[Gpdd] FW: [Health] - Not eating

[Cazza177]

Dear Julia and Persephon

You may want to grab hold of a copy of Piggy Potions by Peter Gurney via
Amazon (who can send quickly), or a pet store.  Below is adivce from Peter
Gurney about loss of appetite.  I hope it helps.  Kind regards  Carole

Peter Gurney says:-

"If a gp goes off its food when there are no detectable symtoms of ilnness,
then first examine the teeth. If the lower incisors appear over-long and the
ends of the top ones are beginning to curve inwards, there is likely to be a
problem with the molars, further in the mouth.  Also, if they impinge at an
angle instead of being level when looked at face on, then there is trouble
inside.  Unless you know of someone who can do dental work WITHOUT
anaestheic, contact the Cambridge Cavy Trust (tel: 07721 026401).

"If teeth are all in good shape then it is either an indication of an
impending illness or what I have come to regard as a kind of 'hiccup' in the
digestive system.  I call it a hiccup because I have not the slightest idea
what causes it.  The droppings may be smaller or change colour but are still
firm, indicating it's not diarrhoea.  What I do know is that there are a
couple of things that give what I can only describe as a 'kick start' to the
appetite.  These are:-

A. 0.4ml Gentian extract, twice daily, or the same dosage of Swedish
bitters.
B. One Elderberry pill and one Greenleaf pill ground up together.

"A little syringe feeding is always helpful but do not overdo this and make
the gp lazy.  I grind down the animal's dry feed into a powder and add to
this liquidised cucumber, carrot or any other vegetable that the gp likes.
This way, the patient is getting its normal diet in a more digestible form.
Every second day, add a level teaspoon of rehydration salts into the
mixture.  A useful American product is called Critcal Care for Herbivores by
Oxbow Pet Products.  It comes in powder form and you just mix with water.
The gps that I have given it to gobbled it down with great glee and it has
every ingredient that a recovering gp needs to get it back into top form
again.

"When giving any kind of supplementary food, or medicine for that matter,
always keep a close eye on droppings, if there is any sign of loosening, try
an alternative.  Anything recommended in this book has been tried and tested
over quite a few years now, so in general there should be no problems.
Occasionally, however, just as among humans, an individual gp will be unable
to tolerate a certain medicine or food which goes down perfectly well with
the majority.  Be aware of this and monitor accordingly."


----------
From: Julia Kennedy <tabithaporter at yahoo.com>
Date: Wed, 29 Nov 2006 06:09:45 -0800 (PST)
To: gpdd at gpdd.org
Subject: [Gpdd] [Health] - Not eating

Help?  Can anyone give me any suggestions as to why
Persephone has stopped eating?  She seems fine in
herself, although a tiny bit lethargic, but is
bright-eyed and active enough.

Paddington. my boy, has also stopped eating, so we
went to the vets the other night.  His back teeth are
growing over his tongue, so he is going back to the
vets tomorrow to have them trimmed.  Please keep your
paws crossed, as it means an anasthetic as I can't
find anyone who will trim piggy teeth here without
using it!  Anyway, it's easy to see why he's not
eating, but the vet looked Persephone over, and
couldn't find a thing wrong with her!  Checked her
teeth and all her vitals, and said she was fine!  I've
been syringe feeding them both with Supreme Science
Recovery and they're both gobbling it up like it's
going out of fashion, so she's obviously hungry!  I'm
baffled!  I hate it when there's something wrong with
them, but you don't know what!!

Leah - LOVED your website!  Fantastic!

Julia, Cordelia, Persephone, Paddington, Emily and
Bearlette

with Tabitha, Charlotte, Perdita, Ophelia, Delilah,
Timothy, Belinda and Iolanthe at the bridge

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