Rosie is Limping

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Trick

Post   » Wed Jun 20, 2007 10:00 am


I hope it's okay to start a new thread for Rosie, the last one was months ago and concerned a slightly sprained leg rather than a medical condition.

Rosie is my 1 year old dominant sow. She lives with another 1 year old sow Gracie and two younger sows that are four months younger.

Rosie went into heat last week as normal and it seemed to be dragging on. At first I thought this was just the other pigs that were in heat maybe having an effect and was advised to wait and see if it lasted for more than week. Only in the first couple of days was she mounting the other three sows she lives with but every day so far she has been sexually agressive with rumbling and waving her bum in the faces of the rest. She has also been very snappy and grumpy whereas usually she is quite a tolerant pig. She is also the dominant pig and is never challenged on that matter.

Since the 5th of June she has lost 1.8oz which was her first weight loss since February. Up until the 5th her weight had been increasing slowly with her weight before the loss being 2lb 14.9oz (1329g). She is a big girl who has always been pear shaped and isn't as active as the other three girls (one who is the same age) but has never really been lethargic either. But this week she has been hiding away from the other pigs and living mostly in her log cabin which she refuses to share with anyone, not even Gracie who is her best bud who she used to snuggle with often. The other girls also seem to be avoiding her. She does not seem to be eating less - at first she was more fussy with her vegetables, a couple of times she wouldn't eat any until she had been cuddled by my partner who is her favourite human in the world. Now though she is eating veggies and hay fine though I haven't seen her eat pellets now I come to think of it.

She has no other signs listed on the page about ovarian cysts, her nipples are not crusty and seem to be the same length as before (though hard to tell), she has lost no fur and with her being pear shaped it's hard to tell if the weight distribution has changed.

This is perhaps the 8th or 9th day of her "heat" and she is still just as rumbly. We took her to the vets last night. The vet gave her a good check over and asked me all the questions I'd asked myself. She made a bit of noise when the vet checked the area around her tummy, nearer her back legs and seemed uncomfortable. The vet suggested an x-ray and I suggested an ultrasound. She said the problem with ultrasounds was that gas (I think?) could get in the way during the scan and hide problems so she said they'd do an ultrasound first and an x-ray after if needed with a mild sedative. She said if it was cysts then there is the injectable treatment which can shrink them but they may resurface and neutering. I'd read about the other treatments here on GL and it seems spaying is the way forward if that is the case.

She will be going back in on Friday morning for all this. Is the mild sedative needed for x-ray harmful at all? And would it be beneficial to separate Rosie with grids from the other girls at the moment to better monitor her food intake? Also, Rosie and Gracie were bought from a pet shop (my first pigs) and so could be related - would it be sensible and would it cost any more to have Gracie have an ultrasound and/or x-ray as well?

I am also worried after reading the thread here entitled hooing / hooting piggie (video) ... as Rosie makes the "hooing noise" heard in the videos not when she eats but when she is out for laptime. This is the only time she makes the noise and she will not tolerate being belly up at all while her breathing and ability to run away from being picked up is fine. Will the x-ray that is checking for cysts also show her heart and is this something I should mention beforehand so they can check it at the same time? Also, is the fact she only makes this noise at laptime at all significant?

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Mum
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Post   » Wed Jun 20, 2007 10:05 am


as Rosie makes the "hooing noise" heard in the videos not when she eats but when she is out for laptime
Heart pig.

She shouldn't have to be sedated for an xray - and I wouldn't do this if there's a possibility she's a heart pig without having her on heart meds.

Get an xray first to see if there's an enlarged heart. If she does, treat that first. You can also get an ultrasound, if anybody can interpret this. If she has cysts she can be spayed at this age, but she must be on heart meds first if she needs them.

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PooksiedAnimals
Supporting my GL Habit

Post   » Wed Jun 20, 2007 10:11 am


Cysts on my pig never showed up in xrays. I think you'd have to have a very gassy pig to interfere with an ultrasound. I don't like getting my pig sedated for xrays, and have never had any of my girls sedated. Usually, if you argue against it, they will xray without sedation - it just means more pig wrassling and dealing with outrage and screaming from the pig.

