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Feeding after dental

rp1993

rp1993

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Pepper has his first ever dental yesterday, it was under anaesthetic gas, he has some small spurs removed from his back teeth and he also had his bottom front teeth trimmed (the latter I am not sure why to be honest)

Today He is nibbling on hay, munching grass and his veggies, yesterday we were giving him recovery food through a syringe and also just a little pile in the cage that he ate for himself, he isn’t overly interested in the recovery food so I am having to force feed it but he really doesn’t want it, is this him telling me he doesn’t need it or should I preserver for a few more days?

His weight this morning was 10g down what he was before the dental, if it’s down to tomorrow then obviously I will try to get more food in him.
 
It might be that now the GA has worn off, he feels fine and is eating enough by himself. However the only way to know for sure is by checking his weight daily. If he loses weight then he isnt eating enough hay so you need to carry on with syringe feeding the recovery food.
He could be refusing the recovery food because he doesn't like the taste.
 
I would continue to weigh him daily and if he’s losing, you will need to syringe feed him. I had to syringe feed my Ella every two hours for nearly three weeks (thankfully she just needs topping up now) after an incisor removal left her mouth very sore. She was a dream to syringe feed the first day while she was still out of it from the gas and operation drugs but was a complete nightmare after the GA and operation drugs wore off. I found it all very hard and distressing but the good people of tgpf explained that I had to be cruel to be kind and it was for her own good. Pepper may have a sore mouth still which will be made worse by eating x
 
Claire W said:
I would continue to weigh him daily and if he’s losing, you will need to syringe feed him. I had to syringe feed my Ella every two hours for nearly three weeks (thankfully she just needs topping up now) after an incisor removal left her mouth very sore. She was a dream to syringe feed the first day while she was still out of it from the gas and operation drugs but was a complete nightmare after the GA and operation drugs wore off. I found it all very hard and distressing but the good people of tgpf explained that I had to be cruel to be kind and it was for her own good x
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Thanks Claire, you are very right it is in his best interests to get this food in him x
 
9gs down this morning which I guess isn’t awful, I only did one feed in the night at 3:30 which he ate off a spoon, he came up to his begging spot for veggies which is the first time he has done that since Thursday so that’s postive, got 4 syringes of recovery food in him as well, I can tell he is low when he is due his pain meds and he picks up a few hours later.
 
9g is a very small loss so that’s reassuring. Good to hear he asked for his veggies.
 
9g could be the difference between a full and empty bladder so I wouldn’t worry too much. Ella was losing 20g a day despite me syringe feeding her. It’s great that he wanted his veggies and well done on getting some feed in to him x
 
I feel like he isn’t doing as well today, I have rang the vets and I’m waiting for a call back to see if I can increase pain meds, he’s shown no interest in eating grass today, I’m really fighting him with recovery food and he’s not really showing interest in hay, yesterday he took a few pea flakes from me today he just dropped them, he had pain medication at 8:30am and he still has not perked up, poops are looking very small so obviously I’m worried about his tummy getting upset, he seemed to turn a corner yesterday but today is even worse 😞 I’m getting about 1.5ml of syringe food in him hourly although it’s a real fight.
 
I am very sorry that he is fighting you. Ella was exactly the same and it’s so hard and exhausting 😞 Would he benefit from a gut stimulant? Ella had cisapride twice a day.

I know it’s hard but try and feed him every two hours as much as he’ll take but you’re aiming for 60ml within a 24 hour period. I didn’t feed during the night but I gave Ella a feed last thing at night and first thing in the morning

(((Hugs))) I know exactly what you’re going through

What’s his front teeth looking like? I’m wondering if they could have been trimmed too short? x
 
He might do, is that on prescription? I’ve ordered fibreplex but it’s not coming until Monday 😞
We are well off 60ml at the moment, he has just started to eat some hay at last so I am leaving him alone, I don’t want to be over baring with him but it’s not hard to not watch him like a hawk to see what he is eating.

Thank you, I’ve read about this happening in the forum so many times so I felt prepared but it is such a challenge when it actually happens. X
 
rp1993 said:
He might do, is that on prescription? I’ve ordered fibreplex but it’s not coming until Monday 😞
We are well off 60ml at the moment, he has just started to eat some hay at last so I am leaving him alone, I don’t want to be over baring with him but it’s not hard to not watch him like a hawk to see what he is eating.

Thank you, I’ve read about this happening in the forum so many times so I felt prepared but it is such a challenge when it actually happens. X
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Yes, it’s prescription only. Emeprid is also a prescription only gut stimulant but it may be worth asking your vet to prescribe you some.

