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1.5 y/o boar not eating hay?

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starpiggielove

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He eats everything else: lettuce, pepper, crunchy treats, and he started out taking herbivore critical care (I think he got sick of it after a bit, so we had to struggle). But he won't eat his hay! Any reasoning for this? I've tried a different hay, fresh new hay... I use oxbow tinothy meadow hay, and I gave him some oxbow botanical hay to see if he would eat that. This is the same hat he's been eating his whole life.
 
Has he been seen by a vet? The reasoning is often a medical one so you do need to rule that out first.
Have you switched from the routine weekly weight checks and instead weighing him daily each morning so you can monitor more closely?
What are the weight checks telling you?
How long has he not been eating hay?

Have you checked you aren’t over feeding other items?
 
starpiggielove said:
He eats everything else: lettuce, pepper, crunchy treats, and he started out taking herbivore critical care (I think he got sick of it after a bit, so we had to struggle). But he won't eat his hay! Any reasoning for this? I've tried a different hay, fresh new hay... I use oxbow tinothy meadow hay, and I gave him some oxbow botanical hay to see if he would eat that. This is the same hat he's been eating his whole life.
Click to expand...

I hope he starts eating hay again soon. Good luck at the vets.
 
Hello everyone. Apologies for no replies. He is peeing blood, and his abdomen seems gassy? Also not pooping. Speaking to a vet currently and giving critical care, antibiotic (I suspected UTI), ibuprofen. He's a very good boy. Hates me right now though.
 
Piggies&buns said:
Has he been seen by a vet? The reasoning is often a medical one so you do need to rule that out first.
Have you switched from the routine weekly weight checks and instead weighing him daily each morning so you can monitor more closely?
What are the weight checks telling you?
How long has he not been eating hay?

Have you checked you aren’t over feeding other items?
Click to expand...
Talking to a vet right now (access is limited, regrettably) I am not overfeeding other foods, I'm about to weigh him (holding him at the moment, giving him a rest) and I'll see what it tells me. Has not been eating hay for a few days.
 
starpiggielove said:
He eats everything else: lettuce, pepper, crunchy treats, and he started out taking herbivore critical care (I think he got sick of it after a bit, so we had to struggle). But he won't eat his hay! Any reasoning for this? I've tried a different hay, fresh new hay... I use oxbow tinothy meadow hay, and I gave him some oxbow botanical hay to see if he would eat that. This is the same hat he's been eating his whole life.
Click to expand...
To clarify: started with not eating hay, and eventually less poops, is when we gave critical care. Then the blood, then the abdominal abnormalities.
 
I’m sorry to hear this

Please step in with daily weight checks and feeding as much critical care is necessary to keep his weight stable.

He will need antibiotics, gut meds and painkillers.
I would also advise xrays and checks to ensure there isn’t a bladder stone rather than assuming a UTI

I hope he is ok

Wiebke

Thread 'Weight and Weight Loss Explained: BMI, Weighing, Poos and Feeding Support'

1 Weight and Weight Loss
- Why regular weight monitoring matters
- How weight changes over a lifetime
- How to weigh on your kitchen scales (with video)
- The weight loss rules
- How critical is the weight loss for my piggy?
- Possible causes for weight loss
2 Body Mass Index (BMI) or 'Heft'
- Why is understanding your piggy's weight so important?
- 'Average' weight vs. individual weight - the big trip up
- How to check for the BMI
3 The Weekly and the Daily...
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Wiebke

Thread 'All About Syringe Feeding and Medicating Guinea Pigs with Videos and Pictures'

Introduction
1 Choosing the right place to medicate/feed your piggy
2 Guinea pig whispering and asserting your authority
3 Recovery products and emergency improvisation
4 Syringe recommendations
5 Weight monitoring: your biggest ally
6 Weight loss guidelines and when to step in with feeding
7 Syringe feeding amounts/frequency advice
8 Practical medication and syringing tips
9 Medicating and feeding cooperative guinea pigs (videos)
10 Medicating and feeding uncooperative guinea pigs (hold pictures and tips)
11 The line between life and death
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Wiebke

Thread 'Digestive Disorders: Not Eating - Diarrhea - Bloat - GI Stasis (No Gut Movement)'

Overview
1 Not eating (anorexia) and the importance of syringe feeding fibre
2 Soft poos and runny diarrhea
3 Acute bloat (severe dysbiosis) - blockage - twisted gut - persistent milder bloating
4 GI stasis (no gut movement)


Severe runny diarrhea, bloat, blockage or a twisted gut, GI stasis and excessive salivating in guinea pigs that are not eating are absolute life and death emergencies that need to be seen ASAP by an out-of-hours vet at any time of the day or night or that should be seen by a vet as...
 
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