Special Needs How do I encourage my senior to eat more?

[rubberducky11]

I have a senior guinea pig who I’ve noticed is looking skinny. She eats veggies just fine but I’m afraid it’s not enough. Sometimes she eats her pellets, but she completely ignores her hay (doesn’t even lay in it). She still drinks just fine though. Is there any way I could get her to eat her hay more? I can’t afford to be feeding her a purely veggie diet. Any help is appreciated

 

[Artista]

Maybe she's tired of it. You can give timothy hay or orchard hay. Try switching types. I also give my girl a Timothy hay ball which she loves and keeps her busy. Type in orchard grass hay ball in search. Make sure it's 100% hay, no fillers.

 

[4boipigs]

You could supplement with something like Critical Care or Emeraid. If she's eating on her own, you can put it in a dish and let her have at it. Switch up the hay brand too. Don't feed only veggies, that won't be good for her and could cause diarrhea (at least it would in my boys). If she doesn't improve, see a vet if you haven't.

 

[bpatters]

How old is she? It's normal for senior pigs to lose weight. The usual pattern is lose a little, plateau at that weight for a while, lose a little more, plateau again, rinse and repeat.

Hay is the most important item in her diet, way more important than veggies or even pellets. You can stop the veggies and change varieties of hay to see if you can get her to eat it.

But the goal shouldn't be to make her weigh as much as she did when she was younger. That's just not the normal way guinea pigs age. However, if she's losing too much because of her diet, then you need to address it by encouraging her to eat hay. You can also give her a blob of thick Critical Care per day to help keep up her vitamins and minerals.

 

[rubberducky11]

How old is she? It's normal for senior pigs to lose weight. The usual pattern is lose a little, plateau at that weight for a while, lose a little more, plateau again, rinse and repeat.

Hay is the most important item in her diet, way more important than veggies or even pellets. You can stop the veggies and change varieties of hay to see if you can get her to eat it.

But the goal shouldn't be to make her weigh as much as she did when she was younger. That's just not the normal way guinea pigs age. However, if she's losing too much because of her diet, then you need to address it by encouraging her to eat hay. You can also give her a blob of thick Critical Care per day to help keep up her vitamins and minerals.

You could supplement with something like Critical Care or Emeraid. If she's eating on her own, you can put it in a dish and let her have at it. Switch up the hay brand too. Don't feed only veggies, that won't be good for her and could cause diarrhea (at least it would in my boys). If she doesn't improve, see a vet if you haven't.

Maybe she's tired of it. You can give timothy hay or orchard hay. Try switching types. I also give my girl a Timothy hay ball which she loves and keeps her busy. Type in orchard grass hay ball in search. Make sure it's 100% hay, no fillers.

Thank you! I’ll try supplements, but I’ve been switching up her hay for a while between orchard and timothy, but she doesn’t seem to like either. I’ve tried giving her fresh hay every day and mixing up the hay she didn’t eat, but she still barely eats it. Sometimes I’ll catch her nibbling it, but very rarely. I’ve even tried hand-feeding it to her, but she just headbutts my hand out of the way. She isn’t even that interested in pellets, just veggies. She practically refuses anything else and she’s constantly begging for more.

 

[rubberducky11]

How old is she? It's normal for senior pigs to lose weight. The usual pattern is lose a little, plateau at that weight for a while, lose a little more, plateau again, rinse and repeat.

Hay is the most important item in her diet, way more important than veggies or even pellets. You can stop the veggies and change varieties of hay to see if you can get her to eat it.

But the goal shouldn't be to make her weigh as much as she did when she was younger. That's just not the normal way guinea pigs age. However, if she's losing too much because of her diet, then you need to address it by encouraging her to eat hay. You can also give her a blob of thick Critical Care per day to help keep up her vitamins and minerals.

She’s turning 7 this year. Im afraid to take her veggies away because it’s basically the only thing I can get her to eat at this point.

 

[bpatters]

Well, you could say that a 7 year old pig has earned the right to eat anything she wants, but I can guarantee you that if she isn't eating hay, she's going to have some [expensive] dental problems. The chewing motion of the jaws when eating hay is what keeps the molars and incisors ground down. Overgrown incisors can be fairly easily trimmed, but overgrown molars have spurs that cut into the cheek and/or tongue, and require treatment under general anesthesia.

 

[rubberducky11]

Well, you could say that a 7 year old pig has earned the right to eat anything she wants, but I can guarantee you that if she isn't eating hay, she's going to have some [expensive] dental problems. The chewing motion of the jaws when eating hay is what keeps the molars and incisors ground down. Overgrown incisors can be fairly easily trimmed, but overgrown molars have spurs that cut into the cheek and/or tongue, and require treatment under general anesthesia.

How do I get her to eat more hay then?

 

[bpatters]

You could try meadow or blue grass. If you can get some green hay or grass, that might work, but introduce it slowly. But she might be interested in a really good quality hay. If you're buying it in small bags at the pet store, that's the oldest, driest hay on the market. American Diner, Small Pet Select, and Oxbow all usually have good fresh hay that you can order online. Just be aware that last year was a terrible year for hay all over the country, so the quality may vary from any of those places.

There's a thing called hydration hay, which is dried hay that can be soaked in water to sort of reconstitute it. But you have to be very careful with it. You only soak a small amount at a time, and it has to be removed from the cage after two or three hours so that it won't mold. You can probably get it at any feed store.

You can also decrease the amount of veggies you're giving her, so that she's hungry enough to eat the hay. Don't take her completely off of them all at once. But cut way back on them. Give her just a very small amount to get her eating, and then leave her with nothing but hay in her cage.