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Porridge Oats For Weight Gain?

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Coco&Luna

Coco&Luna

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Hey guys, can't find anything about this on the forum. I bought porridge oats today to try beef coco up a bit. She's getting older and a bit underweight for my liking (784g). Whats the best way to prepair it? cheers guys.
 
i think warm pellet mash, or a bit of recovery food, would be better than oats. they're not the best choice really and can cause issues tummy wise :)

eta: i know some people do feed them, but our exotics vet didn't think it was the best thing to do when i asked him about it for maisie. they also need to gain weight slowly so when people try to bulk them up too much, it's not the best way for the piggies.
 
Thank you misses! I was gunna do that, but I remember reading here about people saying corn and oats were good to fatten them up but nobody mentioned how to prepair it. Is recovery the same as critical care?
I was thinking about buying this?

Just read your edit, ok yeah, ill leave the porridge. I think ill buy this and give her it once a day? she's not a big eater, so upping her food wont make a difference. hopefully this will encourage a slow weight gain?
 
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Yes, Oxbow critical care is fine! Older guinea pigs are often losing some weight slowly and will not put it back up again, whatever you try. It is a normal aging process. I agree that porridge oats are not the best to feed for older piggies, as they can make them gassy.
 
ok, I'm gunna try it, dropping below 800g seems to have lit a bit of a fire under my bum to try and get her back up to at least 850 lol. see how it goes I suppose. Thank you.
 
yes, any recovery food is fine. eddie loved the critical care. or even normal pellets made into a warm mash might be a nice treat :)
 
Ohhh, how I wish this were true. She hated the warm mash, she just sat and spat it all over my legs haha. So i tried blending it with some parsley and spring greens, now i just have a peed off guinea pig and a pain in the neck blender to wash :(
Hopefully she's like eddie and likes the critical care, I don't hold out much hope though, she's a brat ;) my other pigs loved fibreplex, but when i tried to feed her it, she was so scandalised I got the feeling if she could work a phone, i'd have the RSPCA at the door carting me off while she sat smirking in her cage. haha
 
Coco&Luna said:
Ohhh, how I wish this were true. She hated the warm mash, she just sat and spat it all over my legs haha. So i tried blending it with some parsley and spring greens, now i just have a peed off guinea pig and a pain in the neck blender to wash :(
Hopefully she's like eddie and likes the critical care, I don't hold out much hope though, she's a brat ;) my other pigs loved fibreplex, but when i tried to feed her it, she was so scandalised I got the feeling if she could work a phone, i'd have the RSPCA at the door carting me off while she sat smirking in her cage. haha
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:)) oh dear... little madam :luv: i hear you about the blender... i ended up throwing it after i tried to blend hay with the mash... :mal:
 
I fed oats to Tango and Cash to try maintain their weight through their respective illnesses and had no adverse effects but they were both younger guys at the time. You could try blending some banana or a bit of smoothie in with the pellet mash to make it more appealing?
 
I use supreme science recovery: http://m.vetuk.co.uk/guinea-pig-foo...1321/supreme-science-recovery-10-x-20g-p-5643

All mine hate critical care but they like this, however like yours, most of mine hate mushed up food and are generally insulted by it!

I also use metatone tonic sometimes as this encourages the appetite as well and they all seem to like this. I used 0.5 ml (divided into two doses) initially then reduce to 0.25ml. It also has loads of vitamins which will give her some extra support. Have you tried other hays? Some cubes (burgess excel oregano and blackcurrant) are loved by all mine.

Hope that helps!
 
Mine prefer CC to nugget mash. But I know they are all different. I friend of mine has a pig who refused everything except Dualcare. She (the owner) even resorted to tasting the different brands herself to figure out what it was that he liked or didn't like!
 
Thats hilarious! I have tasted antibiotics before but I have to say, not considered taste testing their food. Its good idea. I do find though that they also get bored and change their tastes frequently too which over complicates things as well. Fussy little monkeys.
 
