Mambo was another Donna find - I tell you, Donna is a regular Hoggie Magnet! I'm sure the sick hogs lay in wait and come wobbling out of the bushes in time for her to spot them LOL.
Anyway, on January the 24th in the late afternoon, Donna spotted a weak hoggie on our street, walking in the gutter and looking thin and unwell. She raced home to grab something to pick him up with and grabbed him outside No.5 - hence his name, which Geri came up with.
He weighed 598gms but was an adult hog and was obviously under weight. Initially it looked like he had mild mange - just a few clumping quills, smelly and looked a bit moth eaten. We did all of 'the usual' and got him set up in a crate over at Donna's. We planned to keep him in care for a week whilst we made sure he was stable and then to place him with a fosterer.
Mambo did well during that first week and we were happy to let him go into faster care. I visited about two weeks later and mambo was looking pretty awful. Now, this was my first ever mangey hog so I wasn't really sure of what I was seeing but I knew mange often looked worse before it got better so I assumed this was the case.
Over the next month I visited a few times, delivering medication and checking on treatment etc and I started feeling quite uneasy about Mambo's situation. Although there was some improvement in his mange, it seemed to be taking an awfully long time and he was being kept in a dog crate in a shed which I was concerned about. He also seemed very stressed and depressed - a direct result of being in captivity and the conditions he was being kept in, in my opinion. I also wasn't confident that he was being oiled as often as he should be which would slow his recovery further.
Overall, he just seemed to be struggling and I wasn't happy ...
I felt he needed to be outside and I would have had him back and into one of my pre release pens like a shot, but I had a full Hoggie House and wouldn't have room for him until Bobbi was released.
Finally on March the 22nd I had a vacancy so I went a grabbed him and his carer gave me the food she'd been feeding him - it was total rubbish, another reason he wasn't getting well faster. Grr. I immediately intensified his treatment; applying more Advocate, oiling every second day and feeding top quality food with Flaxseed oil and a Magnesium/B6/Zinc supplement added. He went into my biggest pre release pen, outside in the fresh air and I piled a heap of dirt down one end for him to dig in. By this stage I suspected that Mambo was an oldish hog. He was desperate to leave and I did everything I could to ensure he could go free as soon as possible.
By the 1st of April he had improved out of this world, although his ears were still dry and crusty. I was certain he was quite an old hog by now and he wanted OUT! Every day we would play 'move the dirt' - during the night Mambo would dig all of the dirt away from the pen boundary and every morning I would move it back. At least it gave him something to do and hopefully was some sort of distraction for him.
April the 5th brought bad tidings. Mambo had what seemed to be inflammation above his eye. I was devastated and sent photos to Narelle to see if she could figure it out. We initially thought it might be a fungal infection but after 24 hours another swollen, raw patch appeared above his other eye. Hmmm, we hypothesised that Mambo was self harming by pushing his head through the bars of the pen in a desperate bid to get out and go free, and although he wasn't 'perfect' yet health wise I made the decision to release him.
Mambo went free on March the 9th, weighing 1186gms. I moved his bedroom box into the fernery and set up my InfraRed camera to monitor him. Just after dusk, he came out of is bedroom, had a quick drink and went on his way. I could almost hear him yelling "I OUTA HERE!!!!!!" as he waddled away.
Happy Travels Mambo - I hope your remaining time on this earth is full of succulent snails and juicy worms. You know where the feeder box is if you need a snack!
Anyway, on January the 24th in the late afternoon, Donna spotted a weak hoggie on our street, walking in the gutter and looking thin and unwell. She raced home to grab something to pick him up with and grabbed him outside No.5 - hence his name, which Geri came up with.
He weighed 598gms but was an adult hog and was obviously under weight. Initially it looked like he had mild mange - just a few clumping quills, smelly and looked a bit moth eaten. We did all of 'the usual' and got him set up in a crate over at Donna's. We planned to keep him in care for a week whilst we made sure he was stable and then to place him with a fosterer.
Mambo did well during that first week and we were happy to let him go into faster care. I visited about two weeks later and mambo was looking pretty awful. Now, this was my first ever mangey hog so I wasn't really sure of what I was seeing but I knew mange often looked worse before it got better so I assumed this was the case.Over the next month I visited a few times, delivering medication and checking on treatment etc and I started feeling quite uneasy about Mambo's situation. Although there was some improvement in his mange, it seemed to be taking an awfully long time and he was being kept in a dog crate in a shed which I was concerned about. He also seemed very stressed and depressed - a direct result of being in captivity and the conditions he was being kept in, in my opinion. I also wasn't confident that he was being oiled as often as he should be which would slow his recovery further.
Overall, he just seemed to be struggling and I wasn't happy ...
I felt he needed to be outside and I would have had him back and into one of my pre release pens like a shot, but I had a full Hoggie House and wouldn't have room for him until Bobbi was released.
Finally on March the 22nd I had a vacancy so I went a grabbed him and his carer gave me the food she'd been feeding him - it was total rubbish, another reason he wasn't getting well faster. Grr. I immediately intensified his treatment; applying more Advocate, oiling every second day and feeding top quality food with Flaxseed oil and a Magnesium/B6/Zinc supplement added. He went into my biggest pre release pen, outside in the fresh air and I piled a heap of dirt down one end for him to dig in. By this stage I suspected that Mambo was an oldish hog. He was desperate to leave and I did everything I could to ensure he could go free as soon as possible.
April the 5th brought bad tidings. Mambo had what seemed to be inflammation above his eye. I was devastated and sent photos to Narelle to see if she could figure it out. We initially thought it might be a fungal infection but after 24 hours another swollen, raw patch appeared above his other eye. Hmmm, we hypothesised that Mambo was self harming by pushing his head through the bars of the pen in a desperate bid to get out and go free, and although he wasn't 'perfect' yet health wise I made the decision to release him.
Mambo went free on March the 9th, weighing 1186gms. I moved his bedroom box into the fernery and set up my InfraRed camera to monitor him. Just after dusk, he came out of is bedroom, had a quick drink and went on his way. I could almost hear him yelling "I OUTA HERE!!!!!!" as he waddled away.
Happy Travels Mambo - I hope your remaining time on this earth is full of succulent snails and juicy worms. You know where the feeder box is if you need a snack!
No comments:
Post a Comment