15 Month Old Boar, Upset Tummy, Lost Weight But Eating Well ?

[Rolofudge]

Hi,

Fudge has had an upset tummy for nearly a week now and noticed he has lost quite a bit of weight, he used to be a tiny bit lighter than his mate Rolo, who is now 7.3 ounces heavier. 2 weeks ago when they had a bath they were similar.
At first I thought it may be too many veggies but they have always had them and been ok. He has been eating fine and seems happy having a run around the garden.
He went to vets on day 3 and they examined him and teeth were fine and couldn't feel any blockages. Told to take a fecal sample to test for parasites. That came back ok but they were due to do a floatation one, should know results of that when we go later. He's had a xeno spot on put on and has had metacam and ranitidine injections and now has it to be given orally.
Have been keeping them separate at night so can see who eating and doing what. I gave him some recovery food by syringe last night too. Overnight there was next to nothing in Fudges pen just dirty marks where he drags his bottom but he'd eaten veggies and some grass and pellet food. Why hasn't it come out the other end? This morning there has been a couple of semi solid half size droppings and he's been eating more and had more recovery food.
If anyone has any ideas on what may be happening with Fudge it would be much appreciated.

Thanks
Laura

 

[Wiebke]

Hi,

Fudge has had an upset tummy for nearly a week now and noticed he has lost quite a bit of weight, he used to be a tiny bit lighter than his mate Rolo, who is now 7.3 ounces heavier. 2 weeks ago when they had a bath they were similar.
At first I thought it may be too many veggies but they have always had them and been ok. He has been eating fine and seems happy having a run around the garden.
He went to vets on day 3 and they examined him and teeth were fine and couldn't feel any blockages. Told to take a fecal sample to test for parasites. That came back ok but they were due to do a floatation one, should know results of that when we go later. He's had a xeno spot on put on and has had metacam and ranitidine injections and now has it to be given orally.
Have been keeping them separate at night so can see who eating and doing what. I gave him some recovery food by syringe last night too. Overnight there was next to nothing in Fudges pen just dirty marks where he drags his bottom but he'd eaten veggies and some grass and pellet food. Why hasn't it come out the other end? This morning there has been a couple of semi solid half size droppings and he's been eating more and had more recovery food.
If anyone has any ideas on what may be happening with Fudge it would be much appreciated.

Thanks
Laura

Hi! It can take 1-2 days for food to be processed when the digestive system is struggling and sluggish.

Please do not feed fresh food with a tummy upset; it can contribute to soft poos. Just give as much fibre as possible. You can also add some rather rough, nutritionally poor fibre in the forum of brown cardboard. Piggies seem to crave it.
In order to help support the guts, add a bit of probiotic to the syringe food. if issues are ongoing, you might like to look at ordering fibreplex.
You can also soak fresh healthy poos from a companion i a little water and the syringe the water. this contains all the "right" stuff to help re-stock the guts. because it mimics natural behaviour, it is usually a great hit with the piggies even though it is somewhat gross for humans.

@helen105281 @Adelle @Elwickcavies

 

[Tiamolly123]

Hi you need to stop all his veggies & grass for now, just nuggets & plenty of hay. Is he drinking well

 

[Tiamolly123]

Hi you need to stop all his veggies & grass for now, just nuggets & plenty of hay. Is he drinking well

Sounds gross eating someone else's poor, but it's supposed to be good for them.

 

[Rolofudge]

Hi! It can take 1-2 days for food to be processed with the digestive system is struggling and sluggish. Please do not feed fresh food with a tummy upset; it can contribute to soft poos. Just give as much fibre as possible. You can also add some rather rough, nutritionally poor fibre in the forum of brown cardboard. Piggies seem to crave it.
In order to help support the guts, add a bit of probiotic to the syringe food. if issues are ongoing, you might like to look at ordering fibreplex.
You can also soak fresh healthy poos from a companion i a little water and the syringe the water. this contains all the "right" stuff to help re-stock the guts. because it mimics natural behaviour, it is usually a great hit with the piggies even though it is somewhat gross for humans.



