cavies

Question
My guinea pig hasn't really been eating as much as he should. He likes to eat a lot and barely touches his food. The only thing that that i don't really give him is a mixed salad. I gave him an expired salad, but that's it. Is there anything that i can do besides go to the vet? My family doesn't really have a lot of money to do that.  

Answer
Hello Joan,

You can crush pellets and mix them with water then syringe feed it to him. I would advise you do this soon. You can also try to coax him to eat with his favorite foods (baby carrots is one of my pigs' favorites). Without finding out what is causing him to not eat though, he may not recover. Guinea Pigs can get food poisoning so that is a possiblity. If you can't get him to the vet (and it would be a good idea to try your best to get him there, often vets will work with you or you can contact a local rescue and they may be able to help out), force feed him, give him extra vitamin c, and acidophilus (a supplement you can get at the pharmacy near the vitamins that helps with digestion). Give supportive therapy (the force feeding and supplements) to the best of your ablity and he may pull through depending on what's going on. Sometimes just a bit of force feeding and supplements are enough to get them through. Good luck. I'll keep him and you in my prayers. Hopefully he will recover soon.

-kkat
http://www.geocities.com/abyssinianguineapigs