How to put weight on a guineapig?

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Jumpinjen

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Hi, I have a six year old piggie who was recently checked by our vet due to being underweight.... nothing underlying so we continued... he gets high quality nuggets, dried forage, meadow hay, Timothy hay and fresh food and is always keen to eat.... horrifically, in the night last night, he was attacked by a rat we think and sustained nasty bite wounds and is understandably traumatised.... he was treated by the vet and I've been getting him out two hourly to handfeed a I noticed that he goes into a kind of daze after a while in his cage and stops eating (we have set up his winter pen indoors for him)... I'm worried that the extra energy he will use to heal his wounds and recover will cause him to lose more weight.... so wondering what else I could offer him that is high energy and might help him keep his weight on or ideally, put some more on? Thanks
 
Oh gosh how awful. I hope he recovers well from his injuries.

The best thing for weight gain is first and foremost obviously eating plenty of hay, you can also offer supplementary support feeding of fibre rich food if he isn’t eating enough hay. On top of that, some people give some oats to underweight piggies.
 
Attacked by a rat? How very traumatic for your piggy!

My Meg is underweight atm and I am giving her extra breakfast and supper of Science Selective Recovery Plus. She doesn't need syringe feeding if I mix it with a bit of banana or sweet potato and oats. She is also on Metaclopramide (prescribed by the vet) 1ml once a day. She also has a 24 hour supply of hay, 1 tablespoon per day of Science Selective Grain Free Nuggets and veg.
 
Poor piggy - so glad you were able to get him seen by a vet so promptly.
Poor boy is probably still a bit shocked.
I do the same as @Betsy with a piggy who just needs a bit more weight putting on.
Keep an eye on him and if his weight starts to drop then see the vet again
 
What a terrifying experience! We had a major rat problem when we had chickens. They come after the food. Our coop was locked up like the Queen's jewels by the time we were done with it. LOL
 
Thanks so much for your helpful replies.... I had forgotten about banana.... and do you feed the oats dry or in a porridge? I will look for science selective recovery plus... he has those nuggets daily and hi sunshine unlimited hay.... I've tasked my husband with bringing home a bag of temptingly fresh forage from work (he's a conservation ranger) today... he's just sitting on my lap after having his painkillers and antibiotics.... metaclopramide stimulates appetite doesn't it?

He was in a large outdoor pen with a sleep box in it that we had built ourselves after seeing one like that at a sanctuary and was secure from foxes and cats etc, built with wood and galvanised mesh...he lives next to our rabbits as I've never been able to pair him with another boar.... I hadn't noticed that rats had made a tunnel that came up at the back of the pen... we've had a problem recently with them as our property backs onto an alley where people dump rubbish and throw food for the seagulls.... we have bait boxes and trap boxes out and had reduced their numbers quite a lot then I saw that my courgette and bean seeds had all been dug up and ordered more bait and then this happened.... I went out about 7.30 to feed and check the animals and he was at the front of the pen hunched and fluffed up and clearly not well... I got him out straight away and then saw the blood, he was very cold so we warmed him up and I was outside the vet at 8.15 when they opened and they took him in and had him all day to assess and treat.... I'm so shocked... I googled it and there are rat attacks on piggies documented... not many but they do happen... I've attached the photos I took when he came home... the darker one is a deep wound inside his right ear... truly horrifying injuries... I so appreciate your support in the feeding advice! Thank youA42B1AC9-8A3E-4933-8975-15131AC43A10.webpB124D09D-FECC-4C93-B89B-50267DCCB06F.webp
 
Oh your poor piggy. He must be so traumatised! Porridge oats are given dry. Do you have any snuggle sacks that he can snuggle up in they are good for keeping piggies warm.
 
Betsy said:
Oh your poor piggy. He must be so traumatised! Porridge oats are given dry. Do you have any snuggle sacks that he can snuggle up in they are good for keeping piggies warm.
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Yes I do.... he's tucked into one and we've actually set him up in a laundry basket now in the sunshine to keep him warm... going to ask the vet for a fat syringe and mash some pellets too as he won't eat unless we are hand feeding him still... I'm worried... going to try and get that recovery plus today and mash into banana xx
 
I hope he gets well soon. We had a rat who dug under our outdoor hutch last year. Dug as in dug a tunnel that went under our side fence to the neighbours side but where they have a conservatory. So maybe it was kind of nest? But my hutch was on legs, so my pigs were safe. We filmed it with a night camera. Thankfully it's gone now
 
Jumpinjen said:
Yes I do.... he's tucked into one and we've actually set him up in a laundry basket now in the sunshine to keep him warm... going to ask the vet for a fat syringe and mash some pellets too as he won't eat unless we are hand feeding him still... I'm worried... going to try and get that recovery plus today and mash into banana xx
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You can get it here:-
Supreme Science Recovery Plus for Small Animals

It takes a few days to come but is much cheaper than the vet.
 
