[Gpdd] [HEALTH] Hand-feeding and Weight Loss

[Dr Kay Dudman]

On the subject of hand-feeding and weight loss, my Adrian piggy *loves*
his critical care, he can't suck it from the syringe quickly enough.  I
think if your piggy feels you are tense and anxious they pick this up and
it makes them tense and anxious too.  If you start out with the feeling
"ooh, this is really tasty, would you like some?" you are more likely to
have a positive outcome.  Adrian just sits on my lap and I offer the
syringe, no wrapping needed.  When he has had enough (maybe about 20ml) he
closes his eyes and has a nap.  He gets about 50ml (or more) each day.

About the weight loss, the MOST IMPORTANT thing is the well-being of your
piggy, so general attitude and liveliness and quality of life are key.  My
little Felicity was a 3lb piggy a year ago until her teeth gave her
problems, and she went down to being a 2lb piggy, BUT after her teeth were
trimmed, and with careful feeding she managed to put on weight again and
got right back to her original weight!  That was a 30% weight loss and she
pulled round.  Please do not write off a piggy who loses weight, try to
find out what the cause is and get that treated (it could be more than
one thing).  In Felicity's case she also needed an ovariohysterectomy, as
there was an underlying uterine problem.  She has lost some weight again
recently but she is a happy piggy, enjoying cuddles and feeding, taking an
interest in the world around her, with a good quality of life, and that's
what's most important.

I am afraid I have not been able to post much recently as I have not been
well, and so I send my belated sympathies to all who have lost piggies.
It is so sad to hear such news, but GPDDers understand these things and
are able to offer support and sympathy to others at these difficult times.

Best wishes

Kay

> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 4
> Date: Tue, 25 Oct 2005 22:14:45 +0200
> From: "Frau Meier" <wenzels at wugnet.de>
> Subject: Re: [Gpdd] [HEALTH] Hand-feeding advice urgently needed
> To: "GPDD" <gpdd at gpdd.org>
> Message-ID: <00c701c5d9a1$86472a20$fe7aa8c0 at PA>
> Content-Type: text/plain;	charset="iso-8859-1"
>
> Hello,
>
>
> > The CCT factsheet says there is a certain point at which a
> > weight loss becomes so severe that no amount of hand
> > feeding will save the piggie
>
> if a piggy looses more than 30% of its body mass, there is no chance to
> recover.
>
>
> > The CCT factsheet and websites I've  looked at recommend
> > wrapping piggie in a towel
>
> > Sarah  has him stood on her lap, no towel, just lifts his front legs
> > and opens  his  mouth
>
> We show both methods in our website (www.fraumeier.org/paeppeln.htm),  a
> wrapped piggy, fed by Vedra personel and a piggy sitting on my lap. I
> prefer the second method and have good experience, but both piggy and staff
> must learn this! It will take two or three times of feeding!
>