Piggy had antibiotics at 4 weeks old and is not really growing.

[Widdlepiggies]

Hey everyone! As some of you may know I adopted a very sick 4 week old boy, Spooky. He had a very bad respiratory infection, had a hard time breathing and his little eyes were “glued shut with snot.
I took him to the vet and they told me they were gonna give him antibiotics and other medications. They were in doubt because he was so young, little and weak. The antibiotics were gonna have an effect on his development and his growing body, but it was his only chance.
He got better after two weeks and started doing his first popcorns and zoomies with his mate Monty, he is only 11 months old and had lost his friend. Monty and Spooky get along really well and seem inseparable.
Spooky is 10 weeks old now and he’s very active and plays a lot. He seems healthy and happy. He’s just barely growing. He gained a little weight, from 230 to 340 grams. He’s eating very good, that’s not the issue. It just seems that his body itself is not really growing. The vet told me his infection and antibiotics at his young age would have an effect of course, and that he’d probably never get as big as he should be. I’m just wondering if he’ll grow more and if anyone else had some experience like this.

 

[Wiebke]

Hey everyone! As some of you may know I adopted a very sick 4 week old boy, Spooky. He had a very bad respiratory infection, had a hard time breathing and his little eyes were “glued shut with snot.
I took him to the vet and they told me they were gonna give him antibiotics and other medications. They were in doubt because he was so young, little and weak. The antibiotics were gonna have an effect on his development and his growing body, but it was his only chance.
He got better after two weeks and started doing his first popcorns and zoomies with his mate Monty, he is only 11 months old and had lost his friend. Monty and Spooky get along really well and seem inseparable.
Spooky is 10 weeks old now and he’s very active and plays a lot. He seems healthy and happy. He’s just barely growing. He gained a little weight, from 230 to 340 grams. He’s eating very good, that’s not the issue. It just seems that his body itself is not really growing. The vet told me his infection and antibiotics at his young age would have an effect of course, and that he’d probably never get as big as he should be. I’m just wondering if he’ll grow more and if anyone else had some experience like this.

Hi

What you can never tell in those cases is what is genetic or medical - my own money is much more on the genetic side since we haven't seen a major growth issue in babies/youngsters needing antbiotics on this forum in coming up towards 20 years of running. Unfortunately, you just have to ride the tiger wherever it takes you. There is nothing you can do to push the growth rate.

Would it help you to know that my Begw (Welsh for Peggy 'Little Pearl') was just 210g at 8 weeks old when she was surrendered to a rescue as an unwanted baby boar who promptly turned out to be a girl and ended up with a neutered boar I had adopted from the same rescue some months earlier to be her instant companion. Begw is now 5 years old, still on the small side (just over 800g in the prime of her life but now below again).

I also have first cousins Llinos and Lleian born just a week apart in rescue who were small for their age upon arrival and who both stopped growing altogether at 6 months. They are both just about touching 600g from below at now 3 years old - definitely because of a genetic problem since they are resulting from a serious neglect situation with uncontrolled (in)breeding. I just treasure every day with them. With a little luck they can live a normal life span but it also may not happen. It is not about quantity of life but quality; about giving them as many happy todays as possible because that is what they measure their lives by.

Just try to do the same: give him good normal nutrition and a happy life and see where it takes you. He is only very young and had a bad start in life. Adulthood is still a long way away and there is still all to play for. He will never be a big boy but I have had several 'dainty' rescue piggies that were overweight at over 800g who nevertheless lived to celebrate their 8th birthdays and surpassed most of my 'normal' adoptees.

 

[Widdlepiggies]

Thank you! I definitely enjoy them everyday. To be honest I didn’t know if he’d even make it this far so every day is a blessing. He seems to be a very happy little boy and I hope they can be happy together for a long time.

 

[Wiebke]

Thank you! I definitely enjoy them everyday. To be honest I didn’t know if he’d even make it this far so every day is a blessing. He seems to be a very happy little boy and I hope they can be happy together for a long time.

Your precious little one is one of those piggies that you should treasure for coming into your life: without your intervention and care he would not have made it. Every day of his life more is a bonus. I do that with Llinos, Lleian and Begw and have done that with some other piggies of mine with a dodgy genetic background or a bad start in life in the past who not rarely surprised me with living a normal life span (4-5 years at the lower end) or even a long life (7-8 years at the upper end). The average healthy life span is about 5-6 years.

The only Tribe piggy that has celebrated their 8th adoption anniversary with me, Morwenna (2014-22), was only 40g when born to a newly rescued sow coming out of a true long term indiscriminate breeding hellhole masquerading as a sanctuary in a very bad state and needed a helping hand in her first days but survived both her life-long bigger litter sisters who I adopted with her; although Mererid lived to just 9 days short of their 8th birthday.
But I have also sadly lost a few piggies at a young age along the way, some to genetic time bombs and some to issues and illnesses that happen out of nowhere and that you can never brace for in the cosmic lottery of short straws. You can never win them all...

But you can give them all a happy life in good care while they are with you - which is how guinea pigs measure a good life by since they don't have a concept for average life spans but they know a good thing when they see it!

 

[Widdlepiggies]

Your precious little one is one of those piggies that you should treasure for coming into your life: without your intervention and care he would not have made it. Every day of his life more is a bonus. I do that with Llinos, Lleian and Begw and have done that with some other piggies of mine with a dodgy genetic background or a bad start in life in the past who not rarely surprised me with living a normal life span (4-5 years at the lower end) or even a long life (7-8 years at the upper end). The average healthy life span is about 5-6 years.

The only Tribe piggy that has celebrated their 8th adoption anniversary with me, Morwenna (2014-22), was only 40g when born to a newly rescued sow coming out of a true long term indiscriminate breeding hellhole masquerading as a sanctuary in a very bad state and needed a helping hand in her first days but survived both her life-long bigger litter sisters who I adopted with her; although Mererid lived to just 9 days short of their 8th birthday.
But I have also sadly lost a few piggies at a young age along the way, some to genetic time bombs and some to issues and illnesses that happen out of nowhere and that you can never brace for in the cosmic lottery of short straws. You can never win them all...

But you can give them all a happy life in good care while they are with you - which is how guinea pigs measure a good life by since they don't have a concept for average life spans but they know a good thing when they see it!

I totally agree with that!