Can you please tell us what he is being treated for and what kind of medication is he on and how long has he been on it? Baytril can have severe side effects, for instance.

If he is still losing weight, then the treatment is obviously not quite working. Has your vet checked his back teeth?
 
The vet thought he had a UTI because he has had one before so he took that for precaution. And yes the other medication is a gut stimulant I think. He is no longer on baytril and the vet realised that there must be another issue with his gut ect so baytril was not needed. he hasn't been on it for a week now. He has checked his teeth and heart rate and all seemed fine. That's why we are thinking it's a gut issue. Waiting to go back to vets Thursday to see any improvement. But in the meanwhile needing things to help him put on weight, what is critical care? Where can I get it? And can it be used alongside other medication that he is already on? it won't afford the other meds will it?

Any other pointers? And it is is british pounds and ounces, 1pound 15 ounces.
 
Your vet should also sell it, most likely be Supreme Recovery rather than the Oxbow critical care, it won't be very expensive for a couple of small sachets.
 
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