• Discussions taking place within this forum are intended for the purpose of assisting you in discussing options with your vet. Any other use of advice given here is done so at your risk, is solely your responsibility and not that of this forum or its owner. Before posting it is your responsibility you abide by this Statement

Pig in pain, advise needed

Status
Not open for further replies.
denise

denise

Junior Guinea Pig
Joined
Dec 15, 2006
Messages
131
Reaction score
0
Points
165
One of our sows we have noticed is crying and not feeling her best. It seems like she is trying to pass droppings but she can't and is crying loudly everytime she tries. We don't know what to do and if there is anything we can do to ease the pain until we can get in at the vets tomorrow, we will make an appointment first thing. Her sister who she lives with never really is close to her unless there is something wrong and she is licking her tears away as her eyes are watering.

Any help or advise greatly appreciated
 
Oh bless her I hope she will be ok. I'm not sure what it could be but someone here will. Keep her warm and as stress free as possible in the meantime. Maybe impaction but I'm not sure. Vet as soon as possible though as you say. Fingers crossed x
 
It might be a twisted gut - get her to the vet asap!
 
She's obviously in alot of pain, keeps hunching her back up and crying, she won't even try to eat. She has been normal all day, eating and drinking and we have only just been hearing her starting to cry and noticed that something is very wrong. We will get her to the vets asap tomorrow morning for sure, just hope she lasts the night, fingers crossed!
 
We will let you know how we get on, just hoping she lasts the night
 
Poor piggy - fingers crossed for her xx
Do you not have an emergency vet if she is in so much pain?
 
Last edited:
Can't you get her to an emergency vet tonight - she needs help NOW!

It's one of the most agonising, painful things you can have; human or piggy!
 
Strangely she seems to have settled down a bit now. I found her lying down not crying and she started eating her dry food. She's not lifting herself up like she was and she is now just sitting there looking sorry for herself. I don't know of any emergency vets in the area so hopefully she will be ok until the morning
 
denise said:
Strangely she seems to have settled down a bit now. I found her lying down not crying and she started eating her dry food. She's not lifting herself up like she was and she is now just sitting there looking sorry for herself. I don't know of any emergency vets in the area so hopefully she will be ok until the morning
Click to expand...

Usually if you ring your vets normal number there will be a number for an emergency vet xx
 
Thankyou for that, didn't know that. A thought is bladder stones maybe, not had experience of this before. She still seems settled so we will be keeping a close eye on her tonight and give the vets a ring if she is in pain again. But other than that we will go to the vets tomorrow
 
If it were a twisted gut the pain would be increasing and the pig would cry with pain, without attempting to pass pellets. I would suspect a stone, if you have Buscopan give her one tablet, crushed and mixed with water.
 
As it seems to have stopped, I thought that that might be another possibility.
 
alcesterpigs said:
If it were a twisted gut the pain would be increasing and the pig would cry with pain, without attempting to pass pellets. I would suspect a stone, if you have Buscopan give her one tablet, crushed and mixed with water.
Click to expand...

I've not heard of Buscopan before, what is it? The pain did seem to increase but not it seems to have eased thankfully.
The bore we have that lives in a cage a few feet away was going mad squeaking while she was crying, think he was concerned. Just to let you know they are never together so no possibility of pregnancy by the way
 
Buscopan is an over the counter anti-spasmodic drug, it is useful for relieving discomfort in cases of bladder/urethral stones.
Acute abdominal pain can often be misdiagnosed but your pig was not displaying the characteristic signs of colic.
 
Thanks for everyones help and speedy replies, we were so worried. She seems ok this morning and is even eating normally, we will still take her to the vets though in a bit. xx
 
The vet hopes it's a bladder infection and not stones so has put her on anti-biotics and pro-biotics and we go back on weds to see if it's getting better but will go back sooner if she's in pain again. The vet did find a soft lump which he thinks is infection and not a stone. The sisters have been seperated as the vet said we need to monitor her closely so will see how we get on
 
I hope she is soon showing signs of improvement, However I am rather concerned about the advice to separate the sisters. Piggies can become stressed so easily and feeling they have lost their cage mate could really upset them.
 
They need not be separated - it's just additional stress.

Has your vet made an x-ray to exclude a stone? You don't need a GA (general anaesthetic) for that!

What is her medication?
 
She should be taking Septrin, plenty of cranberry juice will help.
 
She is on Baytril. We will put them back together tonight as we now know she is definatly passing water and droppings as normal. She does look a bit depressed bless her, she's not as bubbly as normal
 
Has your vet given you a painkiller for her, as cystitis is quite painful in itself? You would help your girl, if you could get some probiotic, either from your vet or from p@h to counter the harsh effect of baytril on the guts and keep the digestive system as stable as possible.

Is the baytril dose 0.4 ml twice daily?
 
Wiebke said:
Has your vet given you a painkiller for her, as cystitis is quite painful in itself? You would help your girl, if you could get some probiotic, either from your vet or from p@h to counter the harsh effect of baytril on the guts and keep the digestive system as stable as possible.

Is the baytril dose 0.4 ml twice daily?
Click to expand...

The vet gave her a painkiller injection. She has pro biotic as well, we made sure to get that too. She's on 0.3ml of baytril once per day. Both sisters are happier back together now. She still looks a bit down but she hasn't cried again or showed any signs of being in pain thankfully
 
Not sure what septrin is? But she has been given a clean bill of health but we are still to finish the course of baytril and give her the pro biotic for 2 more days after that. He says he thinks it was a urinary infection and not stones. He was a very nice vet, said what a nice piggie she was
 
Septrin is an antibiotic which is more effective than Baytril in treating a urinary tract infection.
 
Thanks for that, we will keep this in mind for future referance;)
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top