Older sow losing weight

Post Reply
User avatar
Mum
I GAVE, dammit!

Post   » Mon Oct 03, 2005 3:56 pm


My older sow, Goldie, has been steadily losing weight since August 28 (when I started weighing her). She's now lost 5oz, and is down to 2lb 9.5oz. She'll be 4 around the beginning of 2006.

I do have an appointment to have her checked out, but is there any chance that her weightloss is due to any of these factors:

On Aug28 she moved into a new, big C&C
Pellets were changed around that time from junk food to KM/Oxbow
2 weeks later Snuggles moved in with her. Snuggles is about 6 months old, and they tolerate each other.

At the end of August I had her checked by a nonexotics vet for possible mites (she was shedding badly and had black dandruff). He said she looked fine and healthy and he saw no evidence of mites. I treated her after that with 3 weekly doses of topical ivermectin. The shedding and dandruff decreased.

Her appetite seems fine (loves her veggies), but I don't see her eating as much hay as she used to (timothy). She's always been a big water drinker (still is), but she spends a lot of time in her pigloo. If I take her outside onto the lawn, she eats grass but doesn't move around.

From the links I've found on GL I'm thinking she needs to be checked for teeth problems, diabetes, heart issues, ovarian cysts, kidney function? Is there anything else I could watch for to try and rule any of these out before her vet visit on Wednesday>

User avatar
RavenShade
Thanks for the Memories

Post   » Mon Oct 03, 2005 4:15 pm


I think you have a good list.

Definately get her teeth checked. That seems to be my Steve's problem. Does she make faces while eating or seem to struggle eating certain foods? Does she eat pellets or do they fall out of her mouth? Try feeding her various things by herself. Watch how she eats, especially things like hay and carrots.

Read Pinta's threads on teeth and heart for more info on those. I think Lynx's Snowflake had ovarian cysts, which are often accompanied by moody behavior and hairloss.

If a pig isn't eating right, it can develop scurvy, too. I'd make sure she's getting enough vitamin C.

2lbs 9 oz is still a good size for a pig. It may just be the factors you mentioned, but it doesn't hurt to get it checked out. Five ounces significant.

pinta

Post   » Mon Oct 03, 2005 4:59 pm


What breed is she?

User avatar
Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Mon Oct 03, 2005 5:22 pm


My bet is on ovarian cysts. Good luck!!

User avatar
Mum
I GAVE, dammit!

Post   » Mon Oct 03, 2005 5:36 pm


Pinta, I think she's an agouti. In this picture, my daughter must have fluffed up her coat:

http://photobucket.com/albums/b310/a101 ... 881751.jpg

User avatar
Mum
I GAVE, dammit!

Post   » Wed Oct 05, 2005 11:49 pm


Goldie had her visit to the vet today. Of course, this morning she'd gained back 3 of the 5 ounces she's lost - figures! But I took her anyway.

The vet took a urine specimen, and said it was extremely diluted. Results tomorrow. He also gave her a whiff of gas and checked her teeth and drew blood. He said her molars were fine, but her front teeth were uneven. He wanted to clip the teeth short, but said that wasn't causing her a problem. I didn't think we should do the teeth at this stage. He said when she was coming round he tapped her molars, and that if there had been a problem she would have expressed pain, which she didn't.

The vet is inclined to think it's related to her kidneys, since she drinks so much water. His test strip ruled out diabetes, and he thought that ovarian cysts would present with a bilateral hair loss. Tomorrow we'll have the results of the blood test and take it from there.

User avatar
Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Wed Oct 05, 2005 11:54 pm


Don't ever let your vet c lip those front teeth short!! It makes it sooo hard for p igs to properly eat.

User avatar
Mum
I GAVE, dammit!

Post   » Thu Oct 06, 2005 12:00 am


Lynx, you should have seen me in the vets' office. While Goldie was under, I was madly trying to pull up this site on my cell phone to assure myself that I was right about not clipping those front teeth!! And I discovered that GL is just not Smartphone friendly!!

Her teeth are jagged at the front. Should they be filed until they're even at the bottom? Or just leave it altogether.

pinta

Post   » Thu Oct 06, 2005 6:30 am


Leave the teeth.

You don't always see hair loss with ovarian cysts.

Cushings and hyperthyroidism go with excessive drinking.

User avatar
Mum
I GAVE, dammit!

Post   » Thu Oct 06, 2005 1:36 pm


Thanks Pinta - yes, the vet did mention Cushings. She seems a little too quiet for hyperthyroidism. I asked about ovarian cysts, and the vet said the blood panel would show excessive estrogen if this was the case.

Results of full blood panel are due today, so I'll update then.

User avatar
Mum
I GAVE, dammit!

Post   » Thu Oct 06, 2005 4:12 pm


The results of the blood panel are in: I'll just list the values that were flagged:
ALT (SGPT) 37 H
AST (SGOT) 46 H
HCT 40.4 H
Neutrophil seg 21% L
Lymphocytes 73% H

What the vet found slightly unusual was that her urine sample was so dilute it was almost like distilled water, yet the tests showed her to be slightly dehydrated. Also, when he spun out the urine sample, there was a slightly elevated protein level in the sediment.

He didn't think the results were really significant, but said it's possible Goldie's in the very early stages of kidney failure. He's going to consult with someone else about the results, but thinks there probably isn't much more to be done at the moment.

User avatar
Mum
I GAVE, dammit!

Post   » Fri Oct 07, 2005 9:49 am


Can anyone comment on these figures?

Post Reply