Diarrhea

Question
My pot belly pig has diarrhea started yesterday I am so worried about her what can I do or give her she is 6 weeks and only drinks goat's milk I had her about a week and she want eat anything solid is that causing the diarrhea? Please get back to me ASAP Thank you,Brenda

Answer
Young piglets are prone to tummy troubles. This could be anything from stress to a bacterial or viral infection to diet. I am not a veterinarian and can not make a medical diagnosis over the internet.

Breeders sometimes tell people that piglets are older than they really are. If your piglet is 6 weeks old, she's old enough to eat solid foods. Pigs generally wean their babies at 8 to 12 weeks.  A piglet that's 4 weeks old or so will watch Momma pig eat, and may try sampling her food. Baby  usually will not eat the food, but might taste it a bit before spitting it out. An older piglet, about 7 to 8 weeks, will eat the food, and probably look for more! A piglet under 4 weeks won't show any interest in sold foods.

Start by mixing a few starter pot-bellied pig pellets in the goat milk. Gradually add a few more at each meal until it resembles oatmeal or hot cereal. Then, slowly start cutting back on the amount of milk at each meal until she's eating dry pellets. If she has trouble eating drier food, she's not as old as you think. Keep feeding her moist pellets, gradually switching to moistened with water only instead of milk.

Try giving her a little bit of banana, and make sure she has plenty to drink. If she won't drink plain water, try sweetening it with a little bit of fruit juice.

If the diarrhea persists more than 48 hours, chances are it's due to infection and she'll need to see a vet for antibiotics. There's a list of vets that treat pot-bellied pigs at www.farec.org