[Gpdd] HEALTH: trouble walking

[L M Hunter]

Somehow this didn't get posted...

----- Forwarded Message ----
From: mollymoo22 <mollymoo22-pigs at yahoo.com>
To: gpdd at gpdd.org
Sent: Wednesday, May 16, 2007 12:55:48 PM
Subject: HEALTH: trouble walking


Hello,
 
If anyone has had this happen to a pig, please advise...
 
Our pig Guinness quite suddenly become congested and started hopping around instead of walking normally about a year ago.  We took him to the vet, and she insisted that it was simply a lack of vitamin C.  Now, the congestion has been off and on for about a year, and of course, every time we go to the vet, there's no congestion.  He sounds like he has a throat full of mucus, then he coughs and it goes away for anywhere from a minute to a week.  
 
We've noticed a couple of times he's fallen over and struggles to get back up.  Yesterday we found him on his side struggling when we came home from work, and he could barely stand when we picked him up.  He's gotten somewhat better, but our vet thinks again that it's just vitamin C and a little weakness from having lost 1/2 lb over the past year.  
 
He eats and drinks well, and we give our pigs lots of spinach and other vitamin C foods.  I just have a gut feeling it's not a vitamin deficiency, but I don't have any other ideas.  Does anyone have any thoughts?
 
The Hunters