Injured Pig

[FernieB]

Poor Smoothpig is in the wars. Have no idea what happened, but he went off to bed as lively as ever on Saturday, however on Sunday morning he had injured his rear leg and was struggling to walk. He still had his enormous appetite so we monitored him closely yesterday and took him to the vet this morning. Luckily his leg is not broken but the poor soul is on anti-inflammatories. Anyone else have any experience of these injuries?

The vet said if there's no improvement by the end of the week he may have to be pts, so fingers crossed.

We've put him in isolation so he can't be hassled by Scruffypig but can still see him. Poor Current bun has been evicted so that Smoothpig can have his cage!

Oh poor SmoothPig.
Did the vet have a good old prod about at his poor little leg? Probably feeling for heat indicitive of strain or sprain and any sign of a trauma.

Might he have slipped and twisted his leg? -depending on how active they are. He might have had a barney with ScruffyPig anf tried to get away a bit too sharpish.

Many moons ago my first pig caught his foot in the cage door and pulled it shut on his foot. It was a bit swollen but he could still walk on it. We kept him quite with minimal movement until it healed.
Your boy won't enjoy being confined to barracks- he'll think he's missing out on all the action.

Do you give your guineas Vit C? Might be worth a supplement while he's recovering.

Is Current Bun homeless now, left with all his belongings in a red spotted hank tied to a stick over his shoulder................

As long as he's eating and drinking, it's a good sign. If it came on suddenly, it sounds like it must have been an injury - same as we humans get from sleeping wrongly, turning an ankle, that sort of thing. Did the vet xray to be sure it wasn't broken? Good vets should be able to do that without anaesthetic. As with humans, it's not possible to completely exclude a fracture without xray.

If it is a sprain or muscle strain, the anti-inflammatories should make a difference after several days, if at the right dose. If it's ligament or tendon damage, it could take longer to show significant improvement. So long as he's eating, drinking and pooing, and not in really bad pain (i.e. lots of squealing when moving, not interested in food or drink, quiet and withdrawn, etc.) I can't see why the vet would even contemplate pts. Maybe I've misunderstood, but that "if not better by the weekend" comment sounded really alarming. My nature is to be sceptical of vet advice, until they prove their "mettle" iyswim. Hope yours is a good 'un.

Although it came on suddenly, sometimes piggies develop rheumatoid conditions, just like people, which respond well to ongoing anti-inflammatories. So long as the quality of life is pretty good, it's worth hanging in there.

Thank you for the encouraging comments. Smoothpig did have an x-ray and there's no fracture. His knee is swollen and he's showing signs of arthritis . The vet says it's most likely to be ligament damage and should respond well to the anti-inflammatories. The pts comment was simply because I have a very honest and straight forward vet who always puts the animal first - he was merely thinking about the quality of life for a pig who can't move much.

On a positive note, Smoothpig seems to be responding well. He's been resting mainly but is quite alert and is still excited over food. We had him out yesterday in Current Bun's basket so he could watch Scruffy playing and they had a cuddle and then a minor row which we had to break up. He's taking his meds well complete with parsley bribes and I'm hoping the vet will be pleased with his progress when he sees him tomorrow.

70 - the pigs do have Vit C, but I've upped this slightly for Smooth at the moment and he's getting extra Vit C veg as well. Current Bun was not happy when he saw me moving Smooth into his cage, but when he saw he was getting the pigs playpen he did huge binkies of delight as it's much bigger. He will not want to move back home. Last night he spent a good deal of time doing 'upside down bunny' which is one of the highest levels of bunny contentment .

Keeping fingers crossed for Smoothpig to make full recovery.

Just off to give him his meds. Scruffy has been wheeking at him through the bars of their cages - don't think what he said was complimentary.

Please keep fingers/toes/paws/claws/parsley crossed that vet sees an improvement tomorrow.

Vet was pleased with his progress and he's back home munching yet more parsley. His appetite has not diminished but as he's not moving about very much I don't want him to put weight on as this could make his legs worse. Any tips for keeping his weight down? I've limited his nuggets, but don't want to cut him down too much.

Good he's making progress. I could never pressume to give piggie weight loss advice. Have you you seen Fatimus huge round bum on my profile .

Good to know he's doing well Fernie.

No advice on the weight though.
I suppose unlimited hay, pellets and select veg.
If I'm trying to get weight ON GP2 I give him beetroot, sweetcorn, fruit- banana, apple, melon , parsnip (natural bulky high sugar).
So I'd avoid those for weight loss.

GP1 tells me that parsley is a negitive equity veg (it uses more calories to digest than it contains) - so he should way less than a hamster if that was the case . Cucumber, celery are too.

Dandelions leaves? Good diuretic (the ones in our garden are tiny and sweet , but right in amongst the blardy nettles -ouch),

Thanks 70 - Scruffypig is also a follower of the parsley diet. We don't have any dandelions in our garden - previous owners must have really taken care of their lawn . I'm trying to cultivate some and planted some seeds last year - hopefully I should have a patch soon.

Smoothpig is still okay and starting to put a huge little weight on his foot now. I put him in with Scruffypig for a bit this morning to play and Scruffypig declared war. Smoothpig was all for retaliating but was restrained by my DD. I'm now a bit concerned that I'll never get them back together. Who's head of the piggie UN?

Fernie did your boys have an unsettled phase ( aka bratty boar behaviour) when they came back from holiday?
(I know there was a pig-pair that did )

If it was, what was did you try then. I know the injury makes it more difficult because you don't want Smoothpig to exhert himself.

No - mine were happy and relaxed after their holiday. They did go through the terrible teens but we just left them together and let them get on with it. They are separate at the moment so that Scruffy doesn't hurt Smooth whilst he's recovering - it's the first time they've been separated. I think when they go back together we'll do it slowly for short periods and hope for the best. We'll probably have to put up with a few scraps until they settle. Current Bun is hoping they never go back as he's loving the new set up.

Glad to hear he's making progress. Keep up the high vitamin c veg and hang on in there!