Pig Mom Gets a Win - Tusk Maintenance

I have been working hard on coming up with ways to train Winston so that we can do his annual exam with no sedation and without flipping him on his back. Both of us absolutely hate the process and its stressful so I am motivated to come up with new ideas.

Around Thanksgiving I started working with Winston on the first item on the list - tusk maintenance. I ordered this lovely tool called Bark and Boop Dog Nail Grinder from Amazon ($21). This is basically a Dremmel but its much quieter which we needed because W hated the loud motor of the Dremmel tool. We started our training in very short spurts. It was literally getting him to let me touch his tusk with the tool at first. It would touch for a split second and then he would pull away. He didn't like the vibration it causes but over time he got more used to it.

Earlier this week, I was able to declare a win when I got out the tool and once I turned it on Winston flopped on his side (the position he takes for all maintenance activities) and he let me file for as long as I wanted. His tusks grow at very different rates - one is super long and one is just barely poking out of the side of his mouth. He lets me get both now - another win. He wasn't very excited about me accessing that shorter one at first.

Now, I will say, he is a very tolerant pig when it comes to maintenance. I clean his ears, eyes, snout, brush teeth, file hooves and clean out scent glands regularly. He loves the attention. So, it was just getting him used to this new thing. I still have a ways to go, filing down the longer tusk, but once its short like the other one, it will just be a part of his regular maintenance routine and I will be able to keep them from ever getting long again. He also lets me use the tool on his hooves which makes that maintenance task much faster than filing with a nail file.

So, step one in what the vet does for annual visit is off the list. I can do both myself and I don't need him flipped for trimming of hooves or using the gigli wire to cut back his tusks. Next, I am working on building him a chute - for lack of a better word. I am working on design now and have enlisted the hubs to help me construct. I will post about it once we have started the training, but, if it works like I want it to, the vet will be able to complete his physical exam and give injections without sedation or flipping. Fingers crossed.

Stay tuned for updates!!

Dremel Training

Winston is so good about maintenance things like filing his hooves, cleaning his ears and eyes and clearing out his scent glands that I decided I would see how he would react to the Dremel. I would love to get him comfortable enough with it that I could work on his fast growing tusks and when necessary on his hooves.

When he was a piglet we taught him two commands that come in handy for this training. The first is touch which means to touch something with his snout. We started with the Dremel off and did touch several times, then turned it on and did it several more times. He doesn't love anything that makes noise (vacuum cleaner, mopper, etc) but he is motivated by cookies so he played along. The second command is take which means he should open his mouth and put it around whatever you are asking him to take. While I didn't actually let him take the Dremel I did want him to feel what it would be like in and around his mouth. He did very well with it both on and off.

Over the next few weeks we will spend short training sessions getting familiar with the tool touching him while on and we will eventually work up to touching his tusks while its on. We have a ways to  go for sure but I am optimistic with how well the first session went today.

Happy Halloween from the Pups and the Pig

It's gotten crazy - the amount of money you can spend on Halloween costumes for your pets. Emma used to be a great sport about wearing whatever we got for her. Now that she is an elderly lady - she is not so excited about the prospect. The puppies - well - they are wild children who have be photographed one at a time or else they eat each others costumes. And then there is the piglet - who is fairly cooperative but not a huge fan. Then there are the kitties and the ferrets - I gave that one up several years ago. So, this year we went simple, and cheap. Happy Halloween from the gang:

Juliett - with her pumpkin hair bows

and her pumpkin fairy tutu

Charli with her witches' bow

and her witches tutu that rendered her paralyzed

Tango looking quite dapper in his tuxedo bandana

And - the ham himself - Prince Winston:

And last - but most definitely not least - the Divine Miss Em with her Merry Halloween bandana

Hope you have a happy and safe Halloween!!

Happy 2nd Birthday to the Puppies

I haven't blogged in ages but I can't think of a better reason to do a post than to wish those three crazy puppies a happy birthday!  I can't believe they are two years old. Here is what they looked like as babies:

In the car on the way home

My favorite puppy pic

They had a good day filled with play time, new toys, tons of attention and lots of treats. I took a few pics of their birthday cupcakes:

Juliett

Charli

Tango

We shared birthday cupcakes with Emma and Winston as well:

Winston

Emma

I had to chuckle - in addition to their cupcakes the whole gang got a pumpkin spice dog treat. I think that September 21 is the one day that Winston is happy to have canine siblings:

I can't imagine our crazy household without these three - I love them to pieces!  Happy Birthday Tango, Charli and Juliett!!

