How to wean Guinea pig off critical care after two months

[Jennifer1981]

My Guniea pig Timmy is 4 and a half years old and he has been sick for 2 months and has been on critical care for all that time. He has been eating his veggies and a little bit of hay and pellets.he has been eating 14 ml 5 times a day. I even wake up in the middle of the night to feed him to keep his bowels going. He seems to be improving a little but I was wondering does anyone know how to safely wean him so that he might eat on his own? He seems almost like his old self but I am hoping he might be ready to wean off the critical care. Any advice is welcomed.

 

[sport_billy]

Once he is eating properly then start reducing it. It only once he is eating fine again.
What has been wrong with him? He is gorgeous btw
Welcome to The forum

 

[Swissgreys]

Welcome to the Forum


Firstly well done for keeping up with critical care for 2 months - that is no mean feat!
If you feel he is starting ot eat on his own I would start by dropping the night feed. Make up some CC before you go to bed and put that in his cage in a bowl.
Only offer syringe feeds during the day, and keep a close eye on his weight.
If he is able to hold his weight then stick with that for a week or two, and then slowly start to reduce the amount in the day time feeds too.

It is a difficult time, but I also feel that they can easily become dependent on the critical care feeds, so if he is medically stable and able to eat on his own, then slowly reducing these should be ok.

 

[piggieminder]

I've just weaned Peanut off syringe feeds although he didn't have as much for so long as your boy it was quite hard to stop. He had 4 feeds of 15ml per day for 2 weeks, I then dropped to 12ml for a few days then dropped a feed, then reduced to 10ml and dropped to 2 feeds a day. Weigh at the same time in the feeding cycle everyday and you can see if he is maintaining his weight or putting any on. 2 weeks into reducing feeds Peanut dropped 45gm overnight when he was on 10ml 2 x daily so I put him back to 3 x daily for a few days and tried stopping one again. I have now got him to eat enough to maintain his weight although less than he was pre illness and hoping without the stress of being syringed he will start to gain weight again.

 

[piggieminder]

Sorry, I forgot to say to the forum. I hope your gorgeous boy is better soon, and you can get some rest. Looking after a sick piggy is very draining.

 

[Wiebke]

My Guniea pig Timmy is 4 and a half years old and he has been sick for 2 months and has been on critical care for all that time. He has been eating his veggies and a little bit of hay and pellets.he has been eating 14 ml 5 times a day. I even wake up in the middle of the night to feed him to keep his bowels going. He seems to be improving a little but I was wondering does anyone know how to safely wean him so that he might eat on his own? He seems almost like his old self but I am hoping he might be ready to wean off the critical care. Any advice is welcomed.View attachment 120691

Hi and welcome!

What is he being treated for?

Right now, he is getting enough feed from you to not feel all that hungry. Please also check his front teeth for signs of overgrowth in the back teeth; if the edges of the self-sharpening incisors are nice and even and clearly work against each other, then there is no problem.
If they are jagged, slanted or inward pointing, then this means that the premolars at the back have started growing spurs from not being abraded by the silica in hay as much as they should because of the soft feed, and he cannot chew solid food properly.

Trigger his eating reflex with a little syringe feed, then offer veg and hay; top him up again with more syringe feed if needed. Small amounts of fresh herbs, grass or green leaves are usually the first thing that goes down well. Get his bowels used to fresh food again by not serving a large portion straight away and causing another upset, but once his OK you can up the quantity over the course of 3 days to back to normal if he eats again.

Reduce the feeding times to three a day. You can also see whether he is eating his syringe feed top up from a bowl instead of a syringe to get him used to eat for himself again - but preferably as a second course to normal food. Monitor his food intake by weighing daily at the same time. Keep in mind that hay should make over 80% of the daily food intake, veg about 10% (1 cup or less) and 1 tablespoon of pellets ca. 5%.

Complete Syringe Feeding Guide
Weight - Monitoring and Management

 

[Jennifer1981]

Thank you for all your advice. I took him to the vet and she said she thinks it's just old age. She told me most Guniea pigs don't last longer than 5 years. I thought they lived to be 7. It so frustrating they can't find a reason for his anorexia. I really appreciate the advice. And Timmy says thank you too! I think I will try maybe lowering his feeds by 1 ml. It's nice to talk to people who love their Guniea pigs like I do. I will let you know how it goes. 2 months of critical care has been a long haul but I will do whatever it takes for my baby.