[Gpdd] [HEALTH] <anal impaction>

[warmbreath at comcast.net]

I'm glad we could be of help. With older boars it's important to not let them get too fat, then they cant reach their cecals, by this I mean there are 2 types of droppings your piggies make, one you see every where, the other they actually bend over and snatch it as it comes out and eat it. This is called a cecotrope, or cecal as we call it day to day. This is a totally different type of poo than regular fecal poops, and they are full of vitamins and healthy bacteria that the piggy must have.  Plus as boars mature they tend to loose some muscle tone down there, both conditions tend to cause impactions.

A mature piggy does not need the high protein found in alfalfa and it tends to make them fat, piggies eat all the time so the food has to be low calorie, low fat, low protein, high fiber. Timothy or grass is the best for health, try to find pellets made with timothy hay too. 

You did a good job cleaning Ready, Rough needs your attentions now, use the olive oil as the soap and lubricant to ease off the mass. Make sure you dont feed it to them, it's just so that whatever you use to clean their bum and penis is a natural product that doesn't taste bad to the piggy. If the piggy doesn't like how his cecals taste or smell as they come out he may not eat them and that would be a disaster as they must eat them and if they dont eat them they would pile up, making impaction worse.

I feed my piggies corn husks too, and the silks, although I peel off all the outside parts as they have been exposed to pesticides. Piggies can eat parts of veggies that people dont normally eat, but be very careful that anything outside, like a rind or peel is very carefully washed and then rinsed. Anything even slightly off must be discarded, if its not good enough for you it's not good enough for them. Celery should be cut into small pieces because of the strings, any thing stringy I break up, every thing else in large pieces so they get the most exercise for their teeth in eating them (as you probably know rodent teeth grow continually). I actually use mostly organic produce for my piggies as they eat such a higher proportion of veggies in their diet than we do. A good solution is to grow your own, especially kale parsley, cilantro etc. Very healthful for you and the boys and so easy to grow it can be grown in borders and flower beds and mostly ignored.  Good luck  Sandy and Shipwreck Sam