Free Ranger
Forum Donator 2023/24
I'm putting this into chat rather than H&I as my gentle boy is doing surprisingly well and I don't want to bung up the important bit of the forum when desperate owners are trying to get though. Things are in hand. He was a bit traumatised after his experience - but not so much as his owner and our poor young vet went weak at the knees! We've had George for 4 years: he was 18 months when we adopted him from Blue Cross as companion to my beloved Ivy. When Ivy became unwell for some weeks (and eventually passed late in 2020) he developed a UTI and we discovered he had started to become impacted. He had been stressed while she was ill and we thought it was probably all linked. A short course of antibiotics and an evening cleaning regime set him right. Later he developed stiff knees so now he gets daily metacam and glucosamine biccies. Why am I telling you all this again? It's because every night for months and months I've turned George over and had a poke round his personal areas (with my glasses on and everything) keeping him clean and clear. Washed his poopy bum in warm water and dabbed him dry. And every 3 months a proper piggy vet goes all over him with their poky fingers to check he's managing OK on his meds and they praise his mighty 1.35 kilos and his clean teeth and shiny, shiny coat and his sparkling anus. Which makes what happened even more unbelievable.
So I'm a bit tense Thursday night because I have to fetch boffin daughter from maths camp on Friday and it's going to be a 7 hour round trip that dad can't do because he's got covid. Also I have to be there for 1pm and I'm notoriously unpunctual thus bringing shame upon uber-timely child. We were so late arriving they'd locked the posh main drive gate and we had to go in the back way past the skips. Had also arranged to drop in and see my old Mum on way back and she was doing a Tea so timing important. All this flashes before my eyes as I turn George over for his evening treatment and see... a swelling the size of a conker in his lower abdomen. Heart drops into boots. He's eyeballing me. I give it a gentle little poke and he squeaks. Try to fathom what this is - he penis ridge seems swollen too, it doesn't feel right and I'm starting to sweat because all I can think of is a blocked bladder and that's bad, bad news for my old boy. So I put him back gently and decide to give it an hour or two to see if that goes down at all. Maybe I just caught him at a difficult moment? I mean, what are the chances...
George hasn't seemed quite right since the heatwave but it's been very hard to put your finger on anything. His last vet check was a month ago - fine - usual weight - lovely big boy showed his shiny teeth with no problem. But he had seemed to be getting a bit lighter recently and he'd been shedding hair. On Sunday he'd weighed in at 1.3 kilo so I was on guard. On Monday he was on the cushion and didn't bother getting off for the grass, but then it was very meagre because the heat killed pretty much everything and the girls were snuffling round it in disappointment. Did his poops look a bit smaller? Hard to tell as impaction means we get random sizes anyway, but I think there's less. Then on Thursday this happens. But he's still eating his hay and chugging his water bottle like a trouper so I hover nervously for a hour or so and then turn him over again. Phew - the conker has disappeared, so he's peed... but his penis still looks unusual. I check the end for sperm rods (which he's never had), hay or other obstruction - nothing - but he doesn't like being touched. Maybe some sort of infection or growth... maybe a tumour... I wake in the night sweating about how I'm going to juggle everything tomorrow to try and get him to the vet. Maybe this is the end for my old boy...