Ferret and Piggy Vet Visit

Yesterday's vet visit went well - 8 critters cared for in about one and a half hours - not too shabby.  First off - the good news is that everyone seems pretty darn healthy. We are still waiting to hear about blood results on Kai and Winston but I am not expecting anything catastrophic in either case. We took blood on Kai to confirm his weight loss was related to coat change and not something that needs treatment and we took blood on Winston because that's what we do every year to stay on top of his health.

The ferrets were very well behaved and cooperative.  I have a couple of pics of Tabby, who went first. Tabs has developed a freckle on her nose. I had the vet check it out to confirm it is just a freckle and not something more scary. Thankfully - freckle confirmed!

Tabby, Bash, Theo, Kai, Fiona - these guys all got vaccinations - rabies and distemper, adrenal disease prevention implants and physicals.

Implant

Vaccination

Madison - who has active adrenal disease had already received her updated implant a few months ago, as well as her vaccines so she only had a physical.

Violet had her vaccinations at one of her glucose check appointments a few months ago as well so she had a physical and got her implant updated.

All in all - the state of the business is pretty darn good!

Winston - ah piggy boy.  The reality of it is - it's challenging to vet a pig. He screamed like a banshee when they put the meds in his snout. I don't think this was because of the medicine but more because they have to use gravity so they life his front feet off the ground and sit his butt on the floor. To say he didn't like it would be an understatement.

He staggered around like a drunken piggy and then we flipped him on his back. Pigs are prey animals so this part is very scary for them instinctively. He screamed for a bit but once I talked to him and gave him loves he settled down. He was on his back for a bit - they did a blood draw, vaccinations, physical, hoof trim, tusk trim. He did pretty well and all of us involved felt like the appointment went just about as well as it could have gone. Winston spent the afternoon sleeping of his meds. The ferrets were no worse for the wear and everyone seems happy today.  I am glad it's over and done with for another year.

I had to chuckle. The dogs wigged out when they heard Winston screaming - seems like they might want to murder him but they don't appreciate anyone else attempting to do it for them.  LOL

Happy Valenswine Day!!

Winston got his Valenswine package last night from his new friends Kyle and Rho and let's just say he was a happy camper!!  He loved taste testing the yummy homemade cookies that his new piggy friends and their mom made for him!  Spoiled little piglet!!  Thank you so much Kyle, Rho and their pig mama!!  We loved them!

The good news and the bad news...

So, this weekend there's been good news and bad news. Not really news I guess but more like happenings. Let's start with the bad news first:

Yesterday morning, when we were getting ready to let Winston outside to go potty we had in an occurrence of dog on pig violence. While we've done this a million times, yesterday for some reason Tango decided that he was going to go after the pig. I'm not sure what prompted this. My guess is that it was related to the fact that Winston was inside and Tango was inside which doesn't happen very often. We were very fortunate in that Winston was fine. He was scared and tried to get away from Tango but he was uninjured. Winston has a couple of little abrasions on his back which we have treated with both colloidal silver and Neosporin and they are healing up just fine. I immediately got in the car and drove to Home Depot and purchased a gate that we can put across the walkway in our front yard so that we have a second area to put critters outdoors. This will allow for either the dogs or the pig to be in the front while the others are in the back. I have let the pig out with the dogs since the happening and it was a non-event. When they went outside in the backyard the puppies displayed their usual behavior of being intimidated by the pig. That said, I don't trust Tango so Winston will not be outside with him without me being present and ready to intervene. I'm not totally surprised by this happening. It's been said a million times that you should never leave your dogs who are predators and your pigs who are prey animals alone together without supervision and this just demonstrates why. We were incredibly lucky that Winston wasn't hurt and that we were there to break up the fight and put them in their respective corners and everyone is fine and no worse for the wear. Tango has been challenging both of the girls Charlie and Juliet for dominance for some time now and I think this might be related to that. But, when they go to the vet for their annual checkup in March I will definitely be discussing with the vet whether he thinks we have an issue with  Tango being aggressive or if this is just a case of boy dog trying to find his place in the pack.

Okay- on to the good news now. We have signed up for a project that's happening in our state that uses camera traps to count the number of wild animals in a particular location. We have purchased three cameras that are battery-operated and are motion sensitive. We are going to put them in three spots on our property where we have seen deer, turkeys, possums etc. I am excited to get the cameras set up. The original plan was to do that today but it's raining cats and dogs outside so it's not a very friendly weather day to go tromping around the woods to strap a camera to a tree. Tomorrow will be better to get them hooked up and I will start to post what we capture on the blog. I'm really excited to see what additional animals come through that we've not seen before. Stay tuned and will be sharing the pictures soon.

