How much weight gain?

[Balirasha]

Hello, I have a very underweight pig. She has been to the vet and recieved pain killers and antibiotics, and in the last day or two has really started getting her appetite back. I have been hand feeding critical care and fruit baby food recommended by vet, and she has started eating hay again as well as most veg and biscuits. I was wondering if anyone knows roughly how much weight I should be expecting her to gain a day? She really doesn't enjoy the force feedings but I don't want to stop until I know she is gaining weight appropriately, but I don't want to be overfeeding that she will lose interest in eating herself. Thanks for any help anyone can give me

 

[Piggies&buns]

The daily swing can be around 30g. it depends on how much critical care she is having vs how much hay she is eating independently, what is actually medically wrong with her and how much weight she has lost.

She will not lose interest on eating for herself - a piggy who can and wants to eat, will eat sufficient hay for themselves. They will refuse the syringe feeds when they are eating enough
You need to continue to support feed her and continue with daily weight checks for as long as it takes her to start eating enough hay independently.

I personally would not be giving fruit based baby foods due to the sugars and the fact that it isn’t what she needs.

What are the ‘biscuits’ she is eating? It doesn’t sound to be something she is actually likely to need.

Weight - Monitoring and Management

 

[weepweeps]

Hello and welcome to the forum. I hope she is now on the road to recovery.

 

[Balirasha]

The daily swing can be around 30g. it depends on how much critical care she is having vs how much hay she is eating independently, what is actually medically wrong with her and how much weight she has lost.

She will not lose interest on eating for herself - a piggy who can and wants to eat, will eat sufficient hay for themselves. They will refuse the syringe feeds when they are eating enough
You need to continue to support feed her and continue with daily weight checks for as long as it takes her to start eating enough hay independently.

I personally would not be giving fruit based baby foods due to the sugars and the fact that it isn’t what she needs.

What are the ‘biscuits’ she is eating? It doesn’t sound to be something she is actually likely to need.

Weight - Monitoring and Management

I find it hard to get a lot of critical care in her. She has a problem with retching and bringing up saliva, so I don't like to give her a lot at once and stress her out. The vets found no problems with her teeth or throat, she doesn't appear to have abdominal pain. I am hoping that it may just be arthritis in her jaw and the pain killers are helping, she is getting up there now at 5 years old. I read it could be a blockage in her gut, she seems to be producing less saliva now so maybe it was and it is passing but I'm just not sure and the vets haven't been a huge help in me finding out more
She has definitely been interested in food but struggles and lost appetite completely at the start of the week but has regained appetite in the last couple of days. She has always refused the syringe, but I persevere as she still has a great spirit too her so I don't think she is ready to give up just yet.
I have started putting out an extra pile of hay as I was worried maybe she was struggling to eat out of her hay feeder and she seems to enjoy that but it is hard to tell how much she is actually eating, especially with her greedy sister in the cage as well haha.
The vet recommended the baby food and she has a sweet tooth but she doesn't seem that keen on them anyway so I haven't given her that much, the biscuits are her dry pellets

 

[Balirasha]

Hello and welcome to the forum. I hope she is now on the road to recovery.

Me too she is such a firey little pig so it's been hard seeing her struggle, she has been giving me lots of head butt's for annoying her today so I think she is feeling better haha

 

[Balirasha]

I find it hard to get a lot of critical care in her. She has a problem with retching and bringing up saliva, so I don't like to give her a lot at once and stress her out. The vets found no problems with her teeth or throat, she doesn't appear to have abdominal pain. I am hoping that it may just be arthritis in her jaw and the pain killers are helping, she is getting up there now at 5 years old. I read it could be a blockage in her gut, she seems to be producing less saliva now so maybe it was and it is passing but I'm just not sure and the vets haven't been a huge help in me finding out more
She has definitely been interested in food but struggles and lost appetite completely at the start of the week but has regained appetite in the last couple of days. She has always refused the syringe, but I persevere as she still has a great spirit too her so I don't think she is ready to give up just yet.
I have started putting out an extra pile of hay as I was worried maybe she was struggling to eat out of her hay feeder and she seems to enjoy that but it is hard to tell how much she is actually eating, especially with her greedy sister in the cage as well haha.
The vet recommended the baby food and she has a sweet tooth but she doesn't seem that keen on them anyway so I haven't given her that much, the biscuits are her dry pellets

