Not Eating Or drinking and losing weight -- New Piggy, Darla

gatorgirl · Apr 21, 2014

What's the rule of thumb on weight loss? How many grams per day before vet?

(She's new to the cage and intimidated. I feed her salad in private and she nibbles a little here and there. I've been giving her some water by syringe and Vit C supplement that way as well.)

bpatters · Apr 21, 2014

If she's new, don't worry about it for a few days. Put her hidey close to a water bottle, and put pellets and food next to it. Keep leaving food there. She'll gradually warm up, and she'll probably eat when no one is around.

elfje · Apr 22, 2014

How old is your piggie? My rule of thumb is a liss of over 100 grams per week. I weigh my piggies about once a week, but not always at the same time. So a 50 gram difference might be food/poop....and I used to worry about that but I stopped doing so.
A little weight loss in the first week (s) is normal, they need to get used to the new situation.
Btw: if she eats salad she probably gets enough fluids. Is she eating other veggies? ( bell peppers? Tomato?) And pellets with vit. C? Then I wouldn't bother with vit c supplements either, and just love, cuddle and feed her treats! (Veggies, dried herbs...no artificial petshop-stuff)

gatorgirl · Apr 22, 2014

elfje said:
How old is your piggie? My rule of thumb is a liss of over 100 grams per week. I weigh my piggies about once a week, but not always at the same time. So a 50 gram difference might be food/poop....and I used to worry about that but I stopped doing so.
A little weight loss in the first week (s) is normal, they need to get used to the new situation.
Btw: if she eats salad she probably gets enough fluids. Is she eating other veggies? ( bell peppers? Tomato?) And pellets with vit. C? Then I wouldn't bother with vit c supplements either, and just love, cuddle and feed her treats! (Veggies, dried herbs...no artificial petshop-stuff)

She's about 1 year. I serve high Vit C veggies, but she's not touching them. Just a little lettuce here and there or a few pieces of shredded carrot.

Today she did eat with the other piggies at salad time and I've seen her eat some pellets, but she's eating very little hay.

Her weights:

Sunday: 1055g
Monday: 1030g
Today: 998g

elfje · Apr 22, 2014

Losing some weight after a change of environment is normal.
Do you weigh her at the same time?
998 gr is still a good weight for a one year old piggie, has she been living with you for long?
And, does she eat hay, and does her poop look normal? (Firm and dark brown)

gatorgirl · Apr 22, 2014

Her poops do look normal, though she makes very few of them and almost no pee, though her pee is not calcified.

elfje · Apr 22, 2014

Hmm...she should be eating all the time. How long has she been living with you? If she's new, let her get used to you and the herd.
She eats practically no hay...does she eat pellets? If she doesn't...and will not in the couple of days, I would go to the vet and have here teeth (molars) checked.
However, if she is new to living with you and the herd....let her get used to the new situation! And if possible check with the previous owner what her eating habits used to be.

Rywen · Apr 22, 2014

Ferb's vet said her rule of thumb is 10% of starting weight, so if one of her piggie patients loses more than 10% of their body weight she wants to see them to figure out why.

gatorgirl · Apr 25, 2014

She's slowly acclimating. She doesn't eat a ton of anything but she is eating and her weight seems to have stabilized.

Rywen · Apr 25, 2014

That's really good!

gatorgirl · May 2, 2014

Update: Although Darla isn't back to her pre-adoption weight, she is eating well, drinking and asserting herself at the hay rack. She's fitting in well with my herd and continues to be sweet as pie. Although, when before she would wait for me to pick her up, now she runs from me. But I take that as a good sign that she's back to being a normal piggy.

Rywen · May 2, 2014

That's excellent news, go Darla!

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Not Eating Or drinking and losing weight -- New Piggy, Darla

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