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Post by purplepaws121 on Feb 25, 2012 14:20:26 GMT
I rescued Turbo a year ago from a shelter, where he had been living for a year. We're unsure of his age when he was dropped off there. So, he's at least two but probably older than that.
He has been very healthy until sometime yesterday. I did notice that it seemed he had lost some weight, but he's also always seemed a bit overweight so I didn't think much of it.
Yesterday I noticed he is staying low, breathing fast and making kind of a clicky sound with each breath. Also it seems he's puffing his fur out around his face. He is still eating, interested in food and hay and up until late last night he was drinking well.
I have not changed bedding, or food. All the pigs eat Oxbow Cavy Cuisine, oxbow timothy hay and get veggies.
He has no discharge around eyes or nose.
I see no bloody urine on the bedding or fleece, but have also not been able to actually catch him in the act of urinating.
Please help with any advice! The only vet in my area that sees exotics isn't in on Saturdays.
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Post by twistedsymphony on Feb 25, 2012 14:51:05 GMT
Poor piggy, could be the beginning of a URI, you seem to know what to look out for so it couldn't be too far along. The pricking his fur up thing is normally a sign of being uncomfortable or in pain, but my pigs also do that when they are sleepy.
If it was me, and he was eating and drinking and running as normal then I would wait till Monday, but keep a close eye on them. If he seemed sluggish and uninterested in food and raspy then I would pay the extra for an out of hours appointment (which most vets do if you are worried).
that's just my opinion of course, I think most people would say take him to an out of hours app straight away as there is a chance of a URI because of the breathing. good luck xx
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Post by Kayleigh on Feb 25, 2012 19:37:16 GMT
The puffing out of the hair is usually a sign he is in pain. Is he hunching himself up at all? Weight loss in pigs isnt great, especially if you notice it rapidly.
Could be URI or maybe a hidden illness. A vet check is a must if you cant see or feel anything abnormal.
Kayleigh
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Post by purplepaws121 on Feb 26, 2012 2:13:06 GMT
just got back from the vet. Turbo has a URI, lungs sounded really bad with lots of fluid build up. He got a shot of Lasix (ouch!) for the fluid and liquid baytril.
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Post by Alice Rose on Feb 26, 2012 10:33:40 GMT
I hope everything goes okay for you guys =(
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Post by oliversmommy on Feb 26, 2012 13:53:14 GMT
Hope everything turn out okay
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Post by purplepaws121 on Feb 26, 2012 15:10:40 GMT
Turbo's cage mate, Beast, weighs almost a whole pound more than him. yikes.
Turbo is still eating and drinking but not nearly like he should be. I just gave all the pigs a big yummy veggie breakfast and he was interested, but eating slowly.
Today he's coughing and sneezing a bit.
Any advice on dosing the Baytril with the syringe? The stuff smells like alcohol, yuck! I hope i'm getting it all in his mouth but he's a wiggle worm...
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Post by twistedsymphony on Feb 26, 2012 17:28:15 GMT
my vet told me that I could mix it with a little ribena, but to be honest it didn't help all that much. We just had to get one holding and one squirting. It's difficult and takes ages and is stressful but I don't think there is an easy way.
I have heard some people towel wrap the guinea pig so they can't riggle, but I couldn't get that to work either!
It got easier when freya started biting the syringe in frustration lol
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Post by Orlaith on Feb 27, 2012 11:50:32 GMT
If you can get one person to hold the pig on their chest and hold their head still, and then you can do the syringing, it's much easier. My partner and I always do it that way as it can be tough when they're wriggling.
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Post by purplepaws121 on Feb 27, 2012 12:42:54 GMT
thanks for the help all!
Turbo got his second dose of Baytril last night, but still seems the same, no improvement. How long does it usually take?
Also, i'm worried about him not eating. Yesterday he ate two leaves of romaine lettuce (one in am, one in pm), half a grape, a square of red pepper and square of green pepper and possibly a little bit of hay. I can't tell that he ate any pellets, but I don't think he did as the bowl in their cage isn't going empty like it normally does. Was that enough food intake for him yesterday?
As of this morning, he's got little interest in the veggies I gave him. Is it time to start force feeding with a syringe?
