Nancy
Hooked on Hogs
After much looking I found my first pedigreed female and male. Her first litter was cannibalized. This was devastating as I was so excited about our first litter. Luckily mom was ok.
Months later we tried again. This time she delivered 7 tiny dead babies that were born too early. She lost an immense amount of blood and was so weak she could not even lift her head. I could not believe any animal could loose that much blood and still be alive.
The vet said there were no remaining babies but that she had a severe uterine infection. She was put on antibiotics and gave her sub-Q injections as well as iron and calcium. The vet did not hold out much hope for her as she was so very weak and sick.
I had to syringe feed her every 3 hours and she could only take a mouthful or two at a time. She had 3 more sub-q's over the next 5 days when the vet felt she was finally strong enough to survive surgery and that surgery needed to be done because the infection was not going away very quickly. At this point she still could not walk although she did have enough strength to try fighting me when I fed her.
She was spayed and came through her surgery well but still would not even attempt to eat on her own for 10 days. Finally she started to nibble at food and went back to her almost normal self but she never was 100% normal afterward and attempted hibernation easily.
Because I worked from home I was available to care for her round the clock. Had I worked outside the home, this would not have been possible. Sleeping for more than 3 hours at a time did not happen for almost 3 weeks. The emotional toll was the worst. Every time I went to check on her I expected she'd be dead. My daughter and I sat in tears with her many an evening because she was so very sick and helpless and we were so afraid of losing her.
Months later we tried again. This time she delivered 7 tiny dead babies that were born too early. She lost an immense amount of blood and was so weak she could not even lift her head. I could not believe any animal could loose that much blood and still be alive.
The vet said there were no remaining babies but that she had a severe uterine infection. She was put on antibiotics and gave her sub-Q injections as well as iron and calcium. The vet did not hold out much hope for her as she was so very weak and sick.
I had to syringe feed her every 3 hours and she could only take a mouthful or two at a time. She had 3 more sub-q's over the next 5 days when the vet felt she was finally strong enough to survive surgery and that surgery needed to be done because the infection was not going away very quickly. At this point she still could not walk although she did have enough strength to try fighting me when I fed her.
She was spayed and came through her surgery well but still would not even attempt to eat on her own for 10 days. Finally she started to nibble at food and went back to her almost normal self but she never was 100% normal afterward and attempted hibernation easily.
Because I worked from home I was available to care for her round the clock. Had I worked outside the home, this would not have been possible. Sleeping for more than 3 hours at a time did not happen for almost 3 weeks. The emotional toll was the worst. Every time I went to check on her I expected she'd be dead. My daughter and I sat in tears with her many an evening because she was so very sick and helpless and we were so afraid of losing her.