My 3-year-old boar, Rolo, is having difficulty eating. He clearly wants to eat and still comes running enthusiastically to the bars of the cage for veggies, but is finding it difficult. It's taking him around an hour to eat three slices of cucumber. He still attempts to nibble on pellets and hay but seems to find chewing difficult, perhaps more so on the left side, and is a bit more open mouthed when eating than usual, and damp under the chin. He has a very slight gritty eye at times, but not gungy. He has gone from 1545g in early June to 1120g today. Poops are a bit soft, some are small, some conical at one end. I also found a lump on his left side near his back leg yesterday. It wasn't hot, didn't seem painful and it doesn't feel like it's 'attached' to anything underneath. He doesn't have any obvious painful spots and is generally fairly happy, though occasionally a bit more fluffed up than normal. He is a bar chewer and is still doing so, though perhaps a bit more gently than before.
We were on vacation for two and a half weeks, the pigs were all in boarding at a cavy rescue where they'd been several times before. Some had lost a little weight during this time, but they'd been extremely active and it was hot so I wasn't too concerned and all seemed fine when they came back home.
Saw the vet on Friday, who couldn't find anything obvious, teeth were good, no obvious signs of fractures or dislocations. He's on Metacam for any underlying inflammation. I'm going to call again on Monday, the vet has said the next step would be an x-ray. I'm wondering if anyone has any suggestions on the cause and what I should do. I have Critical Care, but he fought hard against taking any yesterday and I was only able to feed a small amount. I'm reluctant to force feed at this point in case there is a jaw injury and that makes it worse.
Thanks.
We were on vacation for two and a half weeks, the pigs were all in boarding at a cavy rescue where they'd been several times before. Some had lost a little weight during this time, but they'd been extremely active and it was hot so I wasn't too concerned and all seemed fine when they came back home.
Saw the vet on Friday, who couldn't find anything obvious, teeth were good, no obvious signs of fractures or dislocations. He's on Metacam for any underlying inflammation. I'm going to call again on Monday, the vet has said the next step would be an x-ray. I'm wondering if anyone has any suggestions on the cause and what I should do. I have Critical Care, but he fought hard against taking any yesterday and I was only able to feed a small amount. I'm reluctant to force feed at this point in case there is a jaw injury and that makes it worse.
Thanks.