Syringe feeding

Warning: If your guinea pig refuses to eat, contact your veterinarian immediately, don’t try to just syringe feed her and hope she gets better on her own! 

And one more thing: It is clear that the syringe for feeding should be used WITHOUT a needle! But it is, just in case. 

Some pigs willingly eat from a syringe if necessary, but there are those who cannot be forced to eat like that, no matter how hard you try. Piggy can be so stubborn and unyielding that the task can become almost impossible. Here are some helpful tips and tricks to help you and your guinea pig. 

In what cases may it be necessary to feed from a syringe?

The reasons can be the following:

• If your guinea pig has severe diarrhoea, you should syringe your guinea pig to avoid dehydration.
  
• You can give the pig a variety of supplements in this way, such as vitamin C or cranberry juice.
  
• Pigs can suffer from many diseases in which they simply lose their appetite and refuse to eat.
  
• Your guinea pig may have recurring infections or complications from surgery and needs to be given medication.
  
• A guinea pig may have an overbite that prevents it from eating normally.
  

What should be prepared in advance before syringe feeding?

• Towel (or several) – to swaddle the guinea pig so that it does not wriggle and squirm, and also to clean up after the guinea pig – syringe feeding is not the cleanest procedure, be prepared for the fact that everyone around (and you are in including) will be in the mixture for feeding and pig litter %).
  
• Decide what mixture you will use and prepare everything in advance.
  
• Get your mixer/blender ready.
  
• Have a spare syringe of water on hand to offer the gilt between formula feeds and to rinse out the gilt’s mouth after feedings.
  
• I use a mini blender to grind the granules (tablets) into powder before mixing them with warm water. This method is more effective than dissolving the pellets directly in water, which leaves undissolved fibers that are more difficult to syringe.
  
• Don’t forget to pre-soak the granules (if you’re not going to grind them into a powder) so that they are easy to knead.
  
• Syringe: try syringes of different sizes. You will probably find it convenient to use a 1 ml syringe for water, cranberry juice, medicines; for liquid formula – 2-3 ml so that you can get deeper into the mouth of a pig that cannot chew or simply refuses to eat; or try a 5ml syringe for a coarser, coarser, dry formula to feed a guinea pig that can chew on its own. You can try different syringes – different sizes, with or without special tips – the main thing is to make sure that there are no sharp edges so as not to injure the pig.
  

What ingredients should be in a syringe feeding formula?

When I syringe-fed my pig, I prepared a mixture of pellets soaked and mashed in warm water with a small amount of powdered vitamin C added. I also gave her 0.5 ml of Metatone (“human” tonic) per day, and a week later – 0.3 ml. My pig took Metatone willingly, but there was a problem with the granules. 

Chinchilla grass pellets and mashed potatoes (in equal parts) are a good base for the mixture. As additions to this base, you can use the following components: 

(Note: The thicker and more fibrous the mixture, the less the chance of diarrhea, so try to add grass pellets for gilts or chinchillas to every feed, not just vegetable puree, this will reduce the risk of further digestive problems, and at the same time give the teeth some work ).

• Various vegetables, possibly steamed, such as carrots, broccoli.
  
• Barley with a small amount of oats (boiled). Canned pumpkin – without any impurities – mixed with a little warm water for a thinner consistency.
  
• Children’s cereal mixture with a high protein content or children’s porridge.
  
• Regular or baby rice, instant oatmeal (may be flavored).
  
• Try giving your guinea pig water/cranberry juice from one syringe and then formula from the other.
  
• Try adding strawberries or any other fruit that will make your guinea pig take an interest in food.
  
• Try sweetening the mixture with honey.
  
• Try adding baby vegetable mix (like carrots or greens).
  

Tips:

• Add some live yogurt or crushed (soaked) pellets of healthy pig litter – to restore healing bacteria in the digestive system.
  
• If the pig refuses to take the mixture from the syringe, try giving it water from the syringe first, gradually mixing the necessary cereals into this water to the desired density.
  
• If the mixture becomes too thin, add a little grain or bran to thicken it up.
  
• If you are making your own recipe, make small batches to keep the mixture fresh.
  
• It can be very helpful to give your guinea pig a taste of a new food. it can awaken the appetite and inspire the pig to eat.
  
• Continue to offer your guinea pig – along with syringe feeding – her “normal” food, such as her favorite parsley, to try to stimulate her appetite, and also to stop formula feeding when the gilt is able to eat on her own.
  
• Pay attention to the mixture you prepare: it must pass through the syringe, and you must be able to control the amount of mixture so that it does not flow out of the syringe too quickly and the guinea pig does not choke.
  
• Thoroughly mix your mixture in a blender until it is smooth – this helps with syringe feeding.
  

Syringe injection!

This is truly the most difficult. The guinea pig may be too sick and have absolutely no appetite, making syringe feeding difficult. However, it is possible and below are some tips to help you. 

First fill the syringe with the mixture, then take the pig. Next, think about how you will keep the pig and feed it. Feed the mixture a few drops at a time to give the guinea pig time to chew and absorb the food. From time to time, change the syringe with the mixture to a syringe with water. 

