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Could I please have some advice?!

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JayneG

JayneG

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Hi all, I wonder if you could give me some advice. I have a friend with a poorly piggie. Well I say poorly, but in himself, he is ok. He has been able to release his "pellets" himself, so the vet advised that they help him with this as long as they were happy to. This they have been doing and it seems ok. I think they are worried that this is stressful for him and unfair.

Has anyone else experienced this and do your piggies seem to live ok with it? My friend is wondering if she should have him put down as she feels bad that he has to go through this. I'm thinking that if he is healthy in himself though, maybe it's ok to continue just helping him by emptying his poos for him?
 
There seem to be quite a lot of guineas living happily with Impaction. Link below might help explain a bit more. This is something a lot of owners have got used to, and the pigs seem to cope quite well with the indignity of it all. x
http://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=50245&highlight=IMPACTION
I am sure others will post more about the technicalities of it all. xx
 
Impaction is not uncommon in older boars and is not a reason for having him out to sleep, even though the smell when cleaning him out daily IS bad. But as the piggy feels a lot better afterwards, it doesn't mind too much!
 
Thank you so much for replies. I have passed them on to my friend and she feels a lot better about it now. One of my piggies has suffered with it in the past, but thankfully it went away! Again, thanks guys :-)
 
Sorry that your friend is struggling with this. I imagine it can be quite a shock, especially if you've not heard of this condition before. I assume that you mean he's "impacted" and it's only the 'special' pellets which are normally eaten that are causing a problem?

Obviously some people will find this easier to deal with and manage than others. As nutmeg said, it's quite a common thing and as long as this cleaning out is carried out regularly (and the pellets reingested), affected pigs can lead an otherwise normal, happy and long life.

None of my pigs have suffered from impaction, so I haven't had to deal with it myself, but one of mine has had other problems which required regular cleaning of the anal sac. The way I see it, it's just a helping hand and as it's vitally important to his wellbeing it's just the same as any other routine task. There are lots of things we have to do for our pigs' welfare, which they usually don't enjoy at all (nail clipping, giving medications or being syringe fed etc) and, to my mind, treating impaction would be just another one of those necessary things done in their best interests. It's not a pleasant task but it should be quick and easy, with practise.

I do sympathise with your friend but personally I think it would be very radical, sad and completely unneccessary to have a piggy put to sleep simply because they were impacted (assuming that it wasn't causing any other serious complications). If your friend still felt this way perhaps she would consider giving him to a rescue, so he has a chance of being rehomed with someone who either has experience of this or feels able to take it on?

There's a bit more info here:
http://www.oginet.com/pgurney/analimpact.htm

Really hope your friend can keep going with this or at least find him someone else who can. Good luck x
 
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