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Poorly piggy. How much should I be feeding him?

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Amy1218

Amy1218

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Poor Yorkie is on Baytril and is not himself at all. I am feeding him with a syringe, baby food mixed with science recovery.

How much should he be getting minimum each day?
It's a real struggle for us both, bless him.
 
Amy1218 said:
I am putting the probiotic in the water and he is drinking, so yes :)
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I personally don't know about baby food, and I also must stress I haven't had a poorly pig before but from what I have heard Critical care by Oxbow is good and also just your basic excel nuggets with boiling water mushed up (leave to cool) works well too. I think the idea is just to feed as much as possible.

Hopefully the experts or the people that know more than me will be on shortly :).

Wishing your piggy a speedy recovery.
 
Hello Amy,

I think that the usual recommendation is to try to feed 30ml 4 times a day. To be honest, when my own pigs have been ill I have struggled to get that quantity down them.

It is really important that you weigh your piggy daily on very sensitive scales so that you know whether you are feeding him enough for him to be able to maintain his body weight.

You also need to be able to monitor his poos and wees so that you can check if his digestive system is working correctly.

Do please keep us updated: I am rooting for little Yorkie.
x)x)x)
 
That's worried me, he barely had 20ml yesterday for the whole day, but i spent hours with him trying to get that down him. I am going to hunt down some batteries now and sort the scales out that i bought last night. I am praying he is still over 1kg. Poor thing :( x
 
When my little Patch stopped eating my guinea savy vet told me to feed him 2ml every 2 hours. Patch weighed 800gm. Small and often I think is better as it keeps the gut flowing rather than bulky feeds.
Baby food is not the best thing to use, the Oxbow Critical Care is good, I used Supreme Science Recovery - one of the sachets mixes with approx 70ml of water. I tended to do half a sachet at a time. So the food was always fresh.
 
What was up with Patch? And did he recover? Where can I get some of this critical care from?
Sorry for all the questions.
Thank you xx
 
Critical care is similar to sceince recovery but they also do a fine grind formula which some people find easier to syringe. You can buy it online at sph supplies or thistle cavies shop/ sorry I can't post link but am replying on my phone and don 't know how to

Sophie
 
Patch's problems were sadly something he was born with, and it was quite possible his liver or intestines had some abnormalities with them.
I saw in your OP that you were using Science Recovery which is just fine. I would keep using that just without the baby food. I'm not sure where to get Critical Care, your vet may have some. The baytril is known to affect the appetite and tummy so your doing the right thing giving him a probiotic. My ver prescribed Fibreplex as a probiotic, that you syringe into the mouth. It may be better to be doing something like that so then you know he is getting the correct dose, rather than relying on him drinking the water x
 
Have you cut the tip of the syringe off? It makes the passing of the food through the tip much easier! :)
 
Thank you Joanne and Sophie, should I syringe feed the critical care just like the baby food?

I haven't cut the syringe tip off no, it seems to be going through ok at the mo.

Saysie - how would you administer the science recovery without the baby food? its like a powder.

Thank you everyone.

Amy x
 
Amy I think you need to mix the science recovery with water. You also need to make sure your piggie is getting enough vitamin c as they can't produce their own so if you have a blender you could try blending his favourite veg and syringe that.

The probiotic shouldn't really be put in the water as there's no guarantee he'll be getting the correct dosage, is he still drinking on his own ok? Just dissolve the probiotic in a little water and syringe that as well.
 
Gems said:
Amy I think you need to mix the science recovery with water. You also need to make sure your piggie is getting enough vitamin c as they can't produce their own so if you have a blender you could try blending his favourite veg and syringe that.

The probiotic shouldn't really be put in the water as there's no guarantee he'll be getting the correct dosage, is he still drinking on his own ok? Just dissolve the probiotic in a little water and syringe that as well.
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He doesnt move, he just sits in his house all day. I take the bottle to him and he willingly drinks out of it. We dont have a blender no :( hes turning away at every food.
 
Ok well you might have to syringe him water as well, until you know he's going to get up and get some of his own accord. I've read through your other thread and can't see whether it's been asked or not so apologies if you've already said but have his teeth been checked to make sure they're not overgrown or growing in at an awkward angle? As obviously if his mouth is sore he'll not be very willing to eat. Did the vet give you any painkillers to give him?

Others have tried to put some mushed up pellets right infront of the pig so that they can eat if they want to. Whilst your out you could try mushing up some pellets in hot water, leave it to cool then put it on a saucer infront of him. He may or may not eat it but atleast it's there incase he wants to give it a try. Definitely try the metatone tonic to see if it brings his appetite back and I'd be inclined to get a second opinion to be honest as your vet doesn't sound as though they have much experience with piggies.

