Pig recovered from bloat but not gaining back weight

[ElmoRosie]

Hi. My pig recently had bloat. We really thought she was a goner but nursed her through it and she is out the other side (touch wood).

I have reintroduced vegetables slowly and followed the guidelines and example diet in the special diet guide. Is this the right thing to do?

She still hasn’t gained much weight and I’m not sure what to do. I feel that I should continue with the small portions and not feeding veggies that could trigger the bloat again. But my mum is thinking we should try to fatten her up with fruits and lots of veggies. Which is the wrong thing to do right?

She’s got access to lots of hay and dried forage so with time will this be what helps her gradually start to put on weight?

Her recent weights if this helps:
22/12 - 852g
23/12 - 857g
24/12 - 852g
29/12 - 880g
31/12 - 863g
03/01 - 820g

Also a picture cause she’s super cute

 

[Piggies&buns]

I’m glad to hear she is recovering well.

You are correct - using fruit and veg to gain weight is not the right thing.
She won’t gain weight with veg as it isn’t the main part of the diet. She should not be fed lots of fruit as if is too high in sugar and would not be healthy weight gain and can risk other health issues.
As hay is the main part of the diet, it is that which she will need to gain weight back. However, it takes a lot longer for them to regain lost weight - weeks/months even. You can feed a small amount of porridge oats (just plain dry oats, popped in a bowl in her cage) as that can help them but hay still needs to be the main food source

 

[Bill & Ted]

Aw she is beautiful Glad she is feeling better now, she will gradually put the weight back on, I have found it’s so much easier to lose the weight than put it back in especially as they get older x

 

[weepweeps]

She’s gorgeous. I’m glad she recovered from the bloating. She seems to be losing weight again from your figures. I’d keep weighing her daily as she’s lost weight. I’m not sure if syringe feeding her would help? What do the experts think?

 

[ElmoRosie]

Thanks for the tips everyone. I’ll try her with a few porridge oats and continue as I’m going with lots of hay and small portions of veggies.

I’ll keep a close eye on her to see if she is losing more weight. I worry about starting the critical care again as I don’t want to mess with her appetite when I’m not 100% sure. If the trend keeps going down I’ll definitely start it again!

Does anyone have any advice on when the best time would be to reintroduce her to her friends again? She’s currently next door in her own area as per the vets advice but I’m not sure if she’s healthy enough yet to go in with the others. Do you think I should wait until she’s gained a bit of weight first?

 

[Piggies&buns]

Thanks for the tips everyone. I’ll try her with a few porridge oats and continue as I’m going with lots of hay and small portions of veggies.

I’ll keep a close eye on her to see if she is losing more weight. I worry about starting the critical care again as I don’t want to mess with her appetite when I’m not 100% sure. If the trend keeps going down I’ll definitely start it again!

Does anyone have any advice on when the best time would be to reintroduce her to her friends again? She’s currently next door in her own area as per the vets advice but I’m not sure if she’s healthy enough yet to go in with the others. Do you think I should wait until she’s gained a bit of weight first?

Syringe feeding doesn’t mess with their appetite. If a piggy can eat, then they will even if syringe fed.
weigh her daily so you can monitor her more closely.

it’s a shame you were advised to separate. How long have they been separated?
Normal advice is to always keep them together - they are happier to stay with their friends.
You should reintroduce them but you must do it on neutral territory - dont just put her back in the cage as it will be seen as an invasion. Put them all in a neutral territory bonding pen and leave them for a few hours so you can be sure they will accept her back. Then clean down the cage they are to live in and put them all back into it if they are ok together.

 

[ElmoRosie]

Kinda annoying the vets recommended it considering they’re specialists with specialist prices!

They all have a bit of a tumultuous relationship anyway so I will make sure to do as you said and rebond them on neutral ground. Fingers crossed they do accept her back.

 

[ElmoRosie]

That’s good to know about the syringe feeding. I will start daily weighing!
They’ve been separated since like the 19th December so quite a while

 

[Piggies&buns]

Unfortunately not all vets think about the behavioural and bonding aspects and the stress involved in separating them. Some situations would call for them to be separated.
You will definitely need to go through the rebonding process as they’ve been apart so long.
Unfortunately medical separation can damage a bond particularly is there are underlying issues so you will need to see how things go.
Good luck

If she loses any more weight tomorrow then I would definitely be stepping back in with syringe feeding - 60g loss in a couple of days is quite a lot

 

[ElmoRosie]

Yeah the lack of understanding of guinea pigs is very frustrating!
I will see what her is weight tomorrow. Thanks for the advice!

 

[ElmoRosie]

Just thought I’d update this thread for completeness if anyone was wondering the outcome. Unfortunately Toffee very suddenly took a turn for the worse and we had to rush to the vets to put her to sleep. I’ve never seen a pig in such distress and hope to never again. I don’t know what went wrong she was absolutely fine (apart from not gaining back much weight) squeaking for vegetables and pottering about until that moment.

I feel so sad that she didn’t have a better outcome. She started of life with me as a very nervous pig but really came out of her shell in the year we had her. Such a sweet, soft and bossy girl. She taught her friends how to wheek ferociously for veggies which they continue to do now she’s gone.

thanks for the advice everyone. And good luck to anyone elses piggies going through bloat, I hope they make it!

 

[weepweeps]

Oh I’m so sorry Toffee didn’t make it. She had a wonderful life with you and you tried everything to make her well again. Take care. Popcorn high over the bridge gorgeous Toffee.