Les séminaires annuels aux USA

L'université de Knoxville, Tennessee organise le 7ème séminaire international sur les cochons nains. Ce séminaire rassemble les propriétaires et les vétérinaires du monde entier et couvre différents sujets (voir le planning du séminaire).

Tout le monde peut assister à ce séminaire, que vous soyez vétérinaire, récent propriétaire, ou plus expérimenté et suivre l'une des deux sections "vétérinaire" ou "propriétaire".

Une bonne compréhension de l'anglais est indispensable.

Le Pig Docteur (vétérinaire conseil du site) et moi même nous rendons au séminaire cette année encore. Si vous aussi souhaitez y assister, contactez moi ! caro@groingroin.org

Un compte rendu en Français des enseignements de la section "propriétaire" sera résumé ci-dessous dès mon retour du séminaire !

6éme Séminaire International 4-6Juin 2004 aux USA

Le Dr John CARR et l'université d'Iowa ont accueillis et organisé le 6ème séminaire international sur les cochons nains. Ce séminaire rassemblait les propriétaires et les vétérinaires du monde entier et couvrait différents sujets de la maintenance aux problèmes de santé en passant par les problèmes de comportement et les problèmes sanitaires.

Tout le monde pouvait assister à ce séminaire, vétérinaire, récent propriétaire, ou plus expérimenté et suivre l'une des sections "vétérinaire" ou "propriétaire"
Une bonne compréhension de l'anglais était cependant indispensable.

Un compte rendu en anglais (désolée pas encore eu le temps de faire la traduction) des enseignements de la section "propriétaire" est à votre disposition :

SIXTH ANNUAL POTBELLIED PIG SYMPOSIUM, Iowa, 2004

By Marcie Christensen, (Président of the California Potbellied Pig Association)

In 2003 I went to the Fifth Annual Potbellied Pig Symposium in North Carolina somewhat reluctantly. I was hoping I would learn a little something about potbellied pigs; however, when I got home I hadn't learned a little something about potbellied pigs, I'd learned a lot about potbellied pigs. I was, therefore, very excited about attending the 2004 symposium, and again, I learned a lot! I am looking forward to the 2005 symposium in Tennessee.

This year Dr. Carr of Iowa State University (the host) put together a wonderful CD and booklet for all of us who attended. The booklet was included as part of our registration fee. The CD was and IS still being sold. It is the entire booklet and is well worth purchasing. If you want to purchase it please contact Lana at PAPA@pigsaspets.org. It cost less than $10 and is WELL worth it.

There were approximately 50 people in attendance this year from as far as England and from California to New York. These 50 people represented approximately 750 pigs. Some people did not own a pig, others had one or two, and several had from 100 to 250 rescue pigs in their sanctuaries. The knowledge and representation from all over was impressive.

Since the CD covers a lot of what was discussed at the symposium, I am only going to cover a few items that are not on it or I felt needed to be emphasized. In no way should any of what is written here be interpreted as anything other than MY notes and what I interpreted and learned from this symposium. The medical information included here should be discussed with your veterinarian to see if it is appropriate for your pigs’ situation.

I did not take my camera with me, but others did. For loads of pictures please go to: http://wipotbelliedpigassoc.tripod.com/2004_symposium_pictures.html

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SPEAKERS AND TOPICS:

1) Heather Powles, Potbellied Pig Owner from the UK.

Topic: History of the PBP’s in the UK and the Hoof and Mouth Outbreak of 2001

2) Dr. John Carr DMV, Iowa State University

Topic: Bio Security and Hoof and Mouth Disease

3) Penny Yocum, MS, North Carolina

Topic: Overview of Nutrition for the Potbellied Pig/Obesity of the Potbellied Pig.

4) Nancy Shepherd, Owner of Pig O’ My Heart Potbellies, Missouri

Topic: Farrowing at a Shelter

5) Dr. Bruce Lawhorn, DVM, MS. Professor/Extension Swine Veterinarian at Texas Cooperative Extension/Dept Large Animal Medicine & Surgery College of Veterinary Medicine A&M University

Topic: Dentistry in the Pet Pig

6) Dr. Kristie Mozzachio, DVM, North Carolina State University College of Veterinary Medicine

Topic: Vaccination of Potbellied Pigs and Several Case Studies

7) Dr. Lou Anne Wolfe DVM, Oklahoma

Topic: Clinical Experience with Pet Pigs

8) Richard Hoyle of Mini-Pigs Sanctuary, Virginia

Topic: Working with Veternairains

9) Dr. Dana Danks, MS, DVM, Iowa State University

Topic: Pig Behavior

10) Dr. Arlen Wilburs DVM, Pennsylvania

Topic: Case Studies and Hoof Trimming

Additional Speakers:

