California Potbellied Pig Association, Inc

Prolapsed Rectum

PROLAPSED RECTUM

by Richard Hoyle

I learned a neat trick a couple of weeks ago…speaking of prolapsed rectums.   

I have an older female who has been having a difficult time getting her rectum to return to normal after she moves her bowels.  As you all know many of these pigs actually do "prolapse" when they defecate...you see the ring of red bowel tissue like a small bagel and then it recedes when they are done.  Well, hers was staying out for longer and longer periods of time...sometimes 15-30 minutes.    

I figured it was just a matter of time before she prolapsed for good and it stayed out.   

The vet was out checking one of my other pigs about three weeks ago and, as he was cleaning up to leave, I spotted Miss Sugar Foot walking around looking like she had prolapsed for good.  The vet had a few minutes so we opted to go ahead and deal with it.   

We sedated her mildly and, as we got ready to fix the prolapse, it resolved itself...probably due to muscle relaxation secondary to the sedation.   

Anyway...the vet said we could keep her from prolapsing again by injecting straight iodine into her.  He pulled up about 15 or so cc's of iodine and we made 8 injections...through the outer skin around the anus and into the lip of the bowel.  Each injection was only a cc or so.   

When she came out of the sedation she was pretty sore...as you can imagine.  So I gave her some Banamine for the night.  But the next day she was fine and she is now defecating normally with no prolapse at all.   

The vet said that the iodine is so caustic to the tissue...especially sensitive tissue like bowel...that the body's reaction is to immediately create a ring of scar tissue around the injection sites which serve to keep the prolapse inside where it belongs.   

Kinda neat...another tidbit of information to stick away and to use to wow your friends at cocktail parties and other important social events when the conversation drags a bit...

Shepherd's Green Sanctuary  540-937-5229    www.9sites.org

Take two pigs and call me in the morning.