[Gpdd] MISC: Health

[Sandra Oliver-Poore]

Hi Dee, I believe it is an automatic response as the brain is becoming
detached from the body as the connections becomes undone. The conscious mind
is working better than the body and the body is acting automatically. It's
like the jerky motions a person who has been hit by a car or some other
terminal event has occurred. The only other thing I can of is that the piggy
is trying to find air when he can't breathe enough anymore. I thought of
this when I had a terminal piggy at the vet and the run would stop when an
oxygen mask was attached. The new input of oxygen staves of the dying and
running for a few minutes. I have seen this.   When the run starts if I am
in a position to administer opiates or euthanasia the quicker the better, as
the poor piggy is clearly frightened, and I believe there is absolutely no
hope. I usually have them in a piggy burrito tucked under my chin if I
possibly can, once I had to carry a piggy around for three solid days on a
three-day wheekend and we could not get to our vet, he was on large doses of
opiods to ease his crossing as he had lost all control of his body. I hope
someone can do this better than I can and I hope we don't have to go through
it, but to hold a piggy as he dies is the greatest gift. 
Sandy