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Impaction and nutrition?

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woodsidepiggies

Hi. I admit that I came to this forum looking for a bit of advice. Sorry, it's a bit of gross topic!

I have a five year old boar, Tiger, and he's recently started having problems with impaction. I'm cleaning out his perineal sac every other day. I've noticed that it's mostly the caecal pellets that get stuck in there. I've been offering them to him once I've taken them out but he's not interested in eating them.

I'm just a bit worried that he's missing out on the vitamins that he's supposed to be getting by eating these pellets. He's lost a little bit of weight since he started getting impaction problems and I was wondering if there's anything that I should be giving him to make up for vitamins that he might be missing out on. Should I be giving him supplements?

Thanks
 
Welcome to the forum!

Sometimes piggies don't want to eat the caecal pellets - I know none of mine ever have! - but if he is losing weight it does need investigating. I would normally say it doesn't matter that he isn't eating them, but the weight loss that appears to correspond with the impaction is a slight concern.
I suspect the only way to ensure he is getting the nutrients he normally gets from the caecal pellets is to feed it directly into the mouth. Leaving the delightful 'lump' you remove with him a bit longer may be enough to encourage him to eat it, or even making a 'poop soup' with it by mixing it with a bit of water and syringing it to him. Sounds horribly disgusting but it's worth trying.

I'm not sure about supplements as I don't recall what nutrients they get from the 'recycled poops' - I think it's along the lines of B vitamins but can't say for sure - but the cheapest way around it is to just use what he would normally have.
 
My boy Wilbur has also recently become impacted and he's not interested in eating what I get out, either. He's also quite skinny (but he's a rescue boar, and was already underweight when I got him, so I can't really comment on that) but I've put it down to his age (he's 4 years) so I wonder if your boy's weight loss is simply down to old age? It is the B vitamins they get from their pellets and you can buy these in supplements but I think you'd need to get them from a vet. Syringe feeding should really be a last resort as it has a significant risk of aspiration which can lead to all sorts of other problems so I'd steer away from that until you've sought other advice. Good luck with him :)
 
Old pigs tend to be like old people ie weight loss,even when eating normally. I regard syringe feeding as obligatory when other attempts have failed, ie within a day at the very most of a pig not eating.
I have never come across a pig that has been choked to death as a result of being syringe fed.
 
Yes, but this pig is eating normally so why syringe feed him just because he's not eating pellets? Aspiration is different to choking; it's when fluid gets into the lungs and causes a pneumonia ie. a gateway for infection.
 
I'm not saying syringe-feed. I'm saying syringe the caecal pellets to him. If he is losing weight at the time of his impaction, there may be a link. It would amount to a couple of mils at most.
 
No, I wasn't saying that to you directly - I was talking to AP, in response to his/her comment about syringe feeding. :)
 
Tracyxx
Cross purposes! I was referring to pigs that are not eating anything at all. Non-recycling boars, on a decent diet, get enough nutrients from what they eat so as not to be compromised by not recycling
 
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