My poor poppy in playpen trying her best to loose some weight xx

She has been taking a few steps on the wheel which is a big thing she mooches around with teddys and balls bless her and shes really trying she is on a strict diet she is my first rescue hog and we have been through one hell of a journey she weighs 900 grams and i never fed her too much she has just has problems from the start[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
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Bless her - apart from leaving her in the play pen to give her a larger space to explore at night, I am totally at a loss of what to suggest chuck.

Weve done everything we can helen it down to poppy now im just keeping my fingers crossed for her now and she really tried today xx

What times are you getting her up Caz? x x

Shes more active at 11am and i try her at 9pm aswell xx

I'd try leaving her to sleep at the 11am one and just stick to the night time. Being bigger she will need more sleep as she will tire easier. I know I do!!! I was speaking to someone on facebook last night who has been through similar with one of hers and she found that sticking to a routine helped her boy. She only got him up at night and always did everything the same every day. She said it took a couple of months for him to adapt to the new routine but he did go on to lose his weight. He wasn't as big as Poppy though, but he is a lazy sod apparently - her words not mine, lol! I think at this point anything is worth a try. If she loves the play pen, it might be an idea to get her up a little later and if you can keep it warm enough, maybe letting her play in there all night. She might not do much at first but she might when she gets used to it. I'd give it a go anyway. x x

I have already tried all that mel 11am is the only time she will move i have literally tried everything xx

If she's more of a morning hog have you tried her earlier? x x

Yeah i have tried 8 9 10 and she just slept xx

I also had her in playpen overnight 24/7 with heatpads for 3 days straight and that didnt work xx

Bugger! I'm stuck for idea's. I will keep searching the corners of my brain - well that and the internet, lol! I'm not done yet! x x

Have you tried her with swimming? I forgot to ask! x

Also, what biscuits is she on again? Lower fat biscuits will probably not help much, but I'm happy to have a good look at what might be of some benefit to her and see if a different mix might help her overall rather than just as a way of losing weight. She might need more of certain vitamins, minerals etc to keep her bones good for example.

Tried swimming and her back legs dont work properly and she cant balance and flops everywhere its really too risky as she would inhale the water i tried just normal foot bath and putting her wheel in bath and showering her feet which she got use to in the end shes just so fed up i think its true that a hog wont move unless it wants to biccie wise shes on purina one and purely and iams light and the vet tried her on the royal canin weight control 26quid a bag and she hated them even my cats wouldnt eat them so i give her 10 biccies after her excercise in morn and 10 biccies b4 bed xx

I don't rate those Royal Canin at all. I used to have them in my mix, but the majority of the hogs wouldn't eat them. And yes, talk about pricey! With the purina one and purely, are they both the light versions? I'm going to look more at nutrition rather than low fat and see if I can come up with something better that doesn't cost the earth. You are right though - some will just not move and thanks to the idiot that had her before you she's just not used to it. Don't forget even if there is nothing else anyone can come up with, this is not your fault and you've done more than your best to help her. You're brilliant with her. Sadly I had to give up with Belle in the end and I just made her as happy as I could. You're already doing that for Poppy. x x

No they arent the light ones they are just the normal chicken ones,b4 she came to me she was fed spikes food and never had a wheel xx

Thank you for rescuing her hun, the poor little love has had such a tough start but she is more than well-off now. She is gorgeous.

Hugs
JO xx

I know - it never fails to upset me. Why do these people not do their research? I was like you - I researched for months before even deciding to get a hog. I was the same with all my other pets as well. It's totally up to you, but having had a look at nutrition, fats, ingredients etc Ii think you might be better swapping the biscuits for others.

The Purina One light has only 9.5% fat as opposed to 14% with the normal ones. The light also has a whopping 3% more protein, which would be excellent for Poppy as it will be more filling as well as being nutritionally better. It also contains 3% less wheat, so less carbs and we all know what a devil carbs are!

What I would strongly advise too is getting rid of the Purely altogether. It's perfectly fine for most hogs, but with a huge 16% fat content it is not great for hogs that don't exercise. If I were you I'd replace it with Harringtons chicken with rice. I use it and my hogs love it. It's only 12% fat, it contains no wheat and has 1.2% calcium in it, which is really high for cat biscuits. It's also £5.39 per 2kg bag instead of £9.29 for 2kg.

The Harringtons is online only, but you can have it delivered to the store for free if you wait 3 days or something. For next day you have to spend over £35, but that's the same as delivering it to your home so why you'd go pick it up if you can have it delivered free I don't know! I'd also have a look at Pet Supermarket if you don't need them right away. I know the Purina light is out of stock at the moment, but it's £2 cheaper a bag than PAH, and the Harringtons is £4.99 for 2kg, so cheaper also.

I will keep looking for other ideas to help too! x x

Ok thats fab i will definitely replace those the purina to the lights and swap purely for harringtons i will write those down thankyou mel xx

You're more than welcome. I just want to try and help her. She's such a lovely girl and I know how hard you're trying with her. She might not lose any weight, although you never know! At least it will have better nutrition for her with the extra protein and calcium. It will be lighter on your packet too. My biscuit bill is outrageous! Esp seeing as the bloomin' cat wont eat them, just the hogs! x x

Haha its funny you say that my kittys arent keen on the purina or anything fancy that the hogs have they like gocat or pah seriously good chicken biscuits,i wont stop trying mel i love her to bits and she really tried this morning she got on wheel 7 times anout 15 steps each time and she did her bossy walking for half an hour smacking her teddys around and thats a huge step xx