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unexplained weight loss

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[FONT=Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif]We have a 3 1/2 year old boar who has gone from weighing 1340g in April to 980g this week. He's been to the vet and had courses of ivermectin and panacur and has just started on baytril. He had x-rays taken on Thursday which found nothing wrong either. He seems to be eating normally and he isn't avoiding hard foods like carrots. In fact the only sign we have that there's anything wrong is the weight loss; he's not behaving differently. [/FONT]

[FONT=Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif]Any help would be greatly appreciated. We don't know whether we should syringe feed him critical care even - will that put him off eating?[/FONT]
 
500g loss in 3 months = something wrong.

Hmm despite investigation, your current vet can; find anything?

So - Firstly it might be worth getting a second opinioin. Get his teeth checked by cavy savvy vet or rodentologist.

Secondly check for heart problems = X ray for fluid in the lungs/around the heart (ie not just listening for irregular heart beat). Much more common than most vets think of for weight loss piggies

Common dosage for heart piggies is fortekor 1mg/kg and fruseamide 2mg/kg althogh if it is caught eary someone on here has had Vetmed instead

Finally - with that type of wieght loss you really need to start syringe feeding (or at the very least wet pellet mash on a spoon) to get hs weight back up util the problem is found and treated.

Good luck

x
 
Thanks for the replies. We have been feeding him with mushy pellets (but he doesn't always want them).

We took him back to the vet today for a blood test which showed that he doesn't have diabetes. He's been examined by two different vets and both say there's no problem with his teeth.

His appetite has been fine - he spent most of the afternoon eating grass! The vet said to finish the antibiotics and that we shouldn't syringe feed because he's eating. The other medicines were incase he has a parasite.

His water consumption is fine - he drinks moe than our other pig but that's not new. We have probiotics in the water.

The vet said that she'll consult with a piggy expert and we'll talk again on Monday.
 
I'm wondering about kidney problems as you say your piggie drinks more than the other one. How much more? Does he drink a lot? I had a piggie who had kidney problems and would drink a huge amount. He had an amazing appetite but still lost weight.
 
How did the kidney problem end up being diagnosed? Wouldn't the x-ray or the blood test have shown something?
 
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