Potbellied Pig w/hemhroids

Question
QUESTION: I have a 3 to 4 year old make potbellied pig that is castrated.  After we rescued him from a petting zoo that no longer had any use for him, I noticed that he had what appeared to be hemhroids when he defecated.  I give him canned pumpkin about 1x a month to help soften his stool & help him.  But today when I went out to the barn to feed my pigs I noticed quite a bit of blood on him.  I checked his rectum and it appears that the hemrhoid has burst.  There is blood, not a lot but it is dripping and there is quite a bit of red fleshy tissue that is now hanging out his rectum.  I called my vet who refused to come out on a Saturday, and she told me to try preperation H on him.  I cleaned & dried this area the best that I could and applied the preperation H.  Can you please advise of the best way I can treat him, I don't want to lose him! I can get a photo if that would help.  I also fear infection setting in.

ANSWER: I believe what you are describing is rectal prolapse, where a section of intestinal tissue is pushed out the rectum. Please note that I am not a vet, and even a vet can't really make a diagnosis over email.

A small prolapse might resolve itself. If not, and your vet won't come out, and you can't find another vet, you might need to try the first aid steps below.

Put on some clean latex or rubber gloves. Wash the prolapse with warm water, so it's clean. Sprinkle it with a generous amount of ordinary granulated table sugar. The sugar will absorb moisture from the prolapsed tissue and shrink it. Gently, gently keep applying sugar and press the prolapse back inside the pig. Be very careful do not twist the tissue! Do not push hard! The tissue is delicate and can easily tear. Use the palm of your hand as much as possible.

Don't panic, work slowly and gently. It make take several tries.

Hopefully the prolapse will go back in. If it does not, keep the protrusion moist and clean and get piggy to the vet as soon as he opens. He might need to adjust the position of the prolapsed tissue, or he may perform a procedure using a ring to tie off the prolapse.

Once a pig prolapses, it could easily happen again. Your pig will need to eat a diet of soft food from now on. No more dry pellets for him, soak them with water to make a soft mush. Canned pumpkin is a good choice, he'll probably need to eat it much more often, like once a week or maybe even every other day. Fresh veggies and fresh grass also help stools move smoothly through a pig.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: After following your instructions, this worked perfectly.  The pig even seem to be helping me by applying pressure against my hand!  

There is still some bleeding going on.  But the prolapse is completely back in.  Can you please advise if you think that we will need to put him on an antibiotic as well?


Answer
Glad to hear that worked! I'm sure piggy was very uncomfortable and was as relieved as you are to have all his insides back inside!

I'm not a vet, but I don't think antibiotics are necessary. If the prolapse was not clean when it was pushed back in there is danger of infection but antibiotics won't fix that kind of infection.

My concerns are the bleeding (is it just hemorrhoids or was the bowel tissue itself damaged?) and position of the bowel inside the body. Both of these are things that a vet should check. Damaged bowel tissue can attach itself to the muscle wall of the body cavity, to other organs, or to itself as it heals. A twisted bowel will cause blockage.

The big key here is to keep piggy on soft foods with lots of fiber and water. Straining can cause it to happen again, and if there's bleeding, there's already damaged tissue.