Rosie Pig and choking

[RealHousewifeofOK]

Hi, this is my 1st post-glad to be here! We have 3 precious princess piggies-Pippa (Pip, Pippy), who we got at about a month old, Rosie and Milliy, who started their lives in my DD'S 2nd grade classroom (barring the 1st month or so-they were much too small and not ready for that environment, so I kept/nursed them for about a month) the teacher, who took excellent care of the girls, moved this year, so we adopted them-all of the girls are under a year old.

I have noticed, since she came 'home', when she was an infant-that Rosie will occasionally (but roughly, every day) choke/gag/cough while eating, like something is stuck in her throat..she'll do it, and be fine. Ever since she came 'back' I have noticed that about, once every 4-6 weeks, she will sound raspy, like she has a URI. We bave lost 2 piggies to this, despite having had taken them in for medical treatment immediately, so I'm hyper-aware of this, and always on the look out.

This has only happened 2-3x in my care, all at night, so, of course, I remove her from the big cage and cuddle up with her every time, until I can contact the vet...all the while giving her extra loves, water/veggies/hay. She acts completely normal eating/drinking/functioning during these spells. The strange thing is, I will be holding the water bottle for her to drink from, and she likes to jerk it around-inevitably, she'll have some water 'go down the wrong pipe'....have a coughing fit.....and then be back to completely normal-absolutely no rasp/wheeze.

This as led me to conclude that she is getting food stuck in her throat/windpipe at times, probably due to some hereditary malformation or occasional problem with swallowing or chewing (she's a pet store pig, sadly)-the vet has not seen anything abnormal...but she has also not seen her *during* one of these spells.

She is not under weight, she eats regularly, and is the picture of health otherwise. She desn't seem any worse for the wear, or even disturbed- either when coughing or during the raspy spells. Her lungs sound clear, she doesn't struggle for breath during these, either.

Does anyone have, or has anyone had a piggy with this problem? My biggest fear is that somehow, whatever she gets caught in there, will somehow end up getting into her lungs and cause pneumonia. It's frightening for me when she does it, but I've learned to offer up the water bottle, and that's solved the problem every time. Any advice/ideas/theories would be appreciated!

 

[sport_billy]

Hello, Welcome to the forum.

We have a special needs piggie called 'Megan'. She is a rescue piggie with various health issues... One of them is a intermitent coughing, intermitent hoot and choking noises. She has been checked for URI's while in the rescue and has a clean bill of health. Megan is inbred and doesn't look like a 'normal' piggie (although to us she is perfect) 'Megan' will make choking noises while eating and will often have 20 mins of hooting. It is just the way she is.

What is your little one bedded on? Sometimes Woodshavings can cause a reaction... Also have you changed washing powder that any of their dstuff is washed in? Or are you washing your hands with a different soap - I know this may sound odd but one of our girls 'Treacle' hoot's if we use a certain brand of soap then handle her....

We swithced 'Megan' to fleece when she came to live with us and she is much better breathing wise for it... But will still choke while eating.

If you can see a pattern as you saw after drinking or eating it may well be the way she is. If the hoot continues while she is sitting around etc, it's always worth getting checked out with a vet and get her breathing and heart listen to..
Hope this helps

 

[Wiebke]

I have several greedy piggies that choke/cough at every meal because they stuff themselves too quickly. Have you noticed whether the raspiness is connected to dusty hay, a new or the bottom of a hay bag?

 

[RealHousewifeofOK]

Hi! Thanks for the speedy replies! I switched everyone from wood bedding to fleece, using CareFresh in their litter boxes, a few months ago. I haven't noticed any rhyme or reason, other than it seems to happen when she is eating, and one of the 'raspy' times occurred when she was startled while eating, so I think some food got lodged in there as she took off.

I do recall that she has done it since she was a baby. I remember keeping her and Milliy for roughly a month, and hearing that coughing/gagging/choking-which scared me to death....none of my other girls had ever made that sound. I initially thought it was Mill....I call her our 'Special' pig, lol, even though she's not. I'm just used to smooth coats and very round little faces, while Milliy is all fluff and rosettes, with a very distinct Roman nose. she has always been more delicate than Rosie or Pippy, who are both built like little fat tanks!

Honestly, Milliy was SO tiny, a pet store pig, who landed in a 2nd grade classroom in the middle of Winter/cold season....I didn't think she would make it. She didn't even seem to know/understand how to eat or use the water bottle. About a week after her arrival, the kid's had a little program in the classroom, and the parents were there, so there was a bit of commotion. Rosie took it in stride...but Mill basically shut down, I'm pretty sure she went into some sort of nervous shock. I'm SO glad I was there, this was right before Thanksgiving break, and I made the executive decision to take the girls home with us, and get them healthy and fat, although I really didn't think Milliy would make it. I literally carried that tiny pig around in a blanket for days, feeding and watering her by hand.

She gave me some scares and sleepless nights, too...but, she pulled through, and is thriving now! She is petite, and shy/timid, but really, she's a gorgeous piggy-that ski-slope nose just gets me...I call her our 'model', because she is gorgeous, but....well, just doesn't seem as intelligent as Pip and Rosie. LOL.

Anyhow..to make a pointless long story short, lol...I thought it was Milliy making those sounds until they came back to live with us forever, and I realized it was actually Rose! She's got a very 'flat' little face and TEENY mouth-I'm almost positive this all combines to cause the episodes.