I had girls that were half-sisters. One was very cystic, the other was not. My opinion, I wouldn't put Gracie through the tests unless you suspect she's cystic (but that's just my opinion).

I've had some pigs get nasally depending on their surroundings. One would get it every time I cleaned the cage, and I finally realized it was the dusty bedding that was effecting her. It may be something in what you're holding her in, or what you're wearing (perfume?).

I've never had ultrasound tried for heart issues. Xray is usually used to determine that, but as many on this board will tell you, xrays will often look fine for a pig that does have heart issues.

Good luck with her!

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Trick

Post   » Wed Jun 20, 2007 10:22 am


Thanks very much - I'll argue against sedation in that case and I'll make sure they know to focus on her heart as well as looking for cysts. I did wonder about the gas issue, perhaps that is for pigs on a not so good diet with more gassy foods? I'll make sure they do both though and concentrate on her heart with the xray.

She makes the hooting noise as well as higher pitched talking noises whenever she is settled on anyones lap but I'll try maybe sitting her in her cosy on us and see if that helps any too.

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Mum
I GAVE, dammit!

Post   » Wed Jun 20, 2007 10:49 am


Heart pigs are usually extremely gassy - they swallow a lot of air.

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Trick

Post   » Wed Jun 20, 2007 3:50 pm


Her weight this evening is 2lb 12oz - that's a loss of 2.9oz in 15 days.

She was just eating her veggies and then had some hay but obviously you don't lose that kind of weight in that kind of time frame normally.

Should I start hand feeding her a little or wait and see how her weight is tomorrow? I'm sorry if I'm being overly paranoid or not using common sense - this is the first time one of my girls has been poorly and I'm just determined to do everything I can right.

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Mum
I GAVE, dammit!

Post   » Wed Jun 20, 2007 4:08 pm


A loss of 3 ounces is a cause for concern. Yes I'd start handfeeding.

When she sees the vet get everything checked: full body xray to check for stones, bones, heart, etc., and get her teeth thoroughly checked too.

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PooksiedAnimals
Supporting my GL Habit

Post   » Wed Jun 20, 2007 4:10 pm


Can't hurt to hand feed, especially if she takes it readily. Its usually my not-quite-feeling-well pigs that will suck down the Critical Care fastest.

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Trick

Post   » Wed Jun 20, 2007 5:38 pm


Thanks - we're still trying at the moment with both Critical Care and pellet mash. Trouble is I only have a 5cc syringe rather than 1cc, and together with an indignant and uncooperative piggie things are not going well.

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Trick

Post   » Wed Jun 20, 2007 6:07 pm


Ah, success! As soon as we got our technique right and finally got some in her she decided she loved it and kept grabbing the syringe for more.

Phew, hand feeding is harder than it looks though for sure.

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PooksiedAnimals
Supporting my GL Habit

Post   » Wed Jun 20, 2007 8:33 pm


Huzzah! It is so much easier when they decide to go with it.

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Trick

Post   » Fri Jun 22, 2007 4:31 pm


She had both an ultrasound and x-rays which showed no signs of cysts at all. The vet did close ups of her heart and lungs and everything was normal there too. Basically, everything looks fine. The vet took a blood sample and asked if we wanted it sent off for analysis which of course we did. The vet seems pretty cavy savvy to me and she talked us through the x-rays too.

We're back now with Baytril and Metacam for her to begin tomorrow (I'll get the doses and post them here to check). She was sedated for her x-ray as the vet couldn't get her calm or still enough without it.

She was coming around at 6:30 which is when we initially went to pick her up - it's now 9:30 and she still isn't moving around at all by herself though she did half run into her house to begin with. She's refusing hay and veggies - we did manage to get around 2-3cc of Critical Care in but it's hard as she's not chewing much at all. I think she's peed once (a tiny amount), no poos that I can see at all though my partner thinks she did once before we split her into her own bit of the pen to monitor.

When should she stop being drowsy? How much critical care should I be trying to get into her? Is there anything I'm missing at all? It's horrible seeing her so, well, lifeless looking :/

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