Breaking obsessive behaviour

[darcidual]

I have two sows who are both 10 months old. Recently Moose has taken to licking Pipin's left eye. I took Pipin to the vet and they have given me eye drops because she has abrasions on both eyes (likely from the licking apparently, even though Pipin shuts her eyes while it happens), and I have been advised to separate the girls. The treatment is to last 5 days and I'm happy to separate them, however I am worried that the behaviour has become almost obsessive and that after the 5 days, if I put them back together, the licking will start again.

I am going on holiday next Saturday (7th Nov) and the pigs are going to the local ManxSPCA for boarding. They're supposed to be in a shared kennel kitted out for pigs and I'm worried that if it hasn't stopped by then, that they will be fully separated without being able to see each other. Or they'll be togrther and the eyes will get bad again.

Has anyone experienced anything like this before? Or do you have any tips for busting this type of behaviour?

Thanks in advance

 

[Merab]

My boar Micah was an eye licker and his favourite wife Phoebe the main recipient.
I just used to put Viscotears in her eyes to stop them getting dry and sore.
I wouldn’t have thought of separating them unless Micah’s behaviour shifted from enthusiastic affection to bullying.

 

[darcidual]

My boar Micah was an eye licker and his favourite wife Phoebe the main recipient.
I just used to put Viscotears in her eyes to stop them getting dry and sore.
I wouldn’t have thought of separating them unless Micah’s behaviour shifted from enthusiastic affection to bullying.

Thank you for sharing. How often would he do this? And were the eye drops a daily thing?

I thought it was an affectionate gesture at first (Google seemed to think so too). Her eyes wept a bit and I'm not sure if this happened as a result of the licking or if the abrasions came first. Pipin is ok with being separated, but Moose is finding it stressful. I don't want to put them together while Pipin has the eye drops, for fear of Moose licking it off and ingesting it.

 

[Viennese Furbabies]

My late Billie used to lick Muffin's eyes (he was the boar of the grouo and they were a really love couple). He had eye issues before Billie moved in. They stopped completely with her licking.

Are you sure the licking was the cause of Pipoin's eye issue? Or could Moose just have been trying to help Pippin?

 

[Piggies&buns]

Eye licking is an affectionate and social behaviour but it is also done as a way to help heal an issue with the eye - ie she knew she had a sore eye and was trying to help her

What eye drops has she been given?
Generally do not need to separate because one piggy has drops. It’s certainly not something I’ve ever done when one piggy has drops

Hopefully your girls are young enough and bonded enough that they will happily go back together but medical separations in general are not a good idea. This is due to the stress it causes but there is a risk in some cases that it causes the bond to fail and they refuse to go back together.

(If the theory that it is an obsessive behaviour holds water (which I have not heard of a case where that has happened) and she goes straight back to doing it, then I can’t see any way of stopping it without permanently separating them.)