California Potbellied Pig Association, Inc

Kidney Stones

Kidney Stones

by Ted Parry

This is the story of my pig Eddy who developed a serious medical condition of a male pig: kidney stones. Eddy is a three year old male pig who was extremely healthy and went on walks weekly . He has been to rock concerts, elementary schools, children's reading time at libraries, convalescent homes, senior centers, San Diego Gas Light District, Huntington Pier, Redondo Beach Pier, Festival of Lights in downtown Riverside, National Bulldog Show at the Costa Mesa Hilton, shopping malls all over Southern California and many other places too numerous to mention, including many SCAMPP events. He has become quite the local celebrity whenever going to Costco, Home Depot, Lowes, or my local regular stops. Without him, the question is always the same: "Where is Eddy?"

Three months ago, all of a sudden Eddy stopped eating. When a pig stops eating, something is wrong. I tried numerous home remedies thinking he was constipated. Then he stopped drinking. I took him to the vet and they did x-rays and discovered he had kidney stones. Doctor Westbrook did the surgery and told me he got all the stones out he could, but some remained that he couldn't get to, because of the anatomy of the male pig urethra. Some stones remained trapped. He put Eddy on a special dog food that had a dissolving ingredient, hoping Eddy would pass the remaining stones. He also gave some antibiotics and Pediolite. Eddy was not interested in this recipe, in fact he didn't want to eat at all. I had to get a syringe and force feed him with this cocktail. I could only pray he would urinate. Three days had passed and still no sign of urine. He became more sluggish and wouldn't get up.

I took him back to Doctor Westbrook, who found his entire urethra was packed with stones and the kidney had ruptured with stones and urine now settled in his abdomen. He did everything he could to get out the remaining

stones, repair the damaged kidney, and drained over a gallon and half of urine out of him (which is 8 times the normal capacity). I took Eddy home after 3 hours of surgery. Doctor Westbrook told me to be honest, it would take a miracle

to survive and I might at this point consider putting him to sleep if nothing changes. My whole world changed with those words.

Two days passed still no urine. I decided on a Thursday I couldn't stand to see him in pain anymore and if I really loved him I would have to do the right thing and would take him the next morning to have him put to sleep. I remember that night holding him as he put his head on my lap and crying like a baby. I remember eulogizing our times together in my dreams. The next morning as I prepared to take him to have him euthanized, Doctor Westbrook called me and said he had an idea and to bring Eddy to him. He told me he can't promise this surgery would work, but he rerouted his urethra to bypass the penis and open at his backside. So he would then urinate like a female. I took him home the first night, and he urinated. I never thought I would ever be excited to see pig urinate, but I cried. The recovery process started. With a syringe, I mixed up apple sauce, antibiotics, pain medication, and mineral oil. He wasn't crazy about the process, but 3 times a day for one week this went on. As for his regular pig food he wasn't interested at all, but he started to drink a little. A real breakthrough came when he ate his first solid food. He would only eat cucumbers, after 3 days. This is the first solid food he had eaten in a month. He slowly started eating other solid food and defecated for the first time in a month. It was an emotional roller-coaster ride. It took a MIRACLE but I feel Eddy was destined to live and bring joy to people just as he has brought it to me. He is back on the circuit going everywhere with me. The only difference is he has to sit on the toilet instead of stand when he has to pee.

May/June 2015 Page 8 http://scampp.com or http://scampp.org

”If man aspires to a righteous life, his first act is abstinence of injury to animals"
Leo Tolstoy