Thanks for the reply. I have continued with fresh food as when I did stop it it didn't make any difference so thought it would be better for him to be eating to not lose more weight if that makes sense. Have just separated him from Rolo again and gave him his pellets and hay and some cardboard, they do love cardboard! I have some pro c probiotic which was from pet shop, could make up the recovery food with that. Rolo has recently had operation to removed a big cyst off his back and is on metacam himself for a few days, would it still be OK to do the droppings in water or would any of his meds pass out in them, don't want to give Fudge an overdose!

 

[Rolofudge]

Hi you need to stop all his veggies & grass for now, just nuggets & plenty of hay. Is he drinking well

He's never drunk much but does have a drink out of a bowl occasionally, we give them a bit of cucumber daily so I'm guessing they get water from that instead,

 

[Rolofudge]

Been back to vet with Fudge today and he is very worried about him :-( he's lost a little more weight and runny tummy getting him a mess. He started Ranitidine and metacam on saturday by mouth and then on sunday we thought that nothing was coming through but it turned out they were pretty much normal and he was eating them, caught in the act! but then by monday afternoon he was back to being messy. He's got a great appetite and eating like he's starved bless him. vet is thinking malabsorption problems with his intestines and didn't sound too hopeful. Hes going in for blood test and xrays in the morning. I was thinking maybe thyriod or is the metacam affecting him as it got better for a day. He's my 7 year old nephews first pet so want to try everything to make him better. tried just giving him dry food and hay for a few days but it doesn't seem to be any different to when he's been eating veggies. been syringe feeding recovery food which he takes nicely, and tonight am trying the soaking of his mate Rolo's droppings and making recovery food with water from them, fingers crossed something works for him, he is such a lovely cheeky chappie.

 

[Adelle]

Ranitidine actually speeds up the guts movements which will make diarrohea worse.. So it may be worthwhile discussing stopping or reducing this with your vet.

Metacam can irritate the guts, your vet can give him an injection of metacam under the skin daily.. This rules out metacam causing the diarrohea as it will bypass the stomach if given subcutaneously.

Another idea would be to send the stool off for culture to check for any parasites or overgrowth of bad bacteria.

I have just gone through something similar with my elderly sow.. She too was on metacam and ranitidine and then we took the steps mentioned above.. Her culture results where normal and stopping the ranitidine as well as given metacam By injection got her back to normal- it was diagnosed as an inflamatory gut flare up.

Hope this helps x

 

[Rolofudge]

Ranitidine actually speeds up the guts movements which will make diarrohea worse.. So it may be worthwhile discussing stopping or reducing this with your vet.

Metacam can irritate the guts, your vet can give him an injection of metacam under the skin daily.. This rules out metacam causing the diarrohea as it will bypass the stomach if given subcutaneously.

Another idea would be to send the stool off for culture to check for any parasites or overgrowth of bad bacteria.

I have just gone through something similar with my elderly sow.. She too was on metacam and ranitidine and then we took the steps mentioned above.. Her culture results where normal and stopping the ranitidine as well as given metacam By injection got her back to normal- it was diagnosed as an inflamatory gut flare up.

Hope this helps x

Hi,
Thanks for the info, good to hear you had a positive outcome. Did your sow lose a lot of weight? he's had stool checked for parasites and nothing found and he had a spot on treatment just incase. so worried he's only a youngster and actually seems very happy considering what hes going through. did you continue feeding veggies throughout?
thanks

 

[Adelle]

Hi,
Thanks for the info, good to hear you had a positive outcome. Did your sow lose a lot of weight? he's had stool checked for parasites and nothing found and he had a spot on treatment just incase. so worried he's only a youngster and actually seems very happy considering what hes going through. did you continue feeding veggies throughout?
thanks

She lost around 100g at the most, it was gradual but i was topping up with syringe feed in the end. If the diarrohea is very watery, some fluids under the skin from the vet may help too. I didnt even think fudge was dehydrated but she perked up massively with some subcut fluids so she obviously was! She was given a small bolus once a day when she went for her metacam injection.

My vet advised me to still feed veg but with a lesser amount, as she is of the opinion that taking veg away completely from a pig that is used to it can cause the guts to become upset further. I must admit that her issues didnt change when i did stop her veg at first, nor did the worsen when i gradually added it back.