So up at 7 Friday morning and the vet is half an hour away and can fit him in at 8.45. Need to leave from home at 9.30, 10 at latest if M1 is clear all the way - don't start thinking ahead yet! One step at a time. So pop him in his snuggle sack and into the cat box and off we go. Young vet is lovely and listens carefully to his medical history - 5 and a half, mild impaction, one UTI some time ago, arthritis - on meds, no history of stones. Bit of weight loss, but input and output not a priority concern yet. Had his 4u of dog metacam this morning. Concerned about bladder blockage. She starts by checking his eyes, ears, teeth, then carefully all over. Fingers exploring sides and underneath, gentle pressure on bladder, stethoscope comes out etc. Concludes good gut sounds although he has lost a bit more (1.28) and soft bladder thank goodness. So we turn him over and he lays on his back, good as gold, while we both peer at his swollen penis ridge. As usual George's tackle is not visible, the tip is actually tucked away in his anal pouch, if you can imagine that, so you have to dig for it. So vet gloves up and gets a bit of lube and in she goes. I don't know at what point she realised this could be a stone as it all happened very fast after that but a firm squeeze and a mighty squeak later and this appears out of nowhere:
We both exclaim. Vet says, "that's his history of stones right there!" and takes it off to wash (because with its rubbery coating it was actually bigger) and I turn George and hold him close. He seems OK, if a bit startled. Vet turns to speak just as George does the biggest wee all down the front of my white blouse. What a relief it must have been. We both examine the wet patch - no blood tint - amazing.
We can't know for sure but we think this might have actually accumulated bit by bit in his penis. Have a look at this photo and you can see a sort of groove running the length of the stone which we think he must have been peeing though all this time. It seemed impossible, but there it was.
How long? Well we can't know. And it must have been kind of up the top end tucked right inside him because as I said at the beginning George is examined all the time. For some reason it finally moved. Maybe it started when he first got impacted, maybe before. I've had George so long he predates our use of decent pellets and low Ca water. Then again he was already 18 months when I got him. Or maybe it's quite recent. It looks big enough to get carbon-dated but I'm not sure my vet has the facility for that!
So brief discussion about x-ray which is obvs the next step but all things considered (partly time, and partly that this lovely vet would rather anaesthetise piggies for x-ray because she doesn't want to stress them out) I said I'd monitor him for complications and book him in for one if he seemed OK, bring him back sooner if things go awry. At the back of my mind I'm thinking that I don't actually want one too soon in case he gets the all clear and another one is brewing in the next few weeks. So now we're back watching like a hawk and George is feeling a bit self-conscious whenever he eats anything because everyone is staring at him! But he's doing great. He wolfed down 10ml of CC voluntarily on that first day but has refused to touch it since. He's been stuffing his face with a source of new grass (I've been trespassing slightly, but when I get challenged then I'll know who to ask permission from!) He doesn't seem to realise he's had a remarkable escape - and perhaps unsurprisingly he seems to have a new lease of life. He's back to 1.3 kilo at this point. Here he is stripping the roof off carrot cottage.
I was late to pick up daughter - obvs - but not too late as there was still one more child left whose parent would have to do the walk of shame. You can't have everything!
So I'm a bit tense Thursday night because I have to fetch boffin daughter from maths camp on Friday and it's going to be a 7 hour round trip that dad can't do because he's got covid. Also I have to be there for 1pm and I'm notoriously unpunctual thus bringing shame upon uber-timely child. We were so late arriving they'd locked the posh main drive gate and we had to go in the back way past the skips. Had also arranged to drop in and see my old Mum on way back and she was doing a Tea so timing important. All this flashes before my eyes as I turn George over for his evening treatment and see... a swelling the size of a conker in his lower abdomen. Heart drops into boots. He's eyeballing me. I give it a gentle little poke and he squeaks. Try to fathom what this is - he penis ridge seems swollen too, it doesn't feel right and I'm starting to sweat because all I can think of is a blocked bladder and that's bad, bad news for my old boy. So I put him back gently and decide to give it an hour or two to see if that goes down at all. Maybe I just caught him at a difficult moment? I mean, what are the chances...
