I can't believe it!

[Featheryfriend]

Nutmeg is zonked out in this momentary patch of sunshine. Such a good hippopig.

I went ahead and hired my niece to come by once or twice a month and help me with piggy grooming. I told her I'd give her $50 for an afternoon of work and she said that was plenty, she "would do anything for the piggies!"

The four new sows are coming tomorrow! They've been getting passed around and living in laundry baskets, travel cages, baby playpens and wherever else for the last few weeks. I'm sure they will be pleased to have a settled, quiet spot.

 

[Featheryfriend]

I took some pig selfies while I was cleaning and shuffling herds around today, ha. Also got a random shot of a wild Peach! The phone camera consistently spooks her so she's hard to snap a candid picture of.

I'm told the four piggies that are coming soon appear to be having a major falling-out despite having adequate space at the moment. There's a big Peruvian girl who is aggressing the others and pulling out a lot of fur - I think she's been separated for now. Bring it on, large grumpy Peruvian!

 

[Featheryfriend]

Oh boy, we did good work today! My niece came over and we did all the foot and nail care for the whole colony, plus some other miscellaneous grooming as needed. Now they'll all be on the same coordinated schedule.

It took us about five hours, but we were doodling around a whole lot snuggling pigs and taking pictures of pigs. I think we could do it in half that time and still get snuggles in, or even quicker if I rounded up all the pigs beforehand. A disproportionate amount of time was spent trying to capture one or two pigs who weren't in the mood to be picked up. (DAISY...)

Plus, over half an hour of that was spent giving Sylvie some advanced foot TLC. She has a lot of trouble with funky calluses as well as some nails that overgrow strangely. (I've seen the same thing before on a kitty - it's like the nails don't shed old layers properly, and thus become thick, misshapen, and potentially ingrown.) I'd been keeping things pared and sanded down as per the vet's advice, but I was afraid of hurting her and thus probably being too conservative, as her assorted feet creepies would always grow right back.

So this time I bit the bullet and scrubbed and clipped and peeled away at Sylvie's little feeties and nails as deeply and aggressively as I thought was safe in hopes of correcting things in a more lasting way. And she LOVED it. She went into a limp, hypnotic state and laid belly-up on my lap for all of it. She could clearly tell we were trying to help her out.

Something I did must have relieved discomfort for her - she gave me the most amazing thank you! I've had pigs give me an affectionate lick here and there before, but she was lapping at my hand like a puppy and grooming me. I'm so glad you feel better, Sylvie.

I'm upset to know that her feet must have been bothering her this whole time, but now I have a much better idea of how zealous I can be about it without hurting her. It appears I can trust she will squeak if I'm even getting close to living tissue. And that all that abnormal growth is more dead and insensitive than it may appear. So we are going to keep on scrubbing down those pawpads and nails one session at a time until we hopefully find some completely normal, happy pig feet.

If this routine doesn't set things straight, maybe I'll ask the vet if it's possible or advisable to put her under briefly and like, completely debride or chemically peel her paw pads? I know they offer an experimental corrective surgery for severely abnormal nails that are causing pain, where they will cut nails down to the base to encourage them to grow out normally again.

 

[Viennese Furbabies]

What a brave girl Sylvie is.
Tessy starts squeaking if she sense the nail clipper coming close sometimes. I haven't even touched her and she is screaming at the top of her lungs.

 

[Merab's Slave]

Oh boy, we did good work today! My niece came over and we did all the foot and nail care for the whole colony, plus some other miscellaneous grooming as needed. Now they'll all be on the same coordinated schedule.

It took us about five hours, but we were doodling around a whole lot snuggling pigs and taking pictures of pigs. I think we could do it in half that time and still get snuggles in, or even quicker if I rounded up all the pigs beforehand. A disproportionate amount of time was spent trying to capture one or two pigs who weren't in the mood to be picked up. (DAISY...)

Plus, over half an hour of that was spent giving Sylvie some advanced foot TLC. She has a lot of trouble with funky calluses as well as some nails that overgrow strangely. (I've seen the same thing before on a kitty - it's like the nails don't shed old layers properly, and thus become thick, misshapen, and potentially ingrown.) I'd been keeping things pared and sanded down as per the vet's advice, but I was afraid of hurting her and thus probably being too conservative, as her assorted feet creepies would always grow right back.

So this time I bit the bullet and scrubbed and clipped and peeled away at Sylvie's little feeties and nails as deeply and aggressively as I thought was safe in hopes of correcting things in a more lasting way. And she LOVED it. She went into a limp, hypnotic state and laid belly-up on my lap for all of it. She could clearly tell we were trying to help her out.

Something I did must have relieved discomfort for her - she gave me the most amazing thank you! I've had pigs give me an affectionate lick here and there before, but she was lapping at my hand like a puppy and grooming me. I'm so glad you feel better, Sylvie.

I'm upset to know that her feet must have been bothering her this whole time, but now I have a much better idea of how zealous I can be about it without hurting her. It appears I can trust she will squeak if I'm even getting close to living tissue. And that all that abnormal growth is more dead and insensitive than it may appear. So we are going to keep on scrubbing down those pawpads and nails one session at a time until we hopefully find some completely normal, happy pig feet.

If this routine doesn't set things straight, maybe I'll ask the vet if it's possible or advisable to put her under briefly and like, completely debride or chemically peel her paw pads? I know they offer an experimental corrective surgery for severely abnormal nails that are causing pain, where they will cut nails down to the base to encourage them to grow out normally again.

So glad Sylvie’s feet are feeling better.
Good for grasping the nettle and doing it.

 

[Featheryfriend]

Sylvie is so very brave, I told her so! It's funny, she's normally largely indifferent to human contact, she's a pig who could take it or leave it, but apparently pedicures are her *jam.* And I was a bit proud of myself too (for the nettle-grasping as you say). It was nervewracking basically peeling layers off such a delicate small creature.

My niece was super patient and helpful with each and every piggy. The pigs have always been madly in love with her for some reason - they've only seen her a few times, but even the oldest sows will start popcorning it up when she graces them with her presence! No idea what it is about her, she doesn't serve them food or anything.

While we were clipping nails, she quickly discovered a way to put her finger behind their pig elbows and magically keep them from retracting their legs into their fat rolls like turtles. So nifty. I've been foolishly holding them by their wrists all this time.

Oh, plus she got Buttercup to stop screeching and relax, which was a world's first! Buttercup has screamed her lungs out and struggled every single time I've held her, and I mean the whole time. She doesn't dislike or fear people, she simply does NOT like having her eggplanty body touched. Buttercup's previous human had known her from birth and told me she has been this way since day one. My niece performed some kind of pig whispering spellcraft and after a minute or two of hoarse yelling, Buttercup shut up and melted into a pancake. It was great, should have gotten a picture.

Here's pictures of her with Peach and Sage instead. (I love how Sage has so much silly chin fat, man it's cute.) We were listening to music while we worked and after we finished grooming each pig, she'd guide them through some wiggly dance moves to celebrate. I told her "Well, that pig doesn't mind, but don't expect all of them to dance for you!" They all danced without objection.