[Gpdd] HEALTH: Mysterious Ohioan virus and allergies and Murray

[Lisa Choiniere]

Hi all,
 
Things have been a bit crazy here in the rescue so I am a bit behind in my digests. First off, what is this with the Petsmart rodents carrying some sort of virus? And what is the virus they carry? All the news reports they give over here say people have died but don't worry it won't harm humans. I took in two darlings from OH and I do not know where she got them from and my mother has cancer. So I would sort of like to be informed even if they are blowing things out of proportion as the media tends to do. So any clarification would be greatly appreciated!
 
Allergies! I am allergic to my pigs. Yes, and I run a rescue. I know it sounds crazy. I get hives when I handle them, I wheeze and cough when I clean cages and "prolonged exposure can eventually lead to severe allergic response and anaphylaxis." But I love them and I am a rebel like Leah. So here is what I do. Mine are currently on pine shavings but we are working towards (ever so slowly) moving to fleece and dog wee wee pads initially then to towels once I upgrade my washer to handle running much more often than it does now, after all, I do have 18 cages at the moment. The fleece actually helps catch the hay dust too although someone mentioned a salad spinner too once. Would not work well here, but maybe in your situation. Then, if all else doesnt work. Try bathing your pigs. I am more allergic to the boars than the sows and get hives more often with Abbys than with smooth-coated pigs. So I bathe my boars a lot which also facilitates good goo-gland health.
 
Finally, onto my retired pig Murray, my Murr-burr with the ginormous mammary tumor that I decided to not have removed. I had a bad feeling about putting him through surgery so I didn't then this past weekend I thought he was dying. He was not eating much and was lying around and was moving so stiff. I thought, this was it. So I was syringing him some water and I noticed his teeth were a little long, didn't think much of it. I put him back in his cage that night tucked into a cozy and went to bed. Then I got up in the middle of the night and picked him up and really looked at his teeth. They were LONG. So then I am waking up all my pigs looking in their mouths trying to compare (they are all quite ticked off at me by this point, can you just imagine 31 irate pigs?) and my Murr-burr's teeth were probably twice as long as they should have been. 
 
WHY HAD I NEVER NOTICED THIS BEFORE? He had always eaten and he wasn't losing weight or anything so I never really bothered to check. So now I feel like the biggest dumb*** slave in the world because I did not notice something so obvious. We all know rodent's teeth never stop growing. I knew that and have always known that but because I have never had a pig with teeth problem's, I had not incorporated it into one of my weekly "inspections." So needless to say I got his teeth trimmed. Well now, poor Murray doesn't know what to do with teeth the proper size! 
 
He is improving. He gets several cc's of V-8 a day, leafy veggies he can manage, orchard grass, and his pellets, plus oat groats and whatever else I can get him to eat. He is only 987 g (although he has always been a small boy since I got him) and that is with a tumor the size of a golf ball. I am such an idiot. I will never forgive myself for this which is why I am telling you this story so everyone will look in their piggies mouths all the time and familiarize themselves with what is normal.
 
Sorry this is so long!
 
Lisa and the rescued gang at Wheeks and Squeaks including the retired trio, Murray (6), Tabasco (5), and Sonny (5)

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