Should I try to get my piggie to gain some more heft?

[Piggie Mom]

Hi!

So as the title suggests I'm wondering as to whether I ought to support feed one of my piggies, Töpö, to help him gain a bit of heft. When we got him in april this year he felt quite small, but as he was still a teenager I didn't worry too much. However, since we got him he's only gone from ca 820 g to 900 g and he feels very small/frail even if he really doesn't act the part.

He's not my smallest piggie, nowadays Lakrits only weighs 850 g compared to him being 1,2 kg when he was in his prime age (Lakrits lost weight while Nöpö was very sick, but it was a very gradual weightloss and he's been stable at ~850 g for almost a year now) but Lakrits doesn't feel skinny or frail, he just feels old, he's still got a fat stomach it's just that he's got less muscle. Töpö on the other hand feels like I could put a bit of extra pressure on his ribs and they'd shatter as there's nothing but skin and bone there, and his stomach is also quite small even if his fur tries to hide this.

Would it be smart to try and see if he'd put on a more impressive weight or should I just let him get the same amount of food as the others and see if with time his heft will increase?

Here's the little dude who's worrying me

 

[Truffolo]

I don't think there is much you can do other than feed a good, balanced diet, as I am sure you do. Adding higher calorie foods could risk upsetting his metabolism. You could offer green oat hay and carrots as appetisers. Has he got a pad of fat on his shoulders or can you feel his shoulder blades?

 

[Piggies&buns]

How old is he?

If you can feel ribs with no fat on them then he may be underweight but if he is older, getting an elderly piggy to gain heft is not an easy task. Their faster metabolism works against the unfortunately.

As long as he is maintaining weight then that is a good sign he is eating enough (elderly piggies tend to maintain but at a lower level). You cannot make him eat more than he wants and weight is always maintained through sufficient hay intake, but you can supplement to give a calorie boost - a small amount (tablespoon) of plain porridge oats or offer a bowl of recovery feed each day.

I’ve added some guides below which explain further

Journey through a Lifetime: The Ages of Guinea Pigs
Caring for Older Piggies and Facing the End - A practical and supportive information collection

 

[Piggie Mom]

He was according to his previous owner born in may 2025 so he's only 1,5 yrs old which is why I'm worried, he's got almost no fat on his shoulder blades or his ribs I'll see if he'd like some extra fattening up as he's the only piggie who isn't a bit chonky even though he gets the same diet as the other three He's a really active piggie who runs around the cage like crazy every evening, so maybe he just burns all the food he's eaten then!

Here he is exploring the sofa

 

[Piggie Mom]

Also maybe relevant is that he was apparently incredibly scared at his old home, he'd stay in his hidey house 24/7 so could be he didn't eat enough when he was little? Töpö absolutely loves recovery food though! He got his first taste today and I'll be feeding him a bit every day for this week until next weigh in to see if he's gained some heft, thanks for the advice!

 

[Betsy]

My Rainbow Piggy Cutey Pie Dennis was a small piggy. He weighed between 800-900g for most of his 4 years before he went to the Rainbow Bridge. He was a very healthy, if small boar. It's difficult to get a piggy to gain weight. As long as Töpö has a healthy diet with plenty of hay then he should be OK. Just don't feed too much fattening food as @Truffolo has suggested as it may upset his metabolism.

Here is a pigture of Dennis just because he was so cute.

 

[Piggies&buns]

Ah I see. So the fact he is maintaining weight is great, it means he is eating enough.
He is at his adult weight so he is just going to be a small boy.
He may just be small framed.

One of my current boys only weighs around 900-950g. He is 4 years old now but has never been big. He’s quite a change from my previous 1550g boy!