Bilbo Baggins is Still With Us!

Bilbo has been having issues with an infection in his left eye and recently had an abscess produce on his forehead. We were worried that he had a serious infection going on in his head that would not be treatable.

Pokey had this issue. Months ago he was having issues with an infection in his right eye and we discovered that he had a massive infection brewing behind his eye. He dealt with having a catheter inserted in his eye so that we could flush the infection. Lately he had been acting disoriented and wasn't quite himself. He went to the doctor earlier this week and we learned that the infection had taken over his head. It had even eaten through the bones and there was nothing that could be done. Sadly, Pokey had to be euthanized. This has been really hard for us here as Pokey was quite the fixture here. He will always have a special place in our hearts.

With this recent event with Pokey we were worried that Bilbo had the same problem.
Bilbo went to the vet yesterday. I said my goodbye in the morning as we didn't know if he would make it back. To our surprise Bilbo did not have the same problem! His abscess is treatable and there was not a large infection brewing. Bilbo had a drain inserted in his abscess. He is having a hard recovery but should make it through well.

Spike also went in for an abscess this week. We've been flushing it for a good while now with no progress. The doctor had to go in deep to get out all of

the pus and infection. Penicillin was put directly on the problem areas and then a drain was inserted. He has been recovering well and should heal well.

Abscesses are a never ending issue here. Certain pigs get them over and over. We have them on a rotating antibiotic cycle and keep a close eye on them. We also have a few pigs with infections similar to Pokey's. They get infections on their jaw that are not treatable and will eventually be what kills them.