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I think our elderly boar is dying

5 replies

twinguineapig · 11/04/2020 10:29

He's losing weight and has developed the constipation due to weak muscles that is common with boars.
He's still eating but not so much, of course a vet can't help at the moment,

OP posts:
70isaLimitNotaTarget · 11/04/2020 13:35

Ohhh [sad[ poor old boy .
They do lose condition quickly . Possibly it could be his teeth but as you say , Vets aren't an option at the moment .
Is he able to pick up food without dropping half and dribbling ? If so it might just be a waning appetite rather than a sharp tooth ( you can see the front ones easy enough but they keep the back teeth well hidden !)

Boars do get saggy arsed impaction ,. Have you done the warm bath , massage any pooh and a little bit of edible oil inside his rectum ? ( Be warned , they stink when you do this , it is unlike normal pig pooh Envy < not envy )

Chopped up food , grated if you need to . Treaty things like dandelion leaves .
If you need to syringe feed him , have you got Critical Care ? (Or soft mushy pellets in water will do in an emergency )

How old is your old piggie?
It is really hard to watch them decline . The only saving grace is that they (usually) go quite quick, but they do pick there moments !
Easter Weekend is not a good weekend in a normal year , let alone Covid 19 year !

twinguineapig · 11/04/2020 14:10

We've been doing the dandelion leaves and critical care food. As for his poo, my god it stinks. I put some perfume under my nose earlier! He hates baths so we're not doing that but he does tolerate us giving him a helping hand getting it out. He can eat the pellets normally and is happily munching away at things like apples and defending his own when the toddler pigs try to take it. We've got some pain killers left over from a previous time fortunately.

We're not sure of his age, he must be between 4-5. He's blind now, he was blind in one eye due to chlamydia before we got him and we think he's gone blind in his other eye now. We got him when he was already an adult.

Thanks 70, I knew you'd reply.

OP posts:
70isaLimitNotaTarget · 11/04/2020 15:46

He sounds like he's been through a load in his lifetime and it's testament to good piggie care that he's still rumbling on and tutting at the New Pigs on the Block.

I know GP2 was prone to pooh issues , though he was younger , but I gagged when I had to 'assist' .
And when our GP6 was ill (over New Year a couple of years back - see their sense of timing is so bad ) we had to keep bum dipping him to stop his poor skin getting sore . He kept recovering , but eventually got to the stage we had to say " the end".

The last few days caring an ill pig is tough. You feel like you're bothering them but you don't want to leave them.
It's the feeding every couple of hours in the middle of the night with a little rodent , trying to convince them that you're doing it for their own good ..

Have you got Vit C ? Some of that in their water helps . Our GP6 in his last day (when I honestly thought he'd die in his sleep) developed a weird sort of bunny hop rolling movement . He still wanted to move , unreasonable little animal. We were making soft fleece nests for him and food beside him.

I think by then he was Vit C depleted and onto signs of scurvy . !

I cuddled him for about eight hours , he peed on me once and my God it smelled !

Our vet suggested an infusion and painkillers but by then we knew we couldn't prolong him.

Keep eating twinpigOldBoar (I;m guessing the "twinpigs" are your little baby pigs that you were hand rearing IIRC)

twinguineapig · 11/04/2020 15:55

Yes, the twins were the hand reared babies. They're now 5 months old!
We're giving him a bit of satsuma peel and satsuma each day for vitamin c as he loves that. The twin GPs know something is wrong, they are going up to him and grooming him and the smallest one is sleeping next to him more than he would normally. It'll be interesting to see how they change when we only have the two of them as they aren't as close any more - they squabble a little but as soon as you take one out of the cage you'd think they were being tortured as the other shouts for them.

We were going to rehome them once they were the last two pigs but that's not going to happen now. We probably should have done it when they were 6-7 weeks old but kept them for our old pig as he was alone by that point.

They are absolutely the last pigs though - we've had 10 so far.

OP posts:
70isaLimitNotaTarget · 12/04/2020 12:01

They are absolutely the last pigs though Wellll you say that.......Wink

I knew my last three were my last (all the same age and they all went within 6 months) because I couldn't get into their rabbit run without dislocating something. And my DD is getting to University age so I couldn't rely on her being around to climb in)

How is the patient today ?

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