• Discussions taking place within this forum are intended for the purpose of assisting you in discussing options with your vet. Any other use of advice given here is done so at your risk, is solely your responsibility and not that of this forum or its owner. Before posting it is your responsibility you abide by this Statement

Skinny sow

H

HEvan

New Born Pup
Joined
Dec 7, 2022
Messages
43
Reaction score
20
Points
185
Location
England
Hello, I have a 1 year old sow who I have had since she was about 6-8 weeks old and she's always been so small and skinny.

For some context, when I got her she seemed smaller. I quickly realised that she is a bit odd. She's always been clumsy on her feet and a bit wobbly on both back legs, poor balance and bumping into things, I think she has poor eye sight, she rarely talks, never wheeked. Although as she grew she steadily but slowly put weight on but now she's fully grown she only weighs 620g. You can feel she's on the skinny side but this has always been the case, I've tried lots of stuff to help her gain some weight since getting her but she just doesn't seem to put weight on.

She's a good eater, picky but works like clockwork. I have a piggy cam that records on movement, and every 1-2 hours she spends about 30 minutes going between eating pellets, water and things in her snuffle mat (rotate flat oats, bran, pea flakes, dried herbs/flowers, pea flakes) and she picks at hay in her hide (she's never been a big hay eater) she's never been a big veg eater but has small pile twice a day. She's never had any illness and she seems happy in herself and she gets on well with her sister (saffy, 3yo).

She gets vet checked every 3 months when she gets her nails done and although on the skinny side they don't have any health concerns and we think she was born with some kind of neurological disorder. Or as i like to say shes a guinea pig version of autistic. I'm not getting specialist testing as I've decided on quality of life and she seems happy in herself.

Just wondering if anyone else has had a piggy similar to the above? If there is anything else I can do to generally improve her wellbeing or help put weight on?

Thanks
 

Attachments

  • 20240215_150825.webp
    20240215_150825.webp
    20.6 KB · Views: 1
She may just be small and it’s obviously reassuring if the vet say she is healthy.

You say she isn’t a big hay eater but she is eating pellets and things in her mat every 30 minutes….are you ensuring pellets and the things on her mat are kept limited?
You won’t want them having constant access to those things as they can cause them to reduce their hay intake. The only food that should be in the cage constantly should be hay, everything else should be a treat and gone within a short space of time.

Hay in the hides - that’s great but is there hay anywhere else in the cage? Just huge piles of it everywhere!

Have you checked her heft?

Weight - Monitoring and Management
 
They have half of thier CC cage piled with hay aswell. The vet did recommend to limit pellets when I took her to the vets when she was about 3 months old but then she barley ate anything all day and then demolished the pellets. So the vet recommended I keep pellets out at all time so her food intake isn't limited. I also tried every type of hay and brand and she's the same with them all. She's incredibly picky with all food. She only eats the hay thats put into her hide, id say she has a small handful a day. Her teeth get checked with every vet visit and they are fine.
 
Piggies&buns said:
She may just be small and it’s obviously reassuring if the vet say she is healthy.

You say she isn’t a big hay eater but she is eating pellets and things in her mat every 30 minutes….are you ensuring pellets and the things on her mat are kept limited?
You won’t want them having constant access to those things as they can cause them to reduce their hay intake. The only food that should be in the cage constantly
Piggies&buns said:
She may just be small and it’s obviously reassuring if the vet say she is healthy.

You say she isn’t a big hay eater but she is eating pellets and things in her mat every 30 minutes….are you ensuring pellets and the things on her mat are kept limited?
You won’t want them having constant access to those things as they can cause them to reduce their hay intake. The only food that should be in the cage constantly should be hay, everything else should be a treat and gone within a short space of time.

Hay in the hides - that’s great but is there hay anywhere else in the cage? Just huge piles of it everywhere!

Have you checked her heft?

Weight - Monitoring and Management
Click to expand...

should be hay, everything else should be a treat and gone within a short space of time.

Hay in the hides - that’s great but is there hay anywhere else in the cage? Just huge piles of it everywhere!

Have you checked her heft?

Weight - Monitoring and Management
Click to expand...

Piggies&buns said:
She may just be small and it’s obviously reassuring if the vet say she is healthy.

You say she isn’t a big hay eater but she is eating pellets and things in her mat every 30 minutes….are you ensuring pellets and the things on her mat are kept limited?
You won’t want them having constant access to those things as they can cause them to reduce their hay intake. The only food that should be in the cage constantly should be hay, everything else should be a treat and gone within a short space of time.

Hay in the hides - that’s great but is there hay anywhere else in the cage? Just huge piles of it everywhere!

Have you checked her heft?

Weight - Monitoring and Management
Click to expand...
When you say heft you mean feel her body?

Just stroking you cant feel jutting bones but if you have a good feel you can feel she's not a fat girl.
 
The text in green at the bottom of the reply you got from @Piggies&buns is the link to tell you how to check heft.
She's a beauty.
 
fluffysal said:
The text in green at the bottom of the reply you got from @Piggies&buns is the link to tell you how to check heft.
She's a beauty.
Click to expand...
Well she is between ideal and underweight. I've tried everything to help her gain a bit more weight she just doesn't put anything on. She has been seen by cavvy savvy vet and I had to do a food/behaviour diary and she wasn't concerned but agreed she was probably the runt and has some issues. She's never dropped in weight but even as a baby she would only put on 5-10g a week. I did finally find a hay she was willing to eat but its a cheap shop brand one. She won't touch any other hay
I started to put hay on thier hides to encourage as much hay intake when she's resting which has worked and hay uptake has improved but she is unfazed by the big hay pile unless she makes a little nest in it and sleeps lol.
 
The problem with high pellet intake and constant access to them is that they are fairly empty calories and too many can prevent them eating enough hay. It’s like giving a child a choice if
Of chocolate bars or salad - they’re going to choose the chocolate bars.
Pellets are also high in calcium and can risk issues related to bladder problems occurring if she gets too much calcium.

The cheap shop hay - it’s not a problem that’ll that is what it is. Hay is hay no matter what! If she eats it then get her that.
Mine have been fed on pet shop non-branded meadow hay for decades. I now use baled meadow hay from a local far
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top