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Loki pig- ongoing health.

AidaB

AidaB

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We have had a tricky week.

Loki has dropped approx 50g in weight. He has done this before & never regains his lost weight. He is seen regularly by the vets.( Loki’s background history is not great. )

Loki’s been quite lethargic & very uninterested in pellets.
He has an avid hate of fibreplex, he can’t even tolerate it. So I have been giving him Pro C, on veg, this week.

(I have also found protexin pro fibre probiotic pellets- so he has had 2 of these daily for the last 6mths)

I have been giving Loki top up feeds this week. We averaged about 20ml a day, which has kept his weight stable at his new lower weight around 1.100kg.

Loki was prescribed Gabapentin 3weeks ago for his pain, around his back legs & front left leg, with possible muscular pain around his spine.

We have seen the vet(C&R) again today.
Loki has apparently slightly longer teeth on his back right. It appears he is favouring the left side for chewing.
He has been prescribed Metacam ongoing for now, and continue with the gabapentin.
We also have Zithromax to try for a week, as the vet felt he may have an abscess brewing, but no other obvious signs of one yet- just the slightly longer back teeth, and a hate of having under his chin touched.

Loki has hated having his chin touched the whole time he has lived with us, approx a year, so that’s not new.


I am a bit scared of the Zithromax- I know from reading other threads it’s probably the right one in this situation, but the chance of Loki not eating anything for himself worries me, especially with the fact he is a very slow syringe feeder. I have been rotated on 9hr shifts next week & and an hours lunch break - including travel time, only achieves 6ml syringe food for Loki on a good day.


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I'm sorry you and Loki are having such a worrying time. I mix the fibreplex with the syringe food for those that won't take it (most!) but if he is eating the biscuits that's probably easier.
 
piggieminder said:
I'm sorry you and Loki are having such a worrying time. I mix the fibreplex with the syringe food for those that won't take it (most!) but if he is eating the biscuits that's probably easier.
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Thank you.

Unfortunately I have tried fibreplex every way I can think off. I even tried syringing it by itself.

(Billy tolerated it in food, Hector accepted it as a necessity, Hamish ate it like icing on top of a pellet!)
 
I forgot to add, Loki also has the sneezes, no discharge, but a hint of a URI again, which is the other reason he was given the antibiotics.
 
Oh, Loki 💜

None of my boys ever liked Protexin. So happy I found this RodiCare® akut. Its very easy to give. My boys accepts it, and it does wonders! I order mine from Amazon to Sweden.

Does he eat critical care from a dish if you put it in his cage?

My Joe also had slightly longer back teeths. When he was sedated and x-rayed the vet saw he had a very sharp tooth embedded in gums in the back of his mouth. It was easy to fix, but hard to see it. It came back because he also seemed to prefer on one side.
Joe was on Gaba to, a quite high dose. It helped him start eat again after some stressing teeth-trimmings. Pigs are so anal about their thooties. They mouth has to be perfect.
 
Well we have survived my 9hr shifts, (regretting this temporary job)my lunch date is not impressed with my sandwich eating above his head.
I am not sure I am impressed with his table manners, eating poo at the table!


Unfortunately we are off too the vets again soon. Loki’s not eating much for himself & his weight gain does not add up vs his intake/ poo output.


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Well Loki is officially a puzzle, we are to continue with the antibiotics until Friday & ongoing pain relief indefinitely.
He’s definitely uncomfortable in his mouth, in the same spot as before. )Vet said she would have expected to see some improvement already. )

Loki is currently booked in for a few tests on Wednesday. I am going to try and up his syringe feeds to see if it helps.
 
AidaB said:
Well Loki is officially a puzzle, we are to continue with the antibiotics until Friday & ongoing pain relief indefinitely.
He’s definitely uncomfortable in his mouth, in the same spot as before. )Vet said she would have expected to see some improvement already. )

Loki is currently booked in for a few tests on Wednesday. I am going to try and up his syringe feeds to see if it helps.
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Best of luck, hopefully the tests will show what's up and it is easily treated. He's in the best place with cat and rabbit.

Dental xrays may be in order. One of the piggies who came in with Loki, Tweed, had problems a few of months after rescue. He was bright and definitely hungry but just couldn't eat. Turns out his jaw had completely eroded on one side, likely down to scurvy before rescue, as well as arthritis.
 
Wheekallweek said:
Dental xrays may be in order. One of the piggies who came in with Loki, Tweed, had problems a few of months after rescue. He was bright and definitely hungry but just couldn't eat. Turns out his jaw had completely eroded on one side, likely down to scurvy before rescue, as well as arthritis.
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Thank you, I remembered about Tweed. 🙁, and I have told the vet, I had it added to Loki’s medical record when he first came to live with us, but will remind them on Wednesday.
 
AidaB said:
Thank you, I remembered about Tweed. 🙁, and I have told the vet, I had it added to Loki’s medical record when he first came to live with us, but will remind them on Wednesday.
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Fingers crossed it's nothing as serious 🤞
 
Loki finished the Zithromax on Friday, its been a long week- between work, visiting relatives & syringe feeding Loki, who decided to stop eating. ( Also someone has passed me the lurgy.)

We had a longer than anticipated drive going to spend the weekend with our relatives- luckily Wally & Loki did very well. Syringe feeding in the car at the services, was interesting, Loki had a good look around & seemed totally unfazed by the situation.

I am so thankful he’s eating some hay independently today, he’s also a lot brighter. I have celebrated the few poos I found this morning!

(Just edited to explain…. Loki’s doing plenty of poos- when I am giving him food, not so many when he pootling about by himself.)

Loki has perfected his lets eat as many poos as I can while the humans waiting with a syringe full of recovery food. Which means everything takes twice as long.





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AidaB said:
Loki finished the Zithromax on Friday, its been a long week- between work, visiting relatives & syringe feeding Loki, who decided to stop eating. ( Also someone has passed me the lurgy.)

We had a longer than anticipated drive going to spend the weekend with our relatives- luckily Wally & Loki did very well. Syringe feeding in the car at the services, was interesting, Loki had a good look around & seemed totally unfazed by the situation.

I am so thankful he’s eating some hay independently today, he’s also a lot brighter. I have celebrated the few poos I found this morning!

(Just edited to explain…. Loki’s doing plenty of poos- when I am giving him food, not so many when he pootling about by himself.)

Loki has perfected his lets eat as many poos as I can while the humans waiting with a syringe full of recovery food. Which means everything takes twice as long.





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Glad he’s turned a corner. Keep munching Loki.

Eating poops after antibiotics is a fantastic sign.
 
Loki spent Wednesday morning at the vets.
After an X-ray, they spotted that Loki unfortunately had a stone, in a tricky spot heading towards his kidney.
Neither us nor the vets had suspected a stone.
As he had been unwell for sometime, and despite pain medication , was uncomfortable, the decision was made to let Loki go.
RIP little man. 🌈
 
We were so sorry to hear of his passing. He was a truly special pig - we called him scar face as he had all those scars around his mouth and nose!

He lived a fantastic life with you, although it didn't end the way anyone would have wanted, he knew how loved and cherished he was.

RIP Lyle/Loki - over the Rainbow Bridge with Tweed 🌈❤️
 
So very sorry to read this news.
The decision is one of the hardest we make but is the last gift of love we give our beloved piggies.
Loki was a very special boy.
Be gentle with yourself as you grieve.
Hugs 🤗
 
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