So confused about what to do neuter or baby boar

[Piggies&buns]

Oh sorry, he had his check up today and healing nicely but he’s lost a lot of weight as I suspected. He’s depressed and feeling lonely they think. He’s on a packet from vet and I have also bought some watery food (cucumber/ watermelon) to make sure he gets some liquid although they say he’s not dehydrated but his poo is quite dry. He took some normal mushed food tonight (twice actually) so that was good. Going to start the vet food in the morning and come home from work at lunch to give him his lunch time dose.
I am planning of setting up his new cage and getting his friend earlier but having them in two cages initially so they can hear each other - talk but not be together. Is that a bad idea?

Please do step in with syringe feeding immediately. When a piggy loses 50g or more you need to step in and stop the weight loss. Syringe feed as much as is necessary in a 24 hour period to stabilise the weight. How many mls in each 24 hour period you have to give depends on how much he is eating at each sitting and also how much hay he is eating independently.

Not Eating, Weight Loss And The Importance Of Syringe Feeding Fibre
Complete Syringe Feeding Guide
Weight - Monitoring and Management

In terms of a new friend, having another piggy live next door to him will help stave off loneliness. However, while a boar/sow bond is most stable, acceptance and compatibility does still come first. Given he is not six weeks post neuter and he cannot be tried with the sow first before you bring her home to check they have compatibility and acceptance, then you would want to have a plan in your mind in case the bonding does not work when you attempt it. Hopefully the bonding will go well though!

You would need to keep the cages side by side so they can interact through the bars but you must be very sure the cages are secure as a boar can be very determined to escape a cage when a sow is present and of course you would then run the risk of pregnancy

 

[Proudpiggyowner]

Please do step in with syringe feeding immediately. When a piggy loses 50g or more you need to step in and stop the weight loss. Syringe feed as much as is necessary in a 24 hour period to stabilise the weight. How many mls in each 24 hour period you have to give depends on how much he is eating at each sitting and also how much hay he is eating independently.

Not Eating, Weight Loss And The Importance Of Syringe Feeding Fibre
Complete Syringe Feeding Guide
Weight - Monitoring and Management

In terms of a new friend, having another piggy live next door to him will help stave off loneliness. However, while a boar/sow bond is most stable, acceptance and compatibility does still come first. Given he is not six weeks post neuter and he cannot be tried with the sow first before you bring her home to check they have compatibility and acceptance, then you would want to have a plan in your mind in case the bonding does not work when you attempt it. Hopefully the bonding will go well though!

You would need to keep the cages side by side so they can interact through the bars but you must be very sure the cages are secure as a boar can be very determined to escape a cage when a sow is present and of course you would then run the risk of pregnancy

So do you think - hold off? He is now perking up a bit - I have been feeding him and he has ate willingly on his own tonight. I have also created him an obstacle course- run with tunnels and put out the ball pit ( which was my daughters when she was a baby) no balls and he was in that for a bit tonight with hidey holes too. Lots of outside the cage time so he couldn’t hide away and he seemed happy. I did the same at lunch time when I came back on lunch break

 

[Wiebke]

So do you think - hold off? He is now perking up a bit - I have been feeding him and he has ate willingly on his own tonight. I have also created him an obstacle course- run with tunnels and put out the ball pit ( which was my daughters when she was a baby) no balls and he was in that for a bit tonight with hidey holes too. Lots of outside the cage time so he couldn’t hide away and he seemed happy. I did the same at lunch time when I came back on lunch break

You control the food intake by weighing daily at the same time (instead of weekly) while a piggy is not 100%. This gives you a much better idea of how much a piggy is actually eating and how much you still need to support feed. Keep in mind that around 80% of the daily food intake is hay (which is what the syringe feed is replacing), which you cannot control by eye. You are not stopping with feeding support until the weight has firstly stabilised and is then starting to climb up. It will take weeks or even months before the weight will come back fully after a major loss like that. Your first aim is and remains to keep him stable during the transition from needing full support to eating on his own.

You may want to bookmark these links here so you can step in quickly in an emergency in the future:
Emergency, Crisis and Bridging Care until a Vet Appointment (our one stop emergency care information collection)
Weight - Monitoring and Management