Henry's Thread

[TWP_2]

Oh, and he gets plenty of "kishes". We haven't had as much lap time since the surgery, but occasionally we do--and he enjoyed his lap time last night cuddled up on the couch.

[TWP_2]

Henry is losing weight pretty seriously. He is down to about 1 lb 12 ounces, which is about four ounces below his post-surgery weight, and about fourteen ounces below his all-time high weight while he has been with us.

He does not show signs of serious discomfort, though he has had some 'strange' sleeping habits (sometimes sleeping with his nose to a wall, rather than going into a pigloo). He does lie down, he sleeps well, he is bright-eyed, playful, and loving. By every factor except his weight, he seems to be doing great.

We would like to try and boost his weight up above 2 lbs. We don't want to use too much critical care, because on that he sludges pretty badly and we worry about stone reformation. What can we get that is high in calories, palateable, and low in calcium?

I'm off to look up the veggie table on the main GL site, but if you have suggestions we would really appreciate them.

[TWP_2]

Looking at the veggie chart, it looks like a 50/50 mix of kale and carrot would give us a 1.6:1 Ca:P ratio. We're thinking of pulling him out for a third daily meal (so we don't have to feed Frost too and wind up with a fat Frost) and giving him that mix.

I'm also looking at his overall symptoms and wondering if Vit. C is a problem. We quit giving C supplements out of suspicion that one of the inactive ingredients is Calcium Carbonate. I just tested it...and didn't find any evidence of calc. carbo., so we will start him on some C supplements today too.

[Bethie]

I'm no expert, but it sounds like a good plan. It sounds like our Old Man is just getting old. My grandpa always had a few beers to help keep some weight on. I'm not sure how you'd keep Frost off the bottle, though. Good luck, Henry. We all love you.

[TwoWhitePiggies]

We've noticed that Frost really follows Henry's lead. If Henry is suspicious of something, so is Frost. If Henry wants something, so does Frost. It's kind of cute, but a little maddening, too.

[cavykatie]

Heh, that's cute. I hope Henry feels better soon!

[Brimstone]

Do Henry and Frost eat at the same speed? We had to separate Apollo & Spike for pellet feeding for a while because Apollo was losing weight. Giving him a chance to eat without competition helped his weight climb back up.

[TwoWhitePiggies]

Brimstone - yes, for the most part. The only time it's a problem is when I put a variety of things, like lettuce and apples, into their food bowls. Frost is a dessert first kind of guy, and Henry saves dessert for last. So Frost will eat his apple slice and then try to yank Henry's apple slice out of Henry's bowl.

[TwoWhitePiggies]

One day later, and Henry is suddenly walking more comfortably and even more playful. When I came downstairs, he leaped over a food bowl. I am very hopeful that this issue is him not getting enough vitamin C because he's boycotted his pellets unless they're in mush form. At the same time, I will feel very stupid that it took us this long to figure it out.

[dgarriques]

I am for sure no expert but I wonder, could you make a mash out of pellets for Henry and form them into a ball (isnt that what Momo did with McMac?)

[Lynx]

I hope you found the cause too!

[Karin1]

Hey everyone, I was reading a couple pages back about the stone pigs. My Lilly passed two stones on her own this past December and then now almost getting to March she passed her third stone.

I switched her diet to Oxbow Cavy Cuisine, unlimited timothy hay, leave lettuce, and apple from time to time. Her water that I give her comes from bottled water instead of tap.

From reading what you guys posted maybe the Oxbow is creating the stones after all. I give her about 1/4 cup each day and she eats her whole bowl!

Should I take the pellets out of her diet?