CALIFORNIA POTBELLIED PIG ASSOCIATION, Inc.
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Question of the Month
How old is Cooper?
Cooper was among the first pet pigs that joined CPPA.
Many years ago Cooper and his mom and dad
moved him off to the cold of Colorado,
and to add insult to injury, they build their house of straw.
Any pig knows better than that.
But the “straw bale” house still stands and so does Cooper.
Cooper’s mom Sandy writes,
“Cooper was born 8/25/89...Cooper went through a slim time winter before last. He got very skinny and lethargic. I upped the amount of food I was giving him, and he came through it. I had been feeding him the same amount for years, and I think he got to an age that he needed more. I still only give him the mini pig elder, alfalfa and fresh fruits and veggies. He loves his bananas.”
So at over 20 years of age, Cooper is the oldest potbellied pig
that we at CPPA can personally vouch for.
One of our board member’s pig, Vincent, is over 19 and still going strong, and another past board member’s pig, Bob, died at over 18 years of age.
So the question of how long these wonderful critters will add
to the quality of our lives continues to be a question,
but the number keeps going higher.
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For the many of us with older pigs, Brett Johnson of Wisconsin sent us some advice about older pigs with rapid weight loss as Cooper experienced a couple of years back. Thanks Brett.
Cooper was among the first pet pigs that joined CPPA.
Many years ago Cooper and his mom and dad
moved him off to the cold of Colorado,
and to add insult to injury, they build their house of straw.
Any pig knows better than that.
But the “straw bale” house still stands and so does Cooper.
Cooper’s mom Sandy writes,
“Cooper was born 8/25/89...Cooper went through a slim time winter before last. He got very skinny and lethargic. I upped the amount of food I was giving him, and he came through it. I had been feeding him the same amount for years, and I think he got to an age that he needed more. I still only give him the mini pig elder, alfalfa and fresh fruits and veggies. He loves his bananas.”
So at over 20 years of age, Cooper is the oldest potbellied pig
that we at CPPA can personally vouch for.
One of our board member’s pig, Vincent, is over 19 and still going strong, and another past board member’s pig, Bob, died at over 18 years of age.
So the question of how long these wonderful critters will add
to the quality of our lives continues to be a question,
but the number keeps going higher.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
For the many of us with older pigs, Brett Johnson of Wisconsin sent us some advice about older pigs with rapid weight loss as Cooper experienced a couple of years back. Thanks Brett.
"I'd like to add a thought about Cooper that perhaps would help. We recently lost our little guy just shy of 20 years old. At 18 years old, our pig lost weight very rapidly. Fortunately, we had a team of vets because we had taken him to the vet school at the University of Wisconsin - Madison, for years. The doctors took blood, stool and urine tests, and found that like older humans, his organs were leaking. Sounded real scary but, it was a real easy solution (not a cure, though). An anti-biotic for a week to make sure there was no under-lying infection and having him drink Ensure. In about 10 days his weight was back on. We then cut back on the Ensure - a cup down to a half cup daily - and he lived for almost two more years."
Brett Johnson
That is this months question. On this page we hope to print questions,
submitted by our readers. We will then print the various answers that
our other readers send in, thereby, being able to share a little of the
collective knowledge that is out there. As a whole there is very little
real knowledge about our pet porcines, and we only learn by sharing
what knowledge each of us has gathered.
Send questions and answers to: info@cppa4pigs.org
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LAST MONTHS QUESTION and ANSWERS:
This months question is actually a cute story about potbellied pig behavior sent to us by one of our members. It reminded me of the precautions that we all need to keep in mind when sharing our homes with these clever little creatures.
So, sometimes when our piggies are tired they go to the top of the stairs and nap because the heat rises and its comfy. So one of my little angels was gone for a little bit and we figured she was sleeping @ the top of the stairs. Well we were wrong. Chris went up to check and saw her eating something in my brother's room - who swears his door was closed. She saw him, realized she was caught, and ran to hide with a mouth full of food. She was eating a cliff bar! We were glad to get it before she ate much of it and sent her down stairs. Then she snuck up the stairs ninja style. Chris went up again and found another wrapper! Before she was caught she had successfully eaten one w/o us knowing. Sneaky little brat. Then she waited a few moments and again crept up the stairs. Chris again went up to get her but decided to check my brother's room in case she made a mess. To his surprise he found another cliff bar wrapper! There's about 250 calories in each and 27 grams of sugar. She is now acting PSYCHO! She has such a sugar high, she is off the walls. I can't believe he left his door open! Grrrrr. And I can't believe I thought she wasn't causing trouble. Please pass this along to anyone who it could help. So I think I've learned if I catch my pig doing ONE thing wrong, they have probably done at least THREE things wrong. Its going to be an interesting night.
It's like child proofing a home from a smart strong agile mischievous 3 or 4 year old forever. Even if room doors are closed, they can sometimes flex them from a lower corner and get them to pop open. Once they learn a behavior, they never forget it. Your brother should try to keep edible things in closed drawers and off the floor or bed. Of course, pigs can also easily learn to open low drawers and cabinets, even refrigerators. Child locks are still on our lower kitchen cabinets from our first pig, TS, and he died in 1995.
We have had potbellies kill themselves from finding large quantities of salty or less than healthy food. I'm not sure what a "cliff bar" is, but salt and chocolate can be health problems for potbellies.
Also for our purse carrying people out there, don't place your purse on the floor when visiting a home with a potbellied pig. People tend to drop their purse (full of pills, make up and all types of toxic stuff) on the floor and then go off into the yard or where ever for a visit. This has proved fatal. One of our members lost her beloved pig to her boyfriend's caffeine pills, left on a low table.
Good luck with that sugar high.
Chris Christensen
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PREVIOUS MONTHS QUESTIONS and ANSWERS:(Click on the Question to get the Answers)
Zoning Question?
Hoof Trimming and Anesthetics?
Oldest Pig?
Glucosamine/Chondroitin/MSM?
How big do potbellied pigs get?
"...pigs are very beautiful animals. Those who do not think so
do not look at anything with their own eyes but through other people's eyeglasses."
G. K. Chesterton