Can we help our elderly pig keep weight on?

[Fluffbabies]

Hi everyone,

Our Oreo had her six and a half year birthday last month. She's a happy lady and enjoying a good quality of life still but as expected, she has lost a lot of weight gradually over the past couple of years. In her prime she was around 1100g. She's now down to 845g and is a bony, skinny girl, which our specialist vet said is completely normal.

It still upsets us a lot every time she is lighter and bonier but we can see the zest for life she has and our Ginger was all bones at the end of her cancer but she was full of zest and energy. So we know they can be happy and comfortable while skinny. It's just hard to see.

We understand from our vet that it's next to impossible to help the oldies gain any weight back as it's normal muscle wastage. We feed her critical care each day on advice of our vet. She likes it a lot. Though it's got to be from the syringe, not the bowl because how dare we suggest she dirty her whiskers! She takes 0.5-1 scoop a day and we don't force her to have more than she wants. When we do the morning feed interspersed with salad, she can put on about 80g in a full belly. We feed her salad away from the younger herd to ensure she has time to eat what she wants. (The others are four rowdy two year olds and can be quite boisterous now Oreo's so light.)

We just wondered what people's experiences were with elderly piggies... if there's any food that we could add that would help her to maintain her weight? I've heard maybe oat flakes? Do we let her eat as much salad/veg as she wants at her age?

 

[Piggies&buns]

The diet still needs to be mainly hay and grass. Some critical care and/or a small amount of porridge oats can give a boost.
Letting her have lots of veg won’t do favours, it could introduce other issues (reduction in hay intake and associated problems, as well as risk of unbalancing the gut and associated problems).

It is harder as they are older, I am having it with my two older boys now - they’re just over 5 1/2 years old and lighter than they used to be (medically sound though).
I’m going to start giving a few plain porridge oats to to give them a boost particularly as we come into winter.

Journey through a Lifetime: The Ages of Guinea Pigs
Caring for Older Piggies and Facing the End - A practical and supportive information collection

 

[Fluffbabies]

The diet still needs to be mainly hay and grass. Some critical care and/or a small amount of porridge oats can give a boost.
Letting her have lots of veg won’t do favours, it could introduce other issues (reduction in hay intake and associated problems, as well as risk of unbalancing the gut and associated problems).

It is harder as they are older, I am having it with my two older boys now - they’re just over 5 1/2 years old and lighter than they used to be (medically sound though).
I’m going to start giving a few plain porridge oats to to give them a boost particularly as we come into winter.

Journey through a Lifetime: The Ages of Guinea Pigs
Caring for Older Piggies and Facing the End - A practical and supportive information collection

Thank you Piggies&Buns.. as I expected then.

 

[Wheekallweek]

Some porridge oats always goes down well with us!

 

[weepweeps]

It’s soooo hard for piggies to put weight on. I had a sick piggy last year and it took him 10 months to put back on the 400g he had lost.

I would recommend pea flakes, dried forage and grass (spaced out throughout the day) plus their usual daily food. But introduce it all slowly so as not to upset their tummy. Good luck. It’s sad watching them age.

 

[Fluffbabies]

It’s soooo hard for piggies to put weight on. I had a sick piggy last year and it took him 10 months to put back on the 400g he had lost.

I would recommend pea flakes, dried forage and grass (spaced out throughout the day) plus their usual daily food. But introduce it all slowly so as not to upset their tummy. Good luck. It’s sad watching them age.

Thanks for the suggestions. It really is. Even though you know it's inevitable when you get them. You're not thinking about that then though! I can't believe our babies are two this month already!

 

[Pound Shilling & Pig]

Part of the issue, as well as age related loss of muscle mass, is that as they age their bodies become less efficient at absorbing and utilising nutrients. Also they rest more, so spend less time grazing and do everything slower, including eating, so eating enough hay to maintain their weight can become problematic. Increasing foods such as nuggets, oats, peaflakes and carrots can help provide easier access to calories but should still be done in moderation, as it is important a good amount of hay is still eaten to maintain gut and dental health.

