help!!

[agpiggy]

Ok my piggie has lost alot of weight and hasnt been eating much... i put him in another cage because i think my other piggie is bullying him. the other piggie wont let him into the hutch or anything. he also has very very moist poos but not diarea. What do i do?? anything i should feed him that will help?

 

[critterlover]

Your piggy needs a trip to the vet ASAP, sounds like he is very sick.

 

[agpiggy]

well the vet is closed now and i cant get there tomorrow as our car is at the workshop!! Im really scared... what should i do in the mean time... tomorrow im going to call the vets and see if they can pick him up.

 

[critterlover]

Is there an animal hospital you can take him to at this time of night? They are often open 24 hours. This is your best option to save him. Take a taxi.

If your pig is barely eating, you need to start forcefeeding him a pellet slurry every 3 hours (50 ml/day for a 1 kg pig). Dehydration and starvation are immediately serious, especially in pigs.

 

[agpiggy]

no my vet isnt open 24 hrs.... ive got a needleless syringe which im going to use to make him eat and ill crush some pellets and mix with water... do u no what could be the cause?? could it have been the other piggie??

 

[critterlover]

I'm not sure what your pig has. Have you read https://www.guinealynx.info/emergency.html? This will give you an idea.

Handfeeding information is at https://www.guinealynx.info/handfeeding.html and is very good.

The best syringe is a needless 1CC syringe with the tip cut off. What do you have? You can give your pig 5 CC every 3 hours if he is 1 kg. You might want to start off by giving extra fluids because your pigs is probably dehydrated. Also, vitamin C is critical, you can give him about 25mg/day from a chewable tablet, if he's 1 kg. I would get the vitamin C into him tonight.

When a pig is sick, other pigs will bully it. Your other pigs didn't necessarily make him sick.

 

[critterlover]

Wait, you said your pig has very moist poos, maybe he's not dehydrated, that's good, so maybe you can just start with the pellet slurry.

 

[agpiggy]

yeh... i no hes sick because he will never turn down lettuce!! i havnt seen him drink anywater though...but he musnt be dehydrated if hes got moist poos.... im going onto those things now
thanks for ur help!

 

[Guinea_Gal]

good luck, and please tell us what happens!

 

[agpiggy]

ok well this morning he ate a few bits of cucumber... he still looks unwell but alot better! i am keeping him nice and warm and he also drunk a bit of water!!! i hope he gets better!!

 

[dagwellismypigy]

Have you taken him to a vet yet?

 

[Slap Maxwell]

OMG, please take him to the vet, NOW.

 

[Poohbear]

Take him to the vet before it is to late.

 

[agpiggy]

its ok... i took him to the vet... they couldnt find anything physically wrong with him, they think hes just getting old which i cant see would cause any of this... but he has improved a great deal.

 

[agpiggy]

hes nearly 7 by the way

 

[Ly&Pigs]

I think you should seek a second opinion. This pig is sick or may have teeth problems. If he is losing weight and not eating well, it could be his molars are overgrown.

 

[Ketus15]

Can you see his tongue moving around inside his mouth? https://guinealynx.info/teeth.html

 

[critterlover]

Actually, even in humans, nobody gets sick just because of 'old age'. There is always a physical problem to be found.

 

[agpiggy]

yeh, i thought it could be his teeth but they are definately not overgrown.. hes so much better now though and he is eating fine... he has put on a bit of weight and looks healthy.... im keeping a very close eye on him to make sure he doesnt go down hill.