My Potbellied pig is peeing in his bed

Question
My potbellied pig newton is 7 years old. He does not want to go outside any more unless you force him to. He goes out to the ground level deck and pees and poops on the deck and wants to come back in. When he does pee on the deck it is not as much as he usually pees. When he goes back to his bed inside he pees in his bed not a lot but enough to make things wet. This has been going on for about a month.Before this happened he wanted to stay outside all the time and stayed outside for about 6 weeks refusing to come in at all. I hope this is not too confusing but i am concerned and don't know what to do. He is eating well. Thank you so much for any advise you can give me.

Answer
I am not a veterinarian and can not make a medical diagnosis or prescribe treatment over the internet.

This could be a couple of different things. First, something might be making piggy uncomfortable while he pees. It might be a physical problem, like arthritis, or an environmental problem like too cold or slippery to stand comfortably. In either case, piggy is not emptying himself completely because it's takes too long. Make sure the deck area is not slippery, and try to shelter piggy's potty area from rain and wind. If piggy doesn't like to wear coats you can lay a towel on his back to keep rain or snow off

After piggy comes back inside, wait maybe 10 - 20 minutes, then make piggy go back outside to potty again. This will give him a second opportunity to empty himself.

Another possibility is an infection. It could be urinary or in his preputial diverticulum. The pd is a gland located by the penis. It's job is to collect all sorts of body fluids and produce "boar odor". This gland shrinks dramatically in neutered males, but it is still there and can become infected. Also, older males may empty this gland in their beds.

Wash his belly twice a day with a warm, soapy cloth. Try to empty his pd. He will enjoy this!

If the problem continues, he may have a urinary infection and need to see a vet.