I know what you mean about it being hard not to watch them like a hawk. I’m still doing it with Ella. It’s also exhausting trying to syringe feed an uncooperative piggy 😞 but you’re doing great. It’s good he’s eating a bit of hay x
 
We are off to the vets again, (although thankfully a closer branch!) he is getting a pain injection and an emperaid injection and I will be getting some to administer at home, vet thinks he has tummy ache from the anaesthetic Vs tooth pain
 
Poor boy.
Hope the extra pain meds help him.
I found with Phoebe when she had a dental that a small dish of grated carrot or sweet potato mixed with some raw oats was manageable and liked.
Mashing a bit of banana into the critical care also helped.
Hope Pepper will pick up soon
 
Merab's Slave said:
Poor boy.
Hope the extra pain meds help him.
I found with Phoebe when she had a dental that a small dish of grated carrot or sweet potato mixed with some raw oats was manageable and liked.
Mashing a bit of banana into the critical care also helped.
Hope Pepper will pick up soon
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He seems to have perked up a little this evening, syringe feeding was less of a battle and he did take more, he has had lettuce and coriander but no hay or grass. I’ve tried him with banana but no interest, he has had a bowl of oats in the cage all day and not ate a single one, they only had a big bag of carrots in Sainsbury's but I could go and get a single one tomorrow (he’s never really cared for them though ☹️) i just really want to see him try to get back on the hay, we will be up every 3 hours in the night with the syringe. He’s just so sad looking I want my Pepper back 😞
 
I really hope he’s soon on the mend. You’re doing a great job. Keep munching Pepper.
 
Merab's Slave said:
It’s so exhausting, physically and emotionally dealing with a sick piggy.
Take care of yourself as well.
♥️♥️♥️
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It is, I’m so worried about him I’ve been alone all day with him as well which has not helped, OH is on his way back to help with the night shift.
 
Sorry for the poo pick but we have some movement atleast, hoping this is the fit meds kicking in and he can do some more to help settle his tummy
 

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rp1993 said:
Pepper has lost 146g vs yesterday, syringe feeding got better as the day went on and he has been fed through the night, so we will be continuing but he is just showing zero interest in eating any hay, I’m not seeing many (if any) poops from him
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Hopefully the gut meds will get things moving. It’s very stressful isn’t it 😞 He could be eating his poos?
 
Claire W said:
Hopefully the gut meds will get things moving. It’s very stressful isn’t it 😞 He could be eating his poos?
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I’ve not seen him eat any, that one that has come out is very soft and runny so I would think it would be all over his face if he was. We have just cleaned out the cage and he has gone go sit in the hay so I’m hoping this is a sign he may start eating again.
 
rp1993 said:
He seems to have perked up a little this evening, syringe feeding was less of a battle and he did take more, he has had lettuce and coriander but no hay or grass. I’ve tried him with banana but no interest, he has had a bowl of oats in the cage all day and not ate a single one, they only had a big bag of carrots in Sainsbury's but I could go and get a single one tomorrow (he’s never really cared for them though ☹️) i just really want to see him try to get back on the hay, we will be up every 3 hours in the night with the syringe. He’s just so sad looking I want my Pepper back 😞
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Getting them back to eating hay is the hardest thing. I would concentrate on grass first, maybe try a little died forage, there might be something in there that would tempt him.
I would feed him at 6.00 am ish and throughout the day (as much as he will take, little often) and give him a last feed around 11.00 pm, you have to get your beauty sleep too to look after him :hug:

Sending loads of healing vibes to Pepper x
 
His poop will be soft and small because he is not eating the fibre which he would normally get from hay.😞 Try not to worry about that. Is he getting a good dose of painkillers
 
Bill & Ted said:
Getting them back to eating hay is the hardest thing. I would concentrate on grass first, maybe try a little died forage, there might be something in there that would tempt him.
I would feed him at 6.00 am ish and throughout the day (as much as he will take, little often) and give him a last feed around 11.00 pm, you have to get your beauty sleep too to look after him :hug:

Sending loads of healing vibes to Pepper x
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Thank you, I’ve tried him with forage this morning and grass he just walks away from it, we don’t mind getting up in the night to feed him as I really want to keep his gut moving. I might go to pets hot home today and get some oat hay as he loves that be it may tempt him, I just want to see some sort of poops coming out of him and that tells things are moving.

I’m just so heartbroken for him seeing him like this is so hard x
 
rp1993 said:
I’ve not seen him eat any, that one that has come out is very soft and runny so I would think it would be all over his face if he was. We have just cleaned out the cage and he has gone go sit in the hay so I’m hoping this is a sign he may start eating again.
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I see. Hopefully he'll start pooing more soon. His poos will be soft as he isn’t getting fibre from the hay. Are you syringe feeding him water too? x
 
Claire W said:
I see. Hopefully he'll start pooing more soon. His poos will be soft as he isn’t getting fibre from the hay. Are you syringe feeding him water too? x
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I have done a few times although he doesn’t seem to take it, he is weeing a lot he has wee’d on pig dad multiple times.
Third feed of the day and he is taking it well (he has another poo handing from him when we took it out) x
 

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