Guinea pig advice please

Question
My 5 year old guinea pig, Sophia was attacked by a dog last week. We have brought her to the vet several times and unbelievably she is okay and pretty stable now. The vet said she had a concussion and a brain injury and she was blind in one eye for a few days. All of that actually healed and she even got her sight back. We've been syringe feeding her critical care from oxbow every 3 hours since this incident happened since she hasn't eaten much on her own. Im very happy with all the progress she's made and so thankful that she's even alive, I'm just concerned that she's still not eating on her own at this point. One of her cheeks is swollen (getting much smaller though)from a puncture wound and the vet thinks this is why she initially shows interest in food and then won't take a bite because it's probably painful to chew. But is there anything I can do to help encourage her to eat? How long could it be before she will eat on her own? I know the vet is giving me good advice but I'd love to get a second opinion. Thanks!

Answer
Oh Ashley, how terrible that must have been for you (and her). I'm sure it scared her nearly to death. It's amazing that she actually survived the attack.

I would continue the critical care until you actually see her taking her pellets. Keep her normal food in her cage, she will begin to eat when she is able to chew without pain. As the swelling in the jaw resolves I'm sure she'll be able to return to her normal eating habits. You might offer her some soft treats like watermelon and lettuce. It won't take much effort to chew a piece of watermelon. Normally they like the rinds but I think because of the injury I'd offer her only the red 'meat' of the melon so she doesn't have to bite down so hard.

How long it will take to recover is an individual thing. But animals don't have the capacity or inclination to feel sorry for themselves like we humans do, so she won't waste time just lying around asking for pity (like so many humans).

You can consider yourself and her very lucky. This was a traumatic thing for her to go through, but she will work as hard as she can to recover. I would suspect maybe two more weeks.