Lana Hollenback of Pigs As Pets Association (PAPA), Florida

Topic: Working with Shelters

Susan Susan Armstrong-Magidson, Owner and Operator Ross Mill Farm & Piggy Camp, Pennsylvania

Topic: Networking

Brenda Frost, Iowa

Topic: Training the Pet Pig

1) Heather Powles

Topic: History of the PBP’s in the UK and the Hoof and Mouth Outbreak of 2001

Heather Powles is a potbellied pig owner and founder of the Potbellied Pig Club UK with over 400 members. In the CD you will read about the history of PBP’s in the UK as well as the speech she gave on the Hoof and Mouth outbreak in 2001. It was the most emotional speech I have ever listened too. For the entire weekend every time I looked at Heather I nearly cried. I cannot imagine what life was like for them during this horrible outbreak.

2) Dr. John Carr DMV

Topic: Bio Security and Hoof and Mouth Disease

After Heather spoke Dr. Carr showed us a computer presentation that showed the daily spread of the Hoof and Mouth outbreak in 2001 in the UK. It showed confirmed cases and culled animals. By the end (I believe it was only a few months) there were areas that were totally void of sheep, cows and pigs. Approximately twenty pet potbellied pigs were included in this mass killing. Only cloven-hoofed animals are affected my Hoof and Mouth.

Dr. Carr showed us pictures of what this awful disease does to the animals. The comment that stuck with me the most from Dr. Carr was that we should never, NEVER feed our pigs ANY meat products, especially processed meat products. You see the reason the outbreak occurred in the UK was ONE farmer fed his pigs “swill”, that was not thoroughly cooked. There are set standards for how to cook “swill” prior to feeding it to pigs. This “swill” included contaminated meat products, and when his animals began to get sick, he did not tell authorities until the disease was in full swing for three weeks. Meanwhile, he continued to leave his property and allow others on. By the time authorities knew what was going on, 36 farms were contaminated and ALL their animals would be destroyed.

Dr. Carr explained that many countries do not cook meat products enough and they can send their meat products to foreign countries, including the US. Frozen processed meats like pepperoni, sausage, salami, and ham, are some of the cheapest meats that come from other countries and those meats can be contaminated. If the meat is contaminated and not cooked properly, and then fed to a pig, the pig can get and spread Hoof and Mouth. Bottom line, Dr. Carr said DO NOT EVER FEED ANY MEAT PRODUCTS TO YOUR PIG, no matter if it is cooked well or not, it's not worth taking a chance.

He also went into how the virus is spread and what types of viral loads each species, pig, cow, etc, needs in order to spread this disease. It is unreal how easily this can be transmitted. It can be spread through the air, rodents, feet, and even car wheels. When a vet visited a contaminated property he was then considered “dirty” for 9 days and could not go onto ANY other property. When the outbreak began there were only 11 vets in the entire area and all came into contact with contaminated animals almost immediately. Within 9 days there were 67 confirmed outbreaks and all the vets were now “dirty” and could continue to pass on the virus if they continued to visit other farms. The rules changed as weeks went on and as long as a vet was not in contact with a contaminated property they were considered ok within 72 hours. Many of these vets were euthanizing 3000 animals A DAY… EACH! It had to be awful for them all. They are trained to save lives not, kill like that. I can’t even imagine.

A few other things he said:

* During the H/M outbreak in the UK, they ran out of wood due to all number of animals that were burned.

* Much of the wood they had to use was chemically treated, therefore, now they had health issues from the smoke in the air

* During this event 60 farmers committed suicide. One potbellied pig owner also committed suicide, as he could not stand the idea of loosing his pigs.

Dr. Carr then went into Bio Security issues. He showed us a slide of five cute little PBP piglets. We all went “ahhh”, and then he said, “They all have pseudo rabies”. We all nearly fell over. They did not, but he was using this as an example of “what if”… Are we taking the proper precautions when we visit other people's property? Pigs in shelters? Precautions for diseases like Hoof and Mouth and pseudo rabies are extreme. Not just sterilizing our shoes, or washing our hands, but sterilizing our car wheels, what if we inhaled the disease into our lungs then exhaled it onto our pigs? A potbellied pig in 2003 in Georgia showed up at a vet clinic with lameness. He had rabies. This is very unusual, but can happen.