Postures for feeding:

• A resisting pig will have to be swaddled rather tightly in a towel – in the style of a burrito 🙂
  
• Place the pig on your lap, face to the right, place the palm of your left hand on the pig’s head, with your thumb and forefinger lightly press on the lower jaw – for some readiness to receive the syringe.
  
• If the gilt is shaking its head sideways and is still resisting, grab the lower jaw on both sides with one hand, holding the entire gilt at the same time. The other hand should be free for the syringe.
  
• If you have swaddled the pig very well, you can put it between the pillows with its muzzle towards you. This will keep both of your hands free for syringe feeding.
  
• Try putting a pillow on your lap and a large towel over it, then place your left hand on the pig’s nose – thumb and forefinger should be next to the mouth to immobilize the head. The right hand holds the syringe, while the left hand holds the head and mouth in a fixed position.
  

Syringe introduction:

1. If the pig does not open its mouth, use the tip of the syringe to lift the skin just behind the front teeth (if you lift the pig’s lips a little to the side, you will see a gap where you can insert the syringe – just behind the front teeth) – this will open the mouth slightly, and after point the syringe inwards (but not too hard) and squirt some formula. You can feel this gap if you run your finger along the jaw of the pig. You may need to hold the pig’s head, as some people don’t like having their mouth touched.
   
2. Start inserting the syringe from the side – this will make the task easier, because the shape of the teeth does not close the mouth of the pigs tightly.
   
3. Insert the syringe deeper at the moment when you opened the pig’s mouth with the tip of the syringe.
   
4. Insert the syringe even deeper – behind the teeth, but not into the cheek pouch (between the teeth and the cheek).
   

How to get a pig to take a syringe / food:

• Squeeze out the mixture from the syringe at such a speed that the pig has time to swallow. Once you manage to insert the syringe into the guinea pig’s mouth, there should be no problem swallowing the formula.
  
• If you can’t get the syringe into any, try making the mixture thicker (like cookie dough), then roll into small balls and try to put them in your pig’s mouth.
  
• Put the syringe near the guinea pig’s mouth and squeeze some water or cranberry juice onto her lips, then she can take the syringe.
  
• Perhaps the pig will lick the food off your fingers. Smear some of the mixture on her lips – this may provoke her to open her mouth.
  
• Squeeze some of the mixture into your mouth. If the pig does not want to swallow, gently rub her larynx. Cannulas
  
• Try feeding in an unfamiliar environment (room) or have someone distract your guinea pig while you try to feed it.
  
• Try to offer the pig in a syringe something sweet first – this may attract him.
  
• Try holding the pig’s head straight by stroking it under the chin, and then moisten its lips with honey-sweetened water to attract attention.
  
• Try using a cannula that wraps around a syringe. A cannula is a plastic tube that extends the reach of a syringe so that food can be injected through clenched teeth.
  

Top tip: If necessary, place a mirror in front of the pig so you can see what you are doing. 

Cautions:

• Don’t squeeze out too much mixture at once or your guinea pig may choke. Remember that pigs can’t burp.
  
• Do not lift the pig too high – if the head is thrown back too much, the mixture from the syringe can go into the wrong channel – into the lungs.
  
• Artificial feeding of newborn babies (if necessary) is a different story, this procedure is described in detail in the article Caring for weak babies (chapter “Artificial feeding”).
  

Afterword:

• Monitor your pig’s waste products to make sure she goes to the toilet. During syringe feeding, you may notice that the guinea pig has diarrhea or feces that are unusual in shape. The thinner the mixture, the more likely problems will occur, in which case you should contact your veterinarian.
  
• Rinse the guinea pig’s mouth with a syringe of water after feeding and wipe up any spilled formula from the coat and around the mouth.
  
• Weigh your guinea pig every day to see how much weight the guinea pig has gained or lost.
  

How much formula does your pig need?

I received a lot of different advice on this, but the most common dosages were the following two:

1. For every 100 g of weight, a pig needs 6 g of food per day. Half of this should be in the form of “dry” food, such as pellets, to get all the necessary fibers (the other half is vegetables or any other food) plus 10-40 ml of water. 

How it worked in practice for my pig: 

The weight of the pig was 784 g.

If for every 100 g there are 6 g of food, then we divide the weight of the pig by 100 and multiply by 6.

784 / 100 x 6 = 47.04 grams of food per day.

We were going to try to feed her 4 times a day, ie. 47 / 4 = 11.75 g of the mixture each feeding.

(If the weight of the pig was 1176 g, then 70.56 g of food was required per day.)

2. 20 g dry food + 15 ml liquid/water 4-6 times a day. 

This equates to approximately 80-120 g of dry food and 60-90 ml of water per day.

According to either of these two dosages, several syringes of formula will be prepared for each feeding. The dosages differ from each other, but the larger the pig, the more feed it needs, so the dosages will even out. 

Thus, if you aim for the average of these two dosages, you can’t go wrong. 

Sometimes feeding my pig took about half an hour, and I was not able to feed her the required amount of formula, but you still try to give her as much as possible. 

And, of course, be persistent, but loving, calm and patient, and use every opportunity to feed the pig. Your pig needs your love, affection and care. 

The original of this article is on Diddly-Di’s Piggy Pages

© Translation by Elena Lyubimtseva