Yogi Has Gone Off Burgess Excel

[Katie1988]

Hi Everyone,
I was wondering whether anyone has experienced this with any of your piggies.

My eldest Yogi has been off Burgess Excel for over a year now, I had put it down to her getting older and losing her appetite a bit.
She eats everything else fine without any trouble, but with the nuggets she takes big gulps of water before eating a nugget. I'm assuming the nuggets are too dry in her mouth, she started doing this over a year ago and a recent vet visit raised concerns as the vet said she was very skinny.

She does eat everything else though! Kiwi who is 2 eats the nuggets without any trouble, she will eat anything and everything though whereas Yogi is more of a lady haha.

I've read that some people on hear have found that their piggy has suddenly gone off Burgess food. I'm thinking of introducing them to Selective Science food, does anyone know where I can get any free samples?

 

[biscandmatt]

did the vet check her teeth? because sometimes discomfort and pain can make them use water to try and numb their mouth before eating something. and the burgess pellets are fairly big. the fact she is skinny aswell might point to dental issues. usually dental issues make them go off all food, or become selective with certain foods whilst appearing to eat others normally.

it sounds like she wants to eat the pellets but can't for some reason, and teeth seem the most likely to me. if the vet didn't check them last time then i'd get those looked at. i know you can't see 100% of everything going on during a consult but a good vet should still beable to tell if the teeth are likely causing any issues.

but i'd rule teeth out first and then perhaps discuss with your vet other things that could be going on, because slowly losing weight over the course of a year (younger or older) is a long time really so there could possibly be something else going on. i know alot of older piggies become slimmer, but to be described as skinny seems a bit more than just older age.

science selective may send you some free samples if you contact them directly. and if you do try new pellets and she does the same and continues to lose weight then definitely discuss with the vet again.

how old is she now and how much weight would you say she's lost over the course of the last year?

 

[Katie1988]

Thanks for your reply. I'd say she's lost a few pounds as she was never a large piggy. I used to weigh them but it stresses them out to much and they won't stay still so I go off close obs now.

I've found that Yogi loves cornflakes, so I'm given her a bit of that now whilst syringe feeding her recovery food to try and bulk her up a bit.

The vet did not think her teeth were a problem as she does eat some of the nuggets and hard veg.

Many thanks. Lets hope the new food sample arrives quickly

 

[biscandmatt]

fingers crossed it isn't teeth then and she approves of the new pellets

 

[Katie1988]

Hi all another update for you.
This morning she had quite a bit of recovery food mixed in with some of Kiwi's poo (horrid I know).

I gave her half a bell pepper today and she ate a little, ate a bit of carrot and she sat most of the day looking sorry for herself.

Being frustrated with her slow progress I syringe fed her 0.5m tummy care by benpar I think it's called. Since then she has been producing normal shaped poos (well for the past hr anyway).

She's been swaying a lil back and forth, do you think it's cos the stuff is making her guts work? The stuff does say that it should be mixed in with the water or food but she wouldn't touch it

 

[biscandmatt]

Hi all another update for you.
This morning she had quite a bit of recovery food mixed in with some of Kiwi's poo (horrid I know).

I gave her half a bell pepper today and she ate a little, ate a bit of carrot and she sat most of the day looking sorry for herself.

Being frustrated with her slow progress I syringe fed her 0.5m tummy care by benpar I think it's called. Since then she has been producing normal shaped poos (well for the past hr anyway).

She's been swaying a lil back and forth, do you think it's cos the stuff is making her guts work? The stuff does say that it should be mixed in with the water or food but she wouldn't touch it

in my experience, the slight swaying is discomfort/pain related. or it has been with mine that have done it anyway. i hope it isn't but might be worthwhile mentioning it to the vet anyway so they can add it to her notes. if she does start to get more symptoms over time then hopefully all the bits of info together will start to make sense x