Eriathwens piggies

Well, we had good news and bad news from the vets today. This morning, Misty had her final post op check and has been signed off, back to normal. Just a little chunky bit of scab at the bottom to keep an eye on over the next week or so to make sure it doesn't come off too soon.
I got to speak to the vet who spayed her when we took Tilly in in the afternoon, apparently keeping her insides in was a nightmare, her ovary was attached close to the kidney, the incision had to be made larger twice to get the cyst out etc.. took over an hour. Bless him he had quite the time of it with her! It's amazing she recovered so well so quickly.

The bad news is the current most likely scenario for Tilly is E.cuniculi. So once again I'm dealing with the constant worry of this bloody parasite. She has a 28 day course of panacur, if she deteriorates then we're going to be trying penicillin injections, as oral antibiotics probably won't be a good call for her, just in case there's something going on deep in the inner ear but that's unlikely..we're just going to monitor quality of life and see how we go, so far she's doing really well and at least maintaining weight.

So yeah. I'm pleased for Misty..I'm happy Tilly is in a home that knows how to deal with E.C but I'd rather that wasn't what it was.
 
Sending you happy hugs and sad hugs. I hope your girls carry on doing well. Tilly is very lucky to have landed with you, hopefully it turns out to be something else but if not you are a really good piggie parent and you know you can deal with E.C. Wish I had half the knowledge about all things piggie you do.
 
Fingers all crossed for Tilly, let’s hope you can conquer this horrible parasite. So happy that Misty has made such a good recovery especially after that long surgery, well done Misty x
 
So pleased with news about Misty.
Sorry to hear the news about Tilly.
She’s in the best possible home to deal with it.
Holding you in my thoughts
 
Thankyou guys, I appreciate the kind words ❤ I feel a bit better about it now I've had some time to process it, I just wasn't expecting it as she's so well functioning compared to Bramble, but it is what it is. I had my suspicions though, she just has a look in her eyes that reminds me so much of Miss Bramalam which I expect is related to the parasite. I have concerns about her eyesight too as she crashed straight into my hand, face first, when holding a treat out to whichever one of them would come up to take it, it caused her a great deal of fright and she shot off to the back of the cage. She clearly hadn't seen my hand there at all.
 
Seeing as I'm still quite sick with a cold, I couldn't be bothered doing proper introductions etc.. luckily it's all worked out fine though as I'd hoped. I cleaned the main pen and put Misty straight back with the herd, they've barely spared her a glance after saying hello again.
In her place I've moved Tilly and Hazel so they can meet Ebony and Bailey until I feel well enough to remove the divider and supervise. Both are over the moon to see other piggies, Hazel especially is fascinated. Both Bailey and Ebony seem pretty happy to see new faces as well, surprisingly Bailey has taken it upon herself to act as the boss so hopefully we'll have a nice smooth quad formed soon.

Leonard has been moved onto microfiber bath mats instead of shavings and he hasn't stopped running and popcorning.

20190921_155259.webp
 
I hate E.cuniculi, I lost my beloved baby Bella to it 😔
Best of luck to Tilly
 
Sophie B said:
I hate E.cuniculi, I lost my beloved baby Bella to it 😔
Best of luck to Tilly
Click to expand...

It's horrible isnt it. I wish there was a way to fix it instead of just managing their symptoms.

There was a bit of disagreeing in the herd, somehow Ivory royally annoyed Misty and she lunged at her with her mouth open but that has settled down with the arrival of veggies. Leonard and Shelly always make me laugh at how similar they are.. they have the same funny little facial expressions 😅

DSCN7256.webpDSCN7257.webpDSCN7258.webpDSCN7260.webpDSCN7264 (2).webpDSCN7265 (2).webp
 
Eriathwen said:
It's horrible isnt it. I wish there was a way to fix it instead of just managing their symptoms.

There was a bit of disagreeing in the herd, somehow Ivory royally annoyed Misty and she lunged at her with her mouth open but that has settled down with the arrival of veggies. Leonard and Shelly always make me laugh at how similar they are.. they have the same funny little facial expressions 😅

View attachment 122627View attachment 122628View attachment 122629View attachment 122630View attachment 122631View attachment 122632
Click to expand...
It really is terrible, I do wish there was more I could've done for Bella, but she was still so young and delicate. I loved her very much
 
It seems to be so much harder to lose the special ones who have illnesses. I know I certainly get more attached to them :(

Hopefully little Hazel makes you smile ❤ she's certainly made the place happier for me since she's been here, she is so brave...and loud! Excuse the rustling, I was trying to hand out treats with one hand haha!
 
Unfortunately Misty decided that she was still feeling very hormonal and ended up terrorising the herd yet again, worse than before in fact so she had to come back out. Since removal, she has stopped eating properly, poops have resumed thankfully but she's still being very picky and resisting syringe feeding. I gave her some of Leonard's painkillers and she is not puffed up any more, I will be trying to get her into the vet tomorrow. Shes still active and happy, she took off across the kitchen counter when I weighed her earlier!

Hazel is absolutely besotted with Bailey, it's very sweet to see them groom each other through the divider. Unfortunately, Tilly is oddly hormonal..it may be me being paranoid due to Misty but I'm going to be having her seen by the vet once Mistys sorted to see what's going on with her. I have been somewhat suspicious she may be pregnant..but could be cysts. I'm not sure which I would prefer for her tbh. The panacur seems to be working well, she is less slumped and tilted, she ran for the first time today and is much more coordinated, popcorning and very happy in herself.

