Could there BE a more difficult pig...

[Erin8607]

Clyde the difficult-



PG- what's wrong with him?

[Pinny Gig]

Pneumonia. He's still got a lot of fight in him, though, as you can tell from his messy mouth. Actually, this picture doesn't show him at his worst. He usually looks like he went bobbing for apples in Baytril.

[Wheek Times 3]

Paravati, can I tell you that I love you?

Doc is one of the most difficult pigs to give medicine to. Unfortunately, I've never had to give him medicine until his neuter which makes it so much harder as I'm so afraid of hurting him or opening his incision.

Well, I saw this thread earlier and the pictures were so helpful, that I tried it myself. It ended with a very pissed off piggy who had taken his antibiotic in 5 minutes! With your method, it really does make the mouth open...and then in went the meds. He never saw it coming.

I'm going to go do the happy dance now. :)

[Wheek Times 3]

Heh, I just gave doc his antibiotic before I leave for work. It took a total of 1 minute! I can't believe it.

I love this forum!!

[Lynx]

Reference thread for Paravati's method:
http://www.guinealynx.info/forums/viewtopic.php?p=255221#255221

[hammer]

Tada! Thanks, Para. That's exactly what I was trying to describe (apparently ineffectually). I call it the "baseball head" method. Now I can just refer people here when I try to describe it and fail.

[MommyofGus]

haha, Gus always winds up with a nice pink mustache as well.

[Evangeline]

I do it in a similar way. I put the pig on a towel, on the counter, with his butt towards me.. I then lean over him and pin him down with my chest and belly. I use my left hand to grab his face, just like Para showed, and use my right hand to shove in the meds. I do it the same way to handfeed pigs who won't cooperate.

[Paravati]

Heh, thanks guys. I posted that sort of trying to be funny but I am glad it helped some of you, and hope it will help others in the future.

We've had some really difficult people (yes, they're people to us, not just pigs) here to try and give meds or handfeed. I discovered the nose pinching thing when we had to flush Rosie's chin abscess all the time. He hated having his abscess flushed and I hated getting gooky smelly abscess gunk all over me. So I came up with that.. Do the pinch, lift that head up, make sure their butt is safely tucked into your elbow so they can't back up, and you can pretty much do anything with the pig.

The pig in the pictures is our Lilo, the Diva Sow. She is so cool she lets you do just about anything - Stick your fingers in her mouth, yank on her lips, whatever. She just looks at you like, "Okay, stupid.. I'll take a carrot whenever you're ready." So she really is a great med taker - But I knew she'd sit still for the photos. :)

[samtesla]

When I glanced at Para's pictures for a second I thought the nostrils were the eyes. The piggie takes quite an apocalyptic feline look to it...

We have never had trouble with meds, but this may be because we give the Oxbow vitamin C crushed with cranberry juice, so it is a treat to them. The pigs are used to a syringe and it usually means good news. We even tried feeding Critical Care of even water and they fight over the syringe.

[Margi]

I agree about the syringe -- I give liquid C by syringe every day too in the hope that it'll make it easy if I ever have to give meds or CC that way to these guys. Caramel just opens up and takes it wherever she is in the cage. Buddy runs away, but as soon as I pick him up he takes it right away also (weird piggy!). Buddy took a few days to reach that point; Cara took it from the first try onward.

[samtesla]

If you have a Fillmore East pig (let's see who gets the reference) that is a biter, make sure the syringe tip does not wear off. Sally has managed to bite off TWO tips so far, and thankfully both times we dropped the broken tip before she could chew it in.

[salana]

They can smell what's in the syringe, you know. Einstein is the most syringe-loving pig in the universe, and will tug on his food syringe and demand a constant supply of pellet mash, but if you try to give him ivermectin or that chlorhexidine mouthwash he had, he squirms and struggles and tries his very hardest to escape.

[Paravati]

Yeah, covering the eyes sort of works best because some pigs will try to flee at the very SIGHT of a syringe - no matter what's in it. We have only known one pig here who actually fights when you try to cover her head. I have to give her subcues, meds, whatever with her head and body completely unrestrained or else she just flips out. But most pigs relax as soon as you cover their head and eyes. If not TOTAL relaxation, at least they can't fight what's coming.

[MommyofGus]

Well, I tried the Para method last night. It worked for about 10 seconds - but not long enough to get it ALL in.

The little bugger actually wouldn't open his mouth! Normally he throws his head from side to side and screams bloody murder. Last night he sat there and just wouldn't open!

[Pinny Gig]

You didn't let him read this thread, did you?

[MommyofGus]

He may have snuck on and read it...my password is saved....

[Pinny Gig]

Check your keyboard for tiny pawprints--then you'll know.

[Wheek Times 3]

Well, Doc also has become aware of the new method. He squeals like I'm shoving tiny toothpicks in his eyes. He screamed so loud this morning that my other piggies started freaking out.

But I got the antibiotic in anyway! Silly piggy!

[Evangeline]

He can scream all he wants. Grab his head firmly and hold on tight. Pin him down if he wiggles too much.

God, I wouldn't like to see you shove a cup of Ivermectin down the throat of a 1900lb horse!