Pigs Don't Drink Water And It's Getting Hot

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Black piggies

Black piggies

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Hi, It's getting very warm for my indoor pigs, I've read Wiebke's advice in keeping them cool.
They've not drunk for months and I'm concerned it'll affect their ability to cope with Summer. I checked the levels of water bottles and bowls and they're def not drinking. I give them at least 2 romaine lettuces a day and kale/peppers/parsley etc all just washed and wet. They've obviously been getting their liquid from that but not sure that'll be enough in hot weather.

I've tried using plastic/glass water bottles, bowls of water, filtered water, chasing them to get them to lick wet fingers. Any more tips please? I once syringed water into their mouths but since found out that could go in their lungs and they hated it. I've not tried putting juice in their bottles.

Thanks.
 
I am "glad" to know that I am not the only one with such a concern! Here in Rome today we had 28°C! and my piggies have NEVER drunk a single drop of water in all their life! (excluding the 3ml of water+2 drops of vit C I syringe into their mouth).
Two (savvy) vets say it is okay; their wee is clear and copious and that is what counts...
But yesterday I lost my patience and I found out that they actually love drinking from the syringe! not that much, but 2-3 syringes (for insulin) filled with water and some drops of cranberry juice (100%, no added sugar) are appreciated... and cranberry is good also for preventing UTI; but no more than that... when Calipso says it is enough, it means that she will spit the extra water on me...:hmm:
Anyway, I must admit that my piggies eat loads of fresh grass and during the night they have their dinner with vegs/grass. And they don't eat pellets (just some pieces as a treat).
And... as the owner looks like his/her own pet, I also hardly ever drink... :shh: but the amount of vegs into my diet is huge... and my urine analysis is perfect.
I think my vet is right, but I would like to understand the reason for they are not drinking; I tried with a bowl of water, too, but they are not interested as well.
A last thing. When my daughter was little and had troubles with kidneys and serious UTI episodes, her nephrologist doctor recommended us parents to not fill her with water, but to feed her with raw vegs and fruits. Also after her surgeries.
I don't know if the situation will change when I am going to switch on air conditioning at home...
Is it possible that they are not able (?) to drink water?? crazy hypothesis, I know!:woot:
 
Wow 28 degrees :yikes:
Thanks for your reply, I'll try cranberry and water syringe.
I don't have a lawn so no grass in the diet. It is a worry, pigs and your daughter, but hopefully she's all better!
 
yes, my daughter now is 20 y.o. and has stopped having troubles since that time of her surgeries and treatment...:nod:
But I would not want to start again struggling with some UTI episode, this time with my piggies!
In these days I see that they prefer to sleep on the cold floor rather than on soft towels or into their houses; but they go on not drinking at all. As you, I also offer wet grass and wet vegs.
Cranberry juice: it is also rich of vit C, but don't buy the juice with added sugar.
As it has a strong taste you need to diluite it. It works of course also in us humans. Some years ago I totally recovered from a strong UTI (after one month of useless antibiotics) just drinking 100ml of juice a day. It is safe also for piggies, always very diluited. Calliope's wee looks even clearer than before and both piggies literally jump on me when they see the syringe ready in my hand (but if I give them only water they stare at me and... stop drinking!)
 
Aw thats cute. They love their cranberry! Be great if it is as healthy for them too, as it is for humans. Sleeping on something cool sounds good. My pigs just have fleece. What cool thing do they sleep on?
 
also my piggies have fleece and I am extremely satisfied of this fleece+newspapers underneath. Anyway, I have some concern about its use during summer months, when it will be warm here (although I try to keep indoor temperature at a level of 24-25°). Unfortunately cotton keeps their butts wet. Anyway they spend most of the day on the cool floor where I see they sometimes lay down:D
 
When you say two romaine lettuces, do you mean two leaves or two whole lettuce hearts? Because if it's two whole lettuces that's way too much, but I presume you mean the leaves :))

Cucumber is quite a good veggie for water content if you're worried, but from my experience if they're thirsty, they'll drink! :)
 
Hi, I give 3 guinea pigs a whole romaine lettuce twice a day plus other bits and pieces. I thought they were to have a cup of veg a day and reckoned that was about right? They have hay at all times and a bowl of nuggets a day. I hope I'm not to give them less as they'll get less water :-)
 
My piggies drink water from their bottle very rarely but they get enough water from their veggies. I am from Australia where this summer it got to 40 degrees celsius which was really hot, this was their first summer and I just gave them cucumber twice a day and had the air con on which was enough to keep them comfortable. I did notice though that when the days were really hot that at night time they would sometimes drink from their bottle all night. They will drink when they need to otherwise they are probably getting enough from their veg.
 
