After my pet had a long, drawn-out battle with cancer, I realized that I needed to do a better job with understanding my pet's needs. I wanted to be there for them no matter what, so I started focusing on my other animals. They needed more love, attention, and medical care, so I focused on those things. I started taking them in for regular checkups and working on their physical appearance. I was able to spot a few other potentially catastrophic health conditions with my animals because of my actions. This blog is all about understanding your pet's needs.
Understanding Your Pet's Needs
Knowing When Your Pet Pig Needs Veterinary Care
Gisele Pereira
When you decide to think outside of the box a little bit and get yourself a pet pig rather than the standard dog or cat, you may not know what you are getting yourself into as far as the veterinary care that your pet pig may need. Before you panic and make mistakes when it comes to your pig's veterinary care, you should get to know more about when your pet pig needs veterinary care. That way you will be able to get your pig to the emergency pet clinic or your veterinarian as soon as you notice a problem.
Vomiting or Diarrhea
Pigs, just like any other animal, may sometimes eat something that does not agree with them or may catch a virus or other infection that causes an upset stomach. If your pet pig vomits once in a while or has an occasional diarrhea bowel movement, this is not necessarily a problem that requires veterinary care.
However, if you do notice either of these symptoms, you will want to keep an eye on your pet pig for the next 24 to 48 hours. If they continue to vomit and/or suffer from diarrhea for more than 24 hours, you should take them to the emergency animal clinic as soon as possible. There is a major risk that your pig will get severely dehydrated because of these symptoms. A veterinarian will ensure that your pig gets the fluids it needs and will be able to determine the causes of their symptoms to get those symptoms stopped.
Rapid Breathing Even When Resting
Another symptom that can be very worrisome in your pet pig is persistent rapid breathing. While your pig may breathe rapidly when they are excited or have been running around, their heart rate and breathing should slow back down to normal very quickly.
If this does not happen and they experience rapid breathing even when lying down or resting, you may have a serious problem on your hands. It will likely sound as if your pig just cannot catch their breath or are breathing shallowly. This is a common sign of swine pneumonia along with lethargy, a lack of appetite, and dehydration.
Getting your pig to an emergency pet clinic is vital to helping them overcome their pneumonia quickly and successfully. As most cases of swine pneumonia are at least in part bacterial (they can be viral as well), a round of antibiotics is necessary to help your pet pig overcome their pneumonia.
Now that you know a few of the instances when your pet pig will need emergency veterinary care, you can be sure that you are taking the best possible care of your pig going forward. Visit Animal Emergency Clinic if you have any concerns.
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