[Gpdd] [HEALTH] Claude update

[DebJonSara at aol.com]

Jaime, thank you so very much for remembering Claude in your prayers. It  
must be doing some good, because he is still hanging on in there. I feel a  
little embarrassed posting about him, because I have not taken him to a vet and  do 
not really know what the problem is, and I know that sounds irresponsible.  
It's just that I don't have local access to a vet that knows piggies, and if I  
go to my local vet, she will just ask me what I think the problem is and what 
 the Internet suggests as treatment, or she will give me Marbocyl tablets  
(related to Baytril). As she doesn't really know him (although she did once  
stitch a wound on his chest - the only time she has ever been able to help any  
of my piggies), she wouldn't be able to see anything wrong, other than that he  
is very thin and light. She would ask me if he is eating, drinking and 
poohing,  which he is, and he is lively and sociable. So she wouldn't even see any  
symptoms to treat. He did have blood in his urine some time ago, but I treated 
 that myself with Bactrim and he no longer has that problem.
 
I think I said before, I could take him to the UK for treatment, but I made  
the decision not to put him through the trauma of the journey  -he has  
already crossed the Channel twice. He lived alone for his first 3 years before  
being castrated at the CCT and moving in with his harem, and he is just such a  
different pig since he's had his girlies - I couldn't bring myself to separate  
him from them. I could maybe take him to Paris, but that is still a long trip 
(4  hours each way), and would they be able to do anything for him?
 
So - I bring him in at night for warmth, and only put him out with his  
girlies if it is warm during the day. He has a big Critical Care ball each night  
and morning - I am trying to transfer him to Galen's Garden Nutri-powder, as it 
 is easier to obtain here in France, but he doesn't like it - and a tomato 
each  evening as well as the usual salads they all get. He eats more slowly than 
the  others, but well - I have tried to examine his teeth and can't see a 
problem. He  can still chomp carrots and pellets. He is kind of maintaining his 
weight around  650g (but the norm for him was 1100g), but I can see he's not 
right. He is not  suffering, I don't think, as he runs around and wheeks for 
food and even  head-butts the girls sometimes. But his posture when he walks is 
not like the  others - more hunched, his back legs more extended.
 
I recently went to the UK for my mother's 80th birthday, and was so afraid  
that Claude would leave for The Bridge during my absence, so it was a huge  
relief to find him still here. I don't think he has long though - I consider him  
to be on "hospice", so he gets spoilt - tomatoes, orange, fresh grass, corn 
silk  ... . He would be 5 on 15th November this year, but I doubt he'll make 
it. He is  the oldest surviving Dolly Mixture, though only by a couple of 
months, and I  dread him leaving, as it will seem like the beginning of the end. His 
brother,  Pipsqueak, crosses the Channel frequently and visits now and again, 
and he still  seem in fine health, although I know for a fact he is not 
cosseted as much as  Claude, and he is a lone pig. Maybe quality is more important 
than quantity when  it comes to a life?
 
Goodness, this was not meant to be so long, sorry!
 
Debbie (and the 14 Dolly Mixtures)