Wee cokes doesn't like fruit at all. ill try a few different types of recovery over the next while. I'm not overly panicked about it just now, she's always been small. The highest weight she's ever been is just over 900g, I just hate seeing the scales under 800g,
I have those exel oregano and blackcurrant cubes, redigrass, hay from the range, alfalfa kings timothy hay and two types of pellets, she likes them all and does eat them, she's just always eaten alot less than my other pigs.
LOL, not gunna lie, I did try one of the burgess nuggets with mint, to see if i actually tasted like mint......and no, no it does not. haha.
 
Guinea Slave said:
I use supreme science recovery: http://m.vetuk.co.uk/guinea-pig-foo...1321/supreme-science-recovery-10-x-20g-p-5643

All mine hate critical care but they like this, however like yours, most of mine hate mushed up food and are generally insulted by it!

I also use metatone tonic sometimes as this encourages the appetite as well and they all seem to like this. I used 0.5 ml (divided into two doses) initially then reduce to 0.25ml. It also has loads of vitamins which will give her some extra support. Have you tried other hays? Some cubes (burgess excel oregano and blackcurrant) are loved by all mine.

Hope that helps!
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Can you give me a link to somewhere I can buy this tonic? Just so i know for later.
 
Elwickcavies said:
You can get it in any chemist. It's a human tonic (and it tastes lovely! :D)
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Oh, i know what your talking about, bought this for my gran a few months ago! well, aren't you a clever clogs! lol, i'll deffo get this then. Thank you Elwickcavies!
 
@Guinea Slave

metatone.webp
I just bought this, want to double check this is what you were talking about. I feel anxious about giving her something i bought from a chemist, lol.
Just had a swig of it, tastes a bit like jagerbombs! haha
So do you mean I give her 0.25ml twice a day for a few days then just 0.25ml once a day for a few days?

Just noticed the last thing you posted, ok, i've got the right thing, but am I right about the dosing you explained?
 
Hiya

You got exactly the right thing! Yes it does have rather an interesting taste! Sadly I gave up Jaegermeister after experiencing complete leglessness many years ago, it was'nt good! .so I cannot remember (other than the hangover the next day lol!)!

I would give 0.25 ml twice a day for a week and then drop to half that dose for another week or so, see how she is doing. It does seem weird using stuff from the chemist and I was a bit nervousness like you to start with, but I have had amazing results so hopefully it will help. X
 
I don't seem to get notifications when you reply to my posts :S but only you, and your the one i've been waiting on replying lol.
LOL, oh they are horrible little things.
That's brilliant! I'm gunna give her it just now , ill tell you how I get on ;)
 
Oh gawd, no idea why...i am rubbish at technology even though I sell the stuff! I will look at my settings :-)
 
Coco&Luna said:
I don't seem to get notifications when you reply to my posts :S but only you, and your the one i've been waiting on replying lol.
LOL, oh they are horrible little things.
That's brilliant! I'm gunna give her it just now , ill tell you how I get on ;)
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You can either click on "watch thread" on the top right of any thread you are interested in or choose your general settings by clicking on your username on the top bar, then look under alert preferences.
 
Somebody on the forum advised me the beetroot was good for weight gain (although the piggies aren't overly fond of it!). One of my piggies is not particularly elderly (3), but he just seems so jittery that he never keeps weight on. I have recently taken him on from my sister who lost interest and since then I have fed him a slightly different diet. I think the main things which have helped his weight gain are carrot (he doesn't like beetroot), Nature's Own (I think, orange bag) from PaH, and Readigrass. The Readigrass is quite expensive but I don't feed it in large amounts, only alongside hay.
 
Both pigs are losing weight now, pure stressing me out

When i first posted this on 12/1/15 coco weighed 784g, on 19/1/15 - 767g, today 23/1/15 - 742g

When i first posted this on 12/1/15 Luna weighed 1034g, on 19/1/15 - 985g, today 23/1/15 - 951g

:( I have the vets tomorrow for luna, but i was gunna take coco too, but only have one carry case because I gave my next door neighbour it a few weeks ago when she moved away and her cat kept running back to her old house so i gave her it to take her home and she never brought it back. aughhhh
 
Are both piggies still eating normally? Probably good idea to take them (or one) to the vet. Has there been any other changes in their lifestyle? More cold or stress for example, anything which could cause them to lose some weight. It may be nothing to worry about. Good luck!
 
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