[Gpdd] HEALTH - Mimi update - Similar situation

[Angela Taylor]

Jaime,  I really hope you can find an answer as to what may be wrong with Mimi; I've actually been dealing with something similar with my oldest sow Isis (who's nearly 3).

I moved in with my boyfriend in January, and after getting settled in our new home, Isis started crying when she was in her litter box.  It's a horrible pathetic squeak...I feel so bad for her.  At the time, we thought it may have been the change in water quality/content here in our new home, but we started using filtered water with no change in her behavior.  We'd also noticed that she'd been eating her soiled litter, which she'd never done before the move.  (At the time, we were using Swheat Scoop.)  We hoped it was just a stress reaction to the move and that it would go away.

She got to be particularly bad in March, and we took her to a nearby vet that deals with exotics.  Isis had begun hardly pooping at all and was really crying when she tried to go.  When she did go, her pellets were large and soft (and messy!).  The vet put her on pain meds and a motility drug to help get her sorted out, and while we could tell it made her feel better and her pellets got back to normal, she never really stopped whimpering when we was in her litter box.

In May, she went downhill again and developed a huge gas bubble in her stomach.  The vet kept her for the day to give her IV fluids and motility drugs to try to expel some of the gas.  She was so traumatized by that!  :(  It was like we were picking up a different pig when we went back to get her...she was terrified.

We started using Yesterday's News litter and got rid of the Swheat Scoop; the vet said that her eating the wheat-based litter might have contributed to the gas problem (by fermenting in her system).  She got more pain meds, 2 motility drugs, plus OTC Simethicone ("Infant Gas Relief") from the pharmacy.

She still whines in her litter box a little every day, and we can tell that she has good days and bad days.  The gas bubble never entirely went away, and it also comes and goes.  I give her a dose of Simethicone maybe once or twice a week or so when she starts feeling uncomfortable.

I know at this point I'm treating the symptoms...I would really love to know what's going on with her so we can get her healthy again.  She's just fine in every other way, like Mimi; she loves cuddles, always runs to her cage door to get veggies and treats, has a good appetite, and is as productive as usual in her litter box.  She's just in pain when she poops.  :(

Please keep us updated!  I'd love to know if the vet (or anyone else) comes up with a diagnosis and can help us get our girls back to normal.

~*~
Angela (Mama), Peter (Papa), and the girls, Isis and Mimi (Piggie Princesses)


PS - We added a second Guinea Goddess to our family back in May!  We named her Artemis because she has a perfectly symmetrical arrow on her head that points right at her mouth.  We toyed around with naming her "Insert Food Here," but we thought it would be too much, LOL.  (She's a total Daddy's Girl...my boyfriend was skeptical about pigs before I moved in, but now he's hooked!)  We call her Mimi for short, and I've been eager to read about how "the other Mimi" is doing.  :)