While getting ready for uni this morning I suddenly remembered I wanted to double check Ebbie's weight. So I pick her up... *wheeze, crackle, cough* stare at her in shock for a minute then notice all the snot around her nose. Neither the wheeze nor the snot were there last night. So all plans for uni were cancelled and I rang the vets and got the earliest possible appointment. Luckily I got my favorite vet and we went through the possible choices, Baytril, trimethoprim or doxycycline. Because URI's are so contagious I wanted to treat all the pigs in the animal room so we went with trimethoprim. It's the only drug the is safe for pregnant sows and young pigs. Since I currently have two pregnant sows, three pigs below six months and three pigs under a year trimethoprim seemed the safest option.
The next issue was to compound it as it came in a very concentrated powder form but we worked it out eventually and the pigs are now on 30mg/kg twice a day. I've compounded it so there is 30mg/ml so it's nice and easy to dose all the pigs by weight.
Ebbie has been moved to the detached studio in the hope that none of the other pigs have caught it yet. She's fairly quiet and subdued and not overly interested in food but that can also be down to being removed from her six cage mates and stuck in a cold quiet room in a strange small cage. I'll keep an eye on her weight (1160g this morning), if she dips below 1100g I'll start handfeeding. Since she's been given the trimethoprim she hasn't had any more snot, but her breathing is still very audible and crackly. So far she's still pooping and peeing as normal and seems pretty relaxed.
If needed I'll take her back to the vet for baytril or doxy as trimethoprim is a pretty gentle antibiotic and may not be enough if this is a particularly virulent bacteria.
I'm dearly hoping though that this will end pretty quickly and simply.... I'm still trying to recover from Feather (who is still far too thin), if possible I'd like to avoid ill pigs for awhile...
No comments:
Post a Comment