Sows & Stones

[Niki]

In all the years i have had piggies i have never had a pig with a stone.

On 15th October after weighing everyone Lark showed a 121g loss (in 2 wks) but exhibited no other symptoms. After speaking to Debbie about it she suggested i feel for a stone as she had had a pig who had lost weight & a stone was the cause.
Sure enough i could feel a hard lump just at the exit/entrance of her urethra, she saw the vet on the 17th October & yes there was indeed a stone which could be seen. The vet (new exotic vet) tried for almost half an hour to manipulate it manually but with no success; his worry was that it was too big & he may rupture the urethra & so she was kept in to be operated on.
A relatively simple episiotomy where she would be given a "whiff of gas" & would be out for no more than 10 mins.
All went well & i brought her home with metacam & baytril, she did eat a little that night but wasn't quite right. At her post-op check, her tiny wound was healing well with no sign of infection yet she still wasn't back to how she was before the stone was removed.

I took her back again on the Friday as she still wasn't eating herself & was being syringe fed, but at the vets she seemed to perk right up & an x-ray was suggested which i declined because it would be under gas again & i'd been told that her being "not quite right" could be down to the anaesthetic.
She was now being fully syringe-fed & the longer i fed her the paler & colder she would go. I was worried as i'd lost her sister in May to heart failure (she went blue).

I searched through the phone book to find a vet who would do a conscious x-ray & found one who said they would do it but they needed to see her first. By this time Lark was cold all over, wasn't interested in veg & was flat; i knew she was dying but this vet said i should continue to feed her as she wasn't strong enough for an x-ray & gave her a shot of metaclop thinking her gut wasn't moving.
Lark died in my arms 24 hours later. I couldn't believe a "whiff of gas" had caused this & i wished i'd never had the stone removed eventhough i knew i couldn't 've left it there.

You can imagine my horror, when a week later Linnet showed a weight loss of 123g. I felt for a stone & both she & Sparrow had one. I dreaded taking them but thankfully the vet i saw this time was able, with the help of KY Jelly & a catheter, to manipulate both stones out without any anaesthetic. I was elated.... & then Linnets lump grew......

This is pic of Lark, Linnet & Sparrow's stones for comparison. Lark & Linnet both lost weight, Sparrow did not.

I asked the vet what i had done wrong, i didn't feed them any differently, nothing had changed. He said i'd not done anything wrong, that pigs naturally excrete calcium; too much they form stones, too little & their bodies take the calcium needed from their own bones which can then lead to dental & other diseases.

The point of this post is to make people aware to check your sows for stones, they are easy to feel & are relatively easy to remove, especially if they're small.
Thankfully Linnet, Sparrow & Weeble remain stone-free

 

[Poppy'sMum]

I am so sorry you lost your piggy

I've had two sows with stones, one removed at the CCT manually & one I removed manually myself, as it was literally "poking" out They are horrible things & I think piggies are just unlucky sometimes. Can you tell us what dry food they have had, & veg daily? Maybe it will help others if there is something someone can spot that could make them prone to stones.

 

[Niki]

I am so sorry you lost your piggy

I've had two sows with stones, one removed at the CCT manually & one I removed manually myself, as it was literally "poking" out They are horrible things & I think piggies are just unlucky sometimes. Can you tell us what dry food they have had, & veg daily? Maybe it will help others if there is something someone can spot that could make them prone to stones.

I agree they are horrible

They are/were fed on Wagg Crunch & Wagg Optimum, I am now changing them to Burgess Blackcurrant & Oregano.

Veg: cucumber, romaine lettuce, spring greens, celery, carrot, tomato, peppers, apple.
They get either a romaine leaf each or ONE large spring green leaf between 2-3 pigs & i now only feed ONE handful of dry food per day instead of keeping their bowls topped up.

 

[Caviesgalore (EPGPR)]

So sorry you are going through this Niki, we've had several piggies who have had bladder stones and I hate them with a passion (the stones not the pigs I hasten to add!).