20190924_231230.webp20190924_180502.webp
 
We're back from the vets, she's been given metacam, ranitidine and emprid. Her poops are getting a little better and she's nibbling on readigrass. Going to pick up some of her favourite veggies later to try to encourage her to eat more by herself. She had a great time, loves the car bless her and seemed very happy once we got back. She's settled down for a nap now in the dark corner I made for her after having to take the hide out that she had...she insisted on jumping onto it. Given the gaps it had between the wooden logs I figured it'd be better safe than sorry, she doesn't need a broken leg on top of everything else! But it's nice to see she's well enough to jump around 😅
20190925_122401.webp20190925_123208.webp
 
Thankyou! She's on the mend hopefully. Still not really eating much but her poops are getting better.
I had to take this picture just now because she made me laugh so much! She fights me so hard with the syringe, wriggles, bites, runs off back to her cage etc.. this is the face of a piggy who can't believe my audacity to try to syringe feed her 😂
20190926_132935.webp
 
Last edited:
Poor little Misty has had a hell of a 24 hours. She had improved more and more as each day went on until last night when poops stopped completely and she bloated. I spent the night massaging her stomach, feeding her and giving her simiticone. We got her in to the vets at 1pm, I think my poor vet saw us during his lunch bless him.
She has an adhesion, so her intestines have stuck themselves to one of the 5 points he sutured internally to remove her uterus and ovaries. It should, hopefully, become unstuck within the week and we have to keep up with the syringe feeding, emeprid, ranitidine and an increased dose of metacam. She's otherwise bright as a button, but still not eating, although some pretty decent poops have returned.

Between 4 piggies I'm currently doing meds at 6am, 12pm, 2pm, 6pm, 10pm and 12am...plus syringe feeds every 3 hours. It's going to be a long...long week! :(

20190927_222204.webp
 
You poor thing - you’re going to be shattered.
Your piggies are so lucky to have such a dedicated and loving slave.

Will keep you in my thoughts this week
 
Oh my word. You really are having quite a time of it. So sorry that things are so worrying for you.
 
Thankyou, these things seem to come in waves..hopefully I get a quiet winter where nothing goes wrong! I went up to do Mistys meds a while ago and Leonard wandered over to show me his eye that he had a grass seed stuck in..so that's him on eye drops now too :doh:
I can't remember if I have previously mentioned, but after swapping him to bath mats and towels, his hair has completely regrown in the areas he had lost it! So it seems the soft bedding has reduced pressure on his joints and lessened his pain which is great! :) we've had a lovely cuddle after a difficult day, he is the most gentle piggy ever, I can't even put into words how much I love him 😅

20190929_222101.webp20190929_222349.webp20190929_222546.webp
 
I think *touch wood* her intestines have come away from where they had got stuck, she's still not eating too well, but there is so.much.poop 😂 it's a little soft but hopefully nothing a few days of fibreplex won't sort.
She's currently eating small amounts of orchard grass and a fair bit of dried maize leaves. With any luck her appetite will continue to pick up, she's got at least another 5 days of emeprid by the looks of it so hopefully by the time that's finished she will be back to normal.

We've had some drama in the herd, Shelly appears to have stepped down from her position of leader, leaving Ivory and Delilah to lead together with Pumkpin throwing some rumblestruts around to flex her position and try her luck taking over. It's all a little unsettled at the moment but hopefully they work it out soon.

20191002_122159.webp20191002_121638.webp20191001_224248.webp
 
Glad that the lovely Leonard is a bit better now and Misty also seems to be on the mend.
Herd politics are such fun to watch.
I do love your amazing herd
 
Aw, that’s good news that they are both feeling better. I don’t know how you have managed all those medication and feeding shifts, you must be exhausted 💤
 
I must admit I am rather tired, my back hurts from leaning over her to get the syringe in and sitting on the floor for the best part of 45 minutes each time. I've been treating it like having a new born, when you can nap, nap! Haha
But we're coming towards the end of it now I think, she certainly seems happier today anyway. Her poops are currently huge, so there must have been quite a back log bless her, no wonder she was sore when picked up.

It really is fun to watch! The herd is still a little tense but it's been lovely to see Ivory dive between Pumpkin and whichever poor soul she's decided needs chasing, she's such a gentle, protective piggy, both her and Delilahs personalities compliment each other so well making up for each others leadership strengths and weaknesses, hopefully they can put Pumpkin back in her place and lead the herd peacefully.
 
Tillys doing great, just weighted her. She was 880g when I first weighed her a couple of weeks ago..I'm so hoping it's just food and she isn't pregnant 😅 but she is so happy, she is very much enjoying being able to run, jump, popcorn etc. The panacur is really doing the trick!
Misty also decided to share her thoughts on her syringe food earlier which gave me a good laugh bless her.
20191002_211652.webp20191002_211709.webp20191002_202752.webp
 
Eriathwen said:
Tillys doing great, just weighted her. She was 880g when I first weighed her a couple of weeks ago..I'm so hoping it's just food and she isn't pregnant 😅 but she is so happy, she is very much enjoying being able to run, jump, popcorn etc. The panacur is really doing the trick!
Misty also decided to share her thoughts on her syringe food earlier which gave me a good laugh bless her.
View attachment 123249View attachment 123250View attachment 123251
Click to expand...
Glad she’s doing well
 
Well the last 24 hours has been rough between losing my lovely little Edgar hamster and accidentally taking too many painkillers, i've been feeling pretty rough all day.
I've had a small pumpkin looking at me from the fruit bowl for a week or so now waiting for me to bother with it, so I figured why not amuse myself by giving it to the piggies! They have all very much enjoyed it, as you can see. The other 6 had the eyes, mouth, lid and a smaller one between them :)

DSCN7271 (2).webpDSCN7272 (2).webpDSCN7281.webpDSCN7283.webpDSCN7289.webpDSCN7291.webp
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top