Eleven the tiny wonderpig!
- AldenM1
- Supporter in '21
Eleven was born in September 2019 and came to live with me when she was about 15 hours old, in the company of her brother and her mama, who was herself barely old enough to get pregnant and only weighed 500g. When it was time to wean, Eleven's brother 42 had to find a new home (sniff) and Eleven and her mama Thirteen became my first foster-failures!
Eleven is undoubtedly the omega pig in my herd of three girls and a boar. I don't see a LOT of picking-on, but she definitely likes to whine when anybody is pointed at her in what might be a smack-talking sort of way. Given that I know for 100% fact that her life has been comfortable since the day after she was born, she has a *lot* of negative comments for the comment card.
I'm going to blame her constant whining for the fact that I missed that Eleven had bladder stones. The whining became worse and slightly different in tone so I sent a video to SlaveToFuzzy and she said "You are a moron, that is pain, now surrender your GL card." That's not exactly what she said but it's about right. I *feel* like a moron.
We whisked Eleven off to the venerable Dr. A and she said there were two stones in there. She popped one out, told me to come back if the screaming continued, and gave Eleven a shot for ovarian cysts because she thought that was a thing too. Today I took Eleven back because the screaming had NOT stopped and she didn't pee once yesterday. In the mysterious way they have, there are now no stones in Eleven, but two definite ovarian cysts, so we'll be dealing with that.
In the course of the conversation about my flagging diagnosis skills, SlaveToFuzzy suggested that there may have been some developments in the world of low-calcium pigging since the last time I hopped onto this roller coaster. I'm not super interested in shilintong or the Chinese herb market for a variety of ecological and geopolitical reasons. Do we have anything else good going on? Because this pig has never had regular pellets -- they're a SOMETIMES food, as Cookie Monster says -- and has been on the lowest-cal veggies her entire life. And third-cut timothy. There is basically nothing I can do to reduce her calcium intake. So what can I do to prevent stone formation?
Gracias in advance. <3
Eleven is undoubtedly the omega pig in my herd of three girls and a boar. I don't see a LOT of picking-on, but she definitely likes to whine when anybody is pointed at her in what might be a smack-talking sort of way. Given that I know for 100% fact that her life has been comfortable since the day after she was born, she has a *lot* of negative comments for the comment card.
I'm going to blame her constant whining for the fact that I missed that Eleven had bladder stones. The whining became worse and slightly different in tone so I sent a video to SlaveToFuzzy and she said "You are a moron, that is pain, now surrender your GL card." That's not exactly what she said but it's about right. I *feel* like a moron.
We whisked Eleven off to the venerable Dr. A and she said there were two stones in there. She popped one out, told me to come back if the screaming continued, and gave Eleven a shot for ovarian cysts because she thought that was a thing too. Today I took Eleven back because the screaming had NOT stopped and she didn't pee once yesterday. In the mysterious way they have, there are now no stones in Eleven, but two definite ovarian cysts, so we'll be dealing with that.
In the course of the conversation about my flagging diagnosis skills, SlaveToFuzzy suggested that there may have been some developments in the world of low-calcium pigging since the last time I hopped onto this roller coaster. I'm not super interested in shilintong or the Chinese herb market for a variety of ecological and geopolitical reasons. Do we have anything else good going on? Because this pig has never had regular pellets -- they're a SOMETIMES food, as Cookie Monster says -- and has been on the lowest-cal veggies her entire life. And third-cut timothy. There is basically nothing I can do to reduce her calcium intake. So what can I do to prevent stone formation?
Gracias in advance. <3
- Lynx
- Celebrate!!!
I don't know why, but I keep reading her name as "Elven" :-)
I am sorry she developed stones - and I don't at all think you are a moron. I do think whining, when put in context, certainly seems like a social behavior. I imagine from here on out you will be looking closely to see if it is a social response or what.
You mentioned timothy and few pellets. What kind of pellets are they? Can you give a rundown of vegetables? What kind of bedding do you have? I only ask that because having, say, a dark heavy cloth for a while may help you identify if there is sludge or gritty urine (you would see piles of white).
p.s. I am glad you are a failed fosterer!
