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Advice please - Piggy eating slowly and not fully

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munchmonster

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After a worrying 24hrs of not seeing Wilf come out from his hidey, even for snacks, I managed to get the only remaining vets appointment today (even though I should have been at work. I did not see him drink or interact with Annie either. The vet said she had checked his lungs, heart (both were strong), his tummy and intestines were giving the right noises and his poos were ok. She also said he was lively when on the vet's table. I came home with emeraid IC and Emeprid solution (only to be given if his intestines do not work as they should).
This evening he has come out of the hidey when I brought snacks, and although he showed interest, he chewed very slowly and again didn't eat much.
I don't want to syringe feed him the emeraid in case he does eat, but want to do the best for him.
Watching him eating slowly I wondered if it may be something to do with his teeth, or mouth. Can dental problems suddenly start up with a piggie who is nearing his 4th birthday?
Any advice would be helpful as I am worried about him.
 
Sending love. How worrying. Not a great deal of advice to offer from me. Just to say that it sounds like it could be maybe teeth issues, and that in my experience sometimes syringe feeding helped to get my animals (pigs and buns) to eat themselves, it seemed to stimulate their appetite.
 
munchmonster said:
After a worrying 24hrs of not seeing Wilf come out from his hidey, even for snacks, I managed to get the only remaining vets appointment today (even though I should have been at work. I did not see him drink or interact with Annie either. The vet said she had checked his lungs, heart (both were strong), his tummy and intestines were giving the right noises and his poos were ok. She also said he was lively when on the vet's table. I came home with emeraid IC and Emeprid solution (only to be given if his intestines do not work as they should).
This evening he has come out of the hidey when I brought snacks, and although he showed interest, he chewed very slowly and again didn't eat much.
I don't want to syringe feed him the emeraid in case he does eat, but want to do the best for him.
Watching him eating slowly I wondered if it may be something to do with his teeth, or mouth. Can dental problems suddenly start up with a piggie who is nearing his 4th birthday?
Any advice would be helpful as I am worried about him.
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Hi!

Please switch from weighing weekly on the kitchen scales to weighing daily at the same time. Step in with feeding support as soon as he loses more than 50g.

Offer it in a bowl 2-3 times daily outside so he can eat as much as he wants/needs and at his own speed for as long as he is still eating on his own. Offer him water by syringe, as much as he wants to drink at the end of the session.

There is a big difference between full-on feeding a piggy that is not eating at all and one that you only need to top up. The daily weighing will give you an up-to-date input as to how things are going. I prefer to do it first thing in the morning when the weight is at its lowest so I can then plan the day according to how much and in which form support feeding is needed.

I hope that this helps you?

PS: I have changed your title. Please state the problem there. It really helps us.
 
Thanks Wiebke and Lavinia, good advice I will put it into practise. I was in tears on the phone to the vet this morning. Poorly piggies have that effect on me
 
munchmonster said:
Thanks Wiebke and Lavinia, good advice I will put it into practise. I was in tears on the phone to the vet this morning. Poorly piggies have that effect on me
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Has your vet checked the teeth or for a potential brewing dental root abscess which can make itself felt a goodly time before it actually comes up?
 
I've been watching Wilf tonight after Annie pushed him out of the hidey which she often does. They love to chew up a kitchen roll middle so I put one in with them. Annie chewed it straight away but Wilf pushed his nose against it and attempted to chew but walked away. I was then 90% convinced his problem is his mouth. I don't have any Metacam so will see if the vet will let me have some. She did not mention his teeth, but am I right in thinking there are very few vets in the UK that have the right experience with piggie teeth?
 
munchmonster said:
I've been watching Wilf tonight after Annie pushed him out of the hidey which she often does. They love to chew up a kitchen roll middle so I put one in with them. Annie chewed it straight away but Wilf pushed his nose against it and attempted to chew but walked away. I was then 90% convinced his problem is his mouth. I don't have any Metacam so will see if the vet will let me have some. She did not mention his teeth, but am I right in thinking there are very few vets in the UK that have the right experience with piggie teeth?
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There are the guys at Northampton..Cat & Rabbit Clinic .. I think Ellie @ Derwent Valley Vets has been doing some training with them.
 
