guinea pig losing weight

Question
While I was very sick with the flu One of our male guinea pigs Tim stopped eating and lost over 20% of his weight. The vet said he had maloccluded teeth that the vet ground down, apparently his back teeth were so bad that his tongue couldn't move.

Since the surgery he won't eat solids, he tries but just nibbles on his food and then drops it. he does this with all veggies, and pellets.

I've been syringe feeding him critical care for 4 weeks now, and he is still lowing weight slowly. He's clearly hungry as he chews on the syringe until he's full. I feel him a teaspoon-full of powder mixed with enough water to use a syringe, 3-4 times a day. The vet said he only needs about 3 syringes (3ml) a day, but he's getting a lot more than this and still losing weight daily. How much should a cavvy need?. He's down to 650g (he used to be around 1kg) now and the vet has no further advice but keep doing what we are, which isn't working.

he's been on painkillers and antibiotics daily since the surgery, which the vet said to keep up. enrotril is the name of the antibiotic.

we've tried every vegetable that pigs can eat, the only thing he can swallow is the tips of a broccoli floret, but I know they shouldn't eat too much of this. I've tried wetting pellets to soften them, but he just nibbles and crushes them.

There aren't many cavvy friendly vets in our area, and this one won't admit it, but doesn't seem to know what else to do.

we don't know how old Tim is, as he was taken from a school that could no longer keep him and doesn't know how old he is. we have had him 2 years.

I'm hoping you can suggest something, as I have a feeling this vet will either say to continue with the same until he wastes away, or that he needs to be put down.

Answer
You're right, there are not a lot of cavy knowledgeable vets.  It's not that they don't want to treat them, there just isn't enough money spent to research their needs as they are not a big enough industry to make it practical. We can't fault the vets for that. It's lack of opportunity that binds them.

More experience based knowledge has been gained by breeders than by researchers.  They've learned through trial and error and passed their knowledge on. The majority of vets don't have enough cavy patient base to be able to learn much about them. So it's not that they are not friendly about caring for cavies, they just don't have enough opportunity to gain the experience they need.

I have to question is why is he still on antibiotics?  Guinea pigs don't tolerate most antibiotics and absolutely cannot take any for of penicillin.  It destroys the good bacteria in the stomach and gut, leaving them open to secondary infections.  

Except in rare cases such as chronic kidney or bladder issues, antibiotics are designed only for short term use. If overused they begin to destroy the immune system and cause more problems than they fix. I would suggest stopping the antibiotics immediately. He may be suffering a belly ache because of them, but if there is no suggestion of infection there is no reason for antibiotics. I would also stop the pain killers. Again, there is no indication for their use. They too could be causing him more discomfort than they are good.  

You might try smashing the pellets into a rough powder and just let him lick the meal out of his dish. Adding water makes them turn hard and makes it more difficult for him to lick them up. You can put critical care into a water bottle.  Mix it according to instructions and he will take it just as he does his water. That will at least sustain his body needs.

The fact that he is trying to eat is a good sign. You simply have to find a way for him to do it on his own and not be syringe fed. Weight loss is a red flag, but typically when a pig is losing weight it's because he isn't wanting to eat.  Tim is obviously hungry, his issue is not being able to get his food down. The dry cereal pellets may do the trick. And by offering them dry they cannot harden to the point he can't get them out of the dish.

You bring up a valid concern about not knowing his true age. The fact that his teeth were so overgrown is a good indication that he is in his senior years. The average life span is 4 - 5 years.  But that's not written in stone. I've had pigs that went as long as 7 yrs, but that the exception.

Hopefully by stopping all his medications it may just perk him up and put him on the road to healing.  I really believe that some of his problem may be 'polypharmacy' i.e. too many meds.  

Please keep me posted.  I am interested in how he does. I hope this helps you and I wish you and Tim success.