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I think Garry may be dying...

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always a good sign when their eating away great to here he's doing ok keep going little garry xx
 
MintyAndGarry said:
Nope! Tried him with banana and he just turned his nose up!

I think he's doing OK with the nugget mushy stuff. It's not that wet - just enough to mash the nuggets down - and he's picking some up, chewing away, and there is the odd head nod where he's shifting a harder bit around his mouth. Moo isn't eating any (think he's sleeping!) so will have a look to see how much has gone when he disappears back into his pigloo. Either way, I'll try him with more CC tonight and then in the morning (if not before if I'm randomly awake at 3 again!) before he has his 'porridge'!
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I can imagine happy music now, just flicking through those posts! Good luck on gary!
 
There is definite refusal of the CC now - could it be because he is feeling full? He's eating well again this morning, has had some pepper and is munching his way through some nugget mush. Obviously I'll try to top him up with some more CC later on, but all is still well with his appetite.
 
Haven't been on for a while and so great news to hear Gary is improving - and salute your efforts and perseverence to keep his tummy full... hand feeding a poorly piggie can be extremely stressful and tiring..... and requires a great deal of comitment.... I'm sure you must be feeling exhausted! Well done - he couldn;t be in better hands - Gary is a very lucky piggie.

Are you still syringing the CC? - once mine start paying an interest in food again, they refuse the syringe but are happy to eat a thicker CC mix heaped on a spoon which I use to supplement the mushed pellets. Might be worth a try?



xx
 
I'm glad that Garry has a real appetite for life again! :))

Keep weighing him daily!
 
MintyAndGarry said:
He seems to be going in the right direction (I really need to tally my scales with the vet's ones) but the numbers are going upwards from what he was last week.
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It's opposite to how we are. I get on the scales and want the numbers to have gone downwards, and put Pops on the scales and want to see they have gone up! :))
 
i dont get on scaled to scared of what they'll tell me yes i am a chicken lol

send best wishes to you & garry hope you get some c&c in to him
 
how;s garry today? really hope you got some c&c in to him last keeping fingers crossed come onn garry x
 
MintyAndGarry said:
The yellow bit is definitely in the shed...just with Garry I haven't got it out yet. Do you still want it?
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I do still want it thanks, but Garry is the important thing at the minute so don't worry about it for now!

Glad he is doing much better & managing to eat some food by himself now! Good luck at the vets tomorrow. Let us know the outcome regarding his weight and teeth! x
 
We're going at 5.40 so will let you know as soon as I get back. He's been very enthusiastic with his food again today so I'm keeping my fingers crossed. Need to be up early to give him as much CC as possible in the morning before I go to work...it really is like having a baby! Not that I mind of course...he makes me get up on time!:))
 
oh my gosh - I went through the exact same thing. Broke my heart. I still cry over my little pig and he died 15 years ago! If I had it to do over again....I swear I would not put my pig through a vet visit again. They don't understand and all it does is bring them tremendous anxiety. Poor Garry must be hungry and that's why he squeaks every so often. My pig just wanted to rest and die in peace. He curled up, put his nose in the corner and I wish I had allowed him the dignity to die in peace, his way without imposing my will upon him. We have lost sight sometimes that we all die, and we die of something and Garry's overgrown teeth are not an unusual phenomenon. I'm so sorry to hear of your distress. Hold him, cover him with a warm fleece and place a cozy dark box for him to retreat into to find solitude as he passes over, as this will provide comfort. They are cavies! You've been a good mom.
 
Bill & Mae said:
oh my gosh - I went through the exact same thing. Broke my heart. I still cry over my little pig and he died 15 years ago! If I had it to do over again....I swear I would not put my pig through a vet visit again. They don't understand and all it does is bring them tremendous anxiety. Poor Garry must be hungry and that's why he squeaks every so often. My pig just wanted to rest and die in peace. He curled up, put his nose in the corner and I wish I had allowed him the dignity to die in peace, his way without imposing my will upon him. We have lost sight sometimes that we all die, and we die of something and Garry's overgrown teeth are not an unusual phenomenon. I'm so sorry to hear of your distress. Hold him, cover him with a warm fleece and place a cozy dark box for him to retreat into to find solitude as he passes over, as this will provide comfort. They are cavies! You've been a good mom.
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Garry is doing well and making improvements which you would know if you read the whole thread.
If a pig wants to fight then its not our job to step in the way only help them along,my own piggy went through hell for much longer than Garry and sadly i chose to put him to sleep but he was a fighter and for 3 months he fought so i let him go as long as he wanted to!
Garry is far from finished the best thing you could do is support him.
Sending love for Garry
 