George hasn't seemed quite right since the heatwave but it's been very hard to put your finger on anything. His last vet check was a month ago - fine - usual weight - lovely big boy showed his shiny teeth with no problem. But he had seemed to be getting a bit lighter recently and he'd been shedding hair. On Sunday he'd weighed in at 1.3 kilo so I was on guard. On Monday he was on the cushion and didn't bother getting off for the grass, but then it was very meagre because the heat killed pretty much everything and the girls were snuffling round it in disappointment. Did his poops look a bit smaller? Hard to tell as impaction means we get random sizes anyway, but I think there's less. Then on Thursday this happens. But he's still eating his hay and chugging his water bottle like a trouper so I hover nervously for a hour or so and then turn him over again. Phew - the conker has disappeared, so he's peed... but his penis still looks unusual. I check the end for sperm rods (which he's never had), hay or other obstruction - nothing - but he doesn't like being touched. Maybe some sort of infection or growth... maybe a tumour... I wake in the night sweating about how I'm going to juggle everything tomorrow to try and get him to the vet. Maybe this is the end for my old boy...
So up at 7 Friday morning and the vet is half an hour away and can fit him in at 8.45. Need to leave from home at 9.30, 10 at latest if M1 is clear all the way - don't start thinking ahead yet! One step at a time. So pop him in his snuggle sack and into the cat box and off we go. Young vet is lovely and listens carefully to his medical history - 5 and a half, mild impaction, one UTI some time ago, arthritis - on meds, no history of stones. Bit of weight loss, but input and output not a priority concern yet. Had his 4u of dog metacam this morning. Concerned about bladder blockage. She starts by checking his eyes, ears, teeth, then carefully all over. Fingers exploring sides and underneath, gentle pressure on bladder, stethoscope comes out etc. Concludes good gut sounds although he has lost a bit more (1.28) and soft bladder thank goodness. So we turn him over and he lays on his back, good as gold, while we both peer at his swollen penis ridge. As usual George's tackle is not visible, the tip is actually tucked away in his anal pouch, if you can imagine that, so you have to dig for it. So vet gloves up and gets a bit of lube and in she goes. I don't know at what point she realised this could be a stone as it all happened very fast after that but a firm squeeze and a mighty squeak later and this appears out of nowhere:
We both exclaim. Vet says, "that's his history of stones right there!" and takes it off to wash (because with its rubbery coating it was actually bigger) and I turn George and hold him close. He seems OK, if a bit startled. Vet turns to speak just as George does the biggest wee all down the front of my white blouse. What a relief it must have been. We both examine the wet patch - no blood tint - amazing.
We can't know for sure but we think this might have actually accumulated bit by bit in his penis. Have a look at this photo and you can see a sort of groove running the length of the stone which we think he must have been peeing though all this time. It seemed impossible, but there it was.
How long? Well we can't know. And it must have been kind of up the top end tucked right inside him because as I said at the beginning George is examined all the time. For some reason it finally moved. Maybe it started when he first got impacted, maybe before. I've had George so long he predates our use of decent pellets and low Ca water. Then again he was already 18 months when I got him. Or maybe it's quite recent. It looks big enough to get carbon-dated but I'm not sure my vet has the facility for that!
So brief discussion about x-ray which is obvs the next step but all things considered (partly time, and partly that this lovely vet would rather anaesthetise piggies for x-ray because she doesn't want to stress them out) I said I'd monitor him for complications and book him in for one if he seemed OK, bring him back sooner if things go awry. At the back of my mind I'm thinking that I don't actually want one too soon in case he gets the all clear and another one is brewing in the next few weeks. So now we're back watching like a hawk and George is feeling a bit self-conscious whenever he eats anything because everyone is staring at him! But he's doing great. He wolfed down 10ml of CC voluntarily on that first day but has refused to touch it since. He's been stuffing his face with a source of new grass (I've been trespassing slightly, but when I get challenged then I'll know who to ask permission from!) He doesn't seem to realise he's had a remarkable escape - and perhaps unsurprisingly he seems to have a new lease of life. He's back to 1.3 kilo at this point. Here he is stripping the roof off carrot cottage.
I was late to pick up daughter - obvs - but not too late as there was still one more child left whose parent would have to do the walk of shame. You can't have everything!
. He must be feeling soooo much better now.
