Post-Op Recovery Tips?

[Vicky]

Our 3 year old boar, Spice, had an operation to remove some spiky growths from his back teeth last Monday. We'd taken him to the vets after we'd noticed that he wasn't eating. Even in the short time between noticing the problem and getting to the surgery (no more than 36 hours), he'd dropped a lot of weight and is now quite skinny.

The trouble is that, after nearly a week, he still isn't eating solids and we're a little worried that he never will! The vet anticipated that he wouldn't eat by himself for a few days and provided us with some nutritionally complete liquid guinea food, as well as antibiotics. We've been syringe feeding him since Monday, every few hours as directed, and have supplemented the mix with a blended juice of his favourite veg which he takes enthusiastically. But although he seems eager to eat, and takes small pieces of solid from our hands (cucumber, lettuce, pepper, etc) he just smooshes them around his mouth a little before letting them drop back out. It almost looks like he's lost confidence in himself...he trembles a little bit as he approaches the veg plate too. He has improved quite a lot over the course of the week, but we don't know how long he can go on taking liquids alone. I should mention that he is passing faeces but they're very soft and we've had to 'help' him a few times.

We're also a little worried that if he doesn't eat soon his cagemate will become territorial over the hay, pellets and veg. He has already chased Spice off several times. :-(

Does anyone have any experiences they can share? Any tips for encouraging Spice to take solids? Does it usually take this long to get over an operation? The vet didn't seem too alarmed when we took him back for a check-up on Thursday, but we'd like some more reassurance if possible...

Thanks.

[5guinea5pig5]

Maybe you could separate them for a while. When my piggy got surgery I talked to him in a soft voice and only fed him his favorite veggies(that can be feed every day) and rewarded him every time he ate.

[Ly&Pigs]

You don't need to separate at all for this type of situation.

What did the vet give as a liquid supplement? Have you tried not feeding it for a while and let Spice worry about his own food? Favorite veggies are always a good thing to try.

It's sometimes painful for the pig when they have molars trimmed. Maybe he's still hurting some therefore less willing to chew solids. Talk to your vet about a little bit of pain meds such as metacam to help him get over the hump.