How Much? How much to feed sick pig

[SnoopFrogg]

Please help it is urgent!

My 6 year old pig has a respritory infection (according to vet) she breathes heavily and has harsh breathing, She also has loss of appetite and lost lots of weight as well as runny nose. The vet perscribed doxycycline and something else we are picking up tomorrow. Her weight has been going down for awhile and she is not eating or drinking nearly enough.

Her poop is tiny (1/4 normal size) and some are tear shaped.

She currently weighs only 655 grams.

Vet said she NEEDS to be eating even MORE then before so she is strong enough to pull through. So obviously we need to get her to eat some way or another.

We have some oxbow critical care and need to syringe her that and water.

Here is the confusion:
My syringe is "ML/CC". It goes 0.1, 0.2, 0.3, etc. all the way to 1.0. If I need to feed 15 ml of critical care, do I give her 15 full syringes of it throughout the day or what? Is the 1.0 (full syringe) only 1 ML?

At 655 grams, how much critical care and water should i be giving her?

Please help!

Have fun with the hobby!
-Sebastian

 

[bpatters]

A guinea pig that's eating nothing else needs 100+ cc. of Critical Care, every day, for every 1000 grams that it weighs. These feedings should be divided into 6-8 meals throughout the day and night. Since your pig only weighs 655 grams, she needs 65+ cc. of CC.

Yes, each syringe is only 1 ml. (1 ml. = 1 cc.) So if you want to give 10 cc, you give 10 syringes. You may be happier with a pet feeding syringe from a pet store. If she's at all cooperative, that will be easier. If she's not, you can use the large syringe to load the small syringes.

CC will thicken up as it sits, so you'll have to keep adding a little water to it.

See http://www.guinealynx.info/handfeeding.html for some more information.

It is VITALLY important that you feed her. Guinea pigs must have food moving through their digestive tracts at all times. A guinea pig that's not eating is a guinea pig that's dying.

 

[SnoopFrogg]

A guinea pig that's eating nothing else needs 100+ cc. of Critical Care, every day, for every 1000 grams that it weighs. These feedings should be divided into 6-8 meals throughout the day and night. Since your pig only weighs 655 grams, she needs 65+ cc. of CC.

Yes, each syringe is only 1 ml. (1 ml. = 1 cc.) So if you want to give 10 cc, you give 10 syringes. You may be happier with a pet feeding syringe from a pet store. If she's at all cooperative, that will be easier. If she's not, you can use the large syringe to load the small syringes.

CC will thicken up as it sits, so you'll have to keep adding a little water to it.

See http://www.guinealynx.info/handfeeding.html for some more information.

It is VITALLY important that you feed her. Guinea pigs must have food moving through their digestive tracts at all times. A guinea pig that's not eating is a guinea pig that's dying.

Sorry, let me clarify:
It is not that she is not eating at all. She eats hay a little bit carrots spinich strawberries pellets etc. Just not that much compared to how much she used to eat. Water is the same way.

Have fun with the hobby!
-Sebastian

 

[bpatters]

You can adjust the CC if she's eating something. But she's very small for an adult guinea pig, and it wouldn't hurt at all for her to have that much CC. Pigs that carry a little extra weight have an advantage when they get sick. If she were mine, I'd be trying to get nearly 100 cc per day in her.