Saturday was a sad day at Sunset. Orville didn’t respond when I called him for dinner, so I went to the barn to see if he might not be incapacitated again, as happened in mid-January; I found him in his usual nest, but unfortunately quite dead. He was cold but not stiff, so it had apparently happened sometime late morning or early afternoon, and there were no indications of what might’ve happened except a little bloody discharge from his snout. He hasn’t shown any kind of symptoms; the picture below was taken only a week ago today, and he appeared perfectly normal. I haven’t noticed anything unusual about his stools (eg parasites or blood), and other than the incident in January and a chronic limp which seems to have been caused by the rough hog-tying his previous owners inflicted on him when they dumped him, he’s always been an apparently healthy animal. I even asked our helpful neighbor (who keeps pigs himself) if had any clue, and he had none; he was as surprised as I was. The internet seems to point toward a respiratory infection called actinobacillus pleuropneumonia (APP) which can “cause sudden death in all ages of swine…it is common to see pigs that have recently died with blood coming from the nose“. Grace did not take the news well; she loves animals in general and was quite attached to her “little piggy”. The only consolation is that he was a happy pig, and any suffering must have been very short-lived because he was in good spirits and had a healthy appetite just the day before. And in the end, for pigs as well as people, the important thing is not when we die, but how we live.
Diary #558
March 9, 2021 by Maggie McNeill
8 Responses
Leave a Reply
Visit my bookstore
This Month
Old Posts
Call me
Become a Blog Patron
If you want to donate but don't want a recurring charge, you can send any amount you like via PayPal to my email address (see below). Be sure to include a note so I can thank you!Contact Maggie
Maggie on Twitter
My TweetsBoring but necessary legal stuff
Your post brings up an important question about farm animals on your place, will he be buried or eaten?
just wanted to butt in here to mention it’s never a good idea to eat an animal that has died under mysterious circumstances as they may have a zoonotic disease.
So sorry to hear of Orville’s passing.
I’m sorry to hear this news, and especially sorry for Grace. Sounds like she understands that animals are the only source of truly unadulterated, freely given love and appreciation. RIP Orville .
So sorry to hear about Orville. He was such a sweet little guy! Hugs to you Maggie.
Maybe a new piglet could bring more joy. I lived in East Los Angeles when i was young and we had 2 pigs for awhile. It was a place with a yard but far from a ranch or farm. When we gave them away one went to the petting zoo and the other to my dads friend that was a butcher. My mom said he got out of truck and ran away. But looking back i think she was just doing a mom thing cuz we got