I am starting to wonder if Sundae may be developing arthritis in her old age (she is 5.5 years old.) The way our setup is for the pigs is that we have a cage at ground level with a door that opens downwards, making a small ramp to the carpet. I open the door and let them roam around and come and go as they please between the cage and the hallway outside the cage, which is pig-proofed with baby gates. For the past couple months, I have noticed Sundae taking much longer to get out of the cage and down the ramp... she will hesitate at the door for a long time and seems to need a straight angle to the doorway- if the pigloo or food dish has been moved so that it makes her exit on an angle, she typically doesn't go. I'm wondering either if her back or joints are stiff or sore which makes getting through the door and down the ramp a chore, or alternatively that her eyes are failing and that she has a harder time seeing the door/ramp and hesitates. She doesn't limp or have any other difficulties with movement. She has some ongoing health issues with her bladder, but those go a long time back and are largely stable, and the hesitancy at the cage door is a much newer phenomenon. Any guesses? I would hate to that think she is uncomfortable.
