bpatters
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Cavy Slave
- Joined
- Sep 23, 2009
- Posts
- 29,271
- Joined
- Sep 23, 2009
- Messages
- 29,271
General information on handfeeding:
Can the pig swallow if he gets food into his mouth? Try cutting food into matchstick-sized slivers and sticking them in the side of his mouth. If he can swallow, then either continue to feed him that way, or read the hand-feeding instructions below. If he can't swallow, he needs a good exotic vet with rodent dentistry experience now, like TODAY!
You need to hand feed him, immediately. You can get Critical Care at some pet stores, or you can order from Amazon. Or you can pulverize pellets in a food processor or blender, make a loose slurry, and feed him through a syringe. See https://www.guinealynx.info/handfeeding.html for more information on how to do that.
GL recommends using 1 cc syringes, and if you've got a really uncooperative piggy, that may be the way to go. But if he's at all agreeable with the idea, you can use a pet-feeding syringe and not to have to load all those little syringes. Pet stores sell them, or you can get a 10 or 20 cc needleless syringe from most pharmacies if you tell them it's for a sick pet.
Put your non-dominant arm on a table, and nestle the pig in the crook of your elbow. Hold the head firmly with your non-dominant hand BEHIND the hinge of the jaw, not ON the jaw hinge. With the other hand, insert the tip of the syringe crosswise into the pig's mouth, behind the front teeth and in front of the back teeth. Depress the plunger to give about .25 cc at a time. If the pig is chewing, it's eating. It it's not chewing, then insert the syringe a little further and turn it so it points toward the throat.
If the syringe clogs, do NOT press hard on the plunger while the syringe is in the pig's mouth. When it gives way, it can force the slurry into the pigs throat and lungs, and the pig will die from pneumonia. Remove the syringe and unclog it before putting it back in the pig's mouth and trying again.
The slurry will thicken as it sits, so have some water or pedialyte to add to it occasionally. Make it fairly watery, as it will be easier to give that way. You can make up a few meals' worth and store it in the fridge. Just warm it slightly in the microwave before feeding it, but be sure that it's not hot.
That addresses the immediate problem -- that pigs have to eat ALL the time or they'll die. They can't do three meals a day like we do. They continually produce stomach acid which will digest the lining of the stomach if food isn't coming in, and the pig will wind up with bloat, or will die from an ulcerated stomach.
Can the pig swallow if he gets food into his mouth? Try cutting food into matchstick-sized slivers and sticking them in the side of his mouth. If he can swallow, then either continue to feed him that way, or read the hand-feeding instructions below. If he can't swallow, he needs a good exotic vet with rodent dentistry experience now, like TODAY!
You need to hand feed him, immediately. You can get Critical Care at some pet stores, or you can order from Amazon. Or you can pulverize pellets in a food processor or blender, make a loose slurry, and feed him through a syringe. See https://www.guinealynx.info/handfeeding.html for more information on how to do that.
GL recommends using 1 cc syringes, and if you've got a really uncooperative piggy, that may be the way to go. But if he's at all agreeable with the idea, you can use a pet-feeding syringe and not to have to load all those little syringes. Pet stores sell them, or you can get a 10 or 20 cc needleless syringe from most pharmacies if you tell them it's for a sick pet.
Put your non-dominant arm on a table, and nestle the pig in the crook of your elbow. Hold the head firmly with your non-dominant hand BEHIND the hinge of the jaw, not ON the jaw hinge. With the other hand, insert the tip of the syringe crosswise into the pig's mouth, behind the front teeth and in front of the back teeth. Depress the plunger to give about .25 cc at a time. If the pig is chewing, it's eating. It it's not chewing, then insert the syringe a little further and turn it so it points toward the throat.
If the syringe clogs, do NOT press hard on the plunger while the syringe is in the pig's mouth. When it gives way, it can force the slurry into the pigs throat and lungs, and the pig will die from pneumonia. Remove the syringe and unclog it before putting it back in the pig's mouth and trying again.
The slurry will thicken as it sits, so have some water or pedialyte to add to it occasionally. Make it fairly watery, as it will be easier to give that way. You can make up a few meals' worth and store it in the fridge. Just warm it slightly in the microwave before feeding it, but be sure that it's not hot.
That addresses the immediate problem -- that pigs have to eat ALL the time or they'll die. They can't do three meals a day like we do. They continually produce stomach acid which will digest the lining of the stomach if food isn't coming in, and the pig will wind up with bloat, or will die from an ulcerated stomach.