Herbie began pooping yesterday and this morning there were many regular size and looking poops. I have started him on a bit of wet food which he eats as he has lost another 70g. I think the exercise used up more calories than a sick pig usually uses up.
So we are going to try and do much larger feeds, need to get about 60ml into him each day and add wet food and see how we go.
I gave him about 5mg of Baytril yesterday evening crushed in fluid but as of this morning, think it is better to give the tablets cut to size with some non-sharp tweezers. I managed to place the tab at the back of his throat and he began chewing. I then followed up with some mush so hopefully it went down.
His eyes looked very crusty, and his nose much more so. I clean them up when needed and am now hoping the antibiotics do their job soon.
So motility sorted for now just need to get him eating on his own and this infection out of the way. He's a great piggy for having got this far!
Heat Stroke victim
I was holding my breath reading this! glad to hear he's pooping again & hoping the URI will go soon. Go Herbie!
Don't want to tempt fate but this afternoon this are looking OK.
His weight loss has been in freefall whilst all we had was my homemade mush but his demeanor has improved since the first day of antibiotics and with the pooping.
In addition to the weight loss he had started to be shivery which was worrying but this faded as I fed him 10ml of Critical Care. I LOVE that stuff. Also, he gained in grammes the same amount I gave him in millileters so we just have to get more in him than he uses in a day.
After the Critical Care feed I popped him out to see his girls for 2 minutes and he was running around their pen (with the obvious stops to catch his breath - he is in a weakened state). If he seems the same after the next feed and it is cooler then I will let him have a no touching (don't want the bacterial infection getting passed on) longer visit.
Side effects of Dimeticone/Simethicone.....
One thing my husband and I noticed when we were trying to figure out how he was losing such a lot of weight (we are used to seeing 30-40g per day but he has been dropping up to 60g) was that the dimeticone I had been giving him does have Sorbitol in it which is a laxative. Obviously he needed something to help him with the chronic wind he was suffering but I think I have over-done the amount and I fear that this may be blocking his uptake of what nutrients we were giving him. He has produced an enormous number of poops. So I have stopped it and am now hoping that we can just keep things moving with regular feeds of a high fiber diet and much less greens. I would be interested if anyone else has had similar experiences.
So hoping fate has not been tempted and Herbie continues to power on through like the trooper he is.
His weight loss has been in freefall whilst all we had was my homemade mush but his demeanor has improved since the first day of antibiotics and with the pooping.
In addition to the weight loss he had started to be shivery which was worrying but this faded as I fed him 10ml of Critical Care. I LOVE that stuff. Also, he gained in grammes the same amount I gave him in millileters so we just have to get more in him than he uses in a day.
After the Critical Care feed I popped him out to see his girls for 2 minutes and he was running around their pen (with the obvious stops to catch his breath - he is in a weakened state). If he seems the same after the next feed and it is cooler then I will let him have a no touching (don't want the bacterial infection getting passed on) longer visit.
Side effects of Dimeticone/Simethicone.....
One thing my husband and I noticed when we were trying to figure out how he was losing such a lot of weight (we are used to seeing 30-40g per day but he has been dropping up to 60g) was that the dimeticone I had been giving him does have Sorbitol in it which is a laxative. Obviously he needed something to help him with the chronic wind he was suffering but I think I have over-done the amount and I fear that this may be blocking his uptake of what nutrients we were giving him. He has produced an enormous number of poops. So I have stopped it and am now hoping that we can just keep things moving with regular feeds of a high fiber diet and much less greens. I would be interested if anyone else has had similar experiences.
So hoping fate has not been tempted and Herbie continues to power on through like the trooper he is.
I do not get it. When I finished feeding him 2 hours ago he was 1kg and now at 8pm he is 974g. It is like he is absorbing nothing or expending it all and more! We will not be able to keep him alive at this rate. Really hoping that 10+ml of Critical Care every two hours starts to have an effect... he was 1130g on 5th so that is a total loss of 154g in 2-3 days, incredible....
Yep, we will. But after his last feed last night 11:30pm he was 1kg with all the food/water. This morning, he was 960g..... it is scary.
Other than weight loss he seems to be doing really well on antibiotics. Nose and eyes seems much drier. Will keep him on them until Sun.day, this means he may weigh less than 800g. Is that OK?
He ate some lettuce on his own and when he went out for his visit with the girls yesterday evening he ate grass on his own but was too tired to eat a lot.
I will let him have another visit this morning to see if it perks him up a bit. He is definatley showing signs of boredom....still would rather that than lethargy and illness!
Other than weight loss he seems to be doing really well on antibiotics. Nose and eyes seems much drier. Will keep him on them until Sun.day, this means he may weigh less than 800g. Is that OK?
He ate some lettuce on his own and when he went out for his visit with the girls yesterday evening he ate grass on his own but was too tired to eat a lot.
I will let him have another visit this morning to see if it perks him up a bit. He is definatley showing signs of boredom....still would rather that than lethargy and illness!
I would also be concerned about the weight loss despite hand feeding. You may be right in your theory about malabsorption, although I have never noticed simethicone having this effect.
There could be an imbalance in his gut flora which might be helped by probiotic. I couldn't tell which probiotic you were using. There are a lot of these on the market nowadays, if you can't get your hands on one for veterinary use then there are some available in powder and liquid form in health food stores.
Sometimes malabsorption can be caused by parasites (not likely) or organ malfunction (ie. the liver or pancreas).
My suggestion would be to hand feed every 4-5 hours, give plenty of probiotics and fluids, and add some B vitamins to the mash.
I know this sounds gross, but can you break open one of his poops and tell us what color is inside compared to your other pigs'?
There could be an imbalance in his gut flora which might be helped by probiotic. I couldn't tell which probiotic you were using. There are a lot of these on the market nowadays, if you can't get your hands on one for veterinary use then there are some available in powder and liquid form in health food stores.
Sometimes malabsorption can be caused by parasites (not likely) or organ malfunction (ie. the liver or pancreas).
My suggestion would be to hand feed every 4-5 hours, give plenty of probiotics and fluids, and add some B vitamins to the mash.
I know this sounds gross, but can you break open one of his poops and tell us what color is inside compared to your other pigs'?
I had a look and apart from a small size difference - his are smaller - the internal colour, texture are the same.
I am not giving a probiotic as I have been mashing up the other piggies fresh poops into each batch of feed - I use about 6 for each day of food.
We do not have any vitimin B - what should I ask for at the pharmacy - just straight Vitimin B?
Thank for the help.
He has lost 6g of the 22g he gained after his feed in 1 hour.
I am not giving a probiotic as I have been mashing up the other piggies fresh poops into each batch of feed - I use about 6 for each day of food.
We do not have any vitimin B - what should I ask for at the pharmacy - just straight Vitimin B?
Thank for the help.
He has lost 6g of the 22g he gained after his feed in 1 hour.
I have some lactobacillus fermentum et LB delbrueckii in sachet form that is for humans/women.
It also contains other things such as meat based peptone and yeast extract, B12, sodium hydroxid and lactoserum.
This is why I have not used it though the pharmastist offered it when I asked for acidofolus.
Would you say it was OK? I could try another pharmacy. It is oddly difficult to find this sort of thing in France.
It also contains other things such as meat based peptone and yeast extract, B12, sodium hydroxid and lactoserum.
This is why I have not used it though the pharmastist offered it when I asked for acidofolus.
Would you say it was OK? I could try another pharmacy. It is oddly difficult to find this sort of thing in France.
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