Back to eating after two months of critical care

[Lulum]

Hi, I was wondering if anyone has experience with reintroducing a guinea pig to a diet after being on critical care for a long time. My little guy has been on antibiotics for a lump under his neck that hasn't completely gone away and doesn't look like it will according to the vet (it's barely palpable now and has probably scabbed over, but shouldn't be a problem anymore) and today will be the third day he's been on antibiotics for blood in his urine and poo. He's slowly starting to look like he's feeling better and I'm seeing him eat more and more hay and he even had some pellets today!
We are going for another check up next week Thursday and the vet said I should gradually stop giving him critical care so he will eat on his own. He's been on critical care for two months now. I fed him 9 times a day every two hours for the first month and a half and 7 times a day every three hours for half a month.
Even though he's trying pretty hard on his own now, he seems very used to me feeding him. If you have any advice or experiences you'd like to share, I'd be very grateful.

*Otherwise, he's still on meloxidyl, bio-lapis and the antibiotics.

 

[Siikibam]

Have you been monitoring his weight throughout? How has it been? I think he only way you’ll know if he’s eating enough is through daily weight checks. If you reduce the feeds and he loses then he’s not eating enough by himself.

When giving antibiotics, it’s recommended that you also give a probiotic, 1-2 hours before or after the antibiotic. I hope he starts feeling better soon.

 

[Lulum]

Have you been monitoring his weight throughout? How has it been? I think he only way you’ll know if he’s eating enough is through daily weight checks. If you reduce the feeds and he loses then he’s not eating enough by himself.

When giving antibiotics, it’s recommended that you also give a probiotic, 1-2 hours before or after the antibiotic. I hope he starts feeling better soon.

Yes, I've been checking his weight daily since he seemed kind of weird those two months ago. I also try to adjust it according to weight, but I'm not sure how much I can cut back on feeding, if I should reduce the dose or feed the same amount less often or if it doesn't matter. He's been taking probiotics since his first antibiotics (that's that bio-lapis).

 

[Piggies&buns]

It’s quantity over a 24 hour period of food - so if a piggy takes more per feeding than you can do less feedings.
So to see if he is eating enough for himself I think I would cut out one/some of the middle feeds first without increasing quantity and see what his weight does. If he remains stable, then cut out another feeding etc. and continue until he is eating fully on his own.
If his weight drops significantly then you can either increase the quantity he is fed in the remaining feeding sessions or add in another feed.

 

[Free Ranger]

I had a sow that was being syringe fed for a long time and it's not easy - you have been very dedicated to your piggy! My girl used to sniff around for food when her cage mate started to eat so I tried to go with her natural desire for eating. When she couldn't manage anything herself I would step in after with the syringe (sadly my story was not meant to have a happy ending). My girl did not welcome the syringe (although she was happy after with a full tummy) and we think she struggled to swallow. Does your piggy have appetite and welcome the syringe? If so that is a good first step - that he actually wants to eat and will go for it. Perhaps he can start to take his CC from a spoon or little bowl so he can do it himself? If he has lost confidence in eating he might be tempted with a little fresh grass? In our house it is by far the most popular thing. Or things like cucumber which are soft and don't need much chewing.

It is of course important that he begins to eat hay or his teeth will overgrow but sometimes it can take a little while. Some piggies on the forum had to have incisor teeth removed and their owners fed thin strips of vegetable into their mouth one-by-one until they realised they could manage it themselves... then they did well. I didn't realise piggies could lose confidence in eating until I read about this - they are little eating machines so it was a surprise!

If he is feeling poorly from whatever problem is causing the blood in urine/poop he might have to get over that before his appetite is fully restored too. Good Luck little chap x

 

[Lulum]

It’s quantity over a 24 hour period of food - so if a piggy takes more per feeding than you can do less feedings.
So to see if he is eating enough for himself I think I would cut out one/some of the middle feeds first without increasing quantity and see what his weight does. If he remains stable, then cut out another feeding etc. and continue until he is eating fully on his own.
If his weight drops significantly then you can either increase the quantity he is fed in the remaining feeding sessions or add in another feed.

Thank you, that's great advice! I'll skip the feeding in the middle and try lying in bed with him instead of feeding him, along with the hay, since that's what he and his brother have always enjoyed.

 

[Lulum]

I had a sow that was being syringe fed for a long time and it's not easy - you have been very dedicated to your piggy! My girl used to sniff around for food when her cage mate started to eat so I tried to go with her natural desire for eating. When she couldn't manage anything herself I would step in after with the syringe (sadly my story was not meant to have a happy ending). My girl did not welcome the syringe (although she was happy after with a full tummy) and we think she struggled to swallow. Does your piggy have appetite and welcome the syringe? If so that is a good first step - that he actually wants to eat and will go for it. Perhaps he can start to take his CC from a spoon or little bowl so he can do it himself? If he has lost confidence in eating he might be tempted with a little fresh grass? In our house it is by far the most popular thing. Or things like cucumber which are soft and don't need much chewing.

It is of course important that he begins to eat hay or his teeth will overgrow but sometimes it can take a little while. Some piggies on the forum had to have incisor teeth removed and their owners fed thin strips of vegetable into their mouth one-by-one until they realised they could manage it themselves... then they did well. I didn't realise piggies could lose confidence in eating until I read about this - they are little eating machines so it was a surprise!

If he is feeling poorly from whatever problem is causing the blood in urine/poop he might have to get over that before his appetite is fully restored too. Good Luck little chap x

I'm so sorry it didn't turn out well for your little girl, unfortunately, I have a similar experience where I didn't get to the stage of switching back to a normal diet with one piggy either. Luckily this little guy is a fighter. He's pretty much used to the feeding now and it doesn't give us any problems, when he still had the lump under his neck it was a bit problematic, but what helped there was that he ate it rather than let me give any of it to his brother. Outside of the syringe he won't take it himself, but that may be because he's really had enough and would appreciate something else.
Surprisingly he hasn't had a problem with his teeth once in the whole two months, they've been checked at the vet every time and they've never been even a bit overgrown. I think it's because he never wanted to give up veggies, so even when he was just lying down for days, he had to get some hay in him so he could eat carrots, peppers and stuff. Otherwise, I don't know how that's possible.

I'm trying to rotate more types of hay now, and when I take him to feed him, I also give him grass, which he'll take some of (definitely more than hay). Unfortunately, I can't leave it in for them because his big brother seems to have decided he needs to eat for two since his brother is not doing well and has started having digestive issues and should be on hay, water and probiotics for at least another week.

Thanks for the encouraging words, it's still going to take a while, but I believe we'll get through it.