Red Back Feet and Thin Boar

[Cavy chaos]

Hello everyone. My four year old neutered boar has red back feet, they have been red to varying degrees for a while. I have kept an eye on it and applied a pure lanolin ointment on them as I wondered if it was him sitting in one place and it is a urine scald, so the lanolin would provide some waterproofing. He is kept inside on fleece, there are fleece mats in the areas he sleeps and these are changed daily or twice daily depending on wetness. There is no swelling, only occasionally would look like a round are breaking down which is kept at bay By Lanolin. He is a thin pig, I have been feeding him extra as his girls are all really chunky he is the only one that gets nuggets (the vet said nuggets weren’t necessary for guineas on a balanced diet (?). He has put on a little weight recently I cant feel all his ribs easily, but his backbone and hips stick out, I would love him to be a little chunkier though. Does anybody have any ides about back foot care? Many thanks

 

[Piggies&buns]

Red feet can be for a variety of reasons and not all medical - urine scald can be a reason but also just from being warm. It’s always best to have any concerns checked by a vet though.

Nuggets actually aren’t necessary in the diet. They provide a supplementary role in ensuring a good range od nutrition is provided but it is also possible to do that without nuggets. Mine only get nuggets a few times a week.

How are you feeding him extra? Hay is the most important part of the diet. If he isn’t eating enough hay and is losing weight then that needs to be investigated as a medical issue along with syringe feeding to stop weight loss.
If he is maintaining his weight himself through good hay intake then they don’t need to be fed extra.
Older piggies can become bonier but as long as their weight is stable then that can be just normal ageing.

 

[Cavy chaos]

Thank you for replying. He eats hay and veg fine and his weight is not dropping when I stop giving him extra treats. I don’t syringe feed him as he wants to eat, I feed him carrot, nuggets, oats and forage. I dont give the same food that often to the girls as they are quite chunky and some of them you could use it weight training, I think they are greedy and he may not get a look in to the food. He is also the oldest, I hate him to get bony, some friends had guineas that lived to 8 and would like him to last that long.

 

[Piggies&buns]

Thank you for replying. He eats hay and veg fine and his weight is not dropping when I stop giving him extra treats. I don’t syringe feed him as he wants to eat, I feed him carrot, nuggets, oats and forage. I dont give the same food that often to the girls as they are quite chunky and some of them you could use it weight training, I think they are greedy and he may not get a look in to the food. He is also the oldest, I hate him to get bony, some friends had guineas that lived to 8 and would like him to last that long.

If he is eating hay well, then he doesn’t need any extra treats.
Carrots arent a good food to feed to piggies. They contain a lot of sugar so any weight he gains through eating them will be unhealthy weight gain. The sugars can also contribute to an overgrowth of the wrong kind of gut bacteria which can lead to soft poops and diarrhoea.