Mange can live OFF its host for, I believe he said 21 days. Did you share a blanket with another pig? Or a water bowl? How about straw, do you KNOW where that bale of straw came from? You purchased it at feed store but where did it come from? Did that farm have sick pigs on it? Biting insects can spread diseases, as well as rodents. Commercial pigs are kept in quarantine for 60 days, but our pet pigs are not quarantined at all in the US.

Bottom line he frightened the heck out of me. I do not believe any of us are taking adequate precautions. But we should be.

3) Penny Yocum, MS.

Topic: Overview of Nutrition for the Potbellied Pig, Obesity of the Potbellied Pig.

Most of what Penny spoke about is on the CD. But she made a couple of great points I wanted to cover.

Take pictures of your pet pig every six months or so. You do not see your pig getting obese, but if you keep a photo journal of your pig it will help you visualize the pigs body weight. And/or have a friend who does not see your pig on a regular bases tell you if they think your pig has gotten bigger. If your photos show the pig has gotten heavier, or your friend says they think it has, then it is time for a slow, but steady diet.

4) Nancy Shepherd

Topic: Farrowing at a Shelter

Most of what Nancy spoke about is on the CD. She also gave out a handout on how to build a bottomless cart to move your pig around easily. It was very neat. If you want information on it please contact Nancy directly at nlshepherd@aol.com

She did show us pictures of some newborn piglets that had these strange little yellow protectors on the pigs hooves. She explained that piglets are born with these protectors to protect the mother during birth. These usually fall off in about 10 minutes after birth from the piglet walking around. If a piglet is found dead with these protectors on, then you know it was a stillborn.

When a sow begins nest building she is usually a few days to a few hours from delivering. When she begins to express milk she is usually within 12 hours of delivering. When you see vaginal oozing, a baby is on its way. A quick flick of the tail and out pops the baby.

5) Dr. Bruce Lawhorn, DVM, MS

Topic: Dentistry in the Pet Pig

Dr. Lawhorn discussed how to trim pigs tusks, and he explained that the tusks are more or less INSIDE the jaw. They extend several inches inside the jawbone and then protrude from the front part of the jaw. Due to the depth of the tusk it is very difficult to remove a tusk that has abscessed. They showed us a picture of a pig that had part of his lower jaw removed due to an abscess that destroyed his jaw. He is doing great by the way. But his was a very extensive surgery, and this extensive an operation is not recommended on older pigs.

A tusk was passed around for us to see. It had a large rotted hole in the middle. It was very interesting.

Many times the pig will not show symptoms of an abscessed tusk until major jawbone damage has occurred. Some abscessed tusks manifest themselves as an abscess on the outside of the face. What is strange is I came home from the symposium to three different unrelated pigs all having some type of tusk/jaw abscess. Two of the pigs are 14 year old and will be on antibiotics as long as they live, as surgery is out of the question. This appears to be an aging pig problem.

6) Dr. Kristie Mozzachio, DVM

Topic: Vaccination of Potbellied Pigs and Several Case Studies

Dr. Mozzachio (formerly Dr. Karli) discussed vaccination protocols and gave some case studies on sick pigs. These were fascinating and are also on the CD.

Dr. Mozzachio also said at least 70% of gilts (female that never had babies) that are over the age of five would develop some type of female tumors if not spayed. That is a huge statistic. MANY of our members have had adult pigs with tumors. She showed us a picture of 100lb gilt. Really a tiny pig. She was actually emaciated. They did surgery on her to see what was wrong and found a 50lb tumor. HALF HER BODY WEIGHT!

Another thing she discussed was an illness that manifests itself by sloughing of skin. Many vets have diagnosed this as Erysipelas, but rarely are cultures done to verify it. Treatment is the same whether it is diagnosed or not. This unknown skin sloughing disease, many times occurs after the pig has a high fever. It is unknown why this happens, but this is something we should all be aware of.

When a pig has any type of skin infection, antibiotic treatment must go on for at least 6 to 8 weeks, not the usual 10-day treatment. This is very important.

7) Dr. Lou Anne Wolfe DVM

Topic: Clinical Experience with Pet Pigs

Again much of Dr. Wolfe’s speech is on the CD. An interesting comment she tossed out was, "could a pig that was neutered at a young age be more prone to developing urinary blockages, stones or crystals?" No proof of this yet, but a good statistic to keep in mind.

For really long hooves use an OB/Giggle wire ON the hoof!! Who would have thought to do that? What a great idea when the hoof is too thick to try to cut through.

