Has anyone ever had experience with fluid buildups in their pigs?

[lauryn1289]

Hi everyone, didn’t want to post this in health and illness because the piggy I’m talking about is deceased so it’s obviously not relevant or urgent at all. I just saw a post of someone whose piggy was diagnosed with abdominal fluid 3 years ago, and managed to survive until just today. It’s made me frankly spiral a bit and keep rethinking the fact I had my boy PTS this month after a diagnosis of abdominal fluid and bloat that was fluid. It was what the vet suggested. Before the bloating he hadn’t been eating normally and seemed a bit uncomfortable suddenly, then the bloating happened. Had been syringe feeding him for a couple days by then. I was torturing myself with it anyway, but now I feel like I made such a huge mistake and should’ve got a second opinion, just happened so quickly.
Does anyone have any experience with fluid issues? I know it’s more often than not caused by heart failure, kidney/liver failure or cancer. My boy was gonna be 7 in July, so he was a senior, but I still can’t shake the feeling I might have cut his life shorter than it needed to be

 

[PigglePuggle]

Its always difficult after making the decision to PTS not to revisit the situation in your mind and question whether you did the right thing. If your piggy had bloat and had lost his appetite, as well as a fluid build up in his abdomen outside of his gut, and he was a very old chap, then very likely what was happening was that the issue causing the fluid build (as you say, heart or liver failure perhaps) was causing his gut to shut down as a natural part of the dying process.
When a piggy is very sick and/or very old, sometimes when piggy stops eating and the guts go wrong and the syringe feeding doesnt help, it is because they are already on their way over the rainbow bridge, and PTS is the kindest option to stop them suffering in their last few days or hours.
We lost a piggy to liver failure and she had a huge amount of fluid in her abdomen at the end, she lasted perhaps 3 months after her initial diagnosis but became increasingly swollen and uncomfortable- then she had a stroke and was PTS in an emergency situation.
Some fluid build up, from some causes, may be managed with diuretic medicines like furosemide/frusol- but some fluid build up is a sign of terminal illness and organ failure.
I am sure you made the right decision for your piggy, you acted on the vets advice and out of kindness, and that is all we can ever do for our pets x

 

[sport_billy]

Hey, sorry you are having these thoughts. We don't have piggies now. We had our last girl PTS in October with bloat and even with all the years of experience I have built up, I still lie awake at times going over decisions I have made on our girls we had to decide PTS with.
Bloat is one of the most painful conditions, i have lost piggies to bloat and choose PTS and honestly the phrase 'better a minute to soon than a second to late' is never truer. Try not to second guess yourself, vets are highly trained and they WOULD NEVER suggest PTS if there was another option. You will have made the right choice out of love for your little boy. He had seven wonderful years of love.
I will end with a piece of advice a lovely poster once gave me on here after we lost one of our girls 'The final moments of someone/somepigs life, do not define them or the journey we have shared with them, it is the love shared all the way through their lives that does'
Stop torturing yourself with 'what if's' I know it is hard, your little boy was loved as were our girls and we made choices for them out of love for them. We put their needs first.
Have a big hug

 

[piggieminder]

I totally agree with all both the previous posters have said. Those what if's are unfortunately a natural part of grieving and it's so difficult to turn those thoughts off. If I find the what if's creeping in I try to keep busy with something I need to think about. You acted out of love and saved your boy a lot of pain. Sending you hugs.

 

[lauryn1289]

Its always difficult after making the decision to PTS not to revisit the situation in your mind and question whether you did the right thing. If your piggy had bloat and had lost his appetite, as well as a fluid build up in his abdomen outside of his gut, and he was a very old chap, then very likely what was happening was that the issue causing the fluid build (as you say, heart or liver failure perhaps) was causing his gut to shut down as a natural part of the dying process.
When a piggy is very sick and/or very old, sometimes when piggy stops eating and the guts go wrong and the syringe feeding doesnt help, it is because they are already on their way over the rainbow bridge, and PTS is the kindest option to stop them suffering in their last few days or hours.
We lost a piggy to liver failure and she had a huge amount of fluid in her abdomen at the end, she lasted perhaps 3 months after her initial diagnosis but became increasingly swollen and uncomfortable- then she had a stroke and was PTS in an emergency situation.
Some fluid build up, from some causes, may be managed with diuretic medicines like furosemide/frusol- but some fluid build up is a sign of terminal illness and organ failure.
I am sure you made the right decision for your piggy, you acted on the vets advice and out of kindness, and that is all we can ever do for our pets x

