Sorry in advance for the long post and sorry if this isn't the right place for this post!
My pigs, Rico and Kip had been cagemates since 2017. I got Rico in 2016, my very first pig, and think he was around 6. Very suddenly a few days ago he stopped eating and was very inactive, we brought him to the vet who said it was gastrointestinal and after some fluids and critical care he seemed to improve. I’d been feeding him critical care every 4 hours and he started drinking again and eating more but then when I introduced more vegetables and pellets again he seemed to take a turn. We brought him to the vet again the other night who kept him for the night with Kip for company and an xray showed gas in his abdomen and a large mass on his spleen. Before I got to the vet’s to say goodbye he had already passed. It was extremely sudden and unexpected especially after he'd started to pick up again. I can't stop thinking about if anything I could've done differently would have saved him or prevented this.
I’m at a loss for words with grief, the pain I'm feeling right now is horrific but I immediately started to panic about Kip and him losing his friend. I straight away found 2 bonded boars from the same place who were being given away for free to anyone so I took them so Kip wouldn’t be lonely and also because I'd worry they'd go to someone who won't care for them properly. I now know bonding 3 boars is more often than not unsuccessful but so far things seem alright and I'm going to play it by ear and if it doesn't work I'll make whatever adjustments I need to.
Getting more pigs the day of Rico passing broke my heart but I was just trying to do what I thought was the best for Kip. I let Kip see Rico’s body and sniff around it so he’d know what happened. Right now I have their cage separated so they can get accustomed to eachother before being together fully minus a few interactions on neutral territory which seemed to go quite well, but now I’m honestly about whether I did the right thing getting 2 friends for Kip so fast.
Basically I'm just looking for some assurance that getting new friends for Kip the same day of Rico's passing was the best decision, it honestly all just happened very quickly. On top of worrying if I did what was best for Kip, I feel awful because having 2 other pigs there along with Kip so soon feels so wrong and it's making grief feel more complicated or like I'm being disrespectful to him or replacing him.
I've included a photo of Kip (left) and Rico (right) in memory of him and his passing
My pigs, Rico and Kip had been cagemates since 2017. I got Rico in 2016, my very first pig, and think he was around 6. Very suddenly a few days ago he stopped eating and was very inactive, we brought him to the vet who said it was gastrointestinal and after some fluids and critical care he seemed to improve. I’d been feeding him critical care every 4 hours and he started drinking again and eating more but then when I introduced more vegetables and pellets again he seemed to take a turn. We brought him to the vet again the other night who kept him for the night with Kip for company and an xray showed gas in his abdomen and a large mass on his spleen. Before I got to the vet’s to say goodbye he had already passed. It was extremely sudden and unexpected especially after he'd started to pick up again. I can't stop thinking about if anything I could've done differently would have saved him or prevented this.
I’m at a loss for words with grief, the pain I'm feeling right now is horrific but I immediately started to panic about Kip and him losing his friend. I straight away found 2 bonded boars from the same place who were being given away for free to anyone so I took them so Kip wouldn’t be lonely and also because I'd worry they'd go to someone who won't care for them properly. I now know bonding 3 boars is more often than not unsuccessful but so far things seem alright and I'm going to play it by ear and if it doesn't work I'll make whatever adjustments I need to.
Getting more pigs the day of Rico passing broke my heart but I was just trying to do what I thought was the best for Kip. I let Kip see Rico’s body and sniff around it so he’d know what happened. Right now I have their cage separated so they can get accustomed to eachother before being together fully minus a few interactions on neutral territory which seemed to go quite well, but now I’m honestly about whether I did the right thing getting 2 friends for Kip so fast.
Basically I'm just looking for some assurance that getting new friends for Kip the same day of Rico's passing was the best decision, it honestly all just happened very quickly. On top of worrying if I did what was best for Kip, I feel awful because having 2 other pigs there along with Kip so soon feels so wrong and it's making grief feel more complicated or like I'm being disrespectful to him or replacing him.
I've included a photo of Kip (left) and Rico (right) in memory of him and his passing