GI Upset

[rshevin]

Scary for sure! I have to say though, it was fast. It wouldn't be absurd to say it's something normal that I've never witnessed, but agg, I hope he doesn't scare me like that again. He was up and begging for food this morning just like normal.

[Lovemypig]

rshevin, Quilt use to sleep like that when I would be holding him. He'd be deeply asleep, eyes rolled somewhat but rapidly moving around and he'd be twitching sometimes. I always believed he was dreaming. He did this for years so I hope I was right!

[rshevin]

I think for a piggie that does it for years like Quilt it's clearly REM dreaming. I've had Piggy for rough 3 years now and have never observed this before however we know they don't typically sleep deeply, especially around big human predators. Piggy is probably sleeping deeper in his older years. I think he's 5 now.

[Lovemypig]

Oops, I read your post too quickly and missed the fact that this was a new thing with him. You're right about them sleeping deeply as they get older. Quilt gave me more than a few scary moments when he wouldn't wake as easily as he used to.

I think this is the first time I've been able to refer to him without getting upset!

[Bugs Mom]

Bad Piggy! Imagine scaring your mom like that. I'm so glad it doesn't seem to be serious.

[rshevin]

Once again Piggy has bruising on the heels of both his front feet. He's seen the vet for this once and there was no evidence at all it was any kind of infection/bumblefoot. Does anyone have any idea at all what this could be? I'm at a total loss. I'm soaking in epsom salts and warm water for now but would clearly like to figure out what's going on. The only thing I can imagine is he's always been a very heavy pig and perhaps living on a totally flat surface is putting pressure on his feet? I've heard this with birds, it's why they're supposed to have natural branch perches and not perfectly round, but is there any truth with pigs? So many of us use fleece I'm inclined to say no but am out of ideas.

[Lynx]

What kind of detergent do you use on the fleece? I would use a very mild one and hot water, rinse well. Don't know if it would help but residual detergent could cause some irritation.

[rshevin]

I'm using Purex Free and Clear and sometimes BacOut. I can stop the BacOut and see how clean things come. I tend to need some kind of booster with the Purex, either BacOut, oxy, bleach, or borax. I can also wash on hotter water and see if that helps me not need other ingredients. This does seem to be tissue bruising and not skin irritation though.

[rshevin]

I just looked over and found Piggy with a piece of hay sticking out of his eye. I panicked and pulled it out. I flushed the eye copiously with sterile saline (he's not pleased) after. The white part around that eye is red. Do I need to rush to the vet or is it probably ok? He's sitting here cleaning himself off now. The rest of the eye looks fine and it was a soft grass bit of hay, not a stalk.

Adding for my information later: it was the brown fur eye his left.

[Bugs Mom]

I'd probably just flush it at least once more today then see what it looked like in the morning. I'll bet you got it all out.

[rshevin]

Ugg, it's still a little red and weepy tonight. I rinsed well. I'm keeping a close eye. Poor Piggy. He was just sitting there like nothing was wrong! No pawing at the eye or anything. Weird animals.

[Bugs Mom]

Please give Piggy extra scritches from me : ) Tell him I said he's a good boy and I hope his eye clears up very soon.