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Post by Orlaith on Feb 27, 2012 13:56:22 GMT
According to Guinea Lynx, you need to start syringing after 6-12 hours of your pig being uninterested in food. It gives some tips on how to do it, a recipe for mashing your pellets up to give them, and it also recommends weighing your pig twice a day to see if he is losing weight. |
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Post by twistedsymphony on Feb 27, 2012 14:16:03 GMT
Freya didn't stop sneezing and coughing until the near the end of the weeks course, she didn't stop eating though. Just keep trying all veg you can think of, hay, could try making a pellet paste and seeing if he will lick that off your fingers.
I wish you the best of luck xx
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Post by purplepaws121 on Feb 27, 2012 22:57:46 GMT
Turbo will not eat, not even with the syringe feeding. I've mixed it up any way I know how, but when I am able to get it in his mouth, he spits it all back out. He won't chew. I tried to be a bit forceful, but not too much and he still wouldn't take the food.
I know the meds will decrease his appetite but I just wish he'd eat something, anything.
i'm afraid this might mean it's his time. I'm devastated.
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Post by purplepaws121 on Feb 29, 2012 3:12:35 GMT
my sweet Turbo passed away tonight.  |
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chaoswolf
Special Piggy
Merry Christmas!
Posts: 370
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Post by chaoswolf on Feb 29, 2012 4:24:11 GMT
im sorry for you loss *huggles*
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Post by Orlaith on Feb 29, 2012 11:00:55 GMT
I'm so sorry to hear about that |
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Post by sugar10381 on Feb 29, 2012 17:46:32 GMT
Sorry for your loss. Poor little pig. RIP
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Post by madmommy on Feb 29, 2012 20:17:23 GMT
Oh, I am so sorry to hear that! Bless you for all you did for him!
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Post by purplepaws121 on Feb 29, 2012 23:40:39 GMT
Turbo's cage mate seems to be okay so far, but i'm on the lookout to make sure he didn't catch the URI. I will just freak if he gets it. I wish it were like dogs or cats, and I could just start giving the antibiotic as a preventative - but I know the antibiotic isn't good for the piggies unless they have to have it. The Dr gave me extra but I won't give it until I see a for sure sign that he caught the URI too.
I have a loner boar that i'm thinking I could put with him and make them cage mates, but want to wait a few days at least. Any thoughts and advice?
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Post by madmommy on Mar 1, 2012 1:33:00 GMT
How old is the boar?
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Post by purplepaws121 on Mar 1, 2012 2:01:43 GMT
Beast is just over a year old, but i'm unsure of Farrah's age (yes, Farrah is a boy. All this time (a few months), until just the other week, I thought he was a girl but I haven't thought of a new name yet!)
I rescued Farrah so no idea on age.
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Post by madmommy on Mar 1, 2012 3:08:22 GMT
I've heard the best matches are two young ones of the same age (or litter mates), or an older boar with a younger boar.
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Post by purplepaws121 on Mar 3, 2012 12:48:43 GMT
Any input and help is appreciated. I've re-arranged some things here with cage mates and hope i've done the right thing!
Ok, so Beast did not seem depressed from losing Turbo, i'm sure he was grieving in his own way, but he appeared to be doing fine, even trying to seek attention from the others thru the cage bars.
The two teenagers (who are and have always been HUGE brats) have been caged together since I got them from the pet store (learned my lesson from that!) in December. They've never really gotten along even though they've been cage mates more than likely since birth or close to it (they might even be siblings, I really don't know). There's been no blood drawn but there is CONSTANT teeth chattering and bullying. One is always cornered and being chased.
I decided to try to give Beast a new cage mate and also try the teenagers out with different cage mates. I did introductions with all four pigs in a neutral area in the playpen for two days in a row. Even in the playpen, the youngsters picked on each other and actually fought then, standing on back legs and pulling hair. Those two were also trying to hump EVERYONE. Constant mounting. But the two older boars seemed to just ignore them for the most part.
I know i've heard the best matches are an older and younger boar, so I thought maybe I would put one of the youngsters with Beast, and one with the other boar (Farrah, the one we've thought was a girl for so long).
So far everyone is doing a lot of mounting, chasing and some teeth chattering. I've not seen any biting or hair pulling and haven't heard any squeals. Everyone ate their breakfast like normal this morning and I will weigh them all daily to check for weight loss. Farrah and Slash seem to be getting on a bit better than Beast and Izzy, there is just some more teeth chattering from Beast and Izzy moreso than the other two.
Have I done things mostly correctly? I know every situation is a bit different.
