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Possible Bloat? Please Help

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Suki&Indie

Suki&Indie

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Yesterday was quite a nice day so I put my piggies out to graze, this is the first time this year they've been out to graze. This morning I noticed one of my piggies making funny noises (a little bit of tummy rumbling and something that sounded like farting/balloon deflating) she ate some hay and a little bit of food and drank some water. I think she might have bloat? I'm not sure though, what should I do? I have a photo of her on my lap (sorry for quality) does she seem bloated? I flicked her tummy to see if it sounded hollow but to be totally honest I'm not sure what hollow sounds like

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It could be that she's not used to the grass as she's not had it for s while and it's upset her tummy. Grass makes one of my pigs bloated too. You'll know if it's bloat because her tummy will feel almost hard and tight to touch, like a drum if that makes sense?

Keep and eye on if she's pooing as bloat can be quite mild and cause little issues but it can also be quite severe and require vet treatment.


If she'll tolerate it, try massaging her tummy. Not too hard but firm enough to help get rid of any gas that's built up
 
Beans&Toast said:
It could be that she's not used to the grass as she's not had it for s while and it's upset her tummy. Grass makes one of my pigs bloated too. You'll know if it's bloat because her tummy will feel almost hard and tight to touch, like a drum if that makes sense?

Keep and eye on if she's pooing as bloat can be quite mild and cause little issues but it can also be quite severe and require vet treatment.


If she'll tolerate it, try massaging her tummy. Not too hard but firm enough to help get rid of any gas that's built up
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Thank you for the advice! Should I bring her to the vet?
 
Suki&Indie said:
Thank you for the advice! Should I bring her to the vet?
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If she's okay in herself, drinking, eating hay etc then I would just see how she goes.

Does her sides feel tight/hard? If she feels bloated then don't give any fresh fruit or veg for a day or so until it passes, just hay for fibre.

Try massaging her sides with her on your lap, when I do it for Toast it usually takes about 5-10 minutes to start working then I can hear her passing gas... it's can be quite uncomfortable for them to be bloated so just keep and eye on her. Lots of floor time to run around can help too.


If she stops moving around, stops eating/drinking, looks fluffed up or huddled into a ball then that would be time to phone a vet
 
Is the belly feeling distended and hard compared to her companion's?

If in doubt, stay off any fresh food to let the guts settle down. Grass can cause tummy upsets, diarrhea or bloating if your piggies' guts are not used to it.

As long as your girl is eating, active and chipper, I would not worry too much, just keep an eye on her. See an out-of-hours vet if you your girl is looking unwell and is showing signs of acute bloating. Also see a vet if her poos are runny (diarrhea).
 
Ok so update; Massaged her and she seemed to lose a bit of her tightness in her tummy (the tightest areas are at her sides) my main worry is that the food bowl and hay has been left pretty untouched, probably going to bring her to the vet just to be safe
 
Suki&Indie said:
Ok so update; Massaged her and she seemed to lose a bit of her tightness in her tummy (the tightest areas are at her sides) my main worry is that the food bowl and hay has been left pretty untouched, probably going to bring her to the vet just to be safe
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That's good she's not as gassy. But I agree if she's not touching her food it would be worth a vet visit.

Has she ate anything at all? If not start syringe feeding to keep her going
 
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