Where People & Piggies Thrive

Newbie or Guinea Guru? Popcorn in!

Register for free to enjoy the full benefits.
Find out more about the NEW, drastically improved site and forum!

Register
  • ONE THREAD per pig please!
    We really want your pig's history all in one place to help you. Please don't start a new thread for a new issue. Just reply to your old one. We can edit the title for you if needed.

Weight Loss Force Feeding my Underweight Guinea Pig w/ eyedropper

CAVY LOVER222

Member
Cavy Slave
Joined
Apr 21, 2018
Posts
14
Joined
Apr 21, 2018
Messages
14
My 4 year old guinea pig, Giney (I know, uncreative name), just went to the vet and he lost 117 pounds in the last few days. Now he's 904 grams. We're force feeding him with a bent tip eye dropper and I'm wondering how much I should give him. We put a couple different veggies in a blender and feeding him with them. Thanks​
 

CAVY LOVER222

Member
Cavy Slave
Joined
Apr 21, 2018
Posts
14
Joined
Apr 21, 2018
Messages
14
I said he lost 117 pounds! Oops! I meant grams for those of you who were really confused. Sorry!
 

bpatters

Moderator
Staff member
Cavy Slave
Joined
Sep 23, 2009
Posts
29,251
Joined
Sep 23, 2009
Messages
29,251
An eyedropper is about the most inefficient way to feed him you could think of. I'll put some links at the bottom on how to hand feed.

The rule of thumb is that a pig that is eating nothing else needs 100+ cc of Critical Care or pellet slurry for every kilogram it weighs, every day, split into 6-8 feedings around the clock. You adjust up or down according to the weight of the pig, and down if the pig is eating some on its own.

I can't imagine trying to get that much CC/slurry into a pig with an eyedropper. If you have a reasonably cooperative pig, the easiest thing to use is a pet-feeding syringe from one of the pet stores. They're big enough that you can pour the slurry in, which is far easier than loading a smaller syringe. If you have a totally uncooperative pig, then using 1 cc syringes with the nose cut off is easier to get food into the pig, and you load the small syringes with a bigger one.

In either case, you have to mix the slurry really well so there aren't any clots in it. Those will stop up the syringe, and if you push hard enough to dislodge them, you can choke the pig on the slurry.

Here are some tips on handfeeding: https://www.guineapigcages.com/forum/threads/115000-Handfeeding-a-guinea-pig
 

CAVY LOVER222

Member
Cavy Slave
Joined
Apr 21, 2018
Posts
14
Joined
Apr 21, 2018
Messages
14
Status
This thread has been closed due to inactivity. You can create a new thread to discuss this topic.

Similar threads

GuineaPigParent36
Replies
2
Views
265
GuineaPigParent36
GuineaPigParent36
megamazing
Replies
5
Views
198
SSLee
SSLee
N
Replies
4
Views
502
Guinea Pig Papa
Guinea Pig Papa
D
Replies
1
Views
245
bpatters
bpatters
Top