Pig not eating

[ratatellie]

Hello everyone!

When I went to give piggies their evening vegetables last night I noticed that Gloria wasn't interested at all. I've been sick myself for around two weeks so have been keeping my distance as much as possible to avoid passing any respiratory illness on to the girls so I'm not 100% sure how long she'd been off for, but in hindsight think she was definitely a bit quieter/lazier than normal yesterday. I weighed her and she was 150g lighter than when I last checked (but this was around a month ago because of me being so ill so I don't know if it was sudden/gradual) so tried to syringe feed her some mushed pellets but she was having none of it. She was so weak and just flopped down in her little cuddle sack with a heat pad, looking miserable and I really thought it was the end. I stayed with her all night and then suddenly after about 6 hours she got up and nibbled about half a lettuce leaf, sniffed the hay, and had a bit of a slow wander around the cage.

First thing this morning I took her to the vet who checked her over and couldn't find any obvious issue. She did comment on how pear-shaped she was and raised the suspicion of ovarian cysts, but she's been that shape ever since I got her and the vet couldn't feel anything when she pressed. Her teeth looked mostly fine but apparently there was a lot of food in her mouth still so she couldn't quite see all of them in detail. She gave her a painkiller injection (I forgot to ask exactly what) and has prescribed metacam and told me to add a vitamin C supplement/extra veg high in vit C. We'll go back on Monday to reassess. I'm happy with this plan but wondered if anybody here had any added advice?

I've ordered some critical care in case I need to try syringe feeding again - how will I know this? I'll weigh her daily from now but at what sort of weight loss would you suggest adding in syringe feeding? If it is a pain issue I assume arthritis is the most likely cause? In that case is it possible to just keep giving her metacam indefinitely if it helps? If there's no improvement what sort of things should I be asking the vet on Monday? I know they want to get a better look at her teeth with hopefully less food in the way, but is there anything else I should ask them to consider? Thank you so much in advance!

 

[ratatellie]

Update: immediately after I posted this she hopped out of bed, ate some lettuce and found all the treats I'd tried to tempt her with last night and is now in her hay pile chomping away! I'm so relieved, it's such a huge change to how she was last night! Would you say this means she was likely just in pain and has her appetite back after the injection?

 

[Piggies&buns]

I’m sorry to hear this, and I’m sorry to hear you have also been unwell.

50g of weight loss is the point you need to step in with daily weight checks and syringe feeding -
So yes at 150g you need to be syringe feeding her now. If her weight drops again each day then she hasn’t eaten/been fed enough in the day before. You are aiming for 60ml+ per day, but the actual amount needed depends on what the weight checks tell you.

A short two week course of vit c supplementation is fine to boost the immune system during a period of illness but don’t let it be longer than that.

Update: immediately after I posted this she hopped out of bed, ate some lettuce and found all the treats I'd tried to tempt her with last night and is now in her hay pile chomping away! I'm so relieved, it's such a huge change to how she was last night! Would you say this means she was likely just in pain and has her appetite back after the injection?

It’s possible the injection has relieved some pain but obviously it’s still a case of daily weight checks and syringe feeding. If it is pain related then something will be causing it.
If it was to be arthritis, then yes daily metacam for life.

Thread 'Weight and Weight Loss Explained: BMI, Weighing, Poos and Feeding Support'

Jun 20, 2024

1 Weight and Weight Loss
- Why regular weight monitoring matters
- How weight changes over a lifetime
- How to weigh on your kitchen scales (with video)
- The weight loss rules
- How critical is the weight loss for my piggy?
- Possible causes for weight loss
2 Body Mass Index (BMI) or 'Heft'
- Why is understanding your piggy's weight so important?
- 'Average' weight vs. individual weight - the big trip up
- How to check for the BMI...

• Wiebke
• Replies: 5
• Forum: Health & Illness Support Corner

• 
• 

 

[ratatellie]

Thanks, those links are really helpful! To clarify, I continue to syringe feed until she's back at her regular weight and maintaining it?

 

[Piggies&buns]

Thanks, those links are really helpful! To clarify, I continue to syringe feed until she's back at her regular weight and maintaining it?

You feed until she is back to normal eating and maintaining her weight herself every day. It won’t necessarily be until she is back to her normal weight. Older pigs (and I’m Assuming she is older given you mentioned arthritis) don’t always regain lost weight but instead can maintain at a lower normal. Regaining lost weight takes longer than the time in which they lose it

 

[ratatellie]

She's a rescue and I don't know her background before she came to me so I'm not 100% on age. I was told she was 6 months when I got her which would make her almost 4 now but I've always suspected she might be a bit older - she was definitely fully grown already when I got her for example. She's usually around or just under 1200g and down to 1040g today so it's good to know she might not necessarily get back up to that.

 

[ratatellie]

Posting a follow-up here.

Following the metacam she was completely back to normal and her weight was steadily rising. I took her back to the vets for a review just before Christmas and saw a different vet who was able to do a more thorough examination. He said the muscle tone over her pelvis was very poor which pointed to some sort of congenital deformity of her hips/back legs which has probably now led to arthritis. This makes sense as she’s always had a bit of a funny walk with her back legs pointing outwards, but it’s never particularly slowed her down.

The advice was to carry on with the metacam until new year. Her weight while she was on the metacam was hovering around 1070g and seemed pretty steady after the initial regain. Since we stopped it, she’s still acting like her normal self, happily eating all her veggies/treats and running around the cage. However, her weight is starting to drop again. It’s only a 0-5g difference per day but it’s a definite downward trend so it looks like I need to get her back to the vets again.

I’ll get an appointment this week but I’m just hoping for some reassurance from here too! Is long-term metacam an option? She was originally given 0.2ml/day - is this a standard dose or is there room to increase this if she’s having more trouble down the line? Thanks in advance!

 

[Piggies&buns]

Yes, long term metacam is an option - I have, along with many others on here, had animals on it long term for arthritis.
You can also give glucosamine supplements to help her joints.

Yes, there is scope to increase the dosage at the direction of your vet.
Its our knowledge that a 1kg piggy can have up to 1.2ml of cat metacam (0.5mg/ml) or 0.4ml or dog metacam (1.5mg/ml) per day.
Do discuss her needs with your vet

 

[Ramia]

My Stripe is on metacam for life for calcified bulla syndrome. Unlike dogs and cats, it does not do kidney damage to guinea pigs.

Here in the states we give it once a day as it is believed to build up in the system, but in the UK they usually give it twice a day.

 

[fluffysal]

As you are in the UK have you heard about piggie parcels? They now do a joint support pellet with added glucosamine which works out cheaper than a separate supplement. My boys have been eating them for several weeks now (one for bladder health) and I've noticed a difference. There's also the knowledge that they are getting a really good quality pellet with no nasty ingredients.