Eriathwens piggies

Thankyou, she has unfortunately taken another turn for the worse, struggling to swallow. I've been slowly getting things into her about 0.01ml at a time, it's very slow going but she's otherwise bright and mobile which is weird, but we will carry on and see how she is in the morning.

It's very sweet when she goes back into the cage, the others swarm her to check on her.

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So..we've had a hell of a night. Fern continued to get worse, and became lethargic. It dawned on me I hadn't seen her pooping and really, by now there should have at least been something.
When I checked her bottom I could see that she was impacted which, to give myself a bit of a break..is quite rare in females. Where she had been dehydrated her poop had become totally dry and had adhered to the inside of her anus creating a blockage.

Essentially, she wasnt able to swallow because her digestive system had entirely backed up and there was nowhere for any more food to even go! I spent the next few hours very gently easing poop from inside her anus while she struggled to pass it, alternating between that and trickling very diluted critical care into her mouth.

I opted to start her on some of the gabapentin and ranitadine I had here as passing such dry, backed up poop would have absolutely been painful.

Luckily we got into a good rhythm eventually of a mouthful of critical care chased by a small amount of water to help it go down now that her stomach was able to empty and by 9am, she was well enough to begin eating grass.

She is still hit and miss with actually eating by herself, but she can swallow the critical care again, is pooping almost normally after passing lots of horrible, stringy stasis poops and is much brighter and alert.
I honestly thought she was going to pass away last night, she had that glassy look in her eyes but she's a strong girl.

She has a little weakness in her back legs but she's otherwise doing OK and has her check up tomorrow.
I was down the vets a little while ago picking up some critical care as I'd run out before my online delivery arrived, one of the nurses came out to ask how she was doing and seemed really happy with her progress, I assume she was one of the ones caring for her on Monday while she was hospitalised.

I am trying not to get my hopes up that we may be turning a corner, she still has a long way to go given how up and down she is, but I'm hopefully going to at least be able to get more sleep tonight. I can count on one hand how many hours of sleep I've had since Sunday 🤦‍♀️

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I am pleased to hear Fern is a little better. You are doing all you can, you really are amazing in your devotion to your piggies. I hope Fern goes from strength to strength and you are able to get a good nights sleep soon.
 
Oh gosh poor Fern! That kind of thing must be incredibly rare, I don't think I've read of anything quite like it on here before. So glad you noticed and were able to help clear the blockage in time.
Maybe the weakness in the legs is because the impaction lump was causing pressure on her nerves - I know when I have problems being able to 'go' it makes my legs feel wierd and wobbly!

Sendiing lots of healing vibes 💓💓
 
It would never had occurred to me to see if she was blocked up from the rear end! Your devotion is amazing!
 
Wow that's a lot of devoted care, I hope you can get some cat naps in and that Fern will be well enough for you to have a longer night's sleep very soon, or it's you that will need the vet!
 
Poor Fern and poor you. I do hope that Fern continues to improve.x
 
You are such a devoted slave - hopefully lovely Fern has turned another corner - sending much to you both ❤️
 
Aw thanks guys 🥺 she has deserved every bit of sleep loss to give her the best chance of surviving, even if she keeps trying to bite me 😅 safe to say she's fed up of being constantly picked up, put down, turned over, fed, wiped etc..

She had a really good day yesterday, eating grass and veggies well, and taking a few bites of hay. Unfortunately this morning her nose blocked up with mucous which put her off eating again so far today, she has a recheck at the vets in a few hours at least so I can get her checked over.

On the plus side her poops are looking great and I'm able to get her critical care into her still. And I got 2 blocks of 3 hours of sleep overnight! I'm still exhausted but it's a start.

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Poor Fern, I’ve never heard of impaction in a sow.
She’s so, so lucky to have you.
Hope she continues to do better
 
Shes still quite iffy on eating for herself unfortunately, vet said to carry on as we are, she was a little bloated but I'd already seen that and that will hopefully be fixed the more food she gets into her.

If she isnt 50% improved by next week if I let them know they'll try to source a sulfatrim alternative but it'll take a few days as it'll have to come from a human pharmacy apparently. Her left lung still has a tiny bit of noise but her other one is completely clear.

Apparently they all thought she was going to die on Monday, at one point they were considering putting her to sleep while on the oxygen as her best option so I'm pretty pleased with how well she's done all things considered.

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Just a few pictures of Fern causing mayhem tonight 😅 bless her. It's been a long day, she's felt well enough to nibble some hay and fall into a restful sleep. Initially she just face planted the floor.. but slowly her whole body melted into a sleeping pile of hair. I'm sure anyone with a blocked nose that finally clears can relate! I'm so proud of her 🥰
She has been a little bloat so I've been encouraging her to run around on the floor, of course the first thing she tries to eat is the plastic bag the hay comes in!

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You've done a fantastic job with Fern. Well done. A few days ago she was knocking on the door of The Rainbow Bridge but clearly she didn't want to cross over it.
 
Ah lovely Fern - so good to see her fighting to get better - your love and care is inspirational ❤️
 
Thankyou guys so much for the support and kind words. Honestly after the uncertainty of my decision to bring her home from the vet it really does mean a lot.

Speaking of, on Monday little Fern weighed 800g, Friday she was 900g and my vet was so surprised he had to weigh her twice 🤣 today, she has gained back 165g and climbing!
I'm still too scared to say she's turned a corner, we are still after all fighting off the infection.. but she's doing well.

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