 

[Piggies&buns]

I’m not sure what your piggies are bedded on but having lots of hay in multiple areas so it is right there without having to move can help.
Mine are in a shed so are fully bedded in hay - it’s always right in front of their faces if they don’t want to move if they’re having a lazy day!

 

[Viennese Furbabies]

It's always painful to watch this last part of the journey together.
I found this pigture of Muffin just a few days ago. It was taken about 2 weeks before he had to be PTS. He died 3 years ago, aged about 7.5 years. And the last months were a constant struggle to get him to eat enough.

I fed him part of his meals away from the girls and he also got an extra late night feeding with lettuce. He liked oats. I also put science selective pellets into water to soften them. Since he didn't get enough fluids, he had some of his critical care (wasn't critical care since mine never eat it, but something very similar) with lot's of water. The rest he ate from a little dish most of the time.
And he loved to eat grass and platain, but not dandelion.

 

[Claire W]

My Ella lost around 300g when she had a poorly tooth a few months ago. She’s 4 and a half and hasn’t regained all the weight but we have got 200g back on her which I’ve been told she’s now the perfect weight for her age as she was slightly overweight before. I offered her pea flakes, grass, dandelions and lots of different forages and hays to tempt her to eat. It’s hard getting weight back on a piggy especially the older they are and they often don’t regain the weight they’ve lost

 

[Fluffbabies]

I’m not sure what your piggies are bedded on but having lots of hay in multiple areas so it is right there without having to move can help.
Mine are in a shed so are fully bedded in hay - it’s always right in front of their faces if they don’t want to move if they’re having a lazy day!

They're on fleece but we started putting two hay piles in so our two (at the time) oldies weren't getting shoved by the younger ones around one pile of hay.

I make sure that the hay piles are near tunnels or undercover spots too. Last night I put lots of smaller hay piles so wherever she wanted to lay or sleep she was near hay. Oreo spent the first twenty minutes running between the mini hay piles through tunnels and over fleece beds so that got her moving even if for a short while! Don't you know you've got to eat from each pile? She still moves fast when it's food related!

 

[Fluffbabies]

It's always painful to watch this last part of the journey together.
I found this pigture of Muffin just a few days ago. It was taken about 2 weeks before he had to be PTS. He died 3 years ago, aged about 7.5 years. And the last months were a constant struggle to get him to eat enough.
View attachment 232279
I fed him part of his meals away from the girls and he also got an extra late night feeding with lettuce. He liked oats. I also put science selective pellets into water to soften them. Since he didn't get enough fluids, he had some of his critical care (wasn't critical care since mine never eat it, but something very similar) with lot's of water. The rest he ate from a little dish most of the time.
And he loved to eat grass and platain, but not dandelion.

Thank you for sharing about your beautiful Muffin. He's adorable and looked amazing for such a mature piggy. It's clear you cared for him so well. We'll do daily feeds away from the younger ones too so Oreo has more time to relax and eat.

 

[acapae]

When Perran was old, she found chop much easier to eat than long-stem hay and grass. Chop being the agricultural/ equine term for hay and dried grass that's chopped up into short lengths (3-5cm long) rather than the whole height of the plant or leaf. It was easier for her to pick up and eat, and she didn't need to wave her head around as much to keep the positioning in her mouth correct. Plus the pieces are more uniform in shape, which again saved a bit of energy, and it all adds up.

I used these products predominantly:
Timothy Chop - High Fibre, Low Sugar, Low Calorie Chop
Chopped Grass Horse Feed, Dengie Pure Grass
https://emeraldgreenfeeds.co.uk/product/emerald-green-feeds-grass-tastic/

There's a good number of brands out there. Practically all of them will send you little sample bags in the post so you can see which your pigs prefer if you email saying you're considering a few brands for your herd of "animals"