Weight Loss And How To Get It Back On.....

[Elliegirl]

My boy Baz is 3yrs 8months. Over Christmas I had concerns as he dropped a little weight. Off to the vets we went and his teeth needed some attention, they weren't awful but had some spikes that needed rid of. The only symptom he'd shown was his weight, no dribbling, not drinking etc.

After the dental he lost a few grammes, then started gaining some and then has gone down again. He has lost 40g since his dental! This is despite me amping up his food to all the foods that add weight....oats, baby corn etc etc

He falls on his vegis and yums readi grass up although the nuggets seems to be going down rather slowly. He is now on regular syringe feeds to help boost him, he loves it, he won't touch recovery in a bowl but attacks the syringe in his desire to have more!

His abdomen is clear of any abnormalities and his mouth is clear when checked, what else can I do or what can I add into his diet to help him add some weight? I've tried every trick I know and now I'm at a loss......

 

[Wiebke]

My boy Baz is 3yrs 8months. Over Christmas I had concerns as he dropped a little weight. Off to the vets we went and his teeth needed some attention, they weren't awful but had some spikes that needed rid of. The only symptom he'd shown was his weight, no dribbling, not drinking etc.

After the dental he lost a few grammes, then started gaining some and then has gone down again. He has lost 40g since his dental! This is despite me amping up his food to all the foods that add weight....oats, baby corn etc etc

He falls on his vegis and yums readi grass up although the nuggets seems to be going down rather slowly. He is now on regular syringe feeds to help boost him, he loves it, he won't touch recovery in a bowl but attacks the syringe in his desire to have more!

His abdomen is clear of any abnormalities and his mouth is clear when checked, what else can I do or what can I add into his diet to help him add some weight? I've tried every trick I know and now I'm at a loss......

Hi!

Please do not stuff your boy with empty calories that come off as quickly as they go on. 40g is still within the daily variance between a full tummy and bladder and an empty one.

When the chewing is off for some reason (perhaps a developing dental abscess which cannot be well detected although it manifests through pain already), then dental problems can come back very quickly again - guinea pig teeth grow over a millimetre per week - that would be about a couple of inches in human terms if they are not constantly ground down by the very abrasive silica in hay and grass, against which they have evolved.

Please keep an eye on your piggy and see a vet again if the downhill trend continues.
We have got a section on care of dental guinea pigs in our syringe feeding guide: Complete Syringe Feeding Guide

 

[DM030819]

@Elliegirl How much does he weigh? As Wiebke mentions 40g isn't anything to worry about unless he is very underweight already.

 

[Elliegirl]

He's under the vet regularly and as a VN I can syringe feed in my sleep, almost feels like I have been

What class as empty calories and as fattening foods please? I've been feeding recommended 'fatteners' I've read on this site. 40g would not be so alarming but my boy is a bag of bones, he's always been slight after a bad start in life (rescue) but if I breathe too hard I'd be scared of blowing him away right now. I know newly filed/clipped teeth can take a while to bed in so I'm also keeping that in mind.

Of course if he deteriorates further over the weekend I will be straight back to the vets, that goes without saying x

 

[Elliegirl]

@Elliegirl How much does he weigh? As Wiebke mentions 40g isn't anything to worry about unless he is very underweight already.

701g and he is a skeleton with skin on, so frail. He'd lost weight quite rapidly prior to the dental - 24g so he is now 64g down and dropping. The one positive is that prior to his dental he looked like a dishevelled 9yr old gig, he is now at least bright eyed more well kempt and is more active. As an experienced gig owner and VN I am aware 40 ''isn't anything to worry about'' as you put it but this boy has nothing else to lose except his life if he drops much lower

 

[DM030819]

Ok @Elliegirl , there's no need to be rude. If we don't have the full information then it is difficult to provide ideas. Your pig could have weighed 1400g for all I knew.

I hope you find answers, and can only suggest further tests to test for fungal issues and maybe thyroid.

 

[Elliegirl]

I'm sorry you feel I was rude but as a gig owner yourself you will be aware that all weight loss is serious however little, it isn't ''nothing to worry about'' imagine if as a VN I turned round to customers and brushed off a gig that had lost weight as nothing to worry about? It read as rather blasé.

I would still like to know what foods are not empty calories and are good for weight gain, I have taken guidance off here from other posts of a similar nature but now think I've got it wrong as Wiebke mentioned I'm stuffing him with empty calories.....in my thoughts all he will eat right now is better than nothing to maintain gut movement but obviously need to know what is I do need to bulk his diet up with.....

