Feeling A Bit Unhappy About New Piggies

Status
Not open for further replies.
Definitely better safe than sorry. Such a shame you've had such a bad experience. Hope the vets have identified the cause(s) of the problem and you can get them more comfortable
 
Well it is good news (I think). The vet and another exotic vet both took a good look and said that they thought the wounds probably were bites and that the piggies were probably stressed/untrusting after being bullied. The piggies froze at the vets thus behaving totally different - not a bite or a frenzied squirm when they were touched. The vet concluded that I should treat for mites anyway and keep an eye on the scabs and go back if any more appear. So not a 100% totally convincing response but they were happy for the wounds to be treated as bites for now. Obviously I will be following strict quarantine until I am totally happy but I am trying to be more convinced that all is ok. I had to give the piggies a name for the vets so opted for Wesley and Leroy (but may change to Gregory and Elliott when I get to know them).
 
I think they are two very lucky pigs to have ended up with an experienced owner.
When I got Pedro & Panda they were adults but so wild they would hide if one of us sneezed, or spoke, or moved. It took about six weeks for them to stop hiding, and another three or four before they were running towards me rather than away. I don't think either of them had been beaten up either, so yours might take a bit longer.
I love Texels, any chance of a pic?
 
I used to have lots of experience but had a sort of breakdown (hence my anxieties) but have forgotten so much about everything :(
The piggies were barbered by the others they were living with so aren't as hairy as they should be. Anway this is Wesley (Gregory) - the tube is to show you how little he is. He is black and gold.

20160131_100343.webp
and this is Leroy (Elliott). He is black agouti and white and is the one with the wounds.
20160131_101952.webp
And this is Huckleberry - a texel I had about 10 years ago: As a baby:
Huckleberry 2 2004.webp
then as an adult:
Huckleberry e.webp Huckleberry a.webp
 
Beautiful!

Anxiety & depression can be helped no end by having pets. It's a reason to get up in the morning, and to keep going throughout the day. And how do I know this...?
 
Thank you :) You are right about pets; I get up to walk my dogs (and I meet other dogs and owners which also helps me through the day). I used to manage to keep going until after the teatime dog walk when I suddenly felt lost but now I go and sit watching the piggies.
Can you post a photo/photos of your piggies so that I have something to relate the names to? Here is a photo of my teddies Padraig (more white) and Seamus (I've only had them since 14.12.15 and they mostly run and hide although Seamus not so much now though. They are very easy to handle now and Seamus is a bit of a popcorning lunatic; he often head butts something because he is jumping around so giddily!
Padraig & Seamus 12.01.16 b1.webp .
 
Beautiful teddy pigs. I think Leroy and Wesley are lucky to have found such a caring home. With love and time they should come round x
 
VickiA said:
Beautiful teddy pigs. I think Leroy and Wesley are lucky to have found such a caring home. With love and time they should come round x
Click to expand...
Oh they have come on in leaps and bounds already :) From piggies that froze when touched and darted out of sight every time I moved and Padraig was a biter too. They will still run and hide but more slowly and no biting. They are very chilled/relaxed when handled. Their characters are slowly appearing.
 
I only have Panda at the moment, his friend died last week and we are all feeling a bit sad. But here he is, with Pedro. Panda is the tri-colour.
DSCF3106_zpsfdea24f0.jpg

Before I had these two I had two rex girls, they were quite gorgeous :) (Petal & Smartie)
DSCF2354.jpg
 
Beautiful piggies and I'm glad you've got good news from the vet about your boys. Sounds to me like time and lots of TLC will be the perfect medication for these two. Best of luck with them, and definitely give us more photos as they grow up, they're stunners!

I hope you're feeling better about them now and can look forwards to your years ahead with them both!
 
All beautiful healthy looking piggies. Very shiny coats on Pedro and Panda. Pretty rex colours - I had some rex's too: Peaches and Primrose, Rusty, Rhea and Little William (the piggy face on my profile to the left). Little William was one of my piggies that wasn't a rescue; he was sold to me as a sow by PAH (heaven knows why I didn't check for myself!). Anyway it transpired he had a 'little william' so was eventually neutered to live with the girls. I'm so sorry to hear about Pedro and can understand your sadness as piggy parents, poor Panda too, is he going to be ok?
 
So adorable, all the pigs! :) I'm glad the vet was able to give you some guidance and hopefully you can feel at least a little reassured, and hopefully all potential problems are being treated. I've had issues with depression and anxiety over the years too, so can totally sympathize there. ((HUGS)) and hope things smooth out despite a rocky start!
 
I'm sorry to hear about our issues with your new piggies. I just wanted to point out sometimes pig's just get fungal issues. I had a pig Pebbles for 4 years she never had fungal issues after I moved house she got ringworm. I guess it was the stress, she was also in contact with a child so perhaps that was the reason.

I do hope it isn't ringworm, I recently took in two boars. I have had them quarantined for two weeks they came from a family with no other animals just a young child and one developed that typical ring. The good news is Ringworm is very easy to treat just a lot of bathing involved.
 
