Older pig (nearly 2yo) always whining when baby (8 weeks) walks near him!

A piggy who can eat, will eat, so if you can rule out pain and know the dental has been done properly then you need to encourage him to eat but also make sure he is getting enough support feed until he does.
Poop output is not a completely reliable way to gauge food intake due to the delay and it’s great he is maintaining his weight but you would hope to be seeing poops as well.

They can lose confidence in eating for themselves though. Have you tried ending a syringe feed session by offering him foods he can eat himself - some soft herbs, fresh grass, strands of hay?

Have you also tried other recovery feeds?
 
Also I know it’s gross but maybe he is eating all of his poops? My Pepper was off his food for a month because of antibiotics and he ate his poops AND his friends too. Not just the ones they are supposed to eat. All of them. Just a thought.
 
I think it has been done properly, the vet is from the list here - Aidan at Ashleighs vet.

Yeah after each syringe feeding session I hand feed him hay by putting it in his mouth and he eats it with no problem, quick enough and his mouth movement seem healthy.

He is demolishing his nightly veggies without making a mess. I do offer grass daily but I don't have enough to maintain weight, I can only grow some myself.

He is eating loads of his poops I would say, as he's between his legs a lot. But the ones he doesn't eat are tiny, soft and sad looking, as expected.
 
So he will eat properly if handed to him but just not independently and won’t choose to eat hay if just left to his own devices.

I know there is a thread here somewhere (I’ll see if I can find it) about Emeraid and critical care - I’ve always gone for critical care and/or mushed pellets myself. I think critical care has more fibre and is more designed for longer term feeding, Emeraid for short term emergency feeding for very poorly piggies. I wonder whether It might be worth alternating between them?
 
I do alternate between Oxbow fine grind and emeraid. He hated the aniseed and apple and banana, it was such a battle. But these two he loves and eats of the spoon. I leave some in his cage that he usually eats between feedings.
 
Hi everyone. So he's never started eating hay properly after the dental and the teeth have started to overgrow again, the vet said. How can I get him to eat hay? It's a vicious circle. The dental did not help him to eat hay, so what will?
 
Sorry he’s still struggling. I don’t know if you can get him to eat hay per se. Are you able to get him some fresh grass? Several dental piggies on here have managed with grass.

Is it his molars or incisors that have started to overgrow?
 
It's his molars. He's eating grass fine, hoovers it up in seconds. However I can't grow enough to replace hay 100%
 
Were his molars not trimmed this month, or am I getting confused and it was his incisors?

Sorry. It’s good he’s eating grass. Hope he does start getting better. Is he on painkiller? And how has his weight been?
 
It's a long trek for you but the only thing I can suggest is Cat & Rabbit at Northampton. I've no personal experience of either these or your current vet but it's just from the things I've seen while on here they seem to be such dental specialists. @furryfriends (TEAS) does piggy boarding down there if you need longer term help - but it is very strange that he won't start eating hay if he can eat grass and everything else. We are really struggling to find grass for our 3 at the minute but hopefully you've had a bit more rain up there. Is he maintaining his own weight on what he's eating at the minute? Is he still being syringed or is he eating the support food independently. Are his incisors growing level or on the slant?

I'm actually wondering if there's maybe just a little spur that has been missed so that he'll eat the tasty things he's eager for despite a bit of discomfort - but perhaps isn't prepared to sit and chew his way through hay piles...
 
Siikibam said:
Were his molars not trimmed this month, or am I getting confused and it was his incisors?

Sorry. It’s good he’s eating grass. Hope he does start getting better. Is he on painkiller? And how has his weight been?
Click to expand...

He was on a pain killer for a few weeks before and 10 days after dental. It seemed that even a high dose loxicom (dog 0.75 ml twice a day) did not help him eat post dental. It was his molars trimmed, but thats a few weeks ago... And since he has not started eating enough hay and sadly I can't grow piles of grass equal to the amount of hay he should eat, his molars are getting bad, again.

Free Ranger said:
It's a long trek for you but the only thing I can suggest is Cat & Rabbit at Northampton. I've no personal experience of either these or your current vet but it's just from the things I've seen while on here they seem to be such dental specialists. @furryfriends (TEAS) does piggy boarding down there if you need longer term help - but it is very strange that he won't start eating hay if he can eat grass and everything else. We are really struggling to find grass for our 3 at the minute but hopefully you've had a bit more rain up there. Is he maintaining his own weight on what he's eating at the minute? Is he still being syringed or is he eating the support food independently. Are his incisors growing level or on the slant?

I'm actually wondering if there's maybe just a little spur that has been missed so that he'll eat the tasty things he's eager for despite a bit of discomfort - but perhaps isn't prepared to sit and chew his way through hay piles...
Click to expand...

Yeah they are my last resort. But my cousin took her sow to Kim and she did not start eating either and ended up needing dentals every two weeks until she died months later. Never started eating hay again, so the dentals did not seem superior to the ones we have here at Ashleigh's vets in Chorlton...

The thing is, I offered a really thick stalk of alfalfa - I know they are not supposed to eat it, but it's like guinea pig crack and I wanted to see if he's able to eat such a thick piece and he indeed was - did not struggle at all! So he could eat stalky hay if he wanted, it just seems like he's happy waiting for veg, pellets and some grass and is okay to starve for the rest of the time. I even tried hand feeding hay by putting it into his mouth, he eats it fine, no weird mouth movement or pawing at his mouth, so it seems that he is able to eat hay but can't be bothered.

The grass we offer is grown at home wheat/oat, tried hydroponics to save money on compost, but it always got mouldy even with all possible precautions. But to offer enough grass equal to hay daily I'd have to rotate 10+ big trays and that's just not logistically possible.