I had fudge on fibreplex as well as another probiotic- not sure how much this helped but she did get better so who knows!

 

[Rolofudge]

She lost around 100g at the most, it was gradual but i was topping up with syringe feed in the end. If the diarrohea is very watery, some fluids under the skin from the vet may help too. I didnt even think fudge was dehydrated but she perked up massively with some subcut fluids so she obviously was! She was given a small bolus once a day when she went for her metacam injection.

My vet advised me to still feed veg but with a lesser amount, as she is of the opinion that taking veg away completely from a pig that is used to it can cause the guts to become upset further. I must admit that her issues didnt change when i did stop her veg at first, nor did the worsen when i gradually added it back.

I had fudge on fibreplex as well as another probiotic- not sure how much this helped but she did get better so who knows!

My Fudge has lost about 225g, 3 weeks ago he was OK as they both had baths. It's not completely runny but not far off it. I'm syringe feeding recovery food to make sure he's getting enough and keep the veggies as feel mean depriving him as he's so hungry! I have some pro c probiotic from pet shop but will see about getting fibreplex tomorrow and will mention to vet about the metacam, ranitidine and fluids too, thank you so much for your help, hope my Fudge will do as well as yours has

 

[Adelle]

My Fudge has lost about 225g, 3 weeks ago he was OK as they both had baths. It's not completely runny but not far off it. I'm syringe feeding recovery food to make sure he's getting enough and keep the veggies as feel mean depriving him as he's so hungry! I have some pro c probiotic from pet shop but will see about getting fibreplex tomorrow and will mention to vet about the metacam, ranitidine and fluids too, thank you so much for your help, hope my Fudge will do as well as yours has

My fudge has fought a seperate illness for a year after been given "a week or 2" to live.. She is terminal but she has beaten the odds so many times..

Theres something in the name! Your little one sounds like he is fighting well and i hope he recovers soon xx

 

[Tiamolly123]

My fudge has fought a seperate illness for a year after been given "a week or 2" to live.. She is terminal but she has beaten the odds so many times..

Theres something in the name! Your little one sounds like he is fighting well and i hope he recovers soon xx

I hope Fudge gets better soon.

 

[Tiamolly123]

I hope Fudge gets better soon.

 

[Rolofudge]

Hi,
Fudge was at the vets on Thursday for blood tests and X-rays. X rays showed no signs of tumours but it showed he is getting bloated Blood test has been sent off and have done a 3 day faecal sample which will be sent off too. Vet said they are worried still.
he is eating but this weekend doesn't seem to be quite so enthusiastic as he was and a little bit quieter, he wants to go running around the garden with his friend but trying to limit his exercise as when I weighed him today he's down a bit more from Friday. A friend of a friend is a vet and I asked her opinion and she said about testing urine of glucose as diabetes could be what's wrong. Been reading some older posts and most people say about excessive thirst which Fudge doesn't seem to have but no one really mentioned upset tummy which he does have, am going to get a urine sample to take to vets tomorrow to see, think i am wanting it to be that as we don't seem to have any other answers and I've spent £480 so far! Don't mind paying it if we can fix him but worried we are getting nowhere fast, has anyone experienced diarrhoea with diabetes?

 

[Tiamolly123]

Hi,
Fudge was at the vets on Thursday for blood tests and X-rays. X rays showed no signs of tumours but it showed he is getting bloated Blood test has been sent off and have done a 3 day faecal sample which will be sent off too. Vet said they are worried still.
he is eating but this weekend doesn't seem to be quite so enthusiastic as he was and a little bit quieter, he wants to go running around the garden with his friend but trying to limit his exercise as when I weighed him today he's down a bit more from Friday. A friend of a friend is a vet and I asked her opinion and she said about testing urine of glucose as diabetes could be what's wrong. Been reading some older posts and most people say about excessive thirst which Fudge doesn't seem to have but no one really mentioned upset tummy which he does have, am going to get a urine sample to take to vets tomorrow to see, think i am wanting it to be that as we don't seem to have any other answers and I've spent £480 so far! Don't mind paying it if we can fix him but worried we are getting nowhere fast, has anyone experienced diarrhoea with diabetes?

So sorry Fudge is a bit down, do you not have a piggysavvy vet near you.