Eating habits

Question
We've had our guinea pig for a few years now. He stopped eating and was loosing weight. I took him to the vet and she trimmed his teethe. He still wasn't eating so I got some baby oatmeal and a dropper. He didn't like it too much the first time but now he loves it. He eats about a tablespoon once or twice a day. He doesn't eat his regular food as well as he used to though. Am I spoiling him? Is this normal or okay?

Answer
Hello Raylene,

Yes, you're spoiling him and no, it's not normal. As for whether it's ok, as long as he is still eating enough other things to get what he needs and is staying healthy, it should be fine. We all tend to spoil our piggies in different ways (I had one who only wanted to eat Critical Care and veggies and right now I have 2 who each get their own special bag of hay because they refuse to eat the same hay as everybody else), yours just gets oatmeal. And the special treatment almost always starts when they don't feel well. If it is a concern for you (and it would probably be healthier too) you can slowly wean him off of it. Reduce the amount you give him and try handfeeding him a veggie or two instead. It may be the special attention and handfeeding that he likes even more than the oatmeal and switching to something else (like mushed pellets) may not be a problem. Having daily oatmeal shouldn't hurt him though as long as he's getting enough nutrition and hasn't totally stopped eating anything else and doesn't gain too much weight. Oats are a common weight gaining tool used to help underweight piggies gain a bit, so just make sure he doesn't get too fat. Giving him lots of timothy hay should help prevent that a bit. As for spoiling him, don't worry about it, we all give into them more than we probably should. As long as his health and well being isn't suffering by being spoiled, no harm done. A spoiled brat of a piggy won't cause as much trouble or be quite the pain a spoiled brat of child is. Good luck with your little boy. I'm sure he's a real sweetie. Oh, and if his teeth are a problem, have them checked regularly to make sure they aren't overgrown (incisors AND molars). Overgrown teeth could cause him to prefer the oatmeal over his food because he doesn't have to chew it so much and it hurts to chew. That is a problem because over grown molars will kill him enventually, but as long as they are ok, there shouldn't be a problem.

-kkat
www.geocities.com/abyssinianguineapigs