[Gpdd] HEALTH: Syringe/feeding training

[ME]

I always start to teach my little ones to take from a syringe and spoon as soon as they join the group.  All I do is fill a 1 ml syringe with canned pumpkin (I prefer not to use a liquid for this training) and feed it to the group while they're in the cage.  The newcomers generally don't come for the first few feedings, but most of them soon get curious and try it out.  I had one that showed no interest in it for about a year, but even she's decided that it's fun to take from a syringe.  The problem I have is trying to give the syringe to one piggie when 3 or more are trying to get at it.

After the newcomers are comfortable with the syringe, I go on to teaching with the spoon.  This is tougher since they generally want to chew the spoon rather than eat what's in the spoon, but they usually catch on pretty quickly ... though this ends up being kind of messy because they pull on the spoon and fling the stuff all over.

When I actually have to give meds or food, I use the method of least resistance and the goal is to make it a good time for both of us.  Occasionally I do wrap, but only if they won't take it because it smells or tastes bad ... but this is usually only the first time or two (though occasionally it's longer).  Eventually I just have them sit on a towel on my chest, place my free hand on the back and sides of their head as a restraint (I don't squeeze ... all they usually need is to see my hand, though sometimes they lean their head against my hand), all the while, talking gently to them and giving them their favorite head/body rubs.  If they're still resisting, I talk to them and give them more of their favorite rubs until they're in a better and more relaxed mood.  Actually, with hand feeding, I start by feeding dry pellets (placing them one at a time in the back of their mouths) and syringing water ... and I start as soon as I notice a weight loss of more than 50 grams.  I only use canned pumpkin or baby food when they don't have the strength to eat the pellets.

With my diabetic pig who took meds twice daily for over four years, I just sat her on their scale and held the syringe out for her to grab.  Even when she didn't like the taste of the meds, she took them fairly willingly since I chased them down with something she loved (and she knew it was coming ... and scolded me if I took too long to get it to her).  It was actually while I had her when I started this routine of teaching my piggies to eat from a syringe.  With her, I made a conscious effort to teach her to take her meds without a fuss since I knew it would be a long term thing, but I saw the benefit of it and have used the same principles ever since.