Hope you're having a great Super Bowl Sunday. We're not rooting for either team but we're looking forward to the commercials. We'll have to see if Winston was right in his prediction that the Eagles were going to win.

Bed Cleanout = Piglet Nervous Breakdown...

Oh good lord - I just cleaned out Winston's bed, much to his dismay and disappointment.  I found all sorts of goodies in there - missing socks, one of my favorite t-shirts, part of the puppy Halloween costumes, etc. 

I try to do these chores while he is outdoors but it has been cold and with his eye thing he hasn't wanted to stay outside for long and I really wanted to get this one off my list of to-dos.  So - he tried everything he could think of, crying, blocking the door, attacking the broom, laying on the ripped up paper so I couldn't move it, stealing the garbage bag I was putting the paper in, making a hole in the bag to let the paper be free in his bed again....geez.

At last, I got the task done and got the first of his three loads of laundry out of the dryer.  This appeased him somewhat as he loves it when I do his laundry, especially if I use fabric softener.  I gave him two new pieces of brown paper and he is happily rebuilding his nest as I type...spoiled pig!!

Piggy Squinty Eye

Usually, it's the kitty (Ollie) who suffers from the very technical squinty eye.  The last few days it has been the piglet who is experiencing eye discomfort.  It's hard to tell if it is something that got in his eye, or if it is a result of his seasonal allergies, but either way, he has been a bit uncomfortable.

He is good about letting me futz with him so long as he gets to check everything out before you do anything.  For instance - when I flush his eye he has to check out the syringe, put it in his mouth, smell it, etc.  I did flush his eye several times but it didn't seem to be doing much so I decided to use the veterinary eye ointment I have for the kitty.  I called the piggy vet and got approval and then let Winston check out the tube and smell the stuff before I stuck it in his eye.  It's working on two fronts - first, it is decreasing the swelling of the lids of his eyes which is great and second it is soothing his eyeball which he seems quite relieved about.

I will say I am quite fortunate that he is a willing patient.  Last night he let me pry his eye open with my fingers and make sure there was nothing in there.  I wanted to be sure there was not a foreign body and I also wanted to make sure that the swelling was not causing his eyelashes to rub against his eye.  He let me put the ointment on a q tip and put it on his eye as well - he is a very tolerant boy.

Today his eye is looking much better - still red, still swollen but he is able to open it a bit and I don't think it is hurting him at all.  Through all of his eye issues he has been fever free, had a great appetite and has been very active so I don't think he is ill - I think it is confined just to the eye.

As I type he has gone outside to explore and graze....hopefully he will be back to 100% in a couple of days.

Winston's Piggy Gift Exchange Package

Daisy May and her piggy mama sent us an amazing box of goodies for our Fall gift exchange which arrived today.  Winston helped me open it - but I must admit he was so smitten with the pumpkins that came out of the box early on that he didn't pay tons of attention after that....  in addition to snacks and hot cocoa and a book and journal/pens for me (I feel so spoiled) the spoiled piglet got some amazing loot!  Here are some pics:

Getting ready to open the box

PUMPKINS!!! 

Ohhh - I like my new blanket - did I mention - PUMPKINS!!!

Yep - we are gonna need to run the floor mopper

Squeee.... isn't that just about the cutest thing ever??

So adorable - the perfect addition to the piggy collection

You go ahead and look at all the other stuff in the box - I am busy with pumpkins!!!

Cute little piggy cell phone holder

Winston and I both loved everything and are feeling quite spoiled!!  Thank you so much Daisy and Makayla!!

Happy Halloween!!

Happy Halloween from the zoo gang.  Today Winston is celebrating Halloween as 'SuperPig' and the dogs are dressing up as Minions.  It's the puppies first Halloween and they were not all that thrilled with the whole dress-up experience.  It's Emma's 14th Halloween and she wasn't really feeling it - and as the queen bee around here, we mostly let her get her way.  The littles - I gave up dressing them up years ago - the cats are way too indignant and the ferrets flop down like they are unable to move when you put something on them - so no dress-up for critterland.

I hope you have a happy and safe Halloween:



It's a bird...

It's a plane....

No - it's Super Pig...

I am shocked to say that Tango was the most cooperative:

Charli was her regular spazzy self - I got like 27 blurry pics and 2 that were reasonable:

Juliett was really not a fan - I figured she would be easy peasy since she is the most mellow of the three - not so much:

And last but most certainly not least - The Divine Miss Em: