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Not interested in veggies

And at the risk of spamming the thread sorry, this is what we have seen ozzy to be doing, he wants to eat, and sometimes can, but it's that he seems to struggle getting the food into his mouth still. I tried my best with the video here

ozzy
 
Go Ozzy ♥️♥️♥️♥️

@Rivervixen
It can take some time for them to come around and get used to the feeling in their mouth. Pigs are so sensitive about that. You syringe him until you can see him really eat and his weight says he really eats. My boys has been giving me alot of toofie-drama during the years and I learned its so different. The longest I had to syringe was 6 weeks, after an successful trim. It was stress from all the vet-visits and the trim that made it so difficult, not the toothies. Same boy had a successful trim 8 months prior and needed critical care for about a week that time.
 
Rivervixen said:
And at the risk of spamming the thread sorry, this is what we have seen ozzy to be doing, he wants to eat, and sometimes can, but it's that he seems to struggle getting the food into his mouth still. I tried my best with the video here

ozzy
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Try to chop the veggies and see if that helps him to get it into his mouth and chew.
 
When Brillo had pneumonia and was on very strong ABs for 2 months I syringe feed him for the 2 months plus a week. After the first week or so it wasn't full syringe feeding I was able to drop it to top ups, how many a day depending on the morning weigh in. Really I think it's for as long as morning weigh ins tell you it's needed. It can take them a while to get used to their 'new teeth' after a procedure, he should be able to pick up food for himself soon.
 
piggieminder said:
When Brillo had pneumonia and was on very strong ABs for 2 months I syringe feed him for the 2 months plus a week. After the first week or so it wasn't full syringe feeding I was able to drop it to top ups, how many a day depending on the morning weigh in. Really I think it's for as long as morning weigh ins tell you it's needed. It can take them a while to get used to their 'new teeth' after a procedure, he should be able to pick up food for himself soon.
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This has really comforted me thank you, its really taken a toll on me syringe feeding him and then seeing him run into his hides because hes sick of us doing it, he was making complaining noises at me. I think in my mind and from the vet telling me he should be picking up hay by now, i think they have maybe expected him to be doing it way too soon which in turn has made me feel like we arent making progress which looking at it now we are, hes taken bits of cucumber from me today after breaking it up. We will soldier on x
 
Maybe he needs a bit more time due to his age. Us oldies take longer to get over operations and illness, I include myself in that! When Peanut had an abscess removed he took two weeks to come round properly, the vet thought there was something else going on but he got there in his own time. Try not to worry too much, maybe he should be picking up quicker but he's not, enjoy the closeness while you top him up. If you feel stressed about it he will pick up on that. You have done and are doing so much for him, you should feel proud of that. I hope he picks up soon, hay seems to be the first thing they stop eating and the last they eat again.
I've seen pictures of veggies cut into thin strips and stood in an egg cup for tooth op piggies which helps them pick them up.
 
piggieminder said:
Maybe he needs a bit more time due to his age. Us oldies take longer to get over operations and illness, I include myself in that! When Peanut had an abscess removed he took two weeks to come round properly, the vet thought there was something else going on but he got there in his own time. Try not to worry too much, maybe he should be picking up quicker but he's not, enjoy the closeness while you top him up. If you feel stressed about it he will pick up on that. You have done and are doing so much for him, you should feel proud of that. I hope he picks up soon, hay seems to be the first thing they stop eating and the last they eat again.
I've seen pictures of veggies cut into thin strips and stood in an egg cup for tooth op piggies which helps them pick them up.
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It does make a lot of sense, I'm glad peanut came around, 2 weeks must have felt like an eternity, I keep forgetting it's only been a few days really, but so much has happened in a few days to where it feels like its been weeks. I have just called the vet and told them that the pain relief dose is too low, and asked them to reconsider, so they've put it up to 0.2ml of meloxaid (metacam i think) every 12 hours now which I think will help quite a bit. Will try the thin strips with the veggies :) thinking I'm going to get the blender out for some carrots or mush some banana up as well. I'm very proud of him, he has so much fight left in him even if he's not quite there yet x
 
Sending you hugs.
I know how hard it is to have sick piggies and it seems all the more worrying with the oldies. Brillo finished his ABs for an URI last night, he's 7 and has had quite a lot happen recently bless him. I think he's okay again now but can't help worrying about him, trying not to hover over him listening to his breathing!
 
piggieminder said:
Sending you hugs.
I know how hard it is to have sick piggies and it seems all the more worrying with the oldies. Brillo finished his ABs for an URI last night, he's 7 and has had quite a lot happen recently bless him. I think he's okay again now but can't help worrying about him, trying not to hover over him listening to his breathing!
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Big hugs 🫂 awww Brillo, sending him lots of love ❤️ I really do hope hes ok now as well, always seems to be a string of things but its so lovely when they come out the other side. Its so hard not to hover when they're poorly. He has a lovely piggie slave, hes so lucky x
 
Hang on in there you are doing your best and caring for him so well. Your love for him shines through although it is tough on you..
Come on Ozzy you will get there :nod:
 
munchmonster said:
Hang on in there you are doing your best and caring for him so well. Your love for him shines through although it is tough on you..
Come on Ozzy you will get there :nod:
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Thank you so much, honestly everyone that has replied to me with advice and care is helping us get through this as well, I do treasure this forum x
 
Hes down a tiny bit of weight but when I woke up he was in the hay having a very good go, I saw him manage small portions of it, hes taken banana and hes eating salad right now. I don't feel concerned about the weight as he's really going for food this morning, its the best I've seen him be in a while
 
So happy to hear it sounds like Ozzy is really coming around. What a champ, and what a fantastic slave he has!
 
exia said:
So happy to hear it sounds like Ozzy is really coming around. What a champ, and what a fantastic slave he has!
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Thank you so much 🥰 hes a little fighter, hes just had his critical care, went straight into hay to grab some small bits. Here he is (one that is covered in hay) with a photo bombing Bruno x
 

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Since we're at the end of the week almost we're trying to plan how to feed him around work schedules. How long can Ozzy realistically go without being syringe fed? Typically theres always one of us at home at once but we might struggle to do it solo as hes a wriggly piggly. At most I'm gone for 6 hours at a time as my hours are split over days. Any advice would be appreciated x
 
I can't help you with advice about the feeding but I'm sure someone on this forum has had a similar experience and can help. Sending hugs xx
 
munchmonster said:
I can't help you with advice about the feeding but I'm sure someone on this forum has had a similar experience and can help. Sending hugs xx
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Sending big hugs back, thank you 🥰 I really dont like pestering but with these babies being my first pair still, still learning a lot along the way xx
 
Once they are eating for themselves I usually aim for 3 times a day and a 4/5 hour gap and gradually lengthen the gap until I'm just topping up in the morning and evening. It depends really on the morning weigh in and if they are holding their weight and how much they will take in one sitting. You can only do what you can do in the time you have, hopefully now he is eating more for himself he won't need any syringe feed soon.
 
It’s tricky because each piggy and syringe feeding schedule is different. It depends on how much they are losing at the morning weigh in, how easy they take the feed, how much time you have in the day and how much time you need for sleep.

So if Ozzy is still losing weight then you need to feed more than yesterday. If he’s not taking it well and it takes a long time then you’ll have to feed more often. But if he’s eating it quickly you could do at few more mls at each sitting with a longer gap between them. Also you may need to do a very early feed and a very late feed.

When I was feeding my Pepper for over 8 weeks I didn’t feed through the night. But fed him about 5 feeds in the day. If you have to do less in the day, maybe a night feed will be needed. Good luck. It’s hard feeding a piggy.

I hope that makes sense.
 
Thank you both so much, this helps a lot. He isn't eating enough himself for me to stop at all just yet, when hes having some I think hes grabbing some short bits and he has been in there for a while, but it isnt much if this makes sense. I think the vet while meaning well has given me some information that has caused me to maybe not feed him as much, I've been doing 5ml every 3 hours but he has still gone down a little, hes able to eat the syringe feed just fine even though hes protesting, he will chew it fine and everything, but they said not to give him too much as we dont want to make him full. So I think what I'll do now is give him more per feed. Hes pooping more now, its in strange shapes (will attach the shapes at the end) but poop is poop. There is definitely improvement, but I was scared that I'd be hindering it if he had to maybe wait 6 hours for it if my partner cant manage it solo. With each day hes getting more feisty, he definitely tells me what he thinks of me while I'm giving him the food :)
 

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Just want to encourage you to keep going. If you think you can get a bit more than 5ml down him per feed, then I’d try it. Maybe Ellie doesn’t want him full of syringe food because he’ll be less likely to want his hay, so I get that. Just saying what I’d be inclined to do if it was one of mine - please feel free to disregard though!
 
Janey said:
Just want to encourage you to keep going. If you think you can get a bit more than 5ml down him per feed, then I’d try it. Maybe Ellie doesn’t want him full of syringe food because he’ll be less likely to want his hay, so I get that. Just saying what I’d be inclined to do if it was one of mine - please feel free to disregard though!
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Thank you so much, we will keep going, the results are coming slowly but surely. I had a good look at the syringe feeding guide and will try my best to try and put more from 5ml in, would like 10ml but I'll have to do it gradually as hes a feisty bum xx
 
Good news continues for my baby, got a good 10ml in him before work. Partner sent me updates and photos, yesterday ozzy managed cucumber, today he managed his full cucumber portion and lettuce, and he also terrorised Bruno for his lettuce as well! Not where we want to be hay wise yet but hes still taking small bits of it, so proud of his progress
 

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