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Conditions I have adopted two piggies with head tilt - one more severe than the other. Care?

azkaland

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***UPDATE***

So we've been back from the vet for quite some time (homework and non-piggy stuff, sorry) and the prognosis is mostly good. The vet said that they most likely suffered from an inner ear or upper respiratory infection, which caused the head tilt. I didn't know what they had been treated with at petsmart, so they called them and the staff said that they had been treated very aggressively with Baytril. However, Baytril is usually only for adult animals and they were not adults when they received it, and the vet says that there may be some bone damage as a side effect, but that's certainly better than dying from a URI.

The head tilt appears to be residual, and that they could very well keep a normal lifestyle, but they'll just be dizzy :). He said to come back in a month and if they start to look sick or stop eating, then they will do an x-ray to see if there is any inner-ear infection.

Now, on the negative side. They cannot move in with my other piggy just yet. He said to give them a month of quarantine just to be safe. I have to wash my hands and change shirts and all that after handling them and clean their cage very often so the pee smell doesn't upset any infection they may have. I'm looking to invest in an air purifier, as they unfortunately have to be in the same room.

I was also scolded for their vitamin C intake, so I'm going to start pushing the veggies a bit more hehe.
 

SheWolfSilver

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$73 really isn't that much. Around here it's $50 just for the office visit BEFORE charging for any kind of treatment. If surgery is ever needed, that's a couple hundred bucks at least.
I agree an office visit is 65 dollars around here and when Sookie had her lump aspirated it was only 126 dollars which I was expecting more so, I was pleasantly surprised!
 

foggycreekcavy

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I don't think much of waiting another month. It would have been good for the vet to prescribe a different antibiotic right now--Baytril isn't the only antibiotic that cures inner ear infections. An xray now would have been the thing to do.

I also would not believe the pet store staff about treating the pigs.

Also, head tilts can cause problems down the road. Yes, pigs with head tilts can live a somewhat normal life, but you need to be on lookout for eye problems and recurring ear and respiratory problems.
 

azkaland

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I don't think much of waiting another month. It would have been good for the vet to prescribe a different antibiotic right now--Baytril isn't the only antibiotic that cures inner ear infections. An xray now would have been the thing to do.

I also would not believe the pet store staff about treating the pigs.

Also, head tilts can cause problems down the road. Yes, pigs with head tilts can live a somewhat normal life, but you need to be on lookout for eye problems and recurring ear and respiratory problems.

I'm keeping an extra careful eye on them and cleaning their cage out about twice as often as I normally would, so it will be easier to see any changes in diet, poos, and things like that. They're going back in 2 weeks for a weigh-in (I hope they don't charge me the same amount as an exam!).

Also the petsmart staff gave the vet an "estimate" of a treatment period between 2 weeks and 2 months. So this shows that they don't keep tabs on the pigs and just mass-treat them all.

I'm glad he told me to keep them separated. Although I may end up swapping cages in the near future. The duo is in a small one equivalent to about a 2x1, just because I thought it would only be about 2 weeks. And my lonely girl is in a 2x4 by herself, but she really needs the room to exercise if you catch my drift.
 

Rach84

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Just wanted to check how your little girls are doing? Xxxx
 

azkaland

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Just wanted to check how your little girls are doing? Xxxx

They are doing good. The brown one has taken to hiding under the fleece. :p. I've found that they always remove the hay from the rack and lay it on the floor, so I started just laying it in the floor and cleaning it out every day because it seems easier for them. They go for a weigh-in tomorrow to see if they're gaining weight properly.
Thanks for your concern!
 

azkaland

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UPDATE: The girls went back to the vet and everything looked good and they're gaining weight like they should! I also didn't get charged anything since it was just a tech visit thank goodness. I'm still keeping them under quarantine for at least another week and a half. They're eating veggies every day now, and they love everything I've given them except raspberries (but that's ok with me because they're expensive around here lol).

Also I have a question about when I integrate them with my other pig (chipper). She is very skittish and won't let me pick her up and runs at the smallest sudden movement. The new black and white one (Natasha) is very friendly and runs up to sniff me when I pass by the cage and LOVES being cuddled. The brown and white one (Diana) is a bit hesitant to make contact and it takes me a few tries to pick her up. So my question is, how should I introduce them into the big cage? should I try one of the new ones and let her and chipper get used to each other before I put the other in? I'm afraid if I put them both in at the same time, chipper will be overwhelmed.
 

azkaland

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NEW UPDATE:

All three girls are now in the same cage. I introduced them a week ago in a large box, and they ignored each other at first. My older one quickly asserted her dominance and I was afraid she was hurting the brown&white one but there was no missing fur or anything and was just squealing, but that only lasted for a few minutes. (Now they share a hidey hut, even though I have one for each of them!) They are eating quite a bit and I've noticed the duo has been gaining weight, so maybe they'll end up as big as the older one who looks almost like a rabbit with short ears haha!
 

lunarminx

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Awesome, they are very cute. Did the tilt ever clear up? Any other concerns about the ear infection?
 

azkaland

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I know this thread is a bit old, but I just wanted to update. I had to separate the pigs because my older one was hurting the smaller ones, and there was blood and lots of eardrum-shattering squealing. So the babies are in the big cage, and the old one is in the small cage. I'm currently looking for a way to connect some cubes to the side of the small cage to make a playpen, but I'm absolutely broke at the moment so it'll be a few weeks.
 
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