8) Richard Hoyle of Mini-Pigs Sanctuary in Virginia

Topic: Working with veterinarians

Even though Richard was suffering from a tic bite and passed out hours after his speech and ended up in the local hospital for two nights, he still got up in front of the entire group and led an energetic speech about working with your vets.

A couple of key points that I took notes on:

* If you are lucky enough to have a vet who comes to your home, make sure you have everything prepared. Have notes on the pigs health, temperature, what he has eaten etc. Keep dates and times of all these notes.

* Make sure the pig is penned up so the vet does not have to chase him down.

* Keep in mind that farm vets are less likely to worry about pain management so work with your vet to make sure your pig is comfortable. Ask about pain management drugs. Don’t be afraid to ask questions.

* But don’t TELL your vet things. Work WITH your vet.

* You should always have a basic set of vitals on your pig(s). IE: normal temperature, how their lungs sound (IE: wet, normal) and heart rate. Buy a cheap stethoscope and keep it on hand to listen to these things. Sure you are not a vet, but if you know what the pig’s lungs sound like prior to illness then you can describe how they might sound different. Do they now sound wet, thick, or just different? This information will help the vet.

* Always thank your vet. Send them a Thank You card and have a soda or cookies ready for them when they arrive.

* Give them referrals.

* If you have questions and your vet is not comfortable answering them, give them the names and numbers of PBP experts to contact. Offer to make the call for them or give them your cell phone so they do not have to pay for a long distance call.

* Always leave written permission to have your pig treated by a vet if you are going to be away. List an amount you are willing to pay to treat the pig and also leave written permission to have the pig euthanized in your absence, if needed. This way the pig can get proper care while you are gone.

* If your pig dies and you are able to have a necropsy done immediately, have the body refrigerated, not frozen, until you can get it to a vet or lab to have the necropsy done. Once you have it done, PLEASE have ALL results sent to www.duchessfund.org The Duchess Fund is the only repository for PBP medical information and ANY necropsy and/or tests, blood work or anything, should be sent to them. ANY medical records should be sent to the Duchess Fund. This is very important to all PBP’s.

9) Dr. Dana Danks, MS, DVM

Topic: Pig Behavior

Dr. Danks, speech is also on the CD but she gave some interesting insights into the behavior of pigs.

*One thing that really stuck with me was her comment that a confused pig can lead to a fearful pig and a fearful pig might bite or show other aggressive signs.

* If a pig lunges at us, we yell, "NO", but we also take a step backwards. What is that telling the pig? Have we just submitted to the pig by stepping back, YES!

* Body language with other pigs is so important. I have seen many of the behaviors she spoke about but never put them into thought before. It now makes so much more sense to me.

* Pigs can see colors, but their nighttime vision is not good.

* Pigs are socially interactive and they are ok with one boss in charge.

10) Dr. Arlen Wilburs DVM

Topic: Case Studies and Hoof Trimming

Dr. Wilburs showed us many slides of hooves, from long hooves, short hooves, crossed over hooves, knocked kneed pigs, all kinds of confirmation issues that were hoof related. He also showed us how to trim pig’s hooves by flipping them onto their back and holding the pig between his feet or passing the pig onto another person to hold. We learned this technique last year in North Carolina, but it is always good to see it done again.

Much of his speech is also on the CD, but he also gave some additional information on hooves:

* Outside pigs that live on dirt and straw will have much softer and easier hooves to trim.

* Indoor pigs, he calls them “Carpet Pigs”, have rock hard hooves and are much harder to trim. This is due to the lack of moisture in their hooves.

* He recommends feeding 1% of the pig’s body weight to maintain a healthy pig. He showed us slides of pigs and asked us if we thought they were fat pigs. Some pigs we all agreed were fat, others we thought were just a “little” plump. Dr. Wilburs told us nearly ALL of the pigs on the slides were fat and needed diets to maintain a healthy long life. Sure does make you take a second look at your own pet pigs.

* If a pig tucks his rear legs under his butt, he is trying to take the weight off the front legs. This means his front legs are hurting. He is curving his butt under to try to lift the weight off the front.

From Marcie:

I am so very glad I went to this year's Sixth Annual PBP Symposium. I nearly missed both my connecting flights going there and coming back. I sat in a pig “puddle” an hour before leaving the college to go to the airport to fly home, (but luckily I had my backpack with me and an extra pair of clean pants). I made a lot of new acquaintances and rekindled some past friendships. It was a wonderful experience and I HIGHLY recommend everyone try to go at least once. I learned a lot and it was so worth going. ORDER THE CD NOW, email Lana at: PAPA@pigsaspets.org You will be happy you did.

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