Guinea Pig Won't Eat Hard Foods?

[Molly Isabella]

Hi everyone!

Okay, so my piggie Kenco has not been right for a while. She seemed to be losing weight and not eating hard foods. By that I mean the foods like carrot, cucumber, pepper. Anything with a bite to it, really. She devours her greens, loves them. So, of course I took her to the exotic vets. The vet looked in her mouth, her teeth, checked her all over and everything was completely fine. So, she gave Kenco some metacam just to help with pain (if she had any) and to see if it made a difference and it didn't. She's been bouncing between 832g and 865g. I've been support feeding her here and there. (She absolutely despises critical care). But looking at how things are going I'm going to have to syringe feed her until this issue gets sorted. I did some research and started giving her Metatone tonic and that seemed to help amazingly for a few days. The change in her was amazing. Has anyone heard of this before? What could possibly be wrong? What do I do? And how do I keep her here with us while going through this? It's breaking my heart and I just want my baby to be okay.
Thank you all! X

 

[Molly Isabella]

Gorgeous girl xx

 

[Wiebke]

Is she eating hay on her own? You can always feed mushed up pellets or mix recovery formula with mushed pellets for a more familiar taste. it often goes down better. Have you tried grated veg? (see our tips under dental guinea pigs in the syringe feeding guide) Metatone can help pep up a guinea pig short term; it means that you may want to broaden the diet. Is she eating fresh herbs for vitamins and trace elements?

Has your vet checked the premolars, which are the ones that tend to overgrow? Would he consider a fecal float to see whether there is an issue with the guts? Or worming to see whether that may help?
Sometimes, a guinea pig developing a dental abscess can go off their food weeks before the abscess comes up. It feels the pain, but of course for us humans, it can be mystery!
My Hywel has been showing this behaviour in the time before he developed a dental/jaw abscess.

You might try fibreplex - it can help support the guts and contains probiotics (see link below). You can also try to see whether syringing the water in which you have soaked fresh poos from a healthy companion can help - this mimics natural behaviour, and even if they are not the redigestible poos, they contain still plenty of gut flora and fauna to help kickstart the digestion with the "right" stuff.

Complete Syringe Feeding Guide

@furryfriends (TEAS) @MintyAndGarry (TEAS) @helen105281 @Adelle

 

[helen105281]

Metatone is supposed to help stimulate the appetite too. I usually give it for 2 weeks in total, 0.5ml once a day the first week, dropping to 0.3ml in the second.