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Worried about bigpig Clover :(

PigglePuggle

PigglePuggle

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Oh dear, I had a really positive day today after a crap week then I come home and now I am worried about bigpig Clover... I offered dill as a snack about 3pm and she wouldnt touch it, but I thought maybe she just isnt too keen on dill, I know its not her favourite so I didnt worry too much. Then I fed red pepper and pellets for dinner and she came out but I dont know how much she ate because the phone rang just as I was putting down the dishes.
Just gone in to do the after dinner hay... bigpig didnt come out for the herd hayfest for the first time ever :( I know its a small thing but the boss piggy not leading the herd at haytime? They have a real after dinner timothy hay ritual usually where Clover leads the herd all nose to bum to the hay room :( she's sitting in a hidey house on her own looking puffed up... I put a handful of readigrass right by the door for her but this is not normal, sometimes Blod or Jezzy or Puggle miss the start of the haytime ritual hiding somewhere but never bigpig Clover, she's like the hay boss...
Am I over reacting? I want to ring the emergency vet but one possible missed meal for a 1200g piggy who was fine this morning doesn't really warrant that rationally... but bigpig never missed haytime before :(
I'll call the vet first thing maybe if she doesnt come out for breakfast?
 
You know her best and if she is off, then you are going to notice it even if it doesn’t appear to be something you can immediately pinpoint. You know what being puffed up can mean so it’s whether you feel she needs to be seen sooner rather than later.
Definitely call the vet in the morning if she doesn’t come out then
 
Does sound out of character for Clover? Can you hand feed her on your lap and see what she does? 🙁
 
Oh no sending healing wheeks, never underestimate piggy parent senses, you know her better than anyone! I hope your both OK! xx
 
She was definitely completely fine on wednesday in the playpen but I didnt see the piggies really yesterday I had a long day at work and piggy daddy did the feeds.
I want to get her out and check her over but of all the piggies she has been handled least and is least comfortable with handling, she's never been sick in a way that needs much care before- although she arrived with a badly healed broken leg and has since had a bite wound from Tallulah and a bitten ear haematoma, nothing that has needed more than a quick dose of metacam for a couple of days...
Which is partly what worries me as she is clearly a tough cookie and could limp around on a broken leg for 3 months with no treatment on hard flooring without stopping eating or losing weight or her previous owners noticing anything wrong... and now she's hiding and not eating... but she's really not a lap time cuddle piggy, she's a big tough possibly part cuy boss pig and nail trims stress her more than her untreated broken leg ever did so I'm not sure if I can really assess her health accurately without upsetting her more- she knows she only gets handled in the presence of coriander on wednesday and saturday afternoons on her way home from the playpen, abducting her from her bed on a friday night might make her seem worse than she is!
But she just isnt right, she is always first in the hay, and its the new haybox delivery today and all the other piggies are nom-nom-nomming it up :(
Think I will consult piggy daddy after his evening work shifts and quiz him about how she seemed yesterday, cant do kuch until he gets home with the car at 10 anyway...
 
Yes I think I will get her out, I can see her moving around inside her house but she's not moving right :(
She will hate it as she's never in her whole life been separated from all other piggies but I do definitely want to feel her tummy, listen to her breathing, see her walk and wee and poop and see her eat at least a piece of cucumber before I will be able to sleep tonight!
 
She may have a little bloat if she's puffed up like that and refusing to eat. Hopefully it's just a tummy ache though. Keep us posted.

My pig started out not eating/becoming puffy last week out of nowhere, & she ended up having gastric stasis, didn't make it unfortunately, but these things can be very serious.
I hope this isn't the case for your piggy though. You aren't overreacting at all. It's worrisome when they aren't acting like they usually do.

Keep a watch on her like you are. Make sure she's pooping/peeing too. Very important. I know she probably won't like being separated, but it is the right thing to do so she can be monitored. Hard to tell if she's pooping when there's poop from the others!

If you don't see any improvement, I'd definitely get her to the vet. Sending good vibes for your piggy.❤
 
PigglePuggle said:
Oh dear, I had a really positive day today after a crap week then I come home and now I am worried about bigpig Clover... I offered dill as a snack about 3pm and she wouldnt touch it, but I thought maybe she just isnt too keen on dill, I know its not her favourite so I didnt worry too much. Then I fed red pepper and pellets for dinner and she came out but I dont know how much she ate because the phone rang just as I was putting down the dishes.
Just gone in to do the after dinner hay... bigpig didnt come out for the herd hayfest for the first time ever :( I know its a small thing but the boss piggy not leading the herd at haytime? They have a real after dinner timothy hay ritual usually where Clover leads the herd all nose to bum to the hay room :( she's sitting in a hidey house on her own looking puffed up... I put a handful of readigrass right by the door for her but this is not normal, sometimes Blod or Jezzy or Puggle miss the start of the haytime ritual hiding somewhere but never bigpig Clover, she's like the hay boss...
Am I over reacting? I want to ring the emergency vet but one possible missed meal for a 1200g piggy who was fine this morning doesn't really warrant that rationally... but bigpig never missed haytime before :(
I'll call the vet first thing maybe if she doesnt come out for breakfast?
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Hi!

Can you give her a quick body once-over, weigh her to see whether she has eaten any hay today, see how she is eating when with you and if necessary start syringe feeding.

Your instincts are not wrong but I would recommend to check whether there is something noticeable (gut movement, lethargy etc.) or not and keep an eye on her throughout the night. You have to play that one by ear accordingly.

All the best! I hope that it is not something more serious.

