Bereaved boy

[HumberHen]

Hi there
Little Nyx lost his dominant older brother 10 days ago. He is living parallel to my other pair of boars. He lost his two lower front reach at about the same time. They have started to grow back and following feeding critical care from a spoon he is managing a lot on his own. He has regained 80g already. My concern is that as soon as his brother died he started a soft hoo hoo sound. I can't hear anything wrong with his breathing. He sometimes does it when he is singing and sometimes not at all. I will book him into the vets but I wondered could it be grief? Thank you

 

[Merab]

So sorry for your loss.
I think a vet trip is a good idea.
Hope there’s nothing serious amiss.

 

[HumberHen]

Thank you he's been to the vets and she checked him very thoroughly his chest is clear and heart ok,she checked him all over. She lightly trimmed his top front teeth as one was overlong and chaffing the gum below where the new tooth is emerging and it was swollen. Antibiotics and pain killers too. I have read you could put steamy water nearby in case the nose is blocked. Is this a good idea? Thanks

 

[Wiebke]

Hi

A bowl of steaming water can sometimes help but not necessarily if something firm like a speck of hay or pollen is stuck in the very narrow and small nasal passages that is usually sneezed out at some point or other at the end of a piggy wash in a nose clearing sneeze. Because they are so tight, even the smallest of obstructions can make rather alarming sounds. They can become even more audible during eating and - in older piggies with more flabby tissue - during sleeping because piggies are not much in the way of mouth breathers. But it is not something to worry about.
The tie-in of hooting with heart problems which started to make the rounds online about 15 years ago has in our own forum experience not borne out. You'd need weeks of persistent hooting and even then there is no proven direct link.

I am very sorry that both lower incisors have been broken. It usually means one or two vet trips for trimming back the opposite numbers as they no longer can abrade against each other, depending on how far down the break has happened and how long it takes them to grow up. A single incisor can still work even if the edge is looking wonky. Please keep an eye on the incisor situation.

I would recommend that you switch from weighing once weekly during your usual grooming session to weighing daily on your normal kitchen scales first thing in the morning for best day to day comparison so you can see whether you need to step in with feeding top up in case he has problems with picking up and cutting tough hay, which is making over three quarters of what a piggy eats in a day or larger pieces like pellets.
Weight and Weight Loss Explained: BMI, Weighing, Poos and Feeding Support Levels

 

[HumberHen]

Thank you I will try the steamy water anyway. I have observed him this morning and he has picked up and eaten a few pellets. If he doesn't maintain his weight I will step in with critical care too. Strangely he gave me a little song when I fussed him this morning whilst still making the hoping noise