I am sorry she developed stones - and I don't at all think you are a moron. I do think whining, when put in context, certainly seems like a social behavior. I imagine from here on out you will be looking closely to see if it is a social response or what.
You mentioned timothy and few pellets. What kind of pellets are they? Can you give a rundown of vegetables? What kind of bedding do you have? I only ask that because having, say, a dark heavy cloth for a while may help you identify if there is sludge or gritty urine (you would see piles of white).
p.s. I am glad you are a failed fosterer!
- AldenM1
- Supporter in '21
They get carrots, green peppers, and green leaf lettuce regularly. Everything else is a treat. The pellets are Small Pet Select and it really is only about one bowl a week for four pigs. They do get the very occasional Oxbow hay biscuit and freeze-dried strawberries. They're a young crew and until now I've had no signs of bladder issues at all, in YEARS. I thought I had a system!
The bedding is fleece on top of towels and flannel-uHaul pads. The fleece isn't quite ready for retirement but I could introduce a new, solid color. I think that's a very good idea. Thanks!
The three of them came to me the week before the new, female Doctor Who's first episode, so I named the scared and hungry little mama Thirteen for the 13th Doctor. Then we needed numbers for the pups. 42 is clearly one good answer, and Eleven is an awesome powerful little girl in Stranger Things. It drives my husband CRAZY that Eleven is younger than Thirteen. :)
The bedding is fleece on top of towels and flannel-uHaul pads. The fleece isn't quite ready for retirement but I could introduce a new, solid color. I think that's a very good idea. Thanks!
The three of them came to me the week before the new, female Doctor Who's first episode, so I named the scared and hungry little mama Thirteen for the 13th Doctor. Then we needed numbers for the pups. 42 is clearly one good answer, and Eleven is an awesome powerful little girl in Stranger Things. It drives my husband CRAZY that Eleven is younger than Thirteen. :)
- Lynx
- Celebrate!!!
I thought Stranger Things was great! Nice to see some interesting naming conventions!
How much carrot do they get? Do you wet down the green leaf lettuce to try to increase fluids? (it might help a bit) It sounds like you are mostly focusing on vegs, which is good. If you end up seeing lots of sludge, that could be a secondary issue.
I'm adding some links here for other readers:
https://www.guinealynx.info/stones.html
https://www.guinealynx.info/records/view ... p?f=3&t=21
How much carrot do they get? Do you wet down the green leaf lettuce to try to increase fluids? (it might help a bit) It sounds like you are mostly focusing on vegs, which is good. If you end up seeing lots of sludge, that could be a secondary issue.
I'm adding some links here for other readers:
https://www.guinealynx.info/stones.html
https://www.guinealynx.info/records/view ... p?f=3&t=21
- AldenM1
- Supporter in '21
I don't know about perpetuating the names. It seems to really bother people for deep brain-reasons they can't articulate. I've tried to point out that naming a pig "Eleven" is really no more arbitrary than naming one "Ferguson," and that in both cases our brains have to remember a combination of sounds and attach it to a particular pig. But it doesn't work. My husband is still vaguely disgruntled that Thirteen and Eleven are "out of order." Thirteen was the mama and was named after an adult, and Eleven was named after a little girl, it makes perfect sense! But he cannot handle it.
In actual medical news, Eleven hasn't pain-squeaked in a week. She had her second shot for cysts and goes back for #3 on Monday. She has lost a little weight which bothers me because she's so tiny as it is, but we'll get that put back.
In actual medical news, Eleven hasn't pain-squeaked in a week. She had her second shot for cysts and goes back for #3 on Monday. She has lost a little weight which bothers me because she's so tiny as it is, but we'll get that put back.
- AldenM1
- Supporter in '21
Oh, and owl-wise, Henrietta and Ecks vanished after Henrietta ate the second egg in 2017. Nada for an entire presidential administration. Then this January I started hearing owls, and one day came home to find what was clearly a tour of potential nest-sites going on. I couldn't have made this up if I tried, but I'm pretty sure the new young pair officially nested on Inauguration Day. My colleague insisted that they be named Daphne and Simon in honor of how we've all been indoors bingeing on Netflix for a year. I've been posting at www.theneighborhoodowls.com again and also on Facebook. Fingers crossed for owlets soon!