Piggylove82 said:
I hope he gets well soon. We had a rat who dug under our outdoor hutch last year. Dug as in dug a tunnel that went under our side fence to the neighbours side but where they have a conservatory. So maybe it was kind of nest? But my hutch was on legs, so my pigs were safe. We filmed it with a night camera. Thankfully it's gone now
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I never thought they would attack a guineapig... pest control guy said it means there is a large number if they are attacking for food.... gives me the creeps....
 
As well as the link from @Betsy you can order recovery food from Amazon.
I recently ordered a supply as I like to keep some in just in case.
They told me delivery would be about 2 weeks - it arrived 3 days later.

When I had a sick piggy I put some of the recovery food into a ramekin dish in the cage to encourage her to eat for herself as well as the syringe feeding.

Hope your boy is beginning to feel better
 
Thank you! I've decided to buy from the vet, going up in about ten minutes to fetch it and syringes for hand feeding... I don't think he has three days in him to wait, he's getting weaker so I've decided better to pay the higher cost and I'll order some to keep in for the future.... she's giving me some appetite stimulant for him too.... I think it might be because it's just so painful for him to chew right now, every bite moves the inflamed, sore area around his wounds.... so after a small amount he has to rest.... I will keep going!
 
Thanks, getting stronger all the time, other than his shaved patch and the wounds you wouldn't know anything had happened, in fact he's quite formidable and doesn't like having medicine or even being picked up at the moment, I understand how he survived now... wondering if the rat came off worse, I have to watch my fingers when I'm steadying his head to give antibiotics! Hoping when he's past this he will enjoy cuddles again at some point!
 
Oh my. How horrible and very upsetting.
I wish your piggie all the best. . He must been a hell of a fighter as wild rats seldom leave unless a kill is made.
I hope you all mending. X
 
Hi all, sadly infection has set in, despite antibiotics, a huge abscess has formed under the skin over his head and neck... he's on a second course of antibiotics and I'm furious tonight as after a check up today the vet covering illness of the vet who had been seeing him told me it was now healing and tonight the scab lifted to reveal a horror story.... I've spent an hour cleaning and expressing as gently as I can and I'm going to complain that this vet didn't notice this today... I filled her in on his history and what areas the other vet was most worried about.... and she didn't check him properly. It's really hard with covid as I have to hand him over and go and sit in the car so I can't see what they're doing or talk to them while it's going on.... we are ten days in now, he's eating but losing weight.... I don't feel hopeful at the moment, it's a question of how much it is fair to put him through....
 

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Sorry to see what your poor piggie has been through - and you too :hug:
What antibiotics is he on for the infection/abscess? The best one for abscesses is Zithromax (Azithromycin), the others aren't really strong enough to overcome the infection once it has set in. I don't think it is licensed for guineas ( in the UK at least) but if you can persuade your vet to let you try it, it would be worth it.
 
Qualcast&Flymo said:
Sorry to see what your poor piggie has been through - and you too :hug:
What antibiotics is he on for the infection/abscess? The best one for abscesses is Zithromax (Azithromycin), the others aren't really strong enough to overcome the infection once it has set in. I don't think it is licensed for guineas ( in the UK at least) but if you can persuade your vet to let you try it, it would be worth it.
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Thank you.... I spoke to the vet surgery today and they asked me to email details for the head vet to see on Tuesday... today's vet did see him and praised my wound cleaning.... I spent another hour this morning with warm compresses and flushing boiled salted water and using cotton buds.... she is STILL saying not to clean it daily and to leave it... but after ten days of her telling me to leave it and it clearly not helping, I'm going to follow the cumulative advice found in many vetinary websites last night, which is to use warm compresses several times a day, to clean and flush daily as they must heal from inside out in order to heal.... I feel like I've paid a lot of money for poor advice and information.... this is how it look s after This morning... and he is chatty and cheerful today.... this is like a rollercoaster of hope!
 

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Just an update.... Tom finally healed.... nine weeks to the day, it had finally all sealed over, there is a dent in his head where the worst of it was, all the hair grew back and he is a lovely healthy weight again without sticking out bones... and his character has come back... poor guy has been through the mill and I honestly didn't think that he would survive it.... aloe vera did wonders for his skin as it was healing also xx
 
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