Back in November he had a spurt where he was walking really funny, almost as if he had vertigo, then that cleared up with antibiotics and then he was having weird watery poops for a few days, that cleared up again and then came back and he was suddenly out of nowhere only eating bits of veggies voluntarily, no hay or pellets, and he LOVED his pellets. Just seemed to be lying down constantly and very uncomfy. We did think teeth initially but then the terrible bloating came, his stomach was genuinely like cement, and the fluid diagnosis and vet’s opinion was the prognosis wasn’t good for keeping him alive. Trying to remember even if I agreed to PTS a bit too early, he lived nearly 7 years very healthy and got lucky as far as illnesses went it seems. He was spritely and active until literally the very end, even in his final moments you’d swear nothing was wrong aside from the bloating. I think that’s what’s making me question everything, the fact he was still walking and alert and angrily headbutting his blankies. Thank you for the reassurance xx

 

[lauryn1289]

Hey, sorry you are having these thoughts. We don't have piggies now. We had our last girl PTS in October with bloat and even with all the years of experience I have built up, I still lie awake at times going over decisions I have made on our girls we had to decide PTS with.
Bloat is one of the most painful conditions, i have lost piggies to bloat and choose PTS and honestly the phrase 'better a minute to soon than a second to late' is never truer. Try not to second guess yourself, vets are highly trained and they WOULD NEVER suggest PTS if there was another option. You will have made the right choice out of love for your little boy. He had seven wonderful years of love.
I will end with a piece of advice a lovely poster once gave me on here after we lost one of our girls 'The final moments of someone/somepigs life, do not define them or the journey we have shared with them, it is the love shared all the way through their lives that does'
Stop torturing yourself with 'what if's' I know it is hard, your little boy was loved as were our girls and we made choices for them out of love for them. We put their needs first.
Have a big hug

Sorry about your girl Bloat is terrible. Kip’s tummy was literally like cement when the vet tapped on it. He was a skinny little boy in his old age and suddenly he ballooned up when he stopped eating hay and pellets, only veggies and angrily accepting critical care. Barely any noise whatsoever it was that hard when tapped level bloating. I can imagine he was so uncomfortable for him even aside from the abdominal fluid. His best friend passed away in 2021 from bloating too, he had a mass on his spleen so probably some type of cancer or tumour with secondary bloating. We tried to keep him alive and treat him but he died fairly soon after, ironically in hindsight I wish I’d have saved him his suffering for those few days

The vet Kip saw who had him PTS wasn’t an exotic vet, closest we could get to that day, but she seemed very caring and like she did know what she was talking about, she even attempted to check his back teeth with an otoscope so trying to assure myself she seemed to know enough about piggies to only suggest it if she truly thought it was the best option, had never visited a normal vet who actually tried to check their teeth. Some other vets I’ve seen for piggies have just made me question how good they are, from missing a bladder stone on an x-rat and attempting to scruff the same pig they missed the stone on. My exotic vet being a nearly 2 hour drive is such a pain!

Thank you so much for the reassurance, Kip truly was absolutely adored as your girls were. He truly was my best little buddy for nearly 7 years, I miss him every second of the day

 

[lauryn1289]

I totally agree with all both the previous posters have said. Those what if's are unfortunately a natural part of grieving and it's so difficult to turn those thoughts off. If I find the what if's creeping in I try to keep busy with something I need to think about. You acted out of love and saved your boy a lot of pain. Sending you hugs.

You’re right, I’m trying to refocus my energy into my boys Ollie and Eggs and my cat and not leave myself time to dwell. Thanks so much

 

[Wheekallweek]

Ah what ifs, we all have them when we lose a piggy. Kip was a great age, remember they says it's always better a week too early than a day too late