What Food To Give an Old Guinea Pig - Hard to Maintain Weight

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garnet2424

garnet2424

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Hi everybody,

My guinea pig is about 8 years old now.

She has a fantastic appetite, her teeth are fine etc But I'm finding it hard to keep weight on her.

She is fed burgess excel, ad lib hay (meadow & herbage) and fruit & veg & handfuls of grass.

Anything in particular which is good putting on weight?

Thank you!

Abi :)
 
OATS ! :)

One of my piggies is a bit of a pain to keep weight on, so he gets a bowl of oats to help him keep a bit of podge on him :)
 
twiams said:
OATS ! :)

One of my piggies is a bit of a pain to keep weight on, so he gets a bowl of oats to help him keep a bit of podge on him :)
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Beat us to this OATS... :))
 
My old girl loves warm pellet mash with some oats in it( you can also use bran) Sometimes adding a little bit of veg like grated carrots can make it more appealing .
Shame I can't get pellet mash it into my poorly girl as easy.

ETA: Rosie struggles to maintain her weight, and I found this helps. Oh and readigrass which she adores. I found that Rosie had some stiffness to her back legs which she now has painkillers for, this has also helped to maintain her weight.
 
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When you say oats, do you mean porridge oats?

I really need to fatten Henry up!

xx
 
sophieandhoney said:
When you say oats, do you mean porridge oats?

I really need to fatten Henry up!

xx
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Yeah just plain porridge oats. Not readibrek or the like which may have additional ingredients.
They are fattening so ideally don't feed a lot. If it is a sudden/gradual weight loss it is always best to get it checked out at the vets. Like I said earlier, in older pigs you need to rule out if there is anything causing a loss of weight/condition or whether it is just old age, stiffness and achy joints can cause pain and reluctance to eat/ move around to eat so I found a anti-inflammatory beneficial in helping her painful joints but it also increased her eating.
 
Thanks for the clarification, have taken henry to the vets 4 times, am going to see a specialist next but meanwhile it can't hurt. Should just sprinkle some on his nuggets?

He is almost 5 but a rescue so proper age is unknown. He only weighs 900g and is a constant worry!

thanks (and sorry for the semi hijack)
 
One of Potty for Piggies' fans says she has a mixture she uses and makes herself using dried peas and parsley stalks and leaves. They love it and it helps with their weight :-) I could ask for more info if you like? X
 
When I had an old girl who needed fattening up, I gave her bran & oats, equal quantities, mixed with warm water to a paste, and grated carrot & apple in it. She loved it. Unfortunately when they get old they do tend to lose body fat. At least she is well otherwise. Good luck.
 
Mummylind said:
When I had an old girl who needed fattening up, I gave her bran & oats, equal quantities, mixed with warm water to a paste, and grated carrot & apple in it. She loved it. Unfortunately when they get old they do tend to lose body fat. At least she is well otherwise. Good luck.
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I'll try this on my 6 year old to try and build some weight up for winter. Love your avatar.
 
My Eliza is nearly 6 and hovering around 900g

Her and her friends also enjoy fresh corn on the cob which is also a good weight gainer
 
I have just lost my old girl but she hovered around 750-800g. She used to love warm pellet mush with a handful of oats in it, which she would eat off a plate :)
 
Hiya,

You can get oats from any supermarket, just get plain oats with no additives. Aldi do a packet for about 40 to 50p.

We would be wary of any horse product as most we have seen contain molasses, but we are sure that some of the horsey members can advise you on this better than we can..
 
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