One question I had is would it help ease the transitions to continue putting all four boars in the playpen once a day for floor time? Or should I only put the new pairs together for floor time?
I also decided it was time to remove babies from mom as they are almost 4 weeks old. I placed them in their own cage last night. There were a lot of wheeks from mom and babies!
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Post by Orlaith on Mar 15, 2012 10:15:49 GMT
It sounds like you did the right thing. When boars hit their "teenage" phase they can get very hormonal and fight a lot, even when they always got on well beforehand. Even being littermates is no guarantee that they'll get along; it very much depends on their personalities.
I wouldn't put the four in the playpen anymore, I would just do it in pairs. That way they will settle down quicker and not feel they need to be dominant with more pigs.
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Post by purplepaws121 on Mar 20, 2012 14:27:23 GMT
just posted updates to my introduction thread - "the pig crew"
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Post by gizzy on Mar 20, 2012 20:07:36 GMT
Turbo's cage mate seems to be okay so far, but i'm on the lookout to make sure he didn't catch the URI. I will just freak if he gets it. I wish it were like dogs or cats, and I could just start giving the antibiotic as a preventative - but I know the antibiotic isn't good for the piggies unless they have to have it. The Dr gave me extra but I won't give it until I see a for sure sign that he caught the URI too. I have a loner boar that i'm thinking I could put with him and make them cage mates, but want to wait a few days at least. Any thoughts and advice? Hi There , l am so sorry for your loss of Turbo l am new on this forum , so l may have missed something ?? but are you Pigs indoor or out door ?? The reason l ask is that you said Turbo displayed minimal of the usual respiratory infection signs , eyes/nose/appetite loss l lost a pig early on in the year , and subsequently had 4 more with the same symptoms you described with Turbo, Vet was at a loss, as without any of the usual tell tail signs he was loathed to diagnose the usual UTI , as it just didn't tally ?? Anyway to cut a long long story of tests x-rays ect short , l will cut to the chase , The only thing l could think was the weather had been cold and the central heating had been on 24/7 and the humidity in my pig rooms had dropped from the norm 55-60% to 25-30% , lt is known that Rats suffer respiration related conditions in a dry air environment, so l raised humidity The 4 displaying said symptoms cleared up in a mater of 2 day and that was a wile ago now and they have been fine since The pig that died had been with me for many years and her age on arrival was unknown , so poss fair to say natural causes aided by the dry air ?? The truth of the mater is , l simply do not know if the dry air was a factor in any of them and probably never will ?? Just food for thought |
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Post by purplepaws121 on Mar 21, 2012 0:29:06 GMT
Turbo's cage mate seems to be okay so far, but i'm on the lookout to make sure he didn't catch the URI. I will just freak if he gets it. I wish it were like dogs or cats, and I could just start giving the antibiotic as a preventative - but I know the antibiotic isn't good for the piggies unless they have to have it. The Dr gave me extra but I won't give it until I see a for sure sign that he caught the URI too. I have a loner boar that i'm thinking I could put with him and make them cage mates, but want to wait a few days at least. Any thoughts and advice? Hi There , l am so sorry for your loss of Turbo l am new on this forum , so l may have missed something ?? but are you Pigs indoor or out door ?? The reason l ask is that you said Turbo displayed minimal of the usual respiratory infection signs , eyes/nose/appetite loss l lost a pig early on in the year , and subsequently had 4 more with the same symptoms you described with Turbo, Vet was at a loss, as without any of the usual tell tail signs he was loathed to diagnose the usual UTI , as it just didn't tally ?? Anyway to cut a long long story of tests x-rays ect short , l will cut to the chase , The only thing l could think was the weather had been cold and the central heating had been on 24/7 and the humidity in my pig rooms had dropped from the norm 55-60% to 25-30% , lt is known that Rats suffer respiration related conditions in a dry air environment, so l raised humidity The 4 displaying said symptoms cleared up in a mater of 2 day and that was a wile ago now and they have been fine since The pig that died had been with me for many years and her age on arrival was unknown , so poss fair to say natural causes aided by the dry air ?? The truth of the mater is , l simply do not know if the dry air was a factor in any of them and probably never will ?? Just food for thought Hi there! My pigs are indoors. You bring up good points, and good questions. I don't know that we'll ever know....? I don't even have a way of checking for the humidity in the room itself...I just always try to keep a comfortable temperature for us and for the pigs. |
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Post by gizzy on Mar 21, 2012 10:48:35 GMT
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