Author Topic: Piglet with Pneumonia (Read 4577 times)

littlelugs · « **on:** August 31, 2011, 09:15:21 pm »

went to check on my babies this morning and found on of the boys just laying down (most unusual for hima as he and his bro are normally the chaos creators) he seemed to be running a temperature, he did get up and go outside with the rest for a while and munched a little food, but he kept taking himself off to lay down.
spoke to the vet and arranged an appointment the earliest i could see the vet was 4:30pm so in the mean time i ensured that he got on a teat so as he wouldnt dehydrate.
took him to the vet his temperature was 40 degrees and the vet seems to think he has pneumonia

he was given a shot of antibiotics and i have another 4 days worth of shots to give him. i have brought him into the house and put him in the dining room in a dog crate with plenty of straw.
i sat with a damp towel on his back to try and get the fever to subside and it has come down to 38 degrees.
he is now sporadically shivering so i have put the radiator on to take the chill out of the air.
is there anything else i can do for him?
he wont eat or drink but he is not dehydrated eveytime i put a bowl of water out he tips it over and i am concerned that he will then make his straw too wet.
I feel so helpless and hate to see him like this but should i just leave him alone and let nature take its course or is there something else i can do to help him?
None of the other pigs seem to be affected and he was certainly not the runt of the litter.

robert waddell · « **Reply #1 on:** August 31, 2011, 09:35:05 pm »

the injection the vet gave him was to bring the temp down you could have made him worse with the damp towel once they have pneumonia separate them keep them dry with lots of straw they don't improve to the next day usually

little blue · « **Reply #2 on:** August 31, 2011, 09:39:43 pm »

how old?
may need a bottle not bowl, not learned to lap?
put a heat pad or hot water bottle in tthe cage - he'll seek out the warmth if he needs it.

best of luck

littlelugs · « **Reply #3 on:** August 31, 2011, 09:54:39 pm »

damp towel was on vets instruction to reduce the fever only for 5 mins, he is 5 weeks old so has been attempting to eat solids for 3 wks now have baby food in which i could try pear and peach puree! im not to bothered about the eating at the moment more concerned about the drinking will try a bottle (doh didnt think of that

)
i had thought about a hot water bottle but was'nt sure will put one in for him. he's a lively little sod despite being ill the vet was most impressed so hopefully he will get through this. fingers crossed.

little blue · « **Reply #4 on:** August 31, 2011, 10:24:18 pm »

just don't fill it too full, or too hot!
wrap it in a towel or something....

Beewyched · « **Reply #5 on:** August 31, 2011, 11:33:00 pm »

Quote from: little blue on August 31, 2011, 10:24:18 pm

just don't fill it too full, or too hot!
wrap it in a towel or something....

In the event of not having a fitted cover, I've used an old fleece top, put the bottle inside, fold-up the spare at the bottom & tie-up with the sleeves. Definately lots of clean, dry straw if you can, as Robert said.
Hope he gets better soon

Berkshire Boy · « **Reply #6 on:** September 01, 2011, 06:55:58 am »

He has a temperature, he doesn't need a hot water bottle his body temp needs to drop.

littlelugs · « **Reply #7 on:** September 01, 2011, 07:47:34 am »

He had a temple when diagnose, the injection etc brought that down used a hot water bottle last night this morning he is back to his usual self and is currently doing laps of my dining room with a dog toy in his mouth :-D