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Mystery illness: lethargy and no appetite

mcgstar

mcgstar

New Born Pup
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Just brought my 2 year old boar back from a vet visit. He’s been a bit subdued since yesterday evening and off his food today, so i dutifully whisked him off to see our lovely vet.

And ... there’s nothing obviously wrong? He might have a slight respiratory infection. and he had a sore spot on one side of his face, which the vet thinks might be an abcsess starting.

He had some painkillers and he’s got some antibiotic and some supporting food. So i just have to try and keep him eating and go back tomorrow and see how he is.

I don’t have a question as such, i just want to be worried about my boy and his mystery illness to a sympathetic audience!

Xx
 
Sorry to hear your boy isn’t well. Definitely get started in the support feeding to keep him going until the medication kicks in.
I hope he makes a quick and full recovery
 
Hopefully once the medication starts working he’ll feel more himself. Supporting ears all around 🙂
 
We all share your pain here! Poor little fellow. Hope the meds kick in quickly and he perks up for you. What’s his name?
 
He’s called Collingwood. He lost his front teeth in an accident last year, so he knows the syringe feeding game. (they grew back with no complications , luckily!)
The meds definitely have him feeling perkier and more lively but it’s still difficult persuading him to eat. His brother (Nelson) things all these treat foods and extra snacks are brilliant!
 
If he has a potential sore spot/abscess on the side of his face did the vet check his back teeth? Often facial abscesses can be linked to overgrown molars which can make eating very difficult and painful for them. Definitely keep an eye on the sore spot, it's not uncommon for abscesses to blow up seemingly out of nowhere and if it does you need to get him to the vet asap to deal with it before it bursts. Sometimes abscesses don't react to antibiotics either without being opened to allow healing from the inside out. Have you been told to go back to check progress after giving the meds time to work?
 
we’ve been back today as the baytril seemed to perk him up but he was refusing all food completely this morning. he’s been x rayed all over and had his teeth checked and it’s still a bit of a mystery!
a few potential things showed up on the x ray: some joint deterioration in his knees which might cause pain. and his intestines were looking worryingly empty (but we don’t know if tbat caused him to go off his food or just happened because he’s not eating! She also did a needle aspiration of the lump, and has sent it off for testing, but there’s no obvious link to his teeth.
Back home now and i’ve got just over 1ml of critical care into him so far, plus he’s happily (but slowly) eaten half a blueberry. Hopefully i can get him eating more asap as that’s the biggest threat just now.
 
Baytril will often mess with their gut bacteria and put them off eating, is he having probiotics? I'm syringe feeding a piggy with a tiny (size of a pea) abscess on his face at the moment, the pressure was putting him off food. He eats pickily on and off depending on how quickly it refills. I'm having to pick the scab off daily to let it drain. Ours has no link to teeth and is thought to be started by a hay poke.
Good luck with your boy, I just wanted you to know you are not alone!
 
he’s got a food with a prebiotic but we don’t have a probiotic for him, hmm.
After a night and morning and resisting syringe feeding, he tucked happily and greedily into a slice of cucumber and followed that with a couple of dandelion leaves, and a few nuggets.
Hooray! he had enough of being out the cage and kept trying to run away, but he’s had a little explore around in his cage before settling in for a sleep so hopefully he’ll start to feed better as he digests his breakfast
 

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You could try giving the food on a spoon rather than using a syringe.
 
Thanks for the tips :)

He’s a lot more alert and active now, though still not keen on eating. Good to know he’s feeling a little stronger, but unfortunately it also makes him even more wriggly and food time has definitely got messier!
 
You could try using a spoon and let piggy lick/eat it.
 
He wants nothing at all to do with the critical care, but i’m going to try spoon feeding with his normal pellets mushed up.
He was drinking by himself this morning, which i was pleased to see!
 
Is he eating pellets and hay at all?
 
Siikibam said:
Is he eating pellets and hay at all?
Click to expand...
Nope. He was nibbling pellets yesterday morning (though unsure if he was swallowing them) but since then he’s not been keen.

We’re going back to the vets later today to check on progress but given that we don’t know what the underlying cause is, i’m worried that we’re running out of options.

Hopefully the vet will have the test results back on his mystery neck lump but even if it is a cause, he might not be able to get it treated until Monday and i don’t know if i can get him to eat enough to keep him going all weekend.

Argh, why do piggies get ill?
 
Hopefully the vet has some answers. Keep trying with the mushed pellets and critical care.
 
thank you - getting support here is great. a lot of (non-piggie or non-pet) people don’t quite realise how hard it is looking after them when they’re poorly, so having a knowledgeable and understanding community is fantastic.
 
I hope you can get to the bottom of what’s going on. My lot aren’t keen on critical care so I tend to use Emeraid or supreme science recovery food. I do find if I mix a bit of baby food into the recovery mixes like critical care it can help encourage them to eat.
 
I am sad to report that Collingwood didn’t make it. He was eating less and less, we were running out of things to try, and on quality of life grounds we made the sad decision to put him to sleep.

A horrible loss, but I know he was sad and we had diminishing chances of him recovering.
 
I am so sorry to hear your very sad news. Having had to make the same decision myself a few weeks ago I know how hard it is, but I have no doubt you have done the kindest thing for your boy. He was so lucky to have you, you did all you possibly could for him. Look after yourself while you grieve. X
 
I am so sorry to read your post. What a tough decision you’ve had to make. So sorry for your loss x
 
So sorry for your loss. What a tough decision you had to make, but that is true love to do what’s best for him. Take care of yourself ❣️
 
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