Last summer when it was hot I filled an old washing up bowl with half an inch of cold water and popped each gp in separately until they asked to get out. One time I couldn't find Velvet after I'd done Betsy. I discovered her under some hay trying to keep cool with Betsy on top cooling her down even more! My son and I did this every day whilst it was really hot. My neighbour who used to breed gp's suggested it. In the end when my lot saw the washing up bowl come out and were told bath time they started wheaking and getting all excited like when it's veggie time.
 
I'm not surprised they aren't drinking if they are having 2/3rds of a whole romaine lettuce each a day. The lettuce is very watery and topped with the other watery veg... well chances are they don't need all that water which might be why they aren't drinking
 
Lettuce and spinach and stuff like that I only give in small portions. Just because some of them are high water and high calcium. All 3 of mine get a carrot a week. Cucumber, pepper, bit of apple daily but not too much. I chop and change and I spoil with bits of fruit once or twice a week :) I give banana every 2 weeks or so x
 
Lady Kelly said:
I would definitely say so. If mine have lettuce then its one leaf per pig. Here is the balanced diet guide Recommendations For A Balanced General Guinea Pig Diet the second post on it covers half the veg portion per pig per day and says one gem lettuce leaf (gem lettuce is like baby romaine)
Click to expand...
Many thanks for that link, never sure what a cup meant so glad to see the weight too. Looks like I'll be saving money on my grocery bill :-)
 
Thanks for replies people. My Mum was shocked at how much I was feeding the pigs but they seem like bottomless pits :drool: Obv why they're not drinking!
 
Haha yes maybe give them 1 leaves each per day, definitely not a whole one heart! Think we've found why they probably don't drink a lot :))

There are loads of veg that will be far more benificial to them than lettuce anyway, even if it is a favourite piggy snack.

If you cut down to 1 leaf each per day you should see an increase in drinking for sure :)

Maybe expand what foods you give like coriander which is great for vit C.
 
here vets' advice is 100g of vegs each pig a day and 100 g is easy to be reached when you serve a piece of fresh pepper (which contains 95% water when it is really fresh). Lettuce, too, is filled with water (plus nitrogen and pesticides). Anyway, my piggies don't like lettuce so much... last night they sent me a clear message making poo just on the lettuce leaves! :D
My piggies ask for grass, they are definitely grass-addicted! :D I walk all around here for reaching my "secret" lawns! :bal::bal::bal:
Fruits is too rich of sugar nowadays and make some imbalance also in urine ph (I have read something about it, but I have forgotten the source). Fruit should not be given too often and here vets suggest some piece of fruit only as a treat, considering that diabetes is a concern also in piggies and modern hybridized fruits are extremely rich of sugar. Moreover, ovarian cysts are strictly correlated with the imbalance of insuline/glycaemia, at least in women, and sows guinea pigs (prone to this desease) are used in labs because their response is similar to ours... therefore I would avoid sugar into their diet.
Lettuce is in different types. Guinea Lynx has a great chart with all the vegs and herbs and you can dose them correctly just looking at that chart. Lettuce "loose leaf" has 68mg of calcium, but "romaine" has 36mg , "boston/bibb" lettuce has 32 and another type of salad called endive has 19.
Anyway, vegs and grass have water, no doubt. In fact I am alive and I wee a lot although I don't drink a glass of water in summer, too!
But I just would like to see them drinking a little from their NEW bottle... wasted money!
Here lettuce is cheap (1€/kg) and some days ago I served a whole plant to them this way:
100_6757.webp
but they appreciated only the external leaves and then... they lost their interest:
100_6764.webp
 
rome_italy said:
here vets' advice is 100g of vegs each pig a day and 100 g is easy to be reached when you serve a piece of fresh pepper (which contains 95% water when it is really fresh). Lettuce, too, is filled with water (plus nitrogen and pesticides). Anyway, my piggies don't like lettuce so much... last night they sent me a clear message making poo just on the lettuce leaves! :D
My piggies ask for grass, they are definitely grass-addicted! :D I walk all around here for reaching my "secret" lawns! :bal::bal::bal:
Fruits is too rich of sugar nowadays and make some imbalance also in urine ph (I have read something about it, but I have forgotten the source). Fruit should not be given too often and here vets suggest some piece of fruit only as a treat, considering that diabetes is a concern also in piggies and modern hybridized fruits are extremely rich of sugar. Moreover, ovarian cysts are strictly correlated with the imbalance of insuline/glycaemia, at least in women, and sows guinea pigs (prone to this desease) are used in labs because their response is similar to ours... therefore I would avoid sugar into their diet.
Lettuce is in different types. Guinea Lynx has a great chart with all the vegs and herbs and you can dose them correctly just looking at that chart. Lettuce "loose leaf" has 68mg of calcium, but "romaine" has 36mg , "boston/bibb" lettuce has 32 and another type of salad called endive has 19.
Anyway, vegs and grass have water, no doubt. In fact I am alive and I wee a lot although I don't drink a glass of water in summer, too!
But I just would like to see them drinking a little from their NEW bottle... wasted money!
Here lettuce is cheap (1€/kg) and some days ago I served a whole plant to them this way:
View attachment 64000
but they appreciated only the external leaves and then... they lost their interest:
View attachment 64001
Click to expand...

