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Weight- Concerned

Sophie B

Sophie B

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Smokey is far too heavy, you can tell just by looking at him, he looks pregnant!
I haven’t been able to weigh them for a bit as our scales have broken but I have been monitoring by sight and he’s gaining weight (slowly, but he is)

He gets a variety of veg (broccoli, lettuce, other greens and fruit once a week) he gets pellets and he gets hay every day
I’m going to decrease pellets to once every other day (as of today). Obviously I will not give him less hay!

Should I cut out fruit entirely? All he gets is a slice of apple once a week, and it is always thin but I know fruit is high in sugar

The thing is, it’s become more noticeable since he’s been moved downstairs. I think it’s because my parents always give in to their begging and wheeks, and feed them. I’ve explained that it’s not good for them and is probably the root cause, and they’ve agreed to leave feeding to me entirely

How can I decrease his weight quickly and safely, without causing him any harm?

Sorry for the rant, thanks for reading this
 
I should add that it is most noticeable from certain angles, and isn’t always obvious
 
This might sound like a strange request, but can somebody post a picture of a couple of their piggies, individually, from a couple of different angles? 😂
 
I think the first thing is to get the scales fixed or replaced and check his weight properly, also check the heft over his ribs, see how much he's gained since his last weight check and how his weight has increased relative to Bacon. How old are they now? Because my 2 year old piggies who I've had since they were very young now look somewhat less sleek and toned than they did a year ago, with not much noticeable weight change- time and gravity do catch up with us all! But mostly bigger bums and noticeable dewlaps, their rib and tummy heft and energy levels for zooming and popcorning is mostly unchanged (except for Blodwen who is a little chubby barrel of a piggy, "chubby little madam" is what the vet called her but after she was so undernourished with bad teeth when she arrived I think she's earned her dinners and also looks chubby because she's quite petite in stature, she's still very sprightly for a chubby girl and runs a lot).
The obvious things are to cut out any fruit and root veg altogether and cut the pellets down, my lot get 12 pellets each twice a day (and some days I leave out the breakfast pellets altogether) and just feed hay and low calorie veg like red pepper, cucumber and leaves and herbs.
Scatter feeding veg is a good alternative to feeding from a bowl and means you can skip the pellets and get them running about- often nowadays breakfast for my piggies is scatterfed babyleaf salad then huge piles of hay! I've found that my piggies (like many hoomans!) need less calories now they are full grown, apart from Tallulah everypig is coming up for 2 years old and Jezzy and Clover are at least 3 and a half/4 years old...
And they stay comfortably plump with scatterfed just babyleaf salad and unlimited hay for some meals, as long as they get some herbs and red pepper too for their vitamin C!
 
PigglePuggle said:
I think the first thing is to get the scales fixed or replaced and check his weight properly, also check the heft over his ribs, see how much he's gained since his last weight check and how his weight has increased relative to Bacon. How old are they now? Because my 2 year old piggies who I've had since they were very young now look somewhat less sleek and toned than they did a year ago, with not much noticeable weight change- time and gravity do catch up with us all! But mostly bigger bums and noticeable dewlaps, their rib and tummy heft and energy levels for zooming and popcorning is mostly unchanged (except for Blodwen who is a little chubby barrel of a piggy, "chubby little madam" is what the vet called her but after she was so undernourished with bad teeth when she arrived I think she's earned her dinners and also looks chubby because she's quite petite in stature, she's still very sprightly for a chubby girl and runs a lot).
The obvious things are to cut out any fruit and root veg altogether and cut the pellets down, my lot get 12 pellets each twice a day (and some days I leave out the breakfast pellets altogether) and just feed hay and low calorie veg like red pepper, cucumber and leaves and herbs.
Scatter feeding veg is a good alternative to feeding from a bowl and means you can skip the pellets and get them running about- often nowadays breakfast for my piggies is scatterfed babyleaf salad then huge piles of hay! I've found that my piggies (like many hoomans!) need less calories now they are full grown, apart from Tallulah everypig is coming up for 2 years old and Jezzy and Clover are at least 3 and a half/4 years old...
And they stay comfortably plump with scatterfed just babyleaf salad and unlimited hay for some meals, as long as they get some herbs and red pepper too for their vitamin C!
Click to expand...
They’re on and a bit, not sure exactly.
I will scatter feed veg too. Neither of them have dewlaps, Smokey just has a big belly, the rest of him is skinny!
Bacon seems to be pretty much perfect, not too heavy, not too thin
 
Maybe its worth a vet check if he just has a big tummy? Dont want to worry you but I know your boys get a good diet and plenty exercise so I would expect them to be sporting some good solid heft all over if one of them is getting a big tummy...
 
So guess who found a set of scales?

Bacon weighs in at 914g bit low but I’m not too nervous, yet?
Who can guess where Smokey is at?
 
I've started to think bernie looks fat, he looks like a puddle when he lays down. But I think it's the fur. He is 1. 4kg though. May have to feel his chest rib area tonight
 
Those sound like average or even slightly slim weights for full grown boys, my boys both weigh 1100 to 1200g and they both have some chunky heft. Probably worth a vet check just to set your mind at rest over the tummy, but piggies like hoomans are all different shapes and some of us (like myself, and Blodwen pig) carry more tummy fat than others!
 
SkyPipDotBernie said:
Its not bloat is it? Is he pooing good and regularly
Click to expand...
PigglePuggle said:
Those sound like average or even slightly slim weights for full grown boys, my boys both weigh 1100 to 1200g and they both have some chunky heft. Probably worth a vet check just to set your mind at rest over the tummy, but piggies like hoomans are all different shapes and some of us (like myself, and Blodwen pig) carry more tummy fat than others!
Click to expand...
He’s eating copious amounts of food (whatever is offered is scoffed) and he’s pooping like the little piggy machine he is, he’s also as active as he normally is
His tummy is soft and squishy so I don’t think it’s bloat
 
The problem is a vet check at this time of year would be absolute last resort as everybody knows Christmas time is very expensive, obviously I would go if needed
 
Sounds like someone's sneaking a few of his friends pellets 🤣 some of my bigger girls are quite up there in terms of numbers on the scales. I've got some 1200g ones who are nice and solid, with a good heft to them. Then there's Thistle who's soft and chubby but similar weight. He sounds ok to me, but restricted pellets, scatter feeding to encourage exercise and keeping an eye on his weight won't do him any harm bless him ☺
 
That sounds reasonable to me. How old are they again? Our Fudge looks tubby too, but I know he’s not overweight.
 
I’ve had a look at the guide already
I’m not going to change anything drastically. Just making sure he’s not getting Bacon’s food, and he’s not over-eating

I can tell because he looks pudgier around the belly
 
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