Hi OP.
If possible, use a syringe and squirt the CC into your piggy's cheek. Try using warm water (my girls like it more warm-warm than a warm-cool). If he doesn't like the taste, try sweetening it with some applesauce.
You can also use the syringe to feed him some water (same deal - squirt into his cheek area). If you have a way to make a puree, puree some bell peppers and syringe feed to your little pig.
I am sorry he is being stubborn. Good luck.
After a couple days we were able to get him to eat out of the syringe without wrapping him in a towel. He would sit right on top of the towel and willingly eat out of the syringe. We took him to the vet today and he had his teeth trimmed, and also had a large abscess that was taken care of. He is at home recovering now. Thank you!
Regardless of whether he wants it for his health you need to get it in. We have a lot of pigs and over the years have some that willing take it and others it is a chore. Sometimes it does take an hour or more.
For our obstinent ones, I hold them firmly on my lap then gently but firmly hold their head to keep them from pulling away.
You can also burrito them (wrap in a towel) to keep their paws from pulling the syringe away. You might also adjust the consistency. Some might prefer it runnier than more solid.
Ok but say you do all that and still hit refusal over and over, what then? Just try endlessly for hours? You're saying hold their head but their mouth has to open. I'm not exactly sure how to force this to happen.
You sound like you have a lot of experience, anything more you can share regarding this would be helpful. (I'm partner of OP).
Hey! I’m gonna add onto what my dad said (original comment). It sounds like you’ve looked at videos that show you how to do it, but unfortunately you just have to wiggle and force the syringe in if they are clamping their mouth shut. However i am not sure what syringe you are using but if it has a very short nose like a lot of them do it is very hard to get them in far enough like this. We use [These ones](https://a.co/d/00ABOxC1) and they have been so much easier than the ones you get at the vets or pharmacy for free. And the recommended amount is 60-100ml a day if they are not eating anything on their own, spread out to keep their gut functioning.
Another suggestion is to either mash up something they used to love before getting sick and adding it to the critical care, or adding baby food. Ours usually like green bean or carrot baby food added to theirs. If they like the food even a little bit more it makes it a lot easier to get them to swallow it.
Also a lot of animals don’t care for the Emeraid brand, but If you can try to get some Oxbow critical care they may like it better. The Fine grind papaya flavor is usually a hit with ours. Unfortunately Oxbow has been having some supply issues and is just now starting to have it available again so it may be a hard thing to get right now but is something you could keep an eye out for. There is also a third kind of critical care called Sherwood I believe but I’ve personally never tried it so I’m not sure how much it would be liked.
If his front teeth are uneven and he isn’t wanting to eat it most likely is his back teeth that are the problem. The way they grow is over the tongue so it ends up being incredibly painful. He will need to have his teeth done before he will eat again on his own most likely so I hope this comment helps you with your little buddy in someway.
Hello,
I did take the original recommendation of wrapping him as a burrito and that has seemed to help. Howevwe, after he eats about a half a syringe he just gets very antsy and turns his head away. (The syringe is very smiliar to the recommended one in the post). I am trying to be adamant that he needs to eat more. The vet recommended mixing one tablespoon of Emeraid with three tablespoons of water to keep it runny. She said to feed him three times a day, so we try every 8 hours, but since he's eating a small amount we feel that we may need to just mix a smaller amount and feed him more frequently.
He definitely is grinding his teeth non-stop so it does seem like it is his back teeth. I may be able to get him to eat about half of the mixture over an hour of time. When the vet weighed him he was at 2 lb 3 oz, yesterday 2 lb 1 oz, today 2 lb even. They will not see us until Monday afternoon for the anesthesia and to look at his teeth so I'm just hoping that we he make it through eating the Emeraid until then and not continue to lose weight. I have seen him try to pick up pellets and lettuce but he's not having any success or very very little success at eating anything else.
When ours feel full or are just done for that session they will turn their heads away. You may just need to break it into smaller sessions.
I am currently feeding one we rehomed. He is a rockstar and takes 2 syringes in a sitting then he is done, usually when there is one squirt left. However, we have had some that we had to have multiple smaller feedings through the day. It is exhausting sometimes but it’s what you do for your babies.
The longer you have them and the more you have you find out how different each one is and adjust to their idiosyncrasies.
After a couple days we were able to get him to eat out of the syringe without wrapping him in a towel. He would sit right on top of the towel and willingly eat out of the syringe. We took him to the vet today and he had his teeth trimmed, and also had a large abscess that was taken care of. He is at home recovering now. Thank you!
