Pig acting off/not eating after vet visit

[chewypig]

Hi all,
I'll try to sum this up. I have a roughly 3 year old pig named Chewy. I have a fear of trimming his nails so I like to take him to the vet for trims. He went to a new vet one week ago (Monday 5/3) and I had to stay in the car due to pandemic restrictions. They had to do an exam since he was a new patient there. They said he was completely healthy, perfect weight, etc. Trimmed his nails.

As soon as I got the carrier back in the car and looked at him, I thought something felt wrong. He just seemed so freaked out. I stopped the car and pet him for a bit. I expected him to be a little stressed from the vet of course so I figured it was best to just get him home and back in his comfy cage.

Well, since then, he's been acting gradually more off. He wouldn't touch his daily veggies. I got him an all new variety of fresh veggies, he ate it for a couple days, then less yesterday, and today barely touched it.

He hasn't been very interested in any of his favorite treats: carrot, apple, nothing. He might nibble a little but nothing like before. He won't even eat his all time favorite thing, the Oxbow Vitamin C cookies.

For the first couple days I chocked it up to him being a little stressed from the vet but it's gradually gotten more concerning and here we are a week later, his poops today are now looking smaller, thinner, dryer. I know that's a big red flag.

I see him munching on hay or pellets and drinking water but clearly not enough if his poops are looking like that.

I'm calling the vet first thing in the morning. Not the vet he went to for the trim because I have no idea what they did to him, but a different vet with pig experience about an hour away.

But has anyone ever dealt with this before? It doesn't seem like they injured him because he isn't limping and there's nothing visibly wrong. But I'm no longer ok with chocking it up to stress from his vet outing because it's now a week later.

Any ideas or things I can ask the vet to check for are welcome.

I lost my other piggie last September due to a mysterious illness and my best efforts weren't enough to save him. I really need to save this one.

Thanks,
Haley

 

[chewypig]

Also want to add that I'm getting Critical Care in the morning to start just in case. Hoping the vet can fit him in ASAP though.

 

[Siikibam]

It’s not necessarily something they did to him so I think don’t jump to conclusions. Not eating veg isn’t important. What is, is eating hay. When did you last weigh him and what was he?

I would now switch to weighing him daily at the same time and topping him up with syringe feed. You can use soaked pellets for now until the critical care comes. Small poos are due to a low input which means he’s not been eating enough hay. Remember (poo) output is 1-2 days behind input.

I hope you manage to get him booked in soon.
Not Eating, Weight Loss And The Importance Of Syringe Feeding Fibre
Complete Syringe Feeding Guide

 

[chewypig]

It’s not necessarily something they did to him so I think don’t jump to conclusions. Not eating veg isn’t important. What is, is eating hay. When did you last weigh him and what was he?

I would now switch to weighing him daily at the same time and topping him up with syringe feed. You can use soaked pellets for now until the critical care comes. Small poos are due to a low input which means he’s not been eating enough hay. Remember (poo) output is 1-2 days behind input.

I hope you manage to get him booked in soon.
Not Eating, Weight Loss And The Importance Of Syringe Feeding Fibre
Complete Syringe Feeding Guide

Thank you - he was last weighed at the vet one week ago but they didn't tell me his weight, just said it was good. I'll call and find out in the morning and then weigh him at home.
He was just munching on some hay a little while ago so hopefully his poops start improving. I'll have to soak some pellets for now since the stores apparently don't carry CC anymore.
Thanks for the response!

 

[Siikibam]

Try Amazon for cc if you can shop there. You need to weigh him yourself at home. Weekly when they’re okay and daily when they’re ill or you’re concerned there’s something wrong - like now. I wouldn’t ring them and just start your own record. Kitchen scales do the job just fine.

Try offering it in a syringe. Or in a bowl or on a spoon.

 

[chewypig]

Try Amazon for cc if you can shop there. You need to weigh him yourself at home. Weekly when they’re okay and daily when they’re ill or you’re concerned there’s something wrong - like now. I wouldn’t ring them and just start your own record. Kitchen scales do the job just fine.

Try offering it in a syringe. Or in a bowl or on a spoon.

Amazon has no CC available right now, I'll have to call around to vets and see if they have any. If not I'll make my own. Thank you for the response.