• Discussions taking place within this forum are intended for the purpose of assisting you in discussing options with your vet. Any other use of advice given here is done so at your risk, is solely your responsibility and not that of this forum or its owner. Before posting it is your responsibility you abide by this Statement

Buttons' spay

Thank you so much all of you ❤️ Buttons is still going in the right direction! After yesterday’s weight drop she has been stable at 945g today (with 3 syringe top ups). She is starting to show more interest in food in general, comes to the bars for pellets again and gets mildly excited when there‘s new hay. I think I also heard a first cautious wheek today when I cut up veg. Poor girl really wants some but my vet advised to keep her off it until she‘s finished her course of fibreplex to make sure her gut has fully rebalanced. Her feet are healing nicely too. There‘s no open wounds and just some minor swelling left that should hopefully go away fully within the next week or two. The thickening on her scar has already reduced as well so I think that’s all going in the right direction too.

She‘s obviously not 100% yet but she‘s made huge steps since last weekend and I‘m very happy with her progress. I‘m so proud of this little girl for being so strong & also so patient with all the belly massages, foot bandages, being forced to run around while severely bloated. I‘m just so grateful that she‘s still here with me ❤️

Here‘s some pigtures of yesterday evening:
IMG_1625.jpegIMG_1628.jpeg
 
Buttons is still doing great, as a matter of fact I think she had her best day since her surgery yesterday. She was racing around the cage & even popcorned for the first time! 😍 So clearly, she is feeling much more like herself again. She‘s also eating like a trooper but, unfortunately, her weight still isn’t stable. She isn’t losing much but she is losing a couple of grams every day. She has always been susceptible to losing weight when she doesn’t get veg. It‘s almost like a „If I don‘t get the yummy stuff, I‘m not willing to eat the boring stuff either“ mentality she‘s got going on. So I spoke to my vet once again yesterday and we‘ve decided to very slowly and carefully start her on veg again. Yesterday she had 4 tiny sprigs of coriander (which she actually ripped out of my hands) and, thankfully, no reaction on the belly front. We will stick to coriander for a few days and slowly increase the amount. Next on the list to add will then be fennel - although she‘s not too keen on that one anyways. Fingers crossed with getting more veggies her weight will finally stabilise. For now I have upped syringe feeding to 4x a day because I don’t want her to lose any more.

I think my scales are also playing games with me. Last weekend, Buttons dropped from 988g all the way down to 948g overnight which I just put down to her bloat subsiding. When I weighed Pewter & Cornelius today, their weights also came out pretty bang on 40g lighter. With everything going on I didn’t weigh them last week, shame on me 🙈 So I‘m thinking, it might be time for some new batteries in my kitchen scales! Because it‘s just too much of a coincidence that they‘ve all lost exactly 40g. They certainly do like to keep me on my toes!
 
Popcorning and racing about sound really good signs she is happy and feeling loads better 😊 Inteoducing the herbs and veggies very slowly will excite her appetite and make her happy Too. Hope there’s no more bloat8ng now 🤞
 
Just an update from us: Buttons is doing better and better every day! :love: She's been eating like there's no tomorrow, bouncing around, bothering Pewter through the bars (they're still feisty with each other through the bars but so much better as neighbours) and has even started to look for pellets in the evening. They usually get 1 handfed and then 5 pellets per pig scattered around the cage for them to find. Buttons used to love that game but hasn't been feeling up to it for the last 3 weeks so I was sooo happy when yesterday she sniffed her way through the whole cage. Her weight's been increasing roughly 10g per day and we went from 915g to 938g since Saturday morning. She felt a little more bloated than I'd like yesterday morning but I decided to trust in her body working it out and to my joy, it did! By the time afternoon rolled around her belly was free of gas and has been since then.:yahoo:

Call me one happy (and mainly relaxed) slave after the ordeal of the last 3,5 weeks. I feel like I've aged 5 years! But in the end, it was so worth it. Now we're on to slowly weaning her off the syringe food & to try and get her to pack a bit of that weight back on that she's lost. Thankfully it's a fairly manageable amount overall.

PS: She‘s also napping outside again which has always been one of her most favourite things to do.

IMG_1649.webp
 
So happy that Buttons is doing well. You have done a great job caring for her.xx
 
We have reduced syringe feeding to 3x 12ml on Monday & I am happy to report that she held her weight with that on the first day and even gained 10g since yesterday! This means we're back to 945g today.:yahoo:

We'll do another day with 3x 12ml today and if the scales are still going up we'll reduce to 2x 15ml tomorrow. Her appetite is increasing every day and she practically rips the syringe out of my hands during feedings. She absolutely adores the syringe food so I have to trust my gut with reducing feedings as she definitely wouldn't tell me that she doesn't need it anymore. 😂 Her tummy has also been good so far. We are very slowly increasing the sprigs of coriander and if everything continues as we are we'll add fennel to the mix on Friday.

Her feet are still swollen but not hot and also not massively red so we're keeping at it with our foot baths, creams and bandages. She definitely doesn't seem to be in any pain from it considering she's jumping up and down her houses and the little first floor they have. My vet is in good spirits that with our regimen her feet should heal with time but she also told me to not expect any "quick fixes" but rather get comfortable with it taking a few weeks or maybe even months to fully go away.
 
