[CDC]

Ok, let's talk about pee... usually when my pigs pee it's like a waterfall! But one of them, who is about 10-11 years old, is peeing very slowly now. It's more of a dribble. He is otherwise happy and healthy, and as he loves bellyrubs I've palpated his tummy and gently prodded around his sheath and had a good look - but can't see anything unsual and he doesnt seem to be in any pain, even when I poke round (gently and with gloves on!). My vet is lovely, but doesn't really know much about pigs and says it may just be age. Seems a bit of a cop-out to me. Any advice please?

[landroverroy]

Sounds like an enlarged prostate gland. I know male dogs can get it, so most  likely pigs will as well.

[Fleecewife]

Be aware that people and pigs, and other animals, can go into urinary retention for whatever reason and if nothing is done to relieve the pressure the bladder can burst.  With people the lower abdomen becomes rock hard and the person is unable to pass urine at all.  So watch your pig carefully to make sure that however slowly he pees, he empties his bladder fully.  Ask your vet to look up his books or speak to a more informed vet to deal with  this complication should it occur - it's agony and can be fatal.

[CDC]

Thank you for the replies, I'll push my vet a bit harder for a solution.

[harmony]

You can take a urine sample and ask the vet to test for infection.

[CDC]

thanks, i spoke to the vet again today and said i wasnt happy leaving him as is, and they did indeed suggest a urine sample. So guess what I'll be doing tomorrow!?

[CDC]

UPDATE - in case it is useful for anyone else...
I took a urine sample & had it tested.

The results showed that the pig (male) had crystals in his urine which was making it difficult to get the urine out.

The vet said this was caused by feeding him the pig breeder rolls (ie commercial pig food) as this isnt suitable for Kunes and isnt suitable for anyone long term! Pigs bred for meat dont last long enough to develop a problem, but my pig is elderly and is a pet and is a Kune. Apparently the feed has too much protein for him and the magnesium content is high - which leads to crystals.

So, the advice was to take him off the feed, and replace with a mix of grass pellets (not too much), barley and/or oats, and sugar beet.

All feed must be soaked, as drieded feed (unsoaked) exacerbates the problem.

He also had a course of antibiotics, and a few days on Metacam for pain relief.

He is making a good recovery.

So, lesson is - avoid the commercial stuff, or at least dont feed too much of it. Always soak any dried food.

I hope that helps

[harmony]

I'm glad your boy is on the mend.


I don't have experience of keeping Kune's but as they are essentially a grazing pig then I can understand manufactured feed may not be the best for them long term.


I do however have a concern about the broad brush advice about manufactured feed "ie avoid". Pigs are naturally omnivores, something we can not provide for. Also the vast majority of outdoor pigs are not given enough ground that they can possibly get much nutrition from digging around in what most cases amounts to barren land. We can use alternatives to complete food but we also need to know that our alternative rations are in fact balanced too.


Of course most people keep only finishing pigs so this ought not to be an issue.

[alang]

The vet said this was caused by feeding him the pig breeder rolls (ie commercial pig food) as this isnt suitable for Kunes and isnt suitable for anyone long term! Pigs bred for meat dont last long enough to develop a problem, but my pig is elderly and is a pet and is a Kune. Apparently the feed has too much protein for him and the magnesium content is high - which leads to crystals.

All feed must be soaked, as drieded feed (unsoaked) exacerbates the problem.

This is/was an interesting question/problem. Our breeding meat pigs are commercial pigs and only get dried food. They receive no other source of food other than what they can root up in their paddock. Dry commercial foods for breeding sows and boars on our farms comes in two forms. Dry feed and lactating feed. The dry feed is only fed to boars and to the sows from serving dates until 3 days after they farrow (so approx 17 weeks for the sows). Sows then move onto the higher protein lactating feed after the 3 day period until they are weaned and for 4 days afterwards.

I have never heard of this problem before or come across it either at any time with our pigs on the various pig farms i've worked on. But as we have a vet visit coming up, i shall ask them to confirm this as it has intrigued me.