Emeraid Vs Oxbow Critical Care?

Mishka

Mishka

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Hi all, I'm looking for some thoughts/experience/advice please.

I'm caring for a poorly little piggy at the moment and my vets have given me some Emeraid Herbivore to supplement her diet at the moment. She's doing very ell in terms of eating already, so her appetite is good, but we're not taking any chances.

What I have realised is that she LOVES the Emeraid. I mean, really, really loves it. She wolfs it down in seconds and will shovel up to 9ml in a sitting into her tiny baby stomach.

Previously I have always used Oxbow Critical Care religiously for piggies who needed syringe feeding. But it's almost always been a battle. I have had to force most of them and recovery has rarely been successful...

I've now ordered a bag of Emeraid to keep at home for my first aid kit, because I cannot believe how well it is going with this instead of the Oxbow (that was a no-go for her, she literally cried when I tried to syringe it to her). I'd never even heard of it before this weekend.

I'm looking for other people's experiences with this product, basically. How does it hold up against the well known Oxbow CC? What's the feeding rate with this for an adult pig? (On the Oxbow CC I have always tried to do a minimum of 15ml paste every 3 hours). Has anyone had success pulling an anorexic pig through on the Emeraid? Do all piggies love it or is this baby an outlier?

Force feeding has always been the point where I knew I was likely going to lose my girls... But with this in my arsenal, I feel like it could be a game changer?
 
I think @Poppy'sMum swears by it. I have used it and found mixed reactions, some of the pigs liked it and others didn't. If your little baby is happy to take it then go ahead, syringe feeding can be such a battle.
 
helen105281 said:
I think @Poppy'sMum swears by it. I have used it and found mixed reactions, some of the pigs liked it and others didn't. If your little baby is happy to take it then go ahead, syringe feeding can be such a battle.
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Indeed, it's that time when you realise that you're in real trouble... I want this to be some kind of wonder drug as it were
 
I've recently been considering the same question, and decided to re-order Oxbow, instead of switching to Emeraid. Apparently, most owners report that pigs/rabbits/chinchillas enjoy the taste of Emeraid and prefer it over Oxbow; it's also most energy-dense and you need of it to keep an animal going. I was almost sold, but decided to re-purchase Oxbow, as Emeraid appears to contain ethoxyquin as a preservative. While this means Emeraid has a longer shelf life than Oxbow, it's not what I'd ideally like to feed an ill piggy. Mind you, short term exposure to ethoxyquin is unlikely to be problematic, but I wouldn't consider longer-term use (e.g a couple weeks or more).
 
RosieMaia said:
I've recently been considering the same question, and decided to re-order Oxbow, instead of switching to Emeraid. Apparently, most owners report that pigs/rabbits/chinchillas enjoy the taste of Emeraid and prefer it over Oxbow; it's also most energy-dense and you need of it to keep an animal going. I was almost sold, but decided to re-purchase Oxbow, as Emeraid appears to contain ethoxyquin as a preservative. While this means Emeraid has a longer shelf life than Oxbow, it's not what I'd ideally like to feed an ill piggy. Mind you, short term exposure to ethoxyquin is unlikely to be problematic, but I wouldn't consider longer-term use (e.g a couple weeks or more).
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Thanks for weighing in. Silly question time: What are the dangers of ethoxyquin?
 
Umm... I have some articles bookmarked, but I don't have access to MedScape right now. I'm not a medical professional though, so I'm mostly reading the abstract and the Results of the articles :D

If I remember correctly, there's insufficient data to establish its safety in animal products, it's banned from being used in human products; tit is possibly hepatotoxic, potentially a mutagen. I started my own reasearch from Wikipedia, then they quote an EFSA report, which can be downloaded, and then the EFSA report refers to a host of other scholarly articles on the topic:
Safety and efficacy of ethoxyquin (6‐ethoxy‐1,2‐dihydro‐2,2,4‐trimethylquinoline) for all animal species
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.2903/j.efsa.2015.4272/epdf

I really think it's very, very unlikely that consuming Emeraid for a few days could cause any damage whatsoever, so I wouldn't worry. For what it's worth, after ethoxyquin is thoroughly researched, it can as well be concluded that it's perfectly safe. I'd also feed it without hesitation, if my piggy didn't like Oxbow - any food is better than no food.
 
