bruises

Question

lulu   me 5 month old mini pig is bruising easily and bruises are not stay long - from 20 min to a couple hours - and it is gone..and her blood clogging good,my vet did not find anything wrong,but agreed it is strange to have so ugly looking bruising after he gave her   rabies shot.And another question -if you could give me any idea of how big she is going to be full grown,if she is 15 lbs now,in 5 mos? thanks a lot.Elena.

Answer
I am not a veterinarian, and can not make a medical diagnosis over the internet.

Pigs can, and do, get bruises. Adult pigs have tough skin on their backs and sides, but can bruise on their soft bellies. Piglets have soft skin all over and can show a bruise anywhere. Bruises show up clearly on white pigs, and are hard to see on black pigs.

Unlike human bruises, which sometimes don't show up until days after the injury and take a long time to heal, pig bruises appear quickly after the injury and disappear almost as quickly.

There are no approved rabies vaccines for swine in the US. Most vets use the rabies vaccine for dogs on pot-bellied pigs. The vaccine itself seems quite safe. Injecting pigs can be a little tricky, especially if they jump or move when the needle is inserted. It's not unlikely that a young, white piglet would show bruising after an injection, especially if the injection site is on the neck.

Your pig's final adult size depends on her DNA. The best clue to her full grown size is the size of her parents at age 4 or 5. Pigs grow quickly until age 2, when they reach emotional maturity. They continue to grow, much more slowly, until age 5 or even 6.