[Gpdd] Health Question-GP stressors

[Maren Fouts]

Hello Nancy,

I'm sure you'll get plenty of answers but since my Sam is a mama's boy and
doesn't like to be alone I thought I could help.

I got Sam (my first pig) during the summer before my last year of graduate
school.  Since I (and my roommate) were taking colleges classes we had the
luxury of being at home a lot.  So he got tons of loving and was quite
happy.  After my last year, I moved with my fiance, got married a couple
of months later, and we both started working full-time jobs.  So Sam was
being left alone at least 9-10 hours a day.  I was worried about him in
the beginning but he seemed fine so I thought I could take my time finding
him a friend.  Well, the rescue I was looking into, unfortunately didn't
have enough girl pigs (Sam has a big alpha personality so he most likely
would not have gotten along so well with a male) so I had to wait about 2
months or so before we got Rosie.  The last month of that Sam was not
eating or drinking much and I could tell he was quite lonely.  I would
hold him in the morning while getting ready for work.  He is a very clingy
pig.  But he's my sweetie pig!

So, bottom line, when you first get your new friend weigh him/her.  The
first sign of any problem, emotional or physical, will be weight loss. 
Since you won't know the personality and eating habits of the new pig the
weight will be your best bet.

In addition, there are some pigs that just don't get along with any other
pigs and they are best left alone.  If you find a pig like this you might
be set.

In regard to moving often.  I don't find that to be much of a problem with
Sam or Rosie.  We've taken them on road trips before.  Since you can't
leave their water bottle up I tend to give them veggies that have a high
water content so they don't get thirsty.  Of course, when we stop I give
them their water bottle.  Once again, this depends on the personality of
your new pig.  There are things you can do to keep the stress of moving to
a minimum.  You'll probably figure that out once you know your pig and
figure out what helps him to relax.  I usually give Sam and Rosie a place
to hide and try to keep the noise to a minimum.  They feel safest with
this setup.

I hope this helped.  Good luck and let us know when you get your piggy!

Maren-slave to Sam and Rosie