This is my lovely boar George (4 years old) and he gets impaction. It started when he was 3 1/2. George is neutered but not very active as he is shy and hides a lot - although he has plenty of room to move about and piggy company. I do think this was something that was going to happen anyway - I've had older boars and less active boars but he is the first one like this. I check him every day (a sneaky hand beneath has a little feel to see if he needs assistance) and most days I do actually intervene to keep things moving, so usually it's not so shocking as in the YouTube videos! George has a baggy anal sack so there is room in there for an accumulation of poops - 10 or 12 sometimes! These get bound together with the squishy poop that they usually eat and that's what corks him up and makes him stinky. He can usually poop round the mass (not always) so it is rare the he is completely bunged up. Occasionally you can smell him as you approach the cage and you can tell he doesn't like to be like this... he's usually facing the corner if he's stinky, poor lad.
My vet has said to let him manage it himself if he can but when I saw how baggy he was down below I thought, "that's not toning up any time soon even if they invent piggie treadmills!" She also mentioned there was no visible sign of yeast - I think if I start to see that in his poops I'll need to go back again. So far we've not had any of the lethargy or stopping eating so I'm happy to check him over every day... usually afternoon atm before I put him on the grass. The girls go out first so he can maintain his dignity(!) and when he's clear he's put out too and goes straight into rumbling around so you can tell he's happy. He's maintaining his weight at 1.4 kilos. George gets unlimited hay - two types - and a heap of fresh meadow grass each day. He gets a small amount of veggie - too much makes him worse - I've noticed that for him lettuce makes things especially squishy - even a single leaf seems to trigger something. But he likes lettuce so he gets it maybe once or twice a week and I just take the hit. The best improvement I see is when he eats his cardboard box so I always have one in the run now - inside and outside - in case he fancies a nibble. He's not made the connection yet - come on George!
George is a passive piggie so will tolerate being turned gently onto his back to be cleared. I don't use oil or lubricant and I
don't poke around with q-tips. I have a little bowl of warm water and a cotton wool pad. I gently clear the impaction and then wipe him clean with the pad and warm water - he quite likes the warm water and he's realised that when he feels the wet pad he's done, clever lad. If it's dried and crusty I just sloosh with the warm water before I start. The skin there is sensitive so sometimes it doesn't seem to bother him, sometimes he makes an anxious noise and sometimes he squeaks in pain but there's not much I can do about that other than talk gently to reassure him. We're usually done in less than 30 seconds. Vet said I'm supposed to leave the lump in the cage for him to eat if he wants - I've heard some pigs really go for it because there are vitamins or something - but when it's offered he always looks at me like "Really?
Really?" and scoots off. George is peeing very freely so although I keep an eye for things like UTI (this was how I first realised he was getting a problem) he's OK so far. My only concern in the future is what I'm going to do if I go away with the family - I'm going to have to find someone special to look after him
I'll be getting him a check-up at the vet next month to make sure I'm doing OK so far and see if there is any more advice but as far as I can tell he's still living his best life
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