Bill & Mae said:
oh my gosh - I went through the exact same thing. Broke my heart. I still cry over my little pig and he died 15 years ago! If I had it to do over again....I swear I would not put my pig through a vet visit again. They don't understand and all it does is bring them tremendous anxiety. Poor Garry must be hungry and that's why he squeaks every so often. My pig just wanted to rest and die in peace. He curled up, put his nose in the corner and I wish I had allowed him the dignity to die in peace, his way without imposing my will upon him. We have lost sight sometimes that we all die, and we die of something and Garry's overgrown teeth are not an unusual phenomenon. I'm so sorry to hear of your distress. Hold him, cover him with a warm fleece and place a cozy dark box for him to retreat into to find solitude as he passes over, as this will provide comfort. They are cavies! You've been a good mom.
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KingBoris&HisFollowers said:
Garry is doing well and making improvements which you would know if you read the whole thread.
If a pig wants to fight then its not our job to step in the way only help them along,my own piggy went through hell for much longer than Garry and sadly i chose to put him to sleep but he was a fighter and for 3 months he fought so i let him go as long as he wanted to!
Garry is far from finished the best thing you could do is support him.
Sending love for Garry
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Thanks for your comment but as King Boris has said, Garry has made great improvements over the last week. This time last week, I was actually willling him to let go if he needed to as he was in such a state, but Garry has proved to be a little fighter so who am I to tell him he should go on to the next world? :)
 
Bill & Mae said:
oh my gosh - I went through the exact same thing. Broke my heart. I still cry over my little pig and he died 15 years ago! If I had it to do over again....I swear I would not put my pig through a vet visit again. They don't understand and all it does is bring them tremendous anxiety. Poor Garry must be hungry and that's why he squeaks every so often. My pig just wanted to rest and die in peace. He curled up, put his nose in the corner and I wish I had allowed him the dignity to die in peace, his way without imposing my will upon him. We have lost sight sometimes that we all die, and we die of something and Garry's overgrown teeth are not an unusual phenomenon. I'm so sorry to hear of your distress. Hold him, cover him with a warm fleece and place a cozy dark box for him to retreat into to find solitude as he passes over, as this will provide comfort. They are cavies! You've been a good mom.
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I'm sorry but I have to disagree with you. I think it is always important as pet owners to know when it's time to call it a day, but I have the living proof here that dental problems can be managed and that the piggie can live a perfectly normally life.

With an excellent vet, a determined piggie and an owner who is willing to put in some extremely hard work (for five months I got up every single night, at least once to syringe feed Poppet) amazing results can be achieved!

I hope your vet appointment goes well Emma, and that you can now start to work out a plan of action to manage the dental problems and ensure that Garry continues to improve!
 
furryfriends said:
I'm sorry but I have to disagree with you. I think it is always important as pet owners to know when it's time to call it a day, but I have the living proof here that dental problems can be managed and that the piggie can live a perfectly normally life.

With an excellent vet, a determined piggie and an owner who is willing to put in some extremely hard work (for five months I got up every single night, at least once to syringe feed Poppet) amazing results can be achieved!

I hope your vet appointment goes well Emma, and that you can now start to work out a plan of action to manage the dental problems and ensure that Garry continues to improve!
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I agree Debbie, One of the ladies who runs a rescue over here has a piggy named Dibbles and he is her pride and joy,he had major dental issues and got under 400g as a full grown pig yet he is now thriving over a year later;)
 
I haven't had to demonstrate anything like the commitment of furryfriends, but I also have a pig with dental problems (which are being managed without general anaesthetic by a very kind member of this forum). I couldn't say that having her teeth trimmed isn't stressful for her, but fortunately I can get her out and home again within an hour. She has required some syringe feeding at times, which she seems to thoroughly enjoy when she needs it, but is maintaining a healthy weight on her own at the moment, and is her usual sparky self.

I wouldn't take heroic measures to keep a miserable and pain-filled animal alive, but it seems a shame for an otherwise healthy and fairly young pig to slip away because of wonky teeth.
 
It would be extremely difficult, if not impossible to keep a "miserable and pain-filled animal alive".
I have treated many pigs with severe dental problems, ie those that need treatment at least once every 10 days or so. When their time to die arrives, it does so very quickly, there is a rapid deterioration in the overall condition and usually within 24 hours the pig dies.
 
My Kurt had his eye removed in September 2003 due to a serious eye infection - which healed well and quickly. However, because he was quite sore in the recovery period, he wasn't chewing evenly, which led to dental overgrowth that he could never manage on his own. But, I was fortunate to have an excellent rodentologist less than an hour's drive away, and an understanding employer, so he was able to have tooth trimming at least once every 2 weeks. He lived on a further 2 years and 2 months to nearly 8 years of age (I think - he was a rescue and exact age was not certain.) I'd say his quality of life during that time was pretty good.

So, fingers crossed, Garry will also soon be back on his paws and able to "manage" his dental issues successfully. Best of luck with that!

I suppose though, it's fair to say that not everyone in the world (or even in the UK) who has a piggie has access to such top class care and there are still too few vets willing to do dental work without anaesthetic - or even know how to do it properly, for that matter. Maybe that's the situation for Billy & Mae, or at least as a new member, they might not have read the whole thread and realised that Garry was making steady progress after what was a quite frightening opening post.
 
How did it go at the vets? Hope you have some good news regarding his weight and teeth?

I was nearly in tears reading the post on previous page as it has nothing to do with this situation at all. What is right for one pig and one situation isn't always right for another. I hope it hasn't upset you too much as I found it very upsetting, inconsiderate and just mis-informed!

Infuture I hope that people read a whole thread before making comments which can be upsetting to others
 
His weight has dropped slightly again this week but nothing too drastic so basically we are maintaining it. The vet said he will need to have his teeth filed down again and she is debating as to exactly what to do. Whether she takes them down to the point where she did last time or takes them further where we'll have to then basically teach Garry to eat properly again. She is very experienced with dental work on small animals so I'm confident she will make the right decision.
 
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