Am I over reacting?!

[sarah273]

Hi all, first I will tell you a little about my piggie -
Mango, 4 yrs old, was the runt of the litter, needed to be hand fed and wasn't expected to survive, needless to say he's a fighter!

My problems started a few months ago, I noticed that when going to the toilet Mango would squeak as if in pain. He also lifts his bottom upwards when passing poops. I took him to the vet and she said if could be bladder stones and did x rays. What she found was quite strange...his bladder was clear BUT he had excess calcium on his back legs which she said had basically made him arthritic!! She could not see any infection or ailment other than this so suggested that was why he was in pain. I've tried swimming therapy with him and it seems to work.

However, the last few days I have noticed that he is squeaking more often. Sometimes his poops are normal shaped but soft and his urine was brownish. I gave him homemade barley water and cranberry and his urine seems to have returned to normal. I cut down his veg as he got a lot of little gem lettuce and cucumber to "fix" his poops. He is still eating his veg and hay as normal, I have noticed he isn't eating as much pellet food but he gets bran on a morning during the winter and this tends to fill him up and he eats less pellets. His poops aren't quite back to normal yet (feel wet/sticky to touch and are squishy).

Another thing, his bottom is very smelly. I regularly clean his anal sac due to him being so dirty in that area. I suppose the thing that is worrying me is that he has an infection or blockage and it isn't his arthritis that is causing the pain.

I recently lost Mango's brother Huck (he suffered teeth problems - I figure that was his excess calcium) & although I understand he isn't a young pig anymore I don't think I could handle losing him as well.

If anyone has had similar problems I would appreciate it if you could get in touch, I am stressing out about this sooo bad and can't stop thinking about it and worrying (hopefully over nothing!!)

Thank you :-)

[lisa21264]

I would take him back to the vet to see if there is some kind of infection if he has a smelly bottom that could be the case. Also if he has soft stool probiotics like acidophillus may help him. You can ask the vet about it. I hope he gets better soon.

[Orlaith]

That sounds just like my girl Annie when she had a bladder stone. The same wet bum, squeaking when she peed and lifting her bum up to poop. When x-rayed she had a giant bladder stone.

Did your vet take a dorsal xray (top down) or a lateral one (side view)? The reason I ask is that if it's only a top down view then the bladder stone can be obscured by the spine. If both views were taken then your vet is probably right that there is no bladder stone or sludge.

It's definitely worth bringing Mango back for a little check up. You're doing the right thing by taking the watery veg out of his diet. Have you considered getting him a heat pad to lie on? Alternatively you could wrap a hot water bottle in a towel. Lying in it might ease his pain a little.

[Kayleigh]

As above sounds like bladder stones. If your havong to clean his anal sac etc it sounds like hes also impacted which would cause the horrible smell.

I would suggest a vet trip. Stop feeding bran (very high in fibre,wont help if hes impacted) and stick with pellets hay and veg for a few weeks. Try to avoid lettu es for now also. Not very much nutrional value in them. Try spring greens, bell peppers and kale.

Let us know what you decide to do.





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[sarah273]

Thanks for your replies everyone

Something I've found when cleaning his anal sac is although it smells pretty bad, he never has any poops in there...I don't know if this rules out impaction?? Is a smelly anal sac/bottom area a sign of an infection?

He eats yellow bell peppers, grapes, cucumber, little gem lettuce, baby corns, and tomatoes (on rare occasion as it makes his mouth sore). I'll get some kale and spring greens to try as well, thanks

The vet did more than one x ray (not sure what type) but the reason for the x ray was because she was checking for bladder stones and she said they were clear and there was no sign of anything other than his legs.

I got some probiotic on Monday so I am trying that...thing is he doesn't drink a lot so hopefully he's getting enough.

I really don't know whether I am just over reacting as he is happy in himself, I just put some veg in and he's ate it straight away

[Orlaith]

It's great that he's still eating and in good form.

It normally smells really bad when cleaning our a boar's anal sac. Is he actually impacted or does he have a history of impaction? Because otherwise you don't really need to bother doing it.

[sarah273]

There's never any build up of poop, so I suppose no he isn't impacted...he does get being shavings and hair in there and it smells. If I use a Qtip it comes out yellowish and smells really bad.

I've also noticed that above his bottom but below the grease gland he has two pea-sized lumps inside his skin. Sort of at the base of his rectum and when I touch this he squeaks like he does when trying to poop. It sort of feels like swelling if that makes any sense. I don't know if this is normal or the root of my problems.

I plan on taking him to the vets tomorrow but thought I'd mention it so I have a better idea as to what to tell the vet.

[Orlaith]

It's good to clean him out if he gets things stuck in there (I swear, some boys use it like a suitcase!), but if there's no poop stuck then I don't think you need to make a regular thing out of it. Only when needed.

As for the lumps, that doesn't sound normal. It could be the result of inflammation from his joints, but definitely point it out to the vet.

[sarah273]

Well I had Mango at the vets today, she examined his "bits" and said it looked like there was redness and thought he had a UTI. She's prescribed him some antibiotics for the next week and if he isn't any better by then she has suggested flushing his bottom area.

So hopefully the antibiotics will work :-)

[Orlaith]

Fingers crossed! Just to note that a UTI can take a good two weeks to clear, so keep up with the antibiotics for as long as the vet says (normally the minimum for a UTI is 10 days).

[sarah273]

The vet gave me 7 days worth of antibiotics. They seem to have made a big difference and he isn't squeaking as much. She said to take him back if the problem wasn't totally cleared up.

I've noticed that he doesn't seem to be eating as much as usual & he hasn't touched his food pellets at all. He will however eat a few syringe fulls of his food mushed with warm water. He's fussy with veg and seems bored of spring greens and kale. He's had strawberries and cucumber today. He's still eating the hay, just not as much as usual. Should I be worried about this? I read that antibiotics can decrease the appetite.

[Kayleigh]

Decrease in appetite is not good. If using baytril you should also use a probiotic to keep his appetite up. Keep offering foods and ensure hes getting enough fluid too.

Id suggest keeping a diary of his weight too.

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