[Gpdd] HEALTH Macie

[Penny Charlesworth]

I am so sorry that Macie is still having problems with her weight. I have only seen this in older piggies, who can lose muscle tone as they age and thereby lose weight but Macie is only a youngster. My Diamond lost a lot of weight in her last year without any apparent reason but she was 6 years old. She continued to eat well to her last day.

I agree that hand feeding could help. It is time consuming but, as long as Macie doesn't resist you trying to help her, can be very worthwhile. Some piggies that I have had to syringe feed have been very eager to take the mixture and each feeding only took a few minutes but it has to be continued throughtout the day. I can take such piggies to work with me and feed them during a coffee break.

If she will let you feed her pellets as ME suggested you might be able to put some weight back on her but I do not know why this is happening.

I have lost piggies to cancer but they have not suffered any accompanying weight loss. My Guinness had a tumour but was the heaviest piggy that I have ever cared for.

I recall our Rodentologists struggling to put weight on our Debbie's Scoot when he was staying at their hospital. He was taken there as Debbie suspected that a tooth problem was causing him not to thrive but this turned out not to be the case and they never did discover why his weight had dropped so low.

If anyone can solve this mystery it will be of benefit to all piggykind.

Love to Macie,

Penny and the Piggyfriends.