Post by bjmom27 on May 26, 2010 12:32:42 GMT -5
Just wanted to share my experience here....
My husband changed our watering system for me from a tub of water to a bite spigot. Right after he set up the spigot, one of the pigs bit on it and, because there was still air in the line, the water spurted and sputtered at the pig. The pig ran off scared and wouldn't drink from it again right away. I watched for a while to see if any of the pigs would drink from it, and some did. I didn't watch to see if all the pigs would drink from it, although I meant to....
Fast forward several days and one of the pigs was coughing at the food dish but still quite vigorous and going after his share of the food. A few days later, I noticed that one pig wasn't coming to the food dish for two meals in a row. That was weird, so I started looking up what could be wrong with him. I figured that since one had been coughing earlier (this one wasn't coughing or having any respiratory symptoms), perhaps it was pneumonia of some kind. We do homeopathy here, so I began giving remedies for pneumonia. No change.
The next morning, I looked up a troubleshooter for what could be wrong with him. First thing that came up was the water supply!!!! Turns out that coughing is one of the symptoms of dehydration (at one point in the process anyway). I realized that this was probably the pig that had gotten scared from the bit spigot and then wouldn't drink from it again but would rather die of dehydration.
He was very lethargic and I could get very close to administer water & milk & medicine, so I knew the dehydration was pretty severe at this point. He did significantly change position once or twice during the day, though. I also read that if you give too much water to a dehydrated pig all at once, the sudden hydration can cause the brain to swell--not a good idea. The advice was to administer 1/4 cup of water every 20 minutes until improvement (and also to call the vet so the vet could administer drugs).
I began giving him 1/4 cup of water in a syringe every 20 minutes and looked up a homeopathic remedy for dehydration. Turns out it's Cinchona Off. (China) for after severe loss of body fluids (hemorrhaging, diarrhea, vomiting, etc.). He hadn't lost his body fluids from any of those things, but he hadn't been replacing his normal body fluid loss and that created the same symptoms. I began giving him China every 20 minutes for a couple of doses with his water and then once again before I went to bed. My husband saw him get up once that day to relieve himself....bright yellow/orange urine. Also before bed, I gave him as much fresh milk as he would take, which ended up being about 1 1/2 cups (I figured he'd been hydrated enough throughout the day that this wouldn't hurt him.) I then left him for the night.
Next morning, I resumed the schedule of water every 20 minutes with a few doses of China here and there. I then took a quart of fresh milk out to him to see how much of it he would take. After syringing about 1 cup of milk into his mouth (and him lapping/sucking it down), he stirred, got up, and went out of the bed area to relieve himself. This time, his urine was a very light yellow and lots of it. He then went over to nibble at the grass and dig around a bit before he came back to lie down. Progress!!! I continued to try to give him the rest of the quart of milk throughout the day, but he gradually got more and more flighty. By the end of the day, he wouldn't allow me to get near, and he was at the feed dish by dinner. Amazing! =)
Because he's scared of the bite spigot, I resumed filling the water tub for him so he wouldn't get dehydrated again. That was several days ago, and he's been doing fine ever since. =)
My husband changed our watering system for me from a tub of water to a bite spigot. Right after he set up the spigot, one of the pigs bit on it and, because there was still air in the line, the water spurted and sputtered at the pig. The pig ran off scared and wouldn't drink from it again right away. I watched for a while to see if any of the pigs would drink from it, and some did. I didn't watch to see if all the pigs would drink from it, although I meant to....
Fast forward several days and one of the pigs was coughing at the food dish but still quite vigorous and going after his share of the food. A few days later, I noticed that one pig wasn't coming to the food dish for two meals in a row. That was weird, so I started looking up what could be wrong with him. I figured that since one had been coughing earlier (this one wasn't coughing or having any respiratory symptoms), perhaps it was pneumonia of some kind. We do homeopathy here, so I began giving remedies for pneumonia. No change.
The next morning, I looked up a troubleshooter for what could be wrong with him. First thing that came up was the water supply!!!! Turns out that coughing is one of the symptoms of dehydration (at one point in the process anyway). I realized that this was probably the pig that had gotten scared from the bit spigot and then wouldn't drink from it again but would rather die of dehydration.
He was very lethargic and I could get very close to administer water & milk & medicine, so I knew the dehydration was pretty severe at this point. He did significantly change position once or twice during the day, though. I also read that if you give too much water to a dehydrated pig all at once, the sudden hydration can cause the brain to swell--not a good idea. The advice was to administer 1/4 cup of water every 20 minutes until improvement (and also to call the vet so the vet could administer drugs). I began giving him 1/4 cup of water in a syringe every 20 minutes and looked up a homeopathic remedy for dehydration. Turns out it's Cinchona Off. (China) for after severe loss of body fluids (hemorrhaging, diarrhea, vomiting, etc.). He hadn't lost his body fluids from any of those things, but he hadn't been replacing his normal body fluid loss and that created the same symptoms. I began giving him China every 20 minutes for a couple of doses with his water and then once again before I went to bed. My husband saw him get up once that day to relieve himself....bright yellow/orange urine. Also before bed, I gave him as much fresh milk as he would take, which ended up being about 1 1/2 cups (I figured he'd been hydrated enough throughout the day that this wouldn't hurt him.) I then left him for the night.
Next morning, I resumed the schedule of water every 20 minutes with a few doses of China here and there. I then took a quart of fresh milk out to him to see how much of it he would take. After syringing about 1 cup of milk into his mouth (and him lapping/sucking it down), he stirred, got up, and went out of the bed area to relieve himself. This time, his urine was a very light yellow and lots of it. He then went over to nibble at the grass and dig around a bit before he came back to lie down. Progress!!! I continued to try to give him the rest of the quart of milk throughout the day, but he gradually got more and more flighty. By the end of the day, he wouldn't allow me to get near, and he was at the feed dish by dinner. Amazing! =)
Because he's scared of the bite spigot, I resumed filling the water tub for him so he wouldn't get dehydrated again. That was several days ago, and he's been doing fine ever since. =)
