The following post is an archive of our GoFundMe campaign which began in 2020.
Hello everyone,
Thank you for all the good wishes starting into the new year and your support to the animals and the farm – this is so much appreciated for all their daily care while we are getting ready for a new season.
As promised in our last update I’d like to tell you more about our piggies’ big surgery adventure, from preparations, the big day and the recovery.
The reason how it all came about, why we started thinking and talking about spaying our three pig ladies, is that we learned something new yet again. After so many years of having the pleasure of housing different pigs at the farm and accompanying them through their lives we had adopted our three little pig ladies Poppy, Petunia and Punk at just a few months old to live their full long lives with us. We’ve a lot of pig knowledge and experiences through many years of work and good connections to pig owners and vets and felt pretty set to have everything in place for them. Then last summer during a vet check up one of our vets asked if we were to spay them and the main reason he gave was not to avoid pregnancy (with no male around) or to avoid mood changes due to heat cycles, but the much elevated risk of miniature pigs to develop tumours if unspayed. We followed up with different vets and some research into medical studies to find out how high this risk really is, and about the risks of surgery. All this took some time and of course opinions varied, but what clearly showed was the fact that 60-70% of miniature pigs develop tumours and spaying them can increase their lifetime drastically.
We went to work getting more information from the vet clinic that had lots of experience with this kind of surgery and who we have trusted with successful surgical procedures for our animals before. And together we mapped out a plan for a surgery day: a mobile barn for the pigs, medication before and after, staff at both farm and clinic, the right weather conditions as pigs are especially susceptible for getting too cold or too hot after the anesthetics, transportation, and so many things to take (blankets, food and snacks, heat lamps, microchips, pads, hoof trimmers, etc.; the list kept in getting ever longer).
We then built a mobile stall and made the pigs familiar with it, installed a new insulated floor in their barn, built fences to section off their barn and their outside area for recovery, put the piggies on a low sugar diet (not their favourite thing), planned the day with gear and staff and watched the weather. We had to postpone twice, but finally the weather was right, we were ready, the clinic gave the go ahead. Mission “Piggy Surgery” was a GO!
Looking back now it’s all a blurr, but I’m thankful we had a good plan and everyone did their part for making this entire endeavour a success. The day before, the mobile structure was set up in an area directly behind the clinic that gave us easy access with the most privacy and least stress for the pigs. Surgery day started very early with very grumpy pigs who had to fasten before surgery and only received sedative meds to help with the stress of transport. Then they and all gear got loaded and off we went.
At the clinic the last prep and settling the pigs in their temporary homes went pretty smooth and soon little Petunia was the first one sedated and carried away for surgery. We nervously waited for Petunia’s return. When they brought her back we were given the task of taking her body temperature every 10 minutes and to get help if her temperature reached a certain level – which happened several times. Thanks to the help of the clinic staff and very good instructions, Petunia’s condition became normal and soon our little girl explored this new space.
Next up was Poppy who because of being the biggest we were told that her surgery risk was higher. However she seemed to have gone through the fastest and least affected, she simply came out very dopey and slept a lot, but overall recovery seemed pretty smooth for her.
Our last patient was Punk who had spent most of the time waiting with naps interrupted by the strong desire to eat while not allowed when she heard Petunia had snacks after surgery; not an easy situation to accept for a pig! Punk went into surgery and she didn’t come back for a long time – the longest of all the pigs. Worry started creeping in. When they finally brought her back out she had clearly had a difficult time as she was placed under a thermal blanket shivering while her body temp was very low. We were given clear instructions for body temperature check-ups every 5 minutes and keep warming her up to a normal level. Clinic staff checked often on our progress. Luckily and despite how bad Punk looked when she came out, she showed to be a real trooper and after warming back up she was hungry and made a quick change to getting up and wanting some food.
Everything seemed to happen quickly then. With all pigs up and moving and us having spent the full day at the clinic we were cleared to go home: with instructions and more meds, pigs and supplies packed (some gear to be packed up the next day), we were on the road back home. More unloading and for Poppy, Petunia and Punk finally to settle in their barn, now converted into three sections with strong fences in between through which they could see and smell each other. Each section was equipped with a heat lamp and the piggies got dressed up in their little custom made loin cloths to protect their incision from scratching.
The 24 hours after surgery being the most critical, staff stayed at the farm to monitor their condition overnight and to help when needed. Overall they had a good first night and apart from some minor complications and needing to stay warm and cozy they all continued to have a smooth recovery.
We still had many questions along the way and we are so grateful that our vets were always available for us. We also had to learn a few things on the fly – like how to dress pigs in protective outfits, and how to make them drink more (adding chicken broth to their water is a real hit) and how to make them take their daily meds (because our smart piggies soon figured out in which food the pills were hidden – feeding pumpkin puree from a spoon was really a life- and finger saver).
It took just over 2 weeks for the incisions to fully heal, first the pigs had to be separated from each other and then they were only allowed supervised time together as Poppy behaved very dominantly towards the others. The staff had to step in several times to set boundaries, but after nearly 3 weeks their dynamics slowly changed, they seemed to find to each other again and we were able to remove the separating fences. From then on all three piggies are happily together again.
We would also like to say a huge thank you for a generous donation through the Parks & Recreation Foundation of Victoria to help out with funds for covering the medical costs for our pigs.
Overall, we are just grateful that this big event is behind us and much more important that Poppy, Petunia and Punk have come through it all so well and that it will allow them a much better chance to have a long, happy and healthy life at the farm.
Thank you.
For the next few weeks everyone at the farm is really busy preparing for opening – which will be so soon – and we are also excited to be welcoming our first baby goats of the season.
In no time we will be opening our gates again to old and new farm friends.
See you all at the farm.
Claudia
