Cisco needs to go on a diet.

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M1dn1ght

Post   » Tue Nov 10, 2020 12:31 pm


I have two boars - Cisco and Wynn. Wynn got sick and I separated them because Cisco stresses him out and I wanted him to rest while he recovered. It worked out well, and I decided to keep them apart permanently but adjacent so they have the benefit of each other's companionship, but Cisco can't bully Wynn anymore. Their cages share a wall, so they can talk to each other whenever they want.

Wynn is doing much better. The problem seems to be that whenever Wynn showed an interest in something (especially food), Cisco would go over and chase him away from it. I think Wynn was becoming malnourished. I have him back on track, but the unfortunate result is that Cisco is now a total CHONK. Wynn weighs about 2 pounds (which is the same weight as my former Midnight), while Cisco is closer to 4 (about 3.75). He has visibly large flanks that don't seem to give him problems, but I don't want him to develop problems later in life.

Now that I have them separated, I have an opportunity to tailor his diet and try to get him back to a healthy weight. He has a TON of space now that it's all his (about 24 square feet) and he runs around quite a bit. I do give them floor time (separately now, of course), so I'm not concerned about exercise. I should ask for a little guidance, however, on restricting his calorie intake. Currently, they each get 2 TB of Oxbow Garden Selects pellets per day, plus an Oxbow urinary support cookie, a handful of fresh leafy greens and veggies, and unlimited orchard grass hay.

I'm thinking the best approach would be to cut back on his pellet intake, but I don't want to do too much too quickly. I couldn't find any guidance for doing that safely, but I might not be looking in the right place. Any advice?

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Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Tue Nov 10, 2020 12:38 pm


It sounds like a relatively reasonable diet. Can you be more specific on the greens and vegs? Are there any sugary fruits? Perhaps add another variety of grass? Is there any sort of significant calorie count on the Oxbow urinary support cookie?

I am thinking you could go to 1 T of pellets. Do read over the veterinarian's guidelines to determine a proper weight for a guinea pig on this page, a few paragraphs down from the top:
https://www.guinealynx.info/weigh.html

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M1dn1ght

Post   » Tue Nov 10, 2020 12:52 pm


Thank you, Lynx!

The leafy greens are mostly Romain lettuce, but I do occasionally give them dandelion and sometimes red-leaf or Bibb. Any fruits are given in small quantities (a few strawberry tops or half a de-seeded apple core each). Sometimes they get washed raw green beans or cucumber slices. I try to give them a sensible variety, and absolutely everything they get is organic.

The urinary support cookie packaging doesn't specify a calorie count, but it does have a small amount of cane molasses in it.

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Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Tue Nov 10, 2020 9:39 pm


Are the cookies tiny?

For what it's worth, the red and green leaf lettuces may be better for him than the romaine lettuce.

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M1dn1ght

Post   » Wed Nov 11, 2020 3:34 pm


The cookies are about the size of a quarter.

Good to know about the lettuce because we've seen so many recalls for Romain. I'll switch that.

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Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Wed Nov 11, 2020 10:04 pm


Maybe you could see if you can find out from the manufacturer how many calories the cookies are. Do they have any sugars or starches in the ingredients?

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Sef
I dissent.

Post   » Thu Nov 12, 2020 12:33 am


I think the cookie M1dn1ght is referring to is this supplement from Oxbow:
https://www.oxbowanimalhealth.com/our-p ... ry-support

Active Ingredients: Glucosamine (Plant Based): 45 mg, Marshmallow Root: 45 mg, Manna Oligosaccharide (MOS): 40 mg, Astragalus Root: 18 mg, Cranberry Extract: 18 mg, Dandelion Leaf: 18 mg, Pumpkin Seed: 9 mg, Docosahexaenoic Acid (DHA), 2 mg

Inactive Ingredients: Timothy Grass, Barley Flour, Oat Groat Flour, Cane Molasses, Flax Seed Meal, Guar Gum, Mixed Tocopherols (preservative), Rosemary Extract

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Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Thu Nov 12, 2020 10:24 am


The cane molasses is further down on the list implying there is not as much. The flours are carbs that could add calories.

You could stop giving him these for a week and see if it made a difference.

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Renonvsparky

Post   » Thu Nov 12, 2020 9:10 pm


Get him out to run as much as you can. The more exercise he gets, the better. It's hard to get them to move around at first but as he gets back in shape and loses excess weight it gets easier. I had the same problem with Mr Bubbles. We had to very lightly goose him to get him moving.

We also spread hay, picked grass and other very small bite sized treats, such as shredded carrots around so that he would have to move around to get them. It took a while, but he got down to a healthy weight. He had gotten so fat that he had trouble climbing on the side of his cage. All that is behind him now. A healthy piggie is a happy piggie.

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M1dn1ght

Post   » Wed Dec 16, 2020 4:56 pm


Update: I cut back on his pellets and treats so he has to eat more hay. He's starting to lose weight. I can tell he's slimming down and his energy is coming up too.

Thanks for the advice, everyone!

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