[Gpdd] [Health] Bonded Piggies, Corrines issues, Truffles

[warmbreath at comcast.net]

Hi and Merry Christmas to all the Piggies and parent slaves and a hearty 
pirate toast to all the piggies who entertained us with their antics, the 
piggies who proved over and over that love is alive in his crazy life by 
making us and their piggie companions grieve deeply when they sicken or go 
to the rainbow bridge. To the Parent Slaves who spent endless hours and 
precious treasure to entertain their piggie charges and to try to keep them 
happy and healthy in a world where even some vets think they are expendable 
and not even worthy of being studied to learn how to keep them healthy, I 
say that vet should walk the plank!!  Piggies are complex little creatures, 
as each of us discovered, and that's what makes them so worth our love 
admiration and endless hours to keep them well and happy.

Alyssa and Nancy are of course totally correct. Piggies grieve for their 
lost companions. I had one who was soooo intelligent he was able to 
recognize a threat of separation from his beloved companion if he didn't 
straighten up and accept a third piggy into their pair bond. That is very 
complex thinking indeed, and it really happened, full story on request.

That said, with baby Truffles it concerns me to think that her very real 
grief would cause her neurological symptoms to return, I dont think so, 
unless she has had a return of an old e.c. infection, that could easily do 
it. Corrine's description of the vets previous findings of a lesion near the 
ear makes me think that she most likely had a middle or inner ear infection 
and that it, or an abscess that may have formed from the pus of it, caused 
the lesion that caused some brain damage which in turn damaged her optic 
nerve which caused her to have eyes that dont track or that may have caused 
a nystigmus or other eye, brain, or nerve damage connection. The choice to 
treat with Panacur and baytril was a good one, as it would treat ear 
infection and e.c., but please note that to fight a neurological pest like 
e.c. panacur must be given for 28 days along with the antibiotic and a third 
anti-inflammatory/pain relief drug. So if all that happened and her ear 
infection was cured or an e.c. infection was forced into remission, that 
was a good thing and a blessing. But I doubt grief would cause the return of 
neurological symptoms from an ear infection, but it is well known this since 
its well neigh impossible to permanently cure e.c. it is well within the 
realm of possibility that the stress of grief from a lost companion. could 
allow an e.c  infection to come out of dormancy and threaten Truffles life 
again. So It might be wise, to repeat the 28 day e.c. cure.  E.c. can recur 
at any time during a piggies lifetime, so  the nursing mother of Truffles 
was Blossom, if it is e.c. it could have come from Blossom? More that one of 
your piggies could have e.c. and it might have lived in caviary for a long 
time, hitting some, skipping others. Have any of your other pigs ever had 
any neurological problems, hind leg weakness, trouble walking, head tilt or 
eye problems?

Corrine,  you may have started us now with enough details to want to check 
the history of your caviary to see if the mystery killer in your midst might 
be e.c., to see if Truffles may have a relapse of e.c.and I would like to 
explore this a bit more. I sent you a detailed message the other day asking 
you to put together a detailed timeline type history of your caviary as you 
have had a lengthy series of deaths including CaSee (KC) sp?, Snowy Bear, 
Blossom, and now and still Truffles and another one, Sparkles who isn't 
doing all that well. Well as luck and timing would have it apparently it 
didn't go through to the digest, but you got your copy, so now with this 
little bit of added info from you I am a bit more convinced that something 
is wrong in your caviary and that a complete time line and history of it and 
all your pigs including the ones that died and the ones that haven't is 
necessary. If you can find the time and energy to put such a complete 
history together whee maybe able to find your secret killer, a parasite, a 
continuing infection, something passed on from your good works feeding feral 
cats, stray birds or raccoons brining in a disease or parasite, so something 
wrong in their long term care that may not be working well for them, there 
may be a common thread between these diseases and we as your friends and 
supporters are a fine bunch of knowledgeable piggie people who are committed 
to piggie welfare and whee can help you root out the common thread if there 
is one. If we find it whee can fix it and help you move part this awful part 
of your life where you are miserable and depressed and feeling like a piggy 
killer. In going back to Snowy Bear's case and although he ultimately died 
of the botched surgery for stones, we should also go back into his other 
history before that and see if their are clues and symptoms there also. 
maybe the stones and surgery were a red herring and diverted our attention 
to some detail that might fit in with the other illness' and deaths.

I admire you for you many good works, but recently you have explained you 
are so busy in several animal rescue activities plus you have a demanding 
job and your piggies, plus your hubby and family???  So it may be possible 
that your kind heart has you overextended and overworked and also that there 
may be some contamination from the feral cats into your caviary esp. a 
parasite. Any bunnies wild or domestic around? Any raccoons? All these can 
carry horrible piggy killing parasites and your answer maybe that simple, 
plus you may need to simplify your life into no more than one or two hobbies 
outside your job and family life so that the issues you chose to focus on 
you can do well, in depth, and with confidence. Whatever the answer is, if 
you can help us with the histories and experiences to glean through all that 
old stuff and find out what your piggie mystery is, and figuring that out 
will help you climb out of your blue funk and get your piggies healthy 
again, wouldn't that be a grand start on the new year?  And most likely the 
answer is going to be something you had no idea about and so couldn't 
control, but even if it turns out to be something wrong in your care of them 
at least we will have found and fixed it and that will make your life and 
their life better, right? No embarrassment, just an end to unnecessary 
deaths IF their is a common cause.   At the very least if we work hard and 
find nothing that is an answer too, proving its a string of bad luck and 
accidents, and I'm pretty sure , some poor vet care.  Did you say there is a 
better one but they are further away? If so you probably better move to the 
far one, if they are better and we find the cause of the illness, there will 
be fewer trips. Somewhere there is an answer, I'm just sure!

Later today or tomorrow I will resend the message that got stuck, and I may 
be you have to wait a week or two till the holiday activities are over to do 
the work, but when you can do it I think we will get a lot closer to solving 
your piggy mystery and we would all feel good about that.  Merry Christmas 
and fond hopes for a kinder better new year at your house, with love, Sandy 
and Sammy pirating with his lady love and friends at last. Missing your lost 
loves