His weight is surprisingly stable thanks to emeraid sustain 20-30ml a day and the bit of hay he eats, tablespoon of pellets and 3/4 of a cup of veg daily. Without the emeraid it drops though. He loves the emeraid and eats it with syringe. It's quicker that way and less messy.

His incisors are growing straight and he seems to be eating on both sides evenly.
 
I would second having him referred to Cat & Rabbit as well. I’m sorry your cousin’s sow passed away. You have to bear in mind that not all piggies are the same. There may have been other things going on behind the scenes, aside from teeth. However, if you’re happy to stay with your current vet then that’s also a choice you can make.

Do you have any stalky hay you could try with him? I would also consider asking the vets for some painkiller to see if they would help him. Sometimes they’re scared to eat because of the pain.
 
As I said before he's been on a painkiller for the past month, prior to dental and after for 10 days, only ran out about a week ago - it did not seem to make a difference whatsoever in eating habits. Even on 0.75ml twice a day of dog loxicom he wouldn't eat hay. He does not touch stalky hay unless I slide it in his mouth, on his own he eats only leafy bits and not enough.
 
Sorry to hear that. What did the vet suggest you should do?
 
He only said that he will need another dental in a week if he does not start eating. Said to offer different types of hay, as if I have not tried 20+ different hays. :/
 
This is a longshot. I had a lone boar for a while years ago (he was neutered and waiting for a wife) and my friend also had a lone boar (very territorial, rejected multiple partners both male and female) so we met for coffee and I took my pig in a cat carrier to hers. I didn't let him out - that wasn't the plan - although if they'd have seemed friendly we might have tried it out, but we put them where they could see and smell each other. There was, not unexpectedly, some bristling but they did start to eat at the same time while eyeballing each other. Now meeting another pig seems to have triggered your boy's problems so this might be a silly suggestion but I'm just wondering... do you have any friends with piggies? Maybe you feel like there's not much to lose at this point trying a bit of social foraging?
 
Sadly no friends or family with piggies, but even when he lived side by side for a while with the baby piggy who was nomming hay on the other side of the divider, it did not encourage him (he baby was more curious about him than he about the baby, pretty much ignored the baby trying to interact)
 
How much does Ellie in Matlock charge for conscious molar dental, does anyone know?
 
Hi everyone, back for some advice please... My boar had a conscious dental on Monday, is on strong painkillers, but still not eating properly.
 
Did you get to Cat and Rabbit or Matlock to see vet Ellie? OK - just thinking back - so it's now Friday - is he just on the metacam or have they given you something else too? My only experience of opioid was by injection - although it was an effective painkiller it stopped my girl eating completely until it wore off. What do you give and when? And does his eating fluctuate throughout the day? Are there known side effects of any of his meds causing tummy upsets?
 
Oh, and is he eating any better since his dental? Even if he isn't eating properly yet?
My girl who had a dental got a week of painkillers - she was on antibiotics anyway but I don't know whether they would have been prescribed if she hadn't been.
 
It was in Matlock with Ellie. He is on Metacam and Tramadol, because Metacam was not enough to get him eating after 1st dental. He eats the same amount as prior to dental, no issues with grass but loads of it gives him soft poops. Eats some hay but only a fraction of what he should. So he's not eating less or more, just same as before. He usually eats hay only towards the evening. There should be no side effects of upset tummy.

He eats his daily veg with no issues or crumbles. Eats his tbsp of dry food fine. It's just the hay. I've tried 30+ different hays since this started so it's not the quality of hay that is issue. He's currently on 3rd cutting timothy as that is what he eats the most.

His teeth weren't so bad she said and only had one tiny ulcer, but possibly in pain hence the Tramadol on top of Metacam.
 
Well she seems to have covered all his bases - and you seem to have tried everything (including the finer meadow hay too I presume).
Sounds daft but how about trying cutting some hay into short lengths - like an inch or so - making a little pile and seeing if he tries it?
 
I've tried the cutting into smaller pieces, however when he does decide to eat hay, he eats it fine, even the 10cm+ long pieces, without dropping it half way. I will be honest, he's never seemed like he struggles with eating the hay, it's just that he only eats very little every day. He must be hungry, as he only gets a cup of veg at 10 pm, and tbsp of pellets at 9 AM, the rest is fresh hay replaced throughout the day, and he always has multiple times offered to him. At this point I really don't know what to do anymore. I think it must be a non-dental issue, as the overgrown teeth are just a symptom of him not wanting to eat more, for some reason...
 
I’ve read through this whole thread and I can’t imagine how your feeling. Is he only eating the “fluffy” part of the hay? I know my guinea pigs often will only pick those out of their hay, and eat the rest when they’ve finished with them
 
He does eat the seed heads but does not go for them specifically or pick them out. He goes for the flat blades of hay that look like grass, that's why his favourite is 3rd cutting timothy from Small Pet Select. But even with that one he is picky, a little less than with the other hays though.
 
You really have tried everything - what a worry he is!
I'm guessing you've tried something fun like a Hay Cube - they come stuffed with hay but piggy also has to nibble the heart-shaped holes bigger to get inside:
toothies2.webp
There is another thread at the moment from Florida Guinea Pig Poop where I think the teeth are currently OK but piggy has started to be picky about her hay and is only really eating seed heads. This poster has yet to try finer strand hay though. It reminded me when I posted the pic of portly Louise because the same one is in there too!
 
Oh yes, I've tried all kinds of things to make hay more fun - from stuffing toilet rolls, to a a log shaped thingy with 3 openings, a classic hay rack, a hefty pie on the floor, a paper bag... Sadly does not make a difference.

I have tried sooo many types of hay and different brands too. Meadow, timothy, orchard, rye grass... UK grown, US grown, Canada grown.
 
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