Animals 25 - 28 (Page 7)

Before coming to Belly Draggers, Minnie lived in a retirement home yard in Salinas. The elderly tenants were very fond of her, but their way of showing her affection was to feed her large bags of fried tortillas and other high–carb foods. While their intentions were good, it was very detrimental to Minnie’s health and she came to us weighing about 250 pounds or more. She was stepping on her belly as it dragged the ground. Her walk is still gaited due to her former weight. Although Minnie has lost at least 100 pounds in the years she’s been here, she is quite active and healthier than you’d expect at her age. She’s sweet, talkative and always comes running for a treat. Additionally, she loves to be petted and brushed, but is a little stand–off–ish until she gets to know you.

Minnie became very arthritic and couldn’t get around any more in spite of the Rimydal she was getting twice a day. The quality of her life was so poor that we made the decision to have her put to sleep. She crossed the bridge the same day Bonnie and Mi Bella did. She was a sweet pig and we were lucky to have her as long as we did.

Eva got a call from a woman who said there were two pigs at a movie set in Salinas who were living on cement and didn’t have shade, food, or water on a regular basis. The woman got the pigs to us and C.P.P.A. took the other pig. Missy quickly became our “in–charge” pig. Sweet and affectionate with people, she is, however, very bossy with other pigs. If there is a belly rub or banana chip to be had, she wants it first, thank you very much! We love her and her attitude!

January 8, 2005 Missy was sleeping in another pig’s shed in a pen where two pigs came in, got into a fight, and managed to close their gate. Missy probably tried to stop it and managed to get hurt in the process. Dr. Meyers came out on Friday, felt it was some sort of spinal injury, and administered a Cortisone shot and gave us a strong muscle relaxant for her, but she continued to worsen and was unable to get up to eat or go potty. We called Dr. Meyers out again Monday and he said her prognosis was extremely poor since she had nerve damage. We made the decision to have her put to sleep. Missy was one of our very favorite pigs and we miss her terribly.

Molly, our only severe abuse case, had been attacked by dogs and treated miserably by young boys. It took her years to trust us enough to take treats from our hands and only recently would she go into a shed to sleep; she was so fearful of being closed in. Now, she is much more relaxed and seems to know we won’t hurt her. She may never let us pet her, but we respect that.

After Molly went off her food for a day, we called Dr. Meyers out to check on her. He came out that Friday. Her temperature was actually below normal, but she seemed to have some sort of infection. He gave her an antibiotic shot and left us with more antibiotics to give her. He did blood tests and discovered that her immature white blood count was very high, which he explained meant that she had a bad infection, but that her body had stopped fighting it. It wasn't until the following day that we discovered a discharge coming from her vulva. We hoped the antibiotics would take care of it. Since Molly was so fearful of being touched, it was really hard to get her to take antibiotics because she still refused to eat. By Monday, it was clear that she was not improved. Dr. Meyers came out and said she had Pyometra, an infection filled uterus, and should be put to sleep. We lost her and Missy the same day. We have since found out that Pyometra is often, but not always fatal. Molly is very much missed.

Molly II came from a place that had too many animals for the sick elderly owner to care for properly. They were seldom fed and rats would eat the newborn piglets. When Molly II was found at one week old, she was the only piglet of her siblings not killed by the cow who stepped on them accidently. A sweet friendly pig, Molly II likes to hang out on Cathy’s porch on the lounge pad.