Brilliant news. Such a relief for you. It’s so stressful having a poorly piggy.
 
Just wanted to post an update on the little lady. We‘re still slowly but steadily moving in the right direction. Her weight is always between 925g and 950g and we have reduced to 2x 15ml of syringe feeding. Her belly is still very delicate but thankfully easily balanced with some of Pewter‘s freshly made poop soup. She‘s now getting coriander, fennel & for the first time today some cucumber. As she is getting more veg her appetite for hay is increasing so I‘m hoping that we can reduce syringe feeding again soon.

Currently, we are all very much suffering in the heat. Today it was a sweltering 37 degrees here 🥵 So here is a picture of Buttons passed out in her selfmade cabana after dinner tonight. We‘ve clearly entered a new era of trust because she has never death napped like this where I could see her. At least this whole ordeal was good for something! I will keep you posted how we‘re doing :)

IMG_1781.webp
 
I'm glad she's still making progress, but 37 degrees?! How do you even function in that weather?
 
Buttons you are a gorgeous girly. I’m so pleased you are doing so great. Well done.
 
I'm glad she's still making progress, but 37 degrees?! How do you even function in that weather?
Pretty much like Buttons is showcasing in her pigture to be honest. 😂 Jokes aside, it‘s quite tough at the moment but if everything goes to plan the heatwave should be over by the weekend.
 
I'm counting the days until the heat wave will come to an end.
At least it's still about 26-27° in my flat. But I hope it won't get much higher than this.

It's great that Buttons is doing good. :D💓
She is a lovely girl.
 
I'm counting the days until the heat wave will come to an end.
At least it's still about 26-27° in my flat. But I hope it won't get much higher than this.

It's great that Buttons is doing good. :D💓
She is a lovely girl.
Same here! It was 27 degrees in my living room yesterday so it could be worse but we are supposed to have 3 more days of heat here before it finally cools down on Saturday. Is it the same in Vienna?

Thank you, she really is a precious girly. I always had a very special connection with her because she's such a timid and reserved piggy who needs extra attention to get her fair share of everything. It took her well over a year to stop racing for cover whenever I got near the cage. So I am more happy that she was so brave in fighting through everything and is still here with me. And I am so grateful every day that, at some point down the line, she has decided to trust me ❤️
 
Wow, that’s too hot for comfort. So glad Buttons is loads better now, we’ll done you x
 
Oh goodness that is so warm. Beautiful photo of Buttons lounging like that. She’s doing so well.
 
Same here! It was 27 degrees in my living room yesterday so it could be worse but we are supposed to have 3 more days of heat here before it finally cools down on Saturday. Is it the same in Vienna?
I think we had the highest temperature yesterday and the heat wave will last till Sunday.
I'm looking forward to last days of summer without extreme heat. :)
 
Buttons is still a happy girly and doing good overall, however, her belly rumbles are back ever since she's started eating veggies again. It's just once or twice in an evening a couple of hours after she had her dinner, no bloating, belly is all soft. So I am beginning to wonder if it wasn't actually the cysts that messed with her digestion like we thought and she's actually developed a sensitivity to something. She was still absolutely fine when she only had coriander but the rumbles really started when she got fennel again. So over the coming days I will test my theory and see if her rumbles go away.

I had the same issue with Pewter, she had a rumbly belly after veg since she was a baby and it took me 2 years to figure out that she has a sensitivity to bell pepper. Since she isn't eating peppers anymore we haven't had any issue with the dreaded rumbles. So fingers crossed we'll get Buttons belly issues under control too!
 
On quite a few occasions I was sure this thread wouldn't end as a happy one which is why I'm even more thankful to be able to close this thread with a happy, healthy piggy who's pretty much fully recovered. Since the Baytril injection at the vets last Tuesday for her UTI, she has turned the last corner and is fully back to her cheeky self. No more super deep death naps, no more having to syringe feed, no more pain and crankiness. She's racing to the bars at the prospect of food, searches for her goodnight pellets, screams at me when I'm cutting up dinner veggies and is causing her typical mischief. Cornelius and her are back to being the happiest couple with the occasional chat with Pewter (who loves living alone next door). She is still about 100g lighter than her previously healthy weight so they get some oats every now and then to slowly get her weight back up a little. Cornelius has lost his usual summer heatwave weight so it'll be good for him to put on a few grams too as well.

I want to say thank you to everyone who has been there for us during these last few weeks of up and downs. It was a really tough time and all of your support and kind words were so so helpful and have kept me going when I was at the verge of giving up. It has shown me again what a great place this forum is, THANK YOU EVERONE. ❤️ Much love from me & the rascals x

(Note: This photo was taken before the separation of the trio.)
IMG_1388.webp
 
I’m so pleased she’s all recovered. You’ve done a fantastic job. It’s not easy caring for a sick piggy long term. 👍🏻
 
Well done for helping her pull through.
It’s been a challenging time for you.
So pleased all is well now
 
Back
Top