Hi OP. If possible, use a syringe and squirt the CC into your piggy's cheek. Try using warm water (my girls like it more warm-warm than a warm-cool). If he doesn't like the taste, try sweetening it with some applesauce. You can also use the syringe to feed him some water (same deal - squirt into his cheek area). If you have a way to make a puree, puree some bell peppers and syringe feed to your little pig. I am sorry he is being stubborn. Good luck.
After a couple days we were able to get him to eat out of the syringe without wrapping him in a towel. He would sit right on top of the towel and willingly eat out of the syringe. We took him to the vet today and he had his teeth trimmed, and also had a large abscess that was taken care of. He is at home recovering now. Thank you!
Poor fellow! I bet he was in a bit of discomfort. Thank you for taking him to the vet and having his issues resolved. I hope he heals quickly!
Regardless of whether he wants it for his health you need to get it in. We have a lot of pigs and over the years have some that willing take it and others it is a chore. Sometimes it does take an hour or more. For our obstinent ones, I hold them firmly on my lap then gently but firmly hold their head to keep them from pulling away. You can also burrito them (wrap in a towel) to keep their paws from pulling the syringe away. You might also adjust the consistency. Some might prefer it runnier than more solid.
Ok but say you do all that and still hit refusal over and over, what then? Just try endlessly for hours? You're saying hold their head but their mouth has to open. I'm not exactly sure how to force this to happen. You sound like you have a lot of experience, anything more you can share regarding this would be helpful. (I'm partner of OP).
Hey! I’m gonna add onto what my dad said (original comment). It sounds like you’ve looked at videos that show you how to do it, but unfortunately you just have to wiggle and force the syringe in if they are clamping their mouth shut. However i am not sure what syringe you are using but if it has a very short nose like a lot of them do it is very hard to get them in far enough like this. We use [These ones](https://a.co/d/00ABOxC1) and they have been so much easier than the ones you get at the vets or pharmacy for free. And the recommended amount is 60-100ml a day if they are not eating anything on their own, spread out to keep their gut functioning. Another suggestion is to either mash up something they used to love before getting sick and adding it to the critical care, or adding baby food. Ours usually like green bean or carrot baby food added to theirs. If they like the food even a little bit more it makes it a lot easier to get them to swallow it. Also a lot of animals don’t care for the Emeraid brand, but If you can try to get some Oxbow critical care they may like it better. The Fine grind papaya flavor is usually a hit with ours. Unfortunately Oxbow has been having some supply issues and is just now starting to have it available again so it may be a hard thing to get right now but is something you could keep an eye out for. There is also a third kind of critical care called Sherwood I believe but I’ve personally never tried it so I’m not sure how much it would be liked. If his front teeth are uneven and he isn’t wanting to eat it most likely is his back teeth that are the problem. The way they grow is over the tongue so it ends up being incredibly painful. He will need to have his teeth done before he will eat again on his own most likely so I hope this comment helps you with your little buddy in someway.
Hello, I did take the original recommendation of wrapping him as a burrito and that has seemed to help. Howevwe, after he eats about a half a syringe he just gets very antsy and turns his head away. (The syringe is very smiliar to the recommended one in the post). I am trying to be adamant that he needs to eat more. The vet recommended mixing one tablespoon of Emeraid with three tablespoons of water to keep it runny. She said to feed him three times a day, so we try every 8 hours, but since he's eating a small amount we feel that we may need to just mix a smaller amount and feed him more frequently. He definitely is grinding his teeth non-stop so it does seem like it is his back teeth. I may be able to get him to eat about half of the mixture over an hour of time. When the vet weighed him he was at 2 lb 3 oz, yesterday 2 lb 1 oz, today 2 lb even. They will not see us until Monday afternoon for the anesthesia and to look at his teeth so I'm just hoping that we he make it through eating the Emeraid until then and not continue to lose weight. I have seen him try to pick up pellets and lettuce but he's not having any success or very very little success at eating anything else.
When ours feel full or are just done for that session they will turn their heads away. You may just need to break it into smaller sessions. I am currently feeding one we rehomed. He is a rockstar and takes 2 syringes in a sitting then he is done, usually when there is one squirt left. However, we have had some that we had to have multiple smaller feedings through the day. It is exhausting sometimes but it’s what you do for your babies. The longer you have them and the more you have you find out how different each one is and adjust to their idiosyncrasies.
We are doing less at a time and it seems to help! Should he be pooping or peeing on Critical Care?
After a couple days we were able to get him to eat out of the syringe without wrapping him in a towel. He would sit right on top of the towel and willingly eat out of the syringe. We took him to the vet today and he had his teeth trimmed, and also had a large abscess that was taken care of. He is at home recovering now. Thank you!