Oh and she has lost about 200g since November so we were really worried about her, that's why I am doing daily weigh ins so I can keep a close eye on her

 

[Piggies&buns]

I find it hard to get a lot of critical care in her. She has a problem with retching and bringing up saliva, so I don't like to give her a lot at once and stress her out. The vets found no problems with her teeth or throat, she doesn't appear to have abdominal pain. I am hoping that it may just be arthritis in her jaw and the pain killers are helping, she is getting up there now at 5 years old. I read it could be a blockage in her gut, she seems to be producing less saliva now so maybe it was and it is passing but I'm just not sure and the vets haven't been a huge help in me finding out more
She has definitely been interested in food but struggles and lost appetite completely at the start of the week but has regained appetite in the last couple of days. She has always refused the syringe, but I persevere as she still has a great spirit too her so I don't think she is ready to give up just yet.
I have started putting out an extra pile of hay as I was worried maybe she was struggling to eat out of her hay feeder and she seems to enjoy that but it is hard to tell how much she is actually eating, especially with her greedy sister in the cage as well haha.
The vet recommended the baby food and she has a sweet tooth but she doesn't seem that keen on them anyway so I haven't given her that much, the biscuits are her dry pellets

I personally wont use any kind of hay feeder as they restrict their ability to forage freely and indeed just have fun in hay. Always just use loose piles of hay.

You can never tell hay intake by eye which is why the weight checks are essential.

Piggies generally do have a sweet tooth - it’s no different to offering a child vegetables or chocolate - they’re going to choose the chocolate!
You don’t want too much sugar in the gut as it’ll cause dysbiosis.

 

[Balirasha]

I personally wont use any kind of hay feeder as they restrict their ability to forage freely and indeed just have fun in hay. Always just use loose piles of hay.

You can never tell hay intake by eye which is why the weight checks are essential.

Piggies generally do have a sweet tooth - it’s no different to offering a child vegetables or chocolate - they’re going to choose the chocolate!
You don’t want too much sugar in the gut as it’ll cause dysbiosis.

We got the feeder cause so much hay was getting wasted, they never had a problem using it up until now. I have a forage mat that I use so they can snuffle around but I can keep putting piles of loose hay in if that is better for them.
My other pig has no interest in sweet stuff, always greens but this pig loves her carrots and tomatoes, the occasional strawberry but I've never fed them a lot of fruit to be honest.

 

[Piggies&buns]

We got the feeder cause so much hay was getting wasted, they never had a problem using it up until now. I have a forage mat that I use so they can snuffle around but I can keep putting piles of loose hay in if that is better for them.
My other pig has no interest in sweet stuff, always greens but this pig loves her carrots and tomatoes, the occasional strawberry but I've never fed them a lot of fruit to be honest.

Hay is never wasted! Any hay they can play in, sleep in etc has all been well used and enjoyed!

So be careful with all their food items though - as I say sugar in carrots and fruit and the acidity in tomatoes can cause health issues including a lip infection called cheilitis

 

[Balirasha]

Hay is never wasted! Any hay they can play in, sleep in etc has all been well used and enjoyed!

So be careful with all their food items though - as I say sugar in carrots and fruit and the acidity in tomatoes can cause health issues including a lip infection called cheilitis

Yes I am aware, I feed a good variety of veg. I just know that the sweeter stuff is this piggies preference, always the first thing she goes for if I put a few options in for them to munch on