Can pigs catch IC?

[Dwarfpotato]

Back in April Tico started producing bloody wees. She never squeaked when peeing or hunched or had a wet back end. She went on septrin for a week and it didn't help. Next she had an xray (small amount of sludge, diet has now been adjusted) and urinalysis which showed a small amount of blood. She went back on septrin for nearly a month. Around the same time I started her on glucosamine, which seems to have made a difference. My vets aren't exotic specialists but they have a guy who knows a good amount about pigs. I'm not sure they've encountered sterile IC though. Since then Tico has produced occasional red wees, normally after things like eating grass, having a canine visitor in the house, when there's been lots of DIY noises etc. I'm confident she has IC, and it seems to be managed with glucosamine alone. She is a very nervous pig.

Tico lost her friend in June. In October I adopted Cookie. Cookie is a pretty confident chap now but when he first arrived he didn't leave his house for a day until I covered the entire run with a blanket. As Tico was fear aggressive they had a number of small bonding sessions before deciding to be friends, as well as swapping over which side of the cage they were in etc. They lived side by side for 6 weeks. The day I bonded them I noticed Cookie doing red wees. The vet put them both on a course of baytril for a week as a precaution. Last night Cookie seemed to be squeaking when peeing even though he's now 5 days into the antibiotics course.

I'm fairly confident Cookie doesn't have stones - his wees aren't crunchy, he doesn't eat many nuggets at all (doesn't like Tico's brand), their water is filtered and he's on low calcium veg. He's only about 18 months old. He might have a UTI because when they lived side by side he had a habit of doing all his poop in one corner and sitting on it. Is it possible that he could have caught IC off Tico? Is it infectious? I can't see what is wrong with my setup otherwise, unless I've just been unlucky and had two bladder pigs in a year...

 

[Wiebke]

Back in April Tico started producing bloody wees. She never squeaked when peeing or hunched or had a wet back end. She went on septrin for a week and it didn't help. Next she had an xray (small amount of sludge, diet has now been adjusted) and urinalysis which showed a small amount of blood. She went back on septrin for nearly a month. Around the same time I started her on glucosamine, which seems to have made a difference. My vets aren't exotic specialists but they have a guy who knows a good amount about pigs. I'm not sure they've encountered sterile IC though. Since then Tico has produced occasional red wees, normally after things like eating grass, having a canine visitor in the house, when there's been lots of DIY noises etc. I'm confident she has IC, and it seems to be managed with glucosamine alone. She is a very nervous pig.

Tico lost her friend in June. In October I adopted Cookie. Cookie is a pretty confident chap now but when he first arrived he didn't leave his house for a day until I covered the entire run with a blanket. As Tico was fear aggressive they had a number of small bonding sessions before deciding to be friends, as well as swapping over which side of the cage they were in etc. They lived side by side for 6 weeks. The day I bonded them I noticed Cookie doing red wees. The vet put them both on a course of baytril for a week as a precaution. Last night Cookie seemed to be squeaking when peeing even though he's now 5 days into the antibiotics course.

I'm fairly confident Cookie doesn't have stones - his wees aren't crunchy, he doesn't eat many nuggets at all (doesn't like Tico's brand), their water is filtered and he's on low calcium veg. He's only about 18 months old. He might have a UTI because when they lived side by side he had a habit of doing all his poop in one corner and sitting on it. Is it possible that he could have caught IC off Tico? Is it infectious? I can't see what is wrong with my setup otherwise, unless I've just been unlucky and had two bladder pigs in a year...

Hi

Other piggies can pick up IC via scent marking (the tiny scent gland sits just in front of the genitalia) but in my own experience the healthy ones with a strong immune system generally get over it on their own without showing much or anything in the way of acute symptoms in my own experience.
I had that issue making the rounds when a piggy starting with bloody pees later on the day time shared the roaming ground with other groups on a big cleaning day - and they were the first to go out on the area.

They just have the odd red pee or clear pee that colours hay bright yellow and is more smelly, which has made the rounds in my piggies two years ago but I only have ended up with two more borderline IC piggies who will present with acute symptoms in extreme stress situations apart from my original chronic IC piggy; IC typically affects more piggies with a nervous disposition.
Breila's companion hasn't had IC in the three years Breila has had it.

I have also made the same observation when I had an IC piggy in my large Tribe group a decade ago.



If in doubt, please see a vet and always make sure that there is no stone/sludge in play.

 

[Dwarfpotato]

Thanks Wiebke! If the baytril doesn't do the trick I'll get him x-rayed, for sure. My vet can do them without sedation which is a plus.