Injured Piglet

I try to check on the piglets several times a day so that I can head off anything at the first sign of trouble.  Yesterday morning there was one piglet - a very small one - who seemed to be limping quite badly on her hind leg.  I picked her up and found two deep lacerations with an open flap of skin between them on her lower leg.  It was warm and swollen, quite obviously infected.

I brought her in the house.  It is nearly impossible to do anything near the pen with a piglet as they cry for Ruby and she gets very upset.  Once they are out of earshot, the piglet can cry and momma is fine.  I washed out the cut as best I could with Dr. Bronner's soap.  The piglet hated it.  I didn't like it much either.  Once clean, I filled the lacerations with triple antibiodic ointment, cut a small piece of vet wrap, and wrapped the leg so that she would still have full range of motion.

Last year, we had a piglet get injured in a similar fashion.  We suppose that this cut is caused when momma accidentally steps on the piglet's leg and her hoof cuts the tender skin.  Last year, I did just what I said above and then I put the baby back out with Ruby.  Last year, that piglet was dead in the morning.

So this year, I followed up the cleaning and bandaging with the tiniest dose of LA 200.  Literally, I gave her 0.1mL of it via IM injection.  Her little body couldn't be more than two pounds and the dosage was so small I had a hard time feeling like I had administered it at all.  But it must've done something.

This morning, she seemed to be putting weight on her leg.  And by this evening, she had gotten the bandage off (always happens) and was walking on it without a problem.  The cut is still visible, but the swelling has subsided and she seems to be doing fine.  Lesson learned.