One of my current sows, Smudge has constant problems with stones, but like your girlies she has avoided surgery so far as we can usually manage to manipulate them out, occasionally Nicola my vet gives her a light whiff of gas just to make her a bit more relaxed.

I have looked at my husbandary under a microscope, each time asking "what am I doing wrong". I think a lot comes down to us being very vigilent where our piggies are concerned, if you think of those animals that are left in a hutch at the bottom of the garden and are only interacted with when they are fed, how easy would it be to miss the first signs of stones?

I too only give the gang a small scoop of Burgess Excel pellets a day now, I filter all their water, offer lots of hay, meadow and Oxbow or similar and we tend to avoid calcium rich foods such as spring greens, parsley and curly kale as these always set Smudge off again. Favourites are cucumber, melon, green beans, peppers, a little coriander and mixed salad leaves.

Well done for hi-lighting this issue

 

[flintstones]

Hi Niki,

Thank you for the word of warning, I'm so sorry about Lark but pleased for Sparrow and Linnet.

I heard Blackcurrent & orgeono maybe being discontinued. Just a word of warning, I now have all my pigs on excel.

Xx

Ps - Thank You for the picture, very informative.

 

[Niki]

Hi Niki,

Thank you for the word of warning, I'm so sorry about Lark but pleased for Sparrow and Linnet.

I heard Blackcurrent & orgeono maybe being discontinued. Just a word of warning, I now have all my pigs on excel.

Xx

Ps - Thank You for the picture, very informative.

Thanks Joanne.
I think i may email Burgess & ask as these are the only pellets ALL the pigs will eat, they don't like the bigger excel.

 

[doglovinpiggylover]

wow, how many people are affected by these blooming horrible evil things.

Thanks for the post, unfortunately i do not have girls, i tend to have boys and sadly i have lost a boy to stones after a horrific time with him.

I'm so sorry you lost Lark, poor baby, it sounds like you both tried your best, but it was obviously just her time. Rip baby girl xx

So glad you managed to help the other two.

Keep checking those lumps people x>>

 

[Niki]

So sorry you are going through this Niki, we've had several piggies who have had bladder stones and I hate them with a passion (the stones not the pigs I hasten to add!).

One of my current sows, Smudge has constant problems with stones, but like your girlies she has avoided surgery so far as we can usually manage to manipulate them out, occasionally Nicola my vet gives her a light whiff of gas just to make her a bit more relaxed.

I have looked at my husbandary under a microscope, each time asking "what am I doing wrong". I think a lot comes down to us being very vigilent where our piggies are concerned, if you think of those animals that are left in a hutch at the bottom of the garden and are only interacted with when they are fed, how easy would it be to miss the first signs of stones?

I too only give the gang a small scoop of Burgess Excel pellets a day now, I filter all their water, offer lots of hay, meadow and Oxbow or similar and we tend to avoid calcium rich foods such as spring greens, parsley and curly kale as these always set Smudge off again. Favourites are cucumber, melon, green beans, peppers, a little coriander and mixed salad leaves.

Well done for hi-lighting this issue

Sorry you've had experiences with stones too.
I don't know if they have a pre-disposition to them or wether diet plays a part. However, it does seem there are more & more instances of pigs with stones or is it that more people take them to a vet now & so they're highlighted.

It'd be extremely easy to miss the first signs especially when there may not be any at all.
Not one of my girls exhibited any signs of straining, no wheeking when urinating & no blood.
I do think, yet again, it shows the importance of weighing your pigs & regularly; i now weigh weekly instead of fortnightly.

 

[Niki]

Thanks Joanne.
I think i may email Burgess & ask as these are the only pellets ALL the pigs will eat, they don't like the bigger excel.

Following on from this, i did email & received this reply

Please let me reassure you that we have no plans to discontinue the above product.

Kind regards
Suzanne Howe

Consumer Care Advisor