Aw what cute piggies. Such long hair, I can see why you're keen for them to drink with such long fur coats! I guess if they're leaving lettuce they're hopefully not thirsty...

That's interesting about ovarian problems and sugar, didn't realise the link but yes makes sense.

I'm going to look at the lynx poster now. Many thanks :-)
 
Black piggies said:
Aw what cute piggies. Such long hair, I can see why you're keen for them to drink with such long fur coats! I guess if they're leaving lettuce they're hopefully not thirsty...

That's interesting about ovarian problems and sugar, didn't realise the link but yes makes sense.

I'm going to look at the lynx poster now. Many thanks :-)
Click to expand...
my daughter had (has?) PCOS, ovarian cysts. I refused the traditional treatment with hormones. I started studying a lot, reading also some blog and doing a lot of experiments. She followed a special (strict) diet based on a very low glycemic index. After few months she stopped having pain during periods; we went on. I say "we" because for solidarity and support towards her we also are following the same rules. Last month, two years after the beginning of this style of life, my daughter had her ultrasound which showed no cysts and smaller ovaries. I have to add that some articles I read online about the link between PCOS and diet talked about experiments conducted on guinea pigs...
 
My boys never drink either - they always have their bottle of course,and I've tried bowls, but they just end up getting messy. I've asked the vet more than once about it as I DO worry, and he always said they were well hydrated. I make sure they have plenty of cucumber, and also romaine lettuce (but I only measure in leaves, never a whole lettuce) and other veggies. When the weather is as hot as today has been I put a wet teatowel over the end of their cage with a fan blowing on it, hoping to give them a cool breeze. I wonder why some won't drink .....
 
today I felt satisfied: I was able to syringe 30ml water into each piggie's mouth! great! 30ml! 3 syringes! :yahoo::yahoo:
then the syringe broke and I went to the chemist's to buy a new one. I asked for "a syringe TEN ml for insuline". The doctor answered: "I don't understand... the syringe for insuline is ONE ml, not ten..." and she showed me a 10ml syringe, which was definitely larger than mine at home! :eek:
At the end I realised that the broken syringe at home is only 1ml... and that the piggies are actually drinking the huge amount of 3ml water a day!
:beer:
 
Have you tried a small drinking bottle? When we first got our girls we were advised to buy 2 large drinking bottles, but they NEVER drank out of them. Then one day I broke one, and replaced it with a small bottle (same make) and they started drinking! But only ever out of the small one. I've since replaced the other large one and they now drink out of both. Still don't drink loads but around 10-15 mls each per day. Worth a try!
 
Mhairi said:
Have you tried a small drinking bottle? When we first got our girls we were advised to buy 2 large drinking bottles, but they NEVER drank out of them. Then one day I broke one, and replaced it with a small bottle (same make) and they started drinking! But only ever out of the small one. I've since replaced the other large one and they now drink out of both. Still don't drink loads but around 10-15 mls each per day. Worth a try!
Click to expand...
I have tried... little bottles, offering some water on my lap from the bottle, a little bowl, some water from my finger... nothing works. They simply are not thirsty... and the vet does not care and says they are healthy and well hydrated.:roll:
I am not worried of course because I also never drink and I am well hydrated too, but I just wonder: are they ABLE to drink? do they know how to drink? do they know that water exists?:D
 
Mhairi said:
Have you tried a small drinking bottle? When we first got our girls we were advised to buy 2 large drinking bottles, but they NEVER drank out of them. Then one day I broke one, and replaced it with a small bottle (same make) and they started drinking! But only ever out of the small one. I've since replaced the other large one and they now drink out of both. Still don't drink loads but around 10-15 mls each per day. Worth a try!
Click to expand...
Hi, sorry just seen this. You mean like a hamster size? I'll def give that a try thanks, I'm using more sizeable ones.
 
Mhairi said:
Have you tried a small drinking bottle? When we first got our girls we were advised to buy 2 large drinking bottles, but they NEVER drank out of them. Then one day I broke one, and replaced it with a small bottle (same make) and they started drinking! But only ever out of the small one. I've since replaced the other large one and they now drink out of both. Still don't drink loads but around 10-15 mls each per day. Worth a try!
Click to expand...
I put up a tiny hamster sized bottle today and one of the guinea pigs drank from it! First time I've seen any of them drink for ages. Many thanks.
 
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