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Piggy Health Question

E

elve

Banned
:wave: Now my pigs are all around 3yrs old and over, I'm wondering how long they live on average, and what kind of health problems I should look out for (I've sussed out impacted rectums :shock:) - I had 3 die last year from what seemed to be kidney failure leading to multiple organ failure - is this common?
 
elve said:
:wave: Now my pigs are all around 3yrs old and over, I'm wondering how long they live on average, and what kind of health problems I should look out for (I've sussed out impacted rectums :shock:) - I had 3 die last year from what seemed to be kidney failure leading to multiple organ failure - is this common?
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They normally live 6-7 years but can live 8 years or more. If you have uneutered
boars, then you will have to clear out impactions for them!

Don't think kidney failure is that common:? how old were they when they died, and what were their symptoms?

My oldest sow (nearly 6) has had kidney disease for about 1 year and she is still battling on, although she drinks a bottle full of water a day and wees everywhere poor thing:(
 
mine normally live to around five and a half though i have heard of others living a lot longer. i have been really lucky with mine as they have all died of old age. they suddenly become like old woman, they go very thin and boney, sometimes they can start to go blind and they become a lot slower. the end is not that far off when they become like that.
 
Oh i dont want mine to get old :cry:

My eldest piggie is 3 (i think) so i have plenty of time before age starts to concern me :)
 
My oldest at the moment is a neutered boy who was 7 in February.

I had one die last year of kidney failure she was 4 and i have another with kidney problems who is also 4, she is so thin I don't know how she survived the winter, but sh'e still really bright and active.

A lot of my older guineas ,5 plus, have had strokes or heart attacks. With the strokes they have either died the same day or made some kind of recovery for around a month and then had another stroke and died.

I also lost a 5 year old last year to bone cancer .
 
oh thanks for the info that's really intersting, if grim :( I'd been thinking that in about 5yrs most of them would have died, but I hadn't realised the reality of that situation, when you have 23 animals, is that those 5yrs are going to involve one animal after the other getting sick and dying - I just hadn't thought about it really till Maa died last week :?
 
Sad isn't it? :( I've had some younger deaths - one of kidney problems, one of a heart attack.

I know exactly how you feel, as I only have a few animals but none of them are young and healthy, and I feel a lot like a vet nurse most days.
 
Its awful when they get ill. My spare room is like a guinea pig hospital at the moment:(

Kylie has just had her third bladder stone operation in the last year, and the vet says he can't do it again. I'm so scared of her getting another stone now:(
 
Miss Piggy, have you heard of Uriflow? It's a product from the US that people have successfully used for piggies prone to stones. Can't send you a link at the moment as I'm on my phone, but try Googling it - can send you a link later if you can't find it.
 
SarahP said:
Miss Piggy, have you heard of Uriflow? It's a product from the US that people have successfully used for piggies prone to stones. Can't send you a link at the moment as I'm on my phone, but try Googling it - can send you a link later if you can't find it.
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No I haven't, but she is taking potassium citrate at the moment. That's suppose to keep the calcium dissolved instead of forming a stone. I have to be careful what I give her because she has kidney disease as well. Thanks for the info though I will look it up.:)
 
I've just ordered some potassium citrate online as one of my boys seems to be getting a stone - what's the dosage?
 
I have some of those Uriflow if either of you wanted me to send you a couple of capsules to try. You break them open and just dip a wet syringe in it, then mix it with a tiny bit of water.
 
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elve said:
I've just ordered some potassium citrate online as one of my boys seems to be getting a stone - what's the dosage?
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It doesn't get rid of stones, only prevents them. If he's got a stone it will need removing as they can block the urinary tract.

Has he been tested for UTI? He might just need some abs.

The dosage is 0.1ml twice a day. You need to give water with it because it is very harsh on the digestive system. I think you are supposed to give 10 times the amount of water, so I use a 1ml syringe, draw up the 0.1ml of potassium citrate then draw some water in the same syringe until its full.

Some pigs can't tolerate the citrate, but Kylie has been on it for 9 months with no problems so far.
 
SarahP said:
I have some of those Uriflow if either of you wanted me to send you a couple of capsules to try. You break them opem and just dip a wet syringe in it, then mix it with a tiny bit of water.
Click to expand...

Thanks, but I daren't put her on anything else. She has been stone free for 9 months on the citrate, but she has just had a UTI so I think that's what's triggered the stones again. I have kept the information though, and if she gets another stone I will ask her vet if I can give it a try.
 
thanks I've written that down - I'll give it to his 2 brothers too as it's genetic I believe :( Hopefully the citrate will work, plus I've bought some uva ursi (bearberry) as it says on Peter Guerney that's a good diuretic to flush out their bladder - I've been giving dandelions as they're diuretic, but of course they also contain a lot of calcium :roll:
 
:wave: My two girls were 8 when they died. Bubbles didn't look 'right' but the vet said nothing wrong. So took her home and she died:cry:, her sister George had a stroke a couple of days later and died in my arms. :cry:
 
We had had piggies ranging from 1-7.........all our piggies have had completely different illnesses so I cant give you any advice re things to watch out for apart from the usual excessive drinking, lumps, weight loss etc etc.............can we see some more of your piggie photo's please? :D
 
I lost my male piggie in September :( the rescue was told he was around 2 years but we think he was an older guy..

I went to feed him one morning and he wouldn't eat his greens, I picked him up and he was in pain :( he also felt like he's lost weight overnight :?

The vet felt it was best to put him to sleep, she did say we could try to syringe him water but she felt there wasn't really much hope..

I decided to put him out of his pain :cry: I cried and cried as he passed away in my arms the vet must of thought I was a right cry baby.
 
awww that's sad :( most vets don't seem to know much about piggies - when I saw a locum one time he didn't even know about impactions - just looked vacant at me :roll:
 
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