Weight loss

[G+A+3]

Long time observer here, haven’t had to post since I brought my boys home but the advice at that time was very helpful so hoping for the same again!

My 2.5 year old male has lost a significant amount of weight over the last couple of months. He drinks a lot but always has. Other than this he has no other obvious signs of illness. Pees, poos, eats, chats, runs about as he has always done and is bright and seems happy.

He is currently on metacam and cisapride with the view to seeing what happens with his weight this week. We have been (unsuccessfully!) trying to give him recovery food so he could get some extra calories but he is not enjoying the syringe feeding one bit. Given that he has such a good appetite, is there a better way to help him have extra calories that he might enjoy? Maybe a certain hay, more pellets?

I should say that I trust my vets and the treatment plan, I would just like a way of increasing his weight that won’t stress him so much!

 

[Piggies&buns]

I’m sorry to hear this.

Syringe feeding is a very important part of stopping weight loss. Weight gain typically doesn’t happen until recovery from the illness and takes some weeks after.
Have you tried a different type of recovery feed?
Have you tried just putting it in a bowl and seeing if he will eat it while on your lap for example?
You can give a small amount of porridge oats as a calorie booster.
As I say though, generally you are looking for weight stabilisation during illness and weight gain happens post illness.
You can certainly try another type of hay.

Increasing pellets can be counter productive -
piggies need large amounts of hay intake for weight maintenance but in giving extra pellets, it may cause a reduction in his hay intake, and cause too much calcium intake (thus risking other issues). Plus they are rather empty calories so as soon as you reduced pellet intake again, any weight gained would just be lost.

 

[G+A+3]

Thanks for the response. It’s sad as he seems so happy otherwise but is shrinking before our eyes. Unfortunately he isn’t a fan of the recovery even when it was just in a bowl. He has such a fuss about the syringe feeding I suspect not very much is going in anyway! I will try and get hold of a different one to see if it helps. He seems to spend a lot of time eating hay anyway but I will try and get him a yummy variety to encourage that intake. How are the porridge oats given? Dry or as a watery porridge? That might be worth a try.

Sadly the vet thinks it is a chronic illness rather than something acute that he will recover from but as he seems so happy otherwise I would really like to try and keep his weight up for as long as possible.

To complicate matters he lives with a chunky friend who doesn’t need to put on any extra weight!

 

[Piggies&buns]

Porridge oats are given just dry. I used to give a spoonful to my oldies at dinner time (particularly in winter as outdoor/shed piggies) as a calorie boost.

I did wonder whether you may mention it being a chronic illness unfortunately.

 

[G+A+3]

I will give the oats a go as well, willing to try anything. The vets aren’t sure exactly what is going on yet but given that the weight loss is over a longer period and that he is not displaying any obvious symptoms it’s pointing towards something chronic. Given that he’s so well in himself I wanted to take a bit of time to think about the next steps for him so I will see what his weight does this week then we will speak with the vet again.

So sad for him and he’s so young still!

 

[Roselina]

Hello G+A+3 I’m sorry to hear about your piggy - I’d try some readigrass - the rescue I got my skinny pig from suggested that as a way to keep his weight up

Google Search

Both my piggies love it and I think it’s helping my older pig keep his weight stable

 

[G+A+3]

Hello G+A+3 I’m sorry to hear about your piggy - I’d try some readigrass - the rescue I got my skinny pig from suggested that as a way to keep his weight up

Google Search

Both my piggies love it and I think it’s helping my older pig keep his weight stable

Thanks I’ll look for this and give it a go. It’s handy to know what has worked for other people!