We're So Thankful

I am surprised with, but oh so thankful for, all the donations we receive. So many people send us blankets, gift cards, medications, money, etc. We also have many people who sponsor pigs. Without all of these things I don't know how we would survive. With 600 pigs, and more coming, we need all the help we can get.

We also have people who donate their time. One woman comes to Ironwood every Friday to help with watering and hands out carrots to the pigs. We even have volunteers who come from out of state and stay for a week to help out with daily tasks. This is enormously helpful as we have had many sick pigs taking up more of our time lately and crazy storms tearing down shades and posts.

There are even people who may not be able to donate physically, however, they share their love and thoughts with us. We do read every letter we receive and do our best to reply. I recently received a Get Well card from an elementary school class for Boris. As you know, Boris fell ill. This warmed my heart so much. Boris's health has actually been improving lately. He is very loved and very spoiled.

A big thank you goes out to everyone who has contributed in their own way. You make such a difference.

Frances

Frances first came to Ironwood in May 2002. She was found as a stray in Avra Valley. Frances had wandered into a horse pen at someones house looking for water. Mary went to pick her up asap. It was apparent that this girl had had litters in the past so Mary started to give her hormone shots to avoid anymore litters.

Apparently Frances had already gotten frisky while she was a stray because in August her stomach was getting bigger and in September she had a litter!

Frances was adopted soon after. Frances was very well loved for many years. Recently her adoptive mom's mom has gotten very sick. Frances' mom needed to move to care for her mother and could not take Frances with her. Frances is now back at Ironwood still receiving lots of love. She is very sweet and has been doing well.

Here at Ironwood we are big supporters and advocates of spaying and neutering. All of our boys here are neutered and we are continuing to spay our many many females.

From Stray to Spoiled

In an earlier post I showed Stinky with our other new boars before they were neutered. Stinky was the one who was found as a stray in Gilbert, AZ. I can't imagine how someone wouldn't want this boy, but I sure am glad he found his way to Ironwood.

Little Stinky has been living the great life here. He spends his nights sleeping in Mary's house and his days gallivanting around the property. Today I put the pugs' bed outside for him as it was chilly. He immediately snuggled into it and stayed there for hours.

New Additions

Over the last few months we've taken in quite a few new pigs. We are constantly getting calls about pigs needing to be surrendered, other sanctuaries closing, stray pigs, etc. Today Ben picked up two boys. Thankfully both are already neutered.

Their human mom passed away and the family doesn't want to care for them. They already 'put down' the older pig and said they would 'put down' these boys if we didn't/couldn't take them. So Ben jumped into action and picked them up.

Clearly they need their tusks trimmed. The boy in the first picture is friendly and the other is a bit skittish. They've spent most of today napping.

Speaking of trimming, we picked up a pig from the Tucson Humane Society earlier this week. She was found as a stray. Her hooves are insanely long!! We couldn't trim her sooner due to the rain but now that it is cleared she will be trimmed asap. We have named her Beatrice. She is super cute and just as friendly!

Kuranda Beds, Not Just for Dogs

When I moved here to Ironwood I brought along the pups' kuranda bed. I placed it in front of the house so the pups could sunbathe and such. Turns out they aren't the only ones using it!

The big boy in the last picture is Wilbur, he ended up breaking one side, woops! Looks like I have something to do with my free time :)

Sick Pigs Continued

This past week Xene was found laying in a shelter surrounded by her vomit. We brought her in to the pens and monitored her and spoke with one of our veterinarians. Over the next few days she wouldn't eat and would only drink some water and was only urinating. As advised by a veterinarian we gave her pepto and flunixamine and metoclopramide which increases muscle contractions in the upper digestive tract. She still wasn't showing much improvement other than walking around more. Last night she was brought in to see the vet. Xene had a large amount of sand in her stomach. Due to this her bowels were pushed far down in the intestines where they shouldn't be. Along with all of her stomach issues her white blood cell count was very low and her liver was failing. Xene had to be euthanized. She will be greatly missed. She was always so friendly and contributed to brightening up the morning.




Susie is another pig that has been struggling. She had a very large tumor removed from her uterus over a week ago and hasn't been recovering well at all. We've been giving her fluids through an IV as she hasn't been drinking. She didn't eat for about 4 days but has eventually started eating fruit and some grain. She was also brought to see the vet last night.


Susie has always has some issues with her legs and arthritis. Between her normal pain and the additional pain from the surgery she has had trouble functioning. She came home last night with a catheter already inserted for us to give her fluids. As she continues to heal things should get better for her. She is still staying in the barn with a heat lamp so we can monitor her.


Boris still isn't doing well and we aren't sure if he will be with us much longer. He has major liver issues and took a turn for the worst the other night. We immediately brought him indoors and kept him warm and comfortable. He seems to be functioning better today and getting around easier. He is currently outside enjoying the sunlight. I try to spend as much time with him as I can and give him extra love.

Oh Babee!

