PB Pig Vet

Question
My 12 year old Pb pig is not eating, I can get him to drink some liquids (fruit juice).  This has been going on for about a week. Not much poop and what there is looks like large dog poop. I have been giving him pumpkin in a syringe. He looks bloated. I have given him penicillin for 4 days per my local farm vet (they don't do PB pigs).  He started to get better, but when I started feeding him his regular pig chow, he got sick again.  He got sick orginally when I started giving him this bag of pig food.  I am wondering if the food is bad.  Would like to know of a veterinarian I can take him to that cares for mini pigs near the 95526 area code.

Answer
It's very possible that there is something wrong with that particular bag of food. My suggestion is to get another bag. Preferably from a different source and maybe even a different brand. In Ohio a few years ago, many alpacas and llamas were killed when a feed company mistakenly put drug-laced chicken scratch into alpaca/llama feed bags. You might want to hang onto the "bad" bag of food, keep it in a cool, dry location, until the situation is resolved.

There's a list of veterinarians who see pot-bellied pigs at www.farec.org  If there are none nearby, contact the closest one, they may be able to refer you to someone nearer to you. Also, if your vet is willing, farec has pet pig veterinarians who are willing to assist other vets over the phone. Contact farec to arrange a consultation like this.

In the meantime, I suggest offering piggy foods with probiotics, like yogurts with active cultures. This helps stabilize the bacteria in the gut. Nutritional drinks like Boost or Ensure will provide nutrients along with his liquids. Most pigs seem to really enjoy Strawberry Boost.