France
New Born Pup
A few months ago in September my baby Honey died from mysterious causes. I've posted a couple of times about him for other, minor issues. I usually can move on in about a few weeks or so, but his death was far different from all the others and has left me grieving for longer than usual due to the lack on closure on what took my baby.
He was only 3 years old and a healthy weight - 2.1 pounds, and very active. I had never owned such a lively piggie.
Day one my stepdad found him lethargic that evening- despite him being fine that morning. I quickly sprung into action and began to comfort him and see if he could eat anything but he refused, even veggies weren't accepted. He was clearly ill and had a difficult time walking. But aside from the generic symptoms of every illness, that was all that was apparent. No skin lesion, no bald spots, no hair loss, only lethargy and lack of appetite. I force fed him orange juice so he would have liquid and vitamin C in him.
Day two and I did my research and suspected it may be an impaction. He was relatively young, but he was a boar so it was plausible. I began to treat him and did get a moderate amount out of him but that was it. Aside from that, it didn't really seem like he had much of an impaction save that bit. I kept treating him anyways, and to my surprise he did begin to show some improvement. He wasn't eating much, but he did accept a few pieces of hay and half a carrot so it was a start. I continued to force feed him both orange juice and clean water to keep fluids in his system, thinking an impaction was the issue and hoping the water would flush out his system. He would not pass either urine or feces. I had contacted a veterinarian but they could not get me in soon enough- I would have to wait 3 days. At the time I could not afford an emergency vet.
Day three and he hadn't shown much difference from day two. He had eaten some pieces of food I cut into very small pieces, and I continues to treat him for impactions twice a day, but it was about the same as day two again. Hadn't gotten better, but hadn't gotten worse either. He would "talk" on occasion, though.
Day four was the day everything completely spiraled. He couldn't even sit without tipping over, he was beyond weak and wouldn't swallow much when I force fed him. Impaction treatments no longer did anything. He would not pass feces but his urine was a very dark amber, almost bloody, and he was urinating rather frequently. I can't say if he was in pain because he made no noise and couldn't move at all, but I imagine he was. He didn't make a sound all day.
He passed that night.
All four days I spent every waking hour comforting, holding, treating him, only for a few hours would I set him in his cage to rest while I ate and such. Other times he slept on my desk while I tried to draw.
I'm sorry I don't have many details I can remember off the top of my head, but if anyone has any questions I would probably know the answer. I just would really like some idea of what took my baby, because as of now I'm scared of getting any more babies in fear of going through this mystery death again. I'm told some piggies just have bad genes, but I just really am in desperate need of some closure right now. Coping with a baby going softly after living a full life is one thing, it's another to have no idea what happened, and I fear there may have been things I should have done better. I've expressed my pain many times to friends, but I feel comfort from people who understand piggies as well as I do would be beneficial.
Thank you.
He was only 3 years old and a healthy weight - 2.1 pounds, and very active. I had never owned such a lively piggie.
Day one my stepdad found him lethargic that evening- despite him being fine that morning. I quickly sprung into action and began to comfort him and see if he could eat anything but he refused, even veggies weren't accepted. He was clearly ill and had a difficult time walking. But aside from the generic symptoms of every illness, that was all that was apparent. No skin lesion, no bald spots, no hair loss, only lethargy and lack of appetite. I force fed him orange juice so he would have liquid and vitamin C in him.
Day two and I did my research and suspected it may be an impaction. He was relatively young, but he was a boar so it was plausible. I began to treat him and did get a moderate amount out of him but that was it. Aside from that, it didn't really seem like he had much of an impaction save that bit. I kept treating him anyways, and to my surprise he did begin to show some improvement. He wasn't eating much, but he did accept a few pieces of hay and half a carrot so it was a start. I continued to force feed him both orange juice and clean water to keep fluids in his system, thinking an impaction was the issue and hoping the water would flush out his system. He would not pass either urine or feces. I had contacted a veterinarian but they could not get me in soon enough- I would have to wait 3 days. At the time I could not afford an emergency vet.
Day three and he hadn't shown much difference from day two. He had eaten some pieces of food I cut into very small pieces, and I continues to treat him for impactions twice a day, but it was about the same as day two again. Hadn't gotten better, but hadn't gotten worse either. He would "talk" on occasion, though.
Day four was the day everything completely spiraled. He couldn't even sit without tipping over, he was beyond weak and wouldn't swallow much when I force fed him. Impaction treatments no longer did anything. He would not pass feces but his urine was a very dark amber, almost bloody, and he was urinating rather frequently. I can't say if he was in pain because he made no noise and couldn't move at all, but I imagine he was. He didn't make a sound all day.
He passed that night.
All four days I spent every waking hour comforting, holding, treating him, only for a few hours would I set him in his cage to rest while I ate and such. Other times he slept on my desk while I tried to draw.
I'm sorry I don't have many details I can remember off the top of my head, but if anyone has any questions I would probably know the answer. I just would really like some idea of what took my baby, because as of now I'm scared of getting any more babies in fear of going through this mystery death again. I'm told some piggies just have bad genes, but I just really am in desperate need of some closure right now. Coping with a baby going softly after living a full life is one thing, it's another to have no idea what happened, and I fear there may have been things I should have done better. I've expressed my pain many times to friends, but I feel comfort from people who understand piggies as well as I do would be beneficial.
Thank you.