 

[furryfriends (TEAS)]

Here at TEAS we have a lot of guinea pigs arriving at a very low weight, due to dental issues We use foods like corn on the cob, carrot, flaked peas, porridge oats, to help get their weight back up, whilst they start to eat again, following dental treatment. We also use Fibreplex. Those of a low weight are also topped up with syringe food. We also add wheatgrass powder to the syringe food, if the piggy likes it.

 

[Elliegirl]

Here at TEAS we have a lot of guinea pigs arriving at a very low weight, due to dental issues We use foods like corn on the cob, carrot, flaked peas, porridge oats, to help get their weight back up, whilst they start to eat again, following dental treatment. We also use Fibreplex. Those of a low weight are also topped up with syringe food. We also add wheatgrass powder to the syringe food, if the piggy likes it.

TY furry friends, just what I needed a list of what I can use I haven't tried the flaked peas but he does like his oats and sweetcorn although he's been getting babycorn not the full size. He's eating really enthusiastically just stuggling to get some weight on his bones. I am topping up with syringe feeds which he loves!

 

[Elliegirl]

Hi!

Please do not stuff your boy with empty calories that come off as quickly as they go on. 40g is still within the daily variance between a full tummy and bladder and an empty one.

When the chewing is off for some reason (perhaps a developing dental abscess which cannot be well detected although it manifests through pain already), then dental problems can come back very quickly again - guinea pig teeth grow over a millimetre per week - that would be about a couple of inches in human terms if they are not constantly ground down by the very abrasive silica in hay and grass, against which they have evolved.

Please keep an eye on your piggy and see a vet again if the downhill trend continues.
We have got a section on care of dental guinea pigs in our syringe feeding guide: Complete Syringe Feeding Guide

I see I missed a bit in my post, 5 days after the dental he went back to the vets due to my concerns and to check nothing else was brewing anywhere including his mouth. He got the all clear.

 

[miowmix]

Hi, when I had a pig with dental problems he would eat excel blackcurrant nuggets (which are nice and small) that had been soaked in warm water to soften them.
He would also eat mashed chunks of banana.
And very finely grated carrot, apple etc (on a box grater there's normally a side with smaller holes on it that grates stuff up nice and fine).

It's really tricky because if they don't get any hard food then their teeth won't improve (in fact may get worse). But my pig just wouldn't eat anything hard and needed to put on weight so I gave him what he wanted and took him to the vets about once every 2 months to get his teeth done. If it's the back teeth it's worse because lots of vets (including mine) won't do them without giving the pig a GA.

Good luck to you and your pig.

 

[Wiebke]

I see I missed a bit in my post, 5 days after the dental he went back to the vets due to my concerns and to check nothing else was brewing anywhere including his mouth. He got the all clear.

My Hywel's dental abscess took 4 weeks to manifest; which is why I have put this bit in.

 

[furryfriends (TEAS)]

It does take a long time for a dental piggy to put the weight back on. Piggies seem to be able to lose it so quickly, but it takes very much longer for them to make any significant gain. I have also added Ready Brek to syringe food. Some like it, some don't, but worth a try.

 

[Elliegirl]

My Hywel's dental abscess took 4 weeks to manifest; which is why I have put this bit in.

TY, that wasn't getting at you just so you knew I wasn't going this alone
The nuggets are going down in the bowl now so I hope he's turning himself around. I haven't syringe fed him today to give him chance to do it himself, I'll see how he goes through the next 24hours. TY x

 

[Elliegirl]

Hi, when I had a pig with dental problems he would eat excel blackcurrant nuggets (which are nice and small) that had been soaked in warm water to soften them.
He would also eat mashed chunks of banana.
And very finely grated carrot, apple etc (on a box grater there's normally a side with smaller holes on it that grates stuff up nice and fine).

It's really tricky because if they don't get any hard food then their teeth won't improve (in fact may get worse). But my pig just wouldn't eat anything hard and needed to put on weight so I gave him what he wanted and took him to the vets about once every 2 months to get his teeth done. If it's the back teeth it's worse because lots of vets (including mine) won't do them without giving the pig a GA.

Good luck to you and your pig.

TY!
He is eating well but just not gaining weight. He is on the blackcurrant nuggets at the moment and his bowl has emptied a bit overnight so fingers crossed he's rebooted!