Five weeks on syringe feeding means a very devoted owner!
I've looked at your other message where you say your pig sniffs at food but doesn't eat... is he hungry for the critical care? Is he happy to take the slurry or does he fight it. I mean, I know they can sometimes fear the syringe but the actual food - does he want it? I'll tell you why I ask and this story is a bit sad but I hope you understand why I'm passing on my experience.
I was support feeding my girl Ivy last year for just over a month but we lost her. She stopped eating - vet said teeth slightly overgrown but not so much... however one spur might be making a sore spot on the tongue. Dental was within 24 hours of her dropping a bit of carrot and walking off but the sad truth is she never ate anything else on her own again. Now, my vet said at the start as a warning that the teeth could be the problem or they could be secondary - a result of whatever problem had stopped her eating in the first place and the truth is we never found out. She went back a few weeks later to have her incisors trimmed because they'd overgrown in the meantime, she'd had painkillers (although no obvious signs of pain), 2 different antibiotics, gut stimulants, the works. The reason I persisted was because apart from the not eating she was absolutely fine - lively, glossy coat, bright eyes, no weight loss, sociable, right until the last weekend when she went downhill quite quickly and I took her for her last visit. They couldn't find anything obviously wrong - no signs of abscesses in the mouth, there was no drooling or bad breath smell to indicate tooth problems. No obvious pain or tenderness over the body. There were one or two weird little things - her lip seemed to curl and flicker sometimes during the syringing sessions and there was some speculation about that but looking back with hindsight the overriding symptom was that she just couldn't cope with food in her mouth. She didn't want the syringe, she didn't want the slurry from a spoon or to take it from the fingers. Yes she was hungry and yes she tried to pick up little pieces of veg and nuggets and ran off with them to hide but she couldn't eat them and our best guess is that it was some sort of problem with swallowing (maybe nerve related, maybe a growth) so she wanted to eat but couldn't. I came to this forum originally thinking she must have developed gut stasis after the first dental (using a GA) and asking how long this could persist but I don't know what was the problem. She was on 40-60ml per day and it took about 6 hours out of each 24 because although I could hear her chewing she struggled to swallow it... I mean afterwards she was full and happy, and went to sleep it off with her cage-mate but she never wanted the sessions even though I tried to fit them when I knew she was hungry.
I read about Cat and Rabbit clinic but it came a bit too late for us and in our case I can't think that it would have made a difference,
but at least I would have felt that when these specialists told me that her teeth looked OK that would have been one thing to cross off. I still wake up at night wondering if I should have tried to get her in towards the end and I wouldn't want anyone else to feel that way. It still breaks me to think about her - when you have kept them going for so long with the syringing you become very close and you can't let go easily. They come so highly recommended and although it's a heck of a distance for you and we're all in lockdown it just might make the difference for your boy, especially if he wants to eat but is just struggling. On the other hand, even if they say his teeth are fine you'll know you can really count on their opinion. I can tell you from the heart that not knowing is one of the most difficult things to cope with.
Good luck with whatever you decide