Emergency, Crisis and Bridging Care until a Vet Appointment
 
Update: Clover has had a quick health check and her tummy is fine, soft and flabby and not painful, breathing fine, walking fine, her previously broken leg (which I check a lot) is fine... but there is an ear bite!
I think it's a miltary style coup for leadership by Blodwen because as soon as Clover was removed from the cage and placed in a big box of hay, grated sweet potato and bite size cucumber pieces, Clover relaxed a lot and started eating really gratefully like she's been starved all day (Clover is normally very skittish and suspicious about even taking treats away from the others) and Blod started charging around rumbling and mounting and seriously humping all the other piggies, Piggle's face got humped for a good 5 minutes and Piggle is normally quite dominant! We are going to keep Clover in a box for observation for another half hour but she is definitely eating fine away from her "friends" (Looking at you Blod the betrayer! I hope this is just a strong season because Theo got a nose bite on Wednesday too! And you look so innocent!).
Bloody piggy soap operas! Thank you everyone for your support, I was really worried this was a serious health thing, but I think it is just extreme piggy lady politics... though of course I will keep an eye on things in case Clover is really ill and that is what has prompted this herd boss takeover bid from Blod... but Clover has eaten an amazon delivery box full of hay and about 2 days worth of veg in the past half hour so I dont now think it is immediately life threatening :)
 
Ahah so it's mental issue not physical. Kind of. Hope she can stay in with the herd. What would happen if you put her in with bat hippo and Ollie
 
Well we put bigpig Clover home and I checked and there were 23 healthy poops and 3 healthy wees in the box, then rightly or wrongly we reinforced her bigpig leadership by spreading the rest of the hay she'd been sat in on top of all the haytrays and in the hayroom so everything smelled of her and then we gave all the other pigs a quarter of a cucumber slice each and fed Blod last.
Not that its for me to decide who's the boss pig but Clover has been a good boss pig for over a year and she's not that bossy really just big and rumbly but usually quite laid back and I don't like this new biting and humping malarky of Blod's and neither do the other piggies! Everything has been so peaceful for ages since Piggle's mad teenage hormones calmed down, but if Clover isnt boss then I think Blod and Piggle will definitely fight about it because Piggle was here first and she really doesnt take any crap from Blod... prolonged face humping and 2 piggies bitten in 3 days is probably a step too far Blod, no pig wants that sort of pig in charge! Really hope its just a strong season...
 
PigglePuggle said:
Well we put bigpig Clover home and I checked and there were 23 healthy poops and 3 healthy wees in the box, then rightly or wrongly we reinforced her bigpig leadership by spreading the rest of the hay she'd been sat in on top of all the haytrays and in the hayroom so everything smelled of her and then we gave all the other pigs a quarter of a cucumber slice each and fed Blod last.
Not that its for me to decide who's the boss pig but Clover has been a good boss pig for over a year and she's not that bossy really just big and rumbly but usually quite laid back and I don't like this new biting and humping malarky of Blod's and neither do the other piggies! Everything has been so peaceful for ages since Piggle's mad teenage hormones calmed down, but if Clover isnt boss then I think Blod and Piggle will definitely fight about it because Piggle was here first and she really doesnt take any crap from Blod... prolonged face humping and 2 piggies bitten in 3 days is probably a step too far Blod, no pig wants that sort of pig in charge! Really hope its just a strong season...
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Awww I hope things settle down for you soon! These bloomin seasons are a nightmare, I had to break up a scrap between nugget and marshmallow today 🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️ of course she comes into season a week before her spay and fear strikken marshmallow suddenly became slightly fear aggressive marshmallow, I tell you these little piggies are blooming complicated balls of love! Let's hope all piggies sort it out and happy friendships resume soon 💞 sending hugs to you and clover and glad she isn't ill!
 
Emx93 said:
Awww I hope things settle down for you soon! These bloomin seasons are a nightmare, I had to break up a scrap between nugget and marshmallow today 🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️ of course she comes into season a week before her spay and fear strikken marshmallow suddenly became slightly fear aggressive marshmallow, I tell you these little piggies are blooming complicated balls of love! Let's hope all piggies sort it out and happy friendships resume soon 💞 sending hugs to you and clover and glad she isn't ill!
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Sending hugs to you too, must be so much more intense with the seasons while Nugget is waiting for her spay! I never realised until we had multiple lady piggies how these cute furry sausage animals can be worse that hyenas when they are in season...! X
 
I tell you I'm seriously considering spaying all young lady pigs on arrival (not that I'm getting any more for a very long time! We are full of four legged bundles of joy) 😂🤣 they are savage, the thing is I went through my forum posts and nuggets hormonal symptoms started back in August, they didn't get really bad till she gave marshmallow slow guts but each time since is getting worse and longer so yeah as much as I'm nervous about the spay I also can't wait to get my sweet girl back 💞
 
Emx93 said:
I tell you I'm seriously considering spaying all young lady pigs on arrival (not that I'm getting any more for a very long time! We are full of four legged bundles of joy) 😂🤣 they are savage, the thing is I went through my forum posts and nuggets hormonal symptoms started back in August, they didn't get really bad till she gave marshmallow slow guts but each time since is getting worse and longer so yeah as much as I'm nervous about the spay I also can't wait to get my sweet girl back 💞
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My sow Dot is spayed 👍
 
SkyPipDotBernie said:
My sow Dot is spayed 👍
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My fluffy is, she was constantly in season, constantly aggressive and had gunk coming out her bits, no cysts found during spay but she's back to her old self now and has a lovely friendship with Princess after her bond with nugget couldn't be fixed 😍 hoping nugget and marshmallow don't fully fall out at this point!
 
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