Our vet has recommended a vet in Harrogate who he said whilst not a specialist in guinea pigs are very good with rodents. This website has the details on http://www.any-uk-vet.co.uk/harcourt-brown/
Not sure how close it is to you but may be worth a visit if they're close enough x
 
Burgess pellets left to soften in hot water and very easy to mix to a smooth paste, there is no need to cut the end off the syringe. The blackcurrant ones are even easier to soften.
You will get a lot more down him using these and at a fraction of the cost. try wrapping him up and holding like a baby [not flat] and aim for about 30ml 3or 4 times a day.
 
Gems I have just fed Yorkie about 8ml of the science recovery mixed with water and vitamin c. went down easier than the baby food. I am off to buy the metatone in a few mins so will give him that when i get back. Do you know how much i need to give him? and can i syringe it? His teeth were checked by the vet on wednesday and he said absolutely fine no probs. he said he was hoping it was his teeth as that is something they can sort. however, the vet on friday didnt check his teeth even though hes making a weird noise with the food. (This could also be due to how gloopy it is and it may be sticking to the inside of his mouth... as he tends to want water after, probably to wash it down). The vet gave him 2 lots of painkillers on friday night. His behaviour did not change though, nor his attitude to food or moving or anything which leads me to believe he wasnt in any pain to start with.

Thank you Ruth, i will try soften the pellets and will have to try syringe it as he wont even touch his favourite food. 8...

Thank you everyone for all your advice, i am trying everything i can do. Please think of Yorkie and pray for him xx
 
The dosage for metatone tonic is 0.5ml once a day and yes it's probably best to syringe so you can make sure he is getting the right dosage.

Wet poos are not a good sign, diarrahea in guinea pigs can be fatal, is it just that the poos are softer then normal or are they runny? Probiotic has helped one of our pigs get over diarrahea in the past. Does he seem interested in food at all? As in will he sniff it as though he wants it but then not eat? Just it could be some kind of oral infection which can be difficult to identify.
 
They just look normal just wet on the outside. It depends what food really, with cucumber he sniffs it then he will eat it, just slowly. whereas before he just used to gobble anything down very quickly.

I am glad he will eat some cucumber of his own accord though. Thank you for telling me the dose. Is there any unwritten rule about when the best time to give him the metatone tonic? He has his baytril first thing in a morning.
Should it be at the same time? different time?
Thank you x
 
And they dont look runny, not even softer really, just wet. But he hasnt been having any veg nor has he had any pellets. He has been eating baby food and science recovery. Could that have caused the wet poops? And also the Baytril?
 
It is a good sign he is going to the loo because atleast that means his stomach is still working - I know my pig who went off food wouldnt poop and so we had to stop feeding him unless he would or his stomach would have gotten too full.

If they are just wet on the outside I wouldnt worry too much, its when they get diarehha (sp) that its a big problem.
 
The wet poos might just be because he is getting so much fluid. Providing they are not runny then I think they should be fine.
 
Well with ours we used to feed it in the morning before we went to work in the hopes that it would increase her apetite so she had more chance of eating for herself while we were out, they we got back in from work we syringe fed her so obviously she was getting food then.

If they still have the normal shape then I wouldn't worry too much about it, as others have said it's probably just down to the fact he's not been getting his normal diet. Pellets would definitely be better than baby food though as pellets are a guinea pig food so have the nutrients they would need unlike baby food. Baytril can cause upset tummys in some pigs which is why it's important to give them a probiotic alongside it so that could also be causing the softer then normal poo.
 
I will try him with some mushed up pellets tonight. I have just been to buy some metatone, and i have given him 0.5ml of this. I have read some people give 2 doses of this, and some say 1. So i'm not really sure what i should do. He's still extremely quiet, however he went to his water bottle on his own just now and had a drink, he has also gone to eat half a slice of cucumber on his own, then he didnt want anymore. I weighed him, hes 975, and was 962 this morning, I'm guessing thats the norm, having fluctuations and things in weight. but i was rather pleased nevertheless.

i will feed him some more science recovery mixed with water and vit c and probiotic again soon. going to clean the cage out now so its nice and clean.
xx
 
I'm only giving you advice previously given to me by Laura so I'm not sure whether it is safe giving the metatone twice daily or not so I would just stick to once per day for now unless someone knowledgable says it's safe to give more.

I would try weighing at the same time of day but it is good the weight has gone up. Just keep trying him with all his favourtie foods, ours particularly enjoy parsley, basil and corriander.
 
He is turning his face away from his favourite food; parsley. He won't have anything else :(
I will stick to once per day with the metatone just in case.
 
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