Babee is a resident in our Northeast field. She loves to sunbathe and socialize. Babee wasn't always so sweet though. Before she came to Ironwood she was very ornery. Her human parent was trying to find a vet so that Babee could be euthanized. It just so happens that every vet that this person contacted couldn't do it for some reason or another. One had a broken leg and wouldn't be in the office. Another was on vacation and wouldn't be back for a while. As a last resort Mary was contacted and given Babee. Mary was advised by Dr.Page, a vet we work with, to just put Babee in a field so she could acclimate and calm down.



Here she is today enjoying her days in the sun and behaving herself. It took some time but she has turned out to be a lovely girl. Alive and well!

You're Such a Boar

We've had a wave of boars come in lately. First was Casey Burns. He came from a home where the landlord informed his parents that Casey would no longer be allowed to stay there. We neutered him a couple of weeks ago. Casey almost didn't make it through the surgery. He took a very long time to wake up and gave us all quite a scare! Luckily he bounced back the next day and is back to talking to girls. This boy loves belly rubs!!

Next we picked up George and Boss Hogg. Both boys were just neutered this week. George came from a loving home, but his human mom died and there was no one left to care for him. He is still shy and skittish but is getting better with us every day.

Boss Hogg was left in a small wooden pen in Kingman, AZ. He has acclimated quite well to his new home here. Boss Hogg is a busy boy and likes to talk to all his friends he has made here.

Two nights ago we picked up our newest boar. I like to call him Stinky. He was a stray in Gilbert, AZ. He is tiny! This boy was neutered today and came out of the surgery well. He is very friendly and talkative. We have noticed that his legs sort of 'give out' on him quite frequently. This is from lack of nutrition, particularly vitamin E. Vitamin E is super important for young pigs. This boy is very young and may have been taken away from his mom too early. He is getting the right nutrition now and seems to be acclimating well.

Health Updates

I mentioned in an earlier post that the cold nights took their toll on a few of our older pigs. Boris was one of them. Boris has liver problems and we were seeing the effects of that. With lots of hydration and new medication Boris is doing a bit better. He is back to acting like his old self, however, I was able to get a urine sample on him and his bilirubin levels are high. We will have to keep an eye on him indeed. He used to live in the pens but is now a permanent resident behind Mary's house.

Profit also went downhill with the cooler weather. His body temperature dropped below 95 degrees. He stayed in my house to keep warm. He is now back in his field but kept in a sick bay pen as he doesn't always eat well. We have been giving him special foods and he has been eating well and acting normal.

Pumba is another one of our older boys that has been going downhill. He went days without getting up to eat or even opening his eyes. His body temperature was a bit low as well. We placed a heating lamp on his shelter and have been making him special foods as well. For a few days he would only eat if he was hand fed but has been getting up to eat or investigate the food for the last few days. He is not out of the woods but is resting well. The picture to the left shows another pig, Tulley, who uses a heating lamp as well.

Old Man Arnold comes from our lifers area. He is shown in the picture to the right in his blankets and hay. He is pretty crippled and if you couldn't tell by his name, old. We brought him into the pens to keep a closer eye on him. He also went days without eating but has been eating on his own the last few days and getting up to drink and relieve himself. We all know he may not be with us for much longer but we are keeping him as comfortable as possible for the time being.

Going on Vacation?

Ironwood does offer boarding for pigs. We have a few long term boarders currently with us, but we also had a few pigs stay a week or so with us during the holidays. We care for them just as any other pig here and cater to their needs.

Hayden is an 8 month old boy that stayed with us for the holidays. He was a super sweet boy and definitely got a lot of attention. As the nights/mornings got colder it was apparent that Hayden needed to be accommodated. We would bring Hayden into either my house or Mary's house every night so that he would stay warmer. Hayden did very well with this and loved the extra attention I'm sure.

You what!?

I often get asked why there needs to be such a thing as a pig sanctuary, or why we don't just find homes for the pigs. Well, here are some of the stories of pigs in Arizona just from this week:

One pig, a full grown boar in Kingman, has been left in a 5x8 pen made of plywood. The boar cannot even see out of the pen except for a 2 foot section of wooden rail fence. He has been left with an old sink as a feeding bowl. We are picking him up in the next couple days.

There is a pig in Phoenix that has lived with a family for 11 years, since he was a piglet. The family recently got a dog, which is currently 10 mos old, that has been aggressive with the pig. They would like for us to take the pig.

Another full grown boar near Prescott has been left without shelter or care. The family moved and left him. Temperatures in that area have been at 20 and possibly lower. We are also picking him up in the next couple days.

A hog has also been left behind, the family moved. It is roaming the surrounding area and going onto one woman's property. This woman is trying to help but is being told by numerous 'officials' to shoot it. We are currently working with the woman on the situation.


The stories of our current 500+ pigs would blow your mind.

So no, we can't "just find homes" for pigs. It is really hard to find responsible people who are capable and have an appropriate environment for a pig. Yes we do adopt out pigs when the right person/family comes along. This isn't as often as we'd like but it does indeed happen.