[Gpdd] [HEALTH]Butterscotch and Tom

[DL1Bossfan at aol.com]

Hi Friends:
I haven't posted in a while, but try to keep up with the GPDD.  First  of all 
I want to offer our heart felt sympathy to Leah and Blaine on the loss of  
their 2 sweet babies.  They were such good parents to Butterscotch and  Brownie 
Bear, and I pray they will soon find another (or more!) to love.
My Tom has been quite sick for about two weeks now.  He has the  symptoms of 
Gastrointestinal Stasis, and is being treated for it.  It is  common in 
bunnies, (or more talked about) but piggies can get it too.   Basically the  piggy 
(or bunny) stops eating and drinking, and if left  untreated can die quickly.  
The intestine becomes static - which can be  caused by an underlying illness 
or problem such as an intestinal blockage,  dental problems, or infections - 
just to name a few.  Tom has been  examined twice including his teeth - and the 
Dr. has not found  anything.  He has also not shown many of the symptoms that 
I have  read about.  First and foremost, he is not showing any signs of pain.  
 He has just lost a lot of weight and has no appetite.  He was on an  
antibiotic for a week and is still on Reglan 2 times a day. (The Reglan is  a 
motility drug).  Tom also has received fluids sub-q twice.  He  has started to drink 
on his own again, and perch on his food dish - but he  mostly just plays with 
the food and then goes back into the pigloo.  I have  been feeding him 
critical care by syringe.  Sorry Oxbow - but he hates it,  and I have tried both 
flavors!  Regardless, I realize it is a great product  and he gets it anyway!
So - the reason for this post is if any of you have experienced this, I  
would love to hear from you.  I am mainly interested in trying to get him  to eat 
something solid.  This group of piggies (all 6) have never been  fruit eaters 
with the exception of apples.  Tom is approx. 5 years  old.  He was part of 
the Maryland rescue where the lunatic had 200+ piggies  in his stinky small 
garage several years ago, so he is tough and he is a  survivor.  He is a 
sweetheart and I pray he recovers.  This illness  has made him very clingy - especially 
with Huck.  Tom would rather be  in the pigloo with Huck than in his own by 
himself, so Huck wishes that he  will recover soon too!  Sorry for the long 
post and thanks for reading  through it.
Donna and the 6 S.C. piggies
Tom, Huck, Becky, Thatcher, Big Jim, and Aunt  Polly



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