Thanks Artcasper! I've just looked on Derwent Valley Vets website but am heartbroken to find that Ellie's first available appt is a week on Wednesday :((
I will try calling them tomorrow though, just in case someone cancels
 
Can you get to the Cat and Rabbit Clinic? Ask for an appt with Simon or Kim, they are the go to vets for anything dental. They have emergency appts every morning at 8.00 am. or you can just ring them up at anytime. I can thoroughly recommend them, they will look right inside the mouth and do any dental work there and then. They are very experienced and your little man will be in safe hands x
No referrals needed or they are very reasonably priced too
 
Thank you Bill & Ted for the suggestion. I have managed to get an appointment with Ellie at Derwent Valley vets in Matlock who Artcasper recommended and its about 45min drive from me. Please send good vibes for Wilf, his appointment is 8.30 Thursday morning. When I asked for leave from work and explained why I needed leave at short notice my boss looked at me as if a pet piggie isn't important. I wont write down what I thought!
Fingers crossed for Wilf
 
Sending lots of good vibes for Wilf. Sorry about your boss ☹️
 
munchmonster said:
Thank you Bill & Ted for the suggestion. I have managed to get an appointment with Ellie at Derwent Valley vets in Matlock who Artcasper recommended and its about 45min drive from me. Please send good vibes for Wilf, his appointment is 8.30 Thursday morning. When I asked for leave from work and explained why I needed leave at short notice my boss looked at me as if a pet piggie isn't important. I wont write down what I thought!
Fingers crossed for Wilf
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Glad you have got an appointment for Wilf. Ellie has been fab when I've seen her... you always feel like she cares about the pigs... Good luck and let us know how you get on x ( ignore your boss.. none piggy people don't get it!) X
 
Wilf had his appointment with Ellie today and to say she is brilliant is an understatement. She examined him very gently and soon found the problem, which was his teeth. She showed me his slanting front teeth and explained that, like humans, if there is pain on one side of the mouth when eating, we will eat on the other side and that has worn down his teeth unevenly. He had some dental treatment right away and came home with some anti-inflamatory medicine. I still have to syringe feed him with Emeraid but I have noticed he has tried to eat a little this evening. He absolutely hates the syringe and Emeraid and dislikes me when I try to give it to him :( Please keep sending him healing vibes and fingers crossed he will be pain free and able to eat normally very soon.
 
This is a worrying update on Wilf. He is spending all his time in his hidey and has lost weight again today which is hardly surprising as he eats very little so I am syringe feeding him with Critical Care. He managed 3 syringes full this evening. He seems very depressed too. I keep telling him I love him and he needs to get better, but after the worst week at work and home I am not feeling in a positive mood. Fingers crossed Wilf will be on the mend by morning
 
munchmonster said:
This is a worrying update on Wilf. He is spending all his time in his hidey and has lost weight again today which is hardly surprising as he eats very little so I am syringe feeding him with Critical Care. He managed 3 syringes full this evening. He seems very depressed too. I keep telling him I love him and he needs to get better, but after the worst week at work and home I am not feeling in a positive mood. Fingers crossed Wilf will be on the mend by morning
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Oh I’m sorry to hear this. I had hoped he might start to pick up after having his teeth looked at. I’m sorry you don’t feel in a positive mood, can’t say I blame you. It’s hard and stressful, especially after work too.
Fingers and toes crossed he picks up soon.
 
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My piggy has had very similar symptoms to yours with showing interest and not eating. I have taken her to the cat and rabbit care clinic, where they saw Kim today. I honestly cannot reccommend enough, they are EXPERTS and I feel so reassured. Also once they have had their teeth done, I was advised not to syringe feed as they wont then be tempted to eat properly again, as will be full on the critical care.. then their teeth will grow back bad again. So had slightly different advise there. Honestly, it was worth every single minute of the journey (5 hour round trip for me). Call at 8am in the morning and they will fit you in that day.
 
I forgot to add in my update that all evening I have noticed that Wilf's body keeps making sudden jerking movements quite frequently. Should I be worried?
 
munchmonster said:
I forgot to add in my update that all evening I have noticed that Wilf's body keeps making sudden jerking movements quite frequently. Should I be worried?
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Could it be popcorning (happy movements)?
 
Thanks for the info Cavysarah. How is your piggy after having dental work done? Like you, it would be around a 5hr round trip for me too
 
She had the work at 5pm today so not been all that long yet. I have tried her with dandelion and it is the most interest and attempt she has shown at eating something solid for a long while! I was quite unsure if it was worth the jounrey and I guess naive to how much better they could be, and I have no regrets at all. I have a thread in health and illness called 'guinea pig only eating dry food' where I have put a lot of the detail of treatment. They honestly are worth the hype, not quite sure what the guinea pig community would do without Kim/Simon!
 
I will read your thread in the morning Cavysarah. I am needing sleep now as its been one hell of a week - not in a good way :(
 
Cavysarah said:
She had the work at 5pm today so not been all that long yet. I have tried her with dandelion and it is the most interest and attempt she has shown at eating something solid for a long while! I was quite unsure if it was worth the jounrey and I guess naive to how much better they could be, and I have no regrets at all. I have a thread in health and illness called 'guinea pig only eating dry food' where I have put a lot of the detail of treatment. They honestly are worth the hype, not quite sure what the guinea pig community would do without Kim/Simon!
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Just to let you know, she is currently sat eating lettuce on my lap, 1st time in forever! Really worth it, I have no doubt Wilf will make it too, brave boy ♥️
 
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