Struggling To Maintain/gain Weight

[Dilly's Piggies]

I'm having trouble with 2 sister sows that are struggling to maintain and gain weight. They are both 1 year 3 months and 4 days old so are still growing piggies and should be a lot heavier than they are.

Harriet was spayed 2 months 4 days ago as she was diagnosed with ovarian cysts (purely diagnosed with behaviour and physical symptoms rather than scans), she dropped a lot of weight because of this condition and since surgery has really struggled to gain the weight back. At 9 months old she weighed almost 1000g and was growing normally, but then started to have hormonal problems and her weight dropped down to 930g, after surgery she dropped down to 850g. I have worked seriously hard to get her weight back up and 2 months later she is finally back to 928g, I feed her protexin pro-fibre and critical care every day but she is still up and down, tomorrow she could be down to 900g again, it's very jumpy. On the plus side all of her hormonal behaviour has gone now and she's a very happy pig!

Her sister Lottie is currently on watch for ovarian cysts, she's displaying the same hormonal behaviour, she had an xray and ultrasound last week although nothing was found, she has a re-scan in 4 weeks because we all do think she has them including my vet, they are just too small to show on scans. Lottie was also growing normally until 13 months old, she weighed 1030g at this age and was growing well, now she weighs 938g and this is after 1 week of daily hand feeding and probiotics like Harriet is being fed. If left without feeding help she would be very thin, I'm not prepared to let this happen so I've stepped in. Lottie is lacking a lot of heft and condition, she has nothing along her topline, her weight has redistributed to underneath and has left the top thin and bony, she is a sheltie so has long thick hair but I can still feel her shoulders, spine, hips and ribs very easily. Lottie is a very big built pig, she has thick bones and is much longer than Harriet, Lottie should be much bigger than what she is and it's very worrying.

I feel I should not be allowing Lottie to wait so long, my vet also wanted to wait for Harriet to lose more weight but I didn't let it happen and I took her to Simon Maddock to be spayed, he agreed with my concerns and opted to spay, I feel like Simon would agree again with Lottie. My vet isn't seeing the weight loss I am because I am hand feeding and trying my hardest to maintain her weight, I don't want her to get any thinner.

Would you guys wait for the scans in 4 weeks or go straight to spaying? It's a big decision that paid off with Harriet, I don't regret jumping to spay her, but it's a huge risk and it may not be as successful with Lottie, I just want the best for her, I don't want to lose her.

 

[rome_italy]

I have not understood a thing: are the vets worried about this lost of weight? or are YOU worried only?
I see you have two main worries: the one about the weight and another one about the risk of the surgery. Of course the surgery is always a risk, but you are going to be in the best hands.
Talking back about the weight issue, you should ask the vet (Simon) if this lost is due to a difficult recovery or it is a NORMAL consequence of the fact that the hormonal balance is now changed. Ovaries produce extrogens whose action is, among the others, putting the fat in certain points of the body and cause also a swelling in adbomen (=water). Maybe a redistribution of the fat and the lost of water from tissues is normal. You should ask about it.
Because if the vet will say that a lost of weight is normal and now the piggie is only slim I would not see the problem...

 

[Dilly's Piggies]

I have not understood a thing: are the vets worried about this lost of weight? or are YOU worried only?
I see you have two main worries: the one about the weight and another one about the risk of the surgery. Of course the surgery is always a risk, but you are going to be in the best hands.
Talking back about the weight issue, you should ask the vet (Simon) if this lost is due to a difficult recovery or it is a NORMAL consequence of the fact that the hormonal balance is now changed. Ovaries produce extrogens whose action is, among the others, putting the fat in certain points of the body and cause also a swelling in adbomen (=water). Maybe a redistribution of the fat and the lost of water from tissues is normal. You should ask about it.
Because if the vet will say that a lost of weight is normal and now the piggie is only slim I would not see the problem...

With regards to Lottie my vet is concerned about her weight and symptoms but they are wanting to wait a very long time to treat her, I am trying to decide if I should ask for her to be spayed now or wait, I am asking for opinions on this.

With regards to Harriet she has not seen a vet since her 1 week post op check up, at that time weight loss was normal and it will take a little time for her to gain it back, I don't know if it's normal for her to still be struggling 2 months after surgery, I don't know how long it takes for the hormones to return back to normal which is what I'm asking here.

Simon is not my normal vet, he is too far away to see on a regular basis but he is the one that diagnosed and spayed Harriet, if Lottie is to be spayed also he will be the one that will do it, not my normal vet.

 

[DM030819]

How is your vet going to treat the weight loss? Have they told you why it's happening? If they are concerned then I don't understand why they are waiting.

Pigs weight can fluctuate daily so 30g difference in a day is nothing to worry about unless it continues.

 

[helen105281]

You could always try calling the Cat and Rabbit next week when Simon is back off holiday and ask to speak to him over the phone to see if he thinks you should bring Lottie in to see him or Kim.

 

[Dilly's Piggies]

How is your vet going to treat the weight loss? Have they told you why it's happening? If they are concerned then I don't understand why they are waiting.

Pigs weight can fluctuate daily so 30g difference in a day is nothing to worry about unless it continues.

This is exactly the problem, they are not planning to do anything. The weight loss is because of cysts, she is more active due to hormonal behaviour and burning more calories than she's eating, she is more interested in chasing and humping the others, this is why the weight loss has gradually decreased over the last few months opposed to suddenly dropping. This is not even what they've told me is going on, I'm using my own knowledge and experience from when Harriet had ovarian cysts and help from this forum to figure out what's going on. But they want to wait another 4 weeks to rescan like I said when it's very obvious what her problem is, and this is what I have a problem with, the waiting and lack of direction, I'm having to cope with it by myself without any help from them. According to them her weight is fine because it hasn't suddenly dropped, it's a gradual weight loss plus I've been hand feeding her and trying super hard for her to keep as much weight on as possible. I had exactly the same problem when I took Harriet to them, which is why I ended up going to Simon. I know my vet is not ideal as they are a cat/dog vet, but it's the best I've got in my area.

 

[Pound Shilling & Pig]

Hi, I dont see the point in waiting longer while Lottie continues to lose weight, if the cause is ovarian cysts. She may only be losing weight slowly but there will still come a time when the loss becomes critical and i think it far better to have the operation before this happens while she is fitter and stronger.

With regard to Harriet it is encouraging that she is gaining weight, all be it slowly. It can sometimes take piggies several months to recover from operations and slow weight gain can be normal. Piggies are fully grown by the time they are a year old, continued weight gain after this is usually excess weight, so she may not regain all the weight she lost.

 

[DM030819]

I'd want to do something about it now. One of my pigs was losing weight a few months ago. He dropped from 1050g to 950g for a few weeks. We went to the vet after sent a poop sample away to get checked. It came back with fungal elements highlighted.

We tried Itrafungal with him. He dropped further to 880g but at some point during the 1 month course he stopped losing and started to maintain.

We don't know exactly what caused it but we think it is digestive system related. He has since started to gain weight and is back to 950g. The only difference we made was to increase his pellets a bit. It's not something we want to maintain long term but he's getting a bit more for now.