Conditions hyperthyroid piggie, need food suggestions

[SandyPig]

Our ~5 yr old piggie was recently diagnosed with hyperthyroidism. She has lost an enormous amount of weight in recent months. We started her on methimazole, but she has yet to gain back any weight. Her appetite is excellent. Looking for suggestions for high calorie nutrients-- any particular fruit/vegetables to give her extra calories? Don't want to change pellets because her cagemate does not need to gain any weight and will eat them too.
Would also love to hear experiences with hyperthyroid pigs.
Thank you!

 

[bpatters]

It's very hard to get an adult pig to gain weight. It won't happen quickly, but possibly slowly.

My only suggestion is to sprinkle a few rolled oats over her food and let her eat those. You might have to take her out of the cage to do that, but a teaspoonful a couple of times a day might help. Start wit a smaller amount and work up, and make sure she stays well hydrated.

 

[jaycriae]

You could also take her out a couple times a day and syringe her some extra Critical Care (or ground pellets), just to make sure she's got plenty of extra nutrients.

 

[bpatters]

I wouldn't syringe Critical Care or pellets because of the extra calcium she'd be getting. You might be trading weight gain for bladder stones.

 

[jaycriae]

^True enough. Save that for an emergency, then, but I'd still be sure to keep Critical Care on hand.

 

[SandyPig]

She's eating a LOT of pellets already. Very hungry all the time. I was hoping to think of a fruit or vegetable that would give her more calories per bite, in a healthy way.

 

[jaycriae]

Uncooked corn is high-calorie but can only be fed once a week or so. I don't know if the reason that's advised is /because/ it's so high-calorie, though, maybe look into that? It has little other nutritional value, but you can also feed the husks.


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[bpatters]

It's too high in sugars to be fed regularly.

 

[jaycriae]

It's too high in sugars to be fed regularly.

I thought that might be the case :/ Darn.


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[SandyPig]

Our piggie died yesterday evening.
She was 5 1/2 years old and had a good life.
In addition to hyperthyroidism, she had very large ovarian cysts. The cysts seemed to bother her a few years ago, but then she tolerated them and we decided not to put her through surgery.
She had a good appetite until her final day. In recent days she was slowing down a little, which we attributed to the methimazole for her hyperthyroidism. In the morning she was eating hay normally. In the late afternoon we found that she had passed in her cage. Her cagemate was a little spooked, walking around in circles and seemed to be "checking" on her.
We buried her late last night.
Her cagemate is 6 1/2 years old, and we are going to keep her as a lone pig rather than introduce a new one at this point.
Sad.

 

[miniver]

Condolences on your loss. It sounds like you gave her a great life and she gave you much joy.

 

[bpatters]

I'm so sorry you lost her.

 

[new2piggs]

I'm so sorry for your loss