[Gpdd] HEALTH: Tom

[Luita Spangler]

Hello everyone. I agree with Dana - once piggies decide not to eat, it
takes forever to convince them to eat again. Some years ago, before
Critical Care and the general improvement in guinea pig health care, I
had a lovely pig, Constance, who had a bad reaction to having her teeth
trimmed, and stopped eating. She took to sitting in her cage looking all
puffed up and miserable. It took several months of liquifying her
pellets and syringe-feeding her, as well as regular visits to the vet to
get her hydrated, but she did start up again! One thing that the vet
said to me that I think is important is that one must never forget to
consider piggie psychology - when they get depressed, they give up. So
she encouraged me to keep Constance in an active part of the house (she
was an only piggie - her pig friend died before her), to talk to her as
much as possible, and to keep the radio quietly on for her when I wasn't
home. I think this was a very important part of her eventual decision to
keep living. I put her cage on the kitchen table, which was the general
center of household activity, and played National Public Radio for her
when I wasn't home, since I felt that the human voices on that station
are soothing, and the music they play is also fairly gentle. Constance
recovered completely and lived for years afterwards.

Bert, Ernie and I will be wishing the best for Tom!