RosieMaia said:
Umm... I have some articles bookmarked, but I don't have access to MedScape right now. I'm not a medical professional though, so I'm mostly reading the abstract and the Results of the articles :D

If I remember correctly, there's insufficient data to establish its safety in animal products, it's banned from being used in human products; tit is possibly hepatotoxic, potentially a mutagen. I started my own reasearch from Wikipedia, then they quote an EFSA report, which can be downloaded, and then the EFSA report refers to a host of other scholarly articles on the topic:
Safety and efficacy of ethoxyquin (6‐ethoxy‐1,2‐dihydro‐2,2,4‐trimethylquinoline) for all animal species
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.2903/j.efsa.2015.4272/epdf

I really think it's very, very unlikely that consuming Emeraid for a few days could cause any damage whatsoever, so I wouldn't worry. For what it's worth, after ethoxyquin is thoroughly researched, it can as well be concluded that it's perfectly safe. I'd also feed it without hesitation, if my piggy didn't like Oxbow - any food is better than no food.
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Brilliant, thank you, I'll have a proper read of that later.

Agreed, tbh I would rather they ate whatever I could get into them and take the chance, better that than GI stasis...
 
My vets use emeraid herbivore & introduced me to it. My girls just love it. It’s so much easier to feed as you need far less volume than you do with critical care. I won’t be switching back.
 
I use the CC fine grind and have had much better results with that than the normal one or the supreme recovery stuff. Ive never tried emeraid though, ive tried looking online but couldnt find it so gave up and got another bag of the CC. Our vet doesnt seem to supply it.
 
Emeraid is pretty good stuff for extremely poorly piggies with little appetite. You don't to to give as much as you do normal critical care & most pigs love it. However it is a bit like Complan for humans, it's really only a short term tool to assist the recovery of poorly post op piggies etc, I am not sure it is designed or meant for long term feeding & also the cost is much more than other supplement feeds. I would always consult your vet before giving it for any longer than a week or so.
 
Thanks for posting, ill be looking it up. Syringe feeding a pig thats refusing is so hard for everyone involved. I was only able to make critical care palatable for Archie by mixing it with blended strawberries or blueberries. Lots of fruit, but at that point food in was the main goal. Howard still wasnt convinced even with favourite treat seetening when i was using critical care with him.
 
I'm supplementing my Dot-pig with liquid food atm as she's been losing a lot of weight lately (vet suspects hyperthyroidism)
we had a little Emeraid left over and loads of CC (fine grind). I've been feeding the latter (in the mornings) but hub's been feeding the Emeraid and of course she LOVES it and now won't eat the Critical Care. I asked him to feed the CC same as me to avoid this choosiness but too late!
btw, my vet did say you can add a tiny amount of juice or squash to the CC mix if your piggy finds it too bitter but I'm saving that as a last resort.
 
stripeybeanie said:
I'm supplementing my Dot-pig with liquid food atm as she's been losing a lot of weight lately (vet suspects hyperthyroidism)
we had a little Emeraid left over and loads of CC (fine grind). I've been feeding the latter (in the mornings) but hub's been feeding the Emeraid and of course she LOVES it and now won't eat the Critical Care. I asked him to feed the CC same as me to avoid this choosiness but too late!
btw, my vet did say you can add a tiny amount of juice or squash to the CC mix if your piggy finds it too bitter but I'm saving that as a last resort.
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To make CC more palatable I have added some fresh pineapple juice, some probiotics or a bit of Ella’s kitchen puréed veg/fruit. I don’t need any of that with the Emeraid. This morning as I was feeding Holly (post surgery) I got mugged by the other 2for the empty Emeraid syringe. It just must taste delicious to piggies. Little Emeraid junkies!
 
Thanks all for your responses, this is all really useful to me. My tiny pig is doing really well at the moment, I think I will continue with the Emeraid while she's still on the ABs to make sure she at least maintains her weight. Of course at her age (9 weeks now) I would want her to gain, but if maintaining is the best we can manage at the moment, that's at least something.

Critical Care has always been a nightmare for me. I've tried the fine grind as well as the normal, even the apple and banana has been refused. I've tried adding fruit, still nothing. it's like they get one whiff of the stuff and know they're about to be put through misery.

Moving forwards I think I will try to make sure I always have both. I daresay a split mix of Emeraid and CC even would go down easier and could make the difference in saving a piggy's life... Though I hope never to be to that point again I'm sure I will be... None of my babies have ever had it easy.
 
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