I know about fungal as I had 18 piggies in the past and my only bout of fungal caused a fair few problems and a lot of hard work with bathing, quarantine and stringent disinfection. It was very unpleasant for some piggies and fungal is not always 'easy to deal with'. At the start of this thread I was having a moan that my new baby pig (I have now had them 1 week 2 days) had arrived covered in wounds (already well scabbed over) whilst the other was underweight and neither were the friendly piggies that had been described. They had obviously been bullied and I felt they had not been handled. Discussions on here highlighted the possibility of fungal due to the scabs and their skin sensitivity when being handled. If they do have fungal (which hopefully they don't) then I paid a top price for already sick piggies which could affect my other pigs, my elderly dogs and me. The breeder claims not to have been aware that the scabby piggy had so many wounds yet she claims to have been cuddling them. If she was on top of things then she would've had concerns herself and worry that she was selling potentially sick babies. No one would choose to buy baby piggies with fungal and bring it unknowingly into a home with other fur babies. Hopefully all will be ok and the wounds will heal and the piggies will get over their bullying ordeal (the thin piggy is eating well and fattening up). If the piggies have fungal then they had it before they were sold to me. If they don't have fungal then they were living in an unsatisfactory situation where they were bullied The breeder is a lovely person and very apologetic but words are cheap.
 
It transpired that Wesley and Leroy did have fungal :( Poor Leroy was the worst and should have been having treatment before he came to me had it been identified (but even the exotic vets weren't able to identify it).
I emailed the breeder asking that she pay the vet bills for their treatment including dips and oral treatment (the vets also wanted to do cultures but in the end it was obvious it was ringworm). Following further emails it was agreed that she would take them back and refund me what I paid for them. Sadly (or luckily?) I barely got to know them due to them biting me/refusing to be held and then the strict quarantine following suspicion of fungal - it has not been a good experience. Whilst the breeder refunded me for the boys; I've still had to pay out for the courier, vet bills and the cost of petrol returning them (184 mile round trip). Following conversations with her I am convinced that she has no idea how bad fungal can be or how to treat it. Her mother took the pigs off me thus I stressed how contagious it can be and the need for strict quarantine and proper treatment. I told her of my experiences of fungal pigs at the rescue that were fitting and even dying. I now have to F10 disinfect everything and have also bought an F10 bomb for the room they were in. I have Nizoral shampoo for Padraig and Seamus as a precautionary measure. I am left feeling quite empty.
 
What an stressful experience for you, and such a sad early start for the two piggies with their bullying 'Uncle' and their catching ringworm.
I wish I could say something to make you feel better about the whole thing but sadly I can't, you were put in a bad and awkward situation by this lady
I hope she makes changes to the way she looks after her pigs.
 
Last edited:
Wow, you poor thing. This kinda stuff is why I won't buy from a breeder. Quite frankly, I think she needs to be reported to the necessary authorities as she's breeding and neglecting piggies as a business. It's dreadful, even I know you shouldn't put all those boars and boar babies together. As fluffy and cute as they may look, the adults could easily kill each other or the babies if they are inflicting injuries and bullying like that. Plus the spread of fungal infections in a large herd like that is like a fire as you said, hopefully the proper treatment/precautions will be taken.

I'm so sorry to hear of your experience, I just hope she won't do this to other piggies and people. Hope the piggies get better and go to a good home, and that you recover from such a horrible time of it.
:hug:
 
I honestly think it is all ignorance on the breeder's part and that she is actually an animal lover. I hope she learns from this experience.
 
How can you guarantee the source is reputable? I had tracked her on Facebook, looked at her website and asked many many questions but it transpired she lied about never having had fungal. I took the boys back myself and her piggery was fine - indeed the boys initially seemed fine to look at, other than the scab initially thought to be a bite wound (even the expert vets thought it was a wound!) . The only truly reputable source is a rescue but it is not always possible to get a pig you want. I do not appreciate your comment as I felt I did what I could to ensure she was a reputable source.
 
please forgive me if I am wrong.

The way I have read your posts is that you were concerned about this breeder as your guineas were covered in wounds when they arrived and you suspect they had been bullied . The way I read your posts, it seems you suspect they may have had a fungal infection which the breeder was unaware of .
 
PiggyOwner said:
please forgive me if I am wrong.

The way I have read your posts is that you were concerned about this breeder as your guineas were covered in wounds when they arrived and you suspect they had been bullied . The way I read your posts, it seems you suspect they may have had a fungal infection which the breeder was unaware of .
Click to expand...

Yes you are correct but all that was after I had carried out my investigations and already concluded they were coming from a reputable place. I had previously visited a local breeder before that whose baby piggies had fungal and I could see she was handling healthy pigs straight after handling fungal pigs so it made me wary and I then asked all sorts of intrusive questions of any breeder I contacted after that. As I said I returned the boys myself and was happy with what I saw. I don't think I would think she was unreputable had I not received Leroy with a bite wound (which the vet thought was a bite wound but turned out to be fungal) and Wesley who seemed a bit underweight to me. That is why I suspected they had been bullied and I notified her of that.
 
Toni D said:
I agree you should buy from reputable breeders but I did all I could to ensure I was.
Click to expand...

We indeed feel for you and all the horrid experience you encountered with your piggies, but we can't agree that you should buy from reputable breeders as unfortunately in our minds ( our own opinion ) there are no such thing as reputable breeders, whilst their motive is profit. We will always support reputable rescues and travel as far as required to find one. That said we do understand that not all countries have the network of reputable rescues that we have in the UK.

Lisa & Ali..
 
I don't think there is profit for small hobby breeders but I have been to big breeders who have what is basically a G.Pig production line. Some small hobby breeders I have come across want to improve or maintain their show lines and mostly keep the babies themselves.

Having said all that I would never breed any pet for any purpose - that is just a personal policy..

It seems that reputable breeders are like reputable used car salesmen - almost as rare as rocking horse manure.
 
I agree that you can never tell if a source is good or not, that's why I stick to my local rescue. You're right in saying that you can't always find the breed you want, especially the fancier types like texels and skinny pigs so I am always keeping a cheeky eye out. I guess I can always email my rescue to ask to be updated if a specific breed comes in as they are very helpful. It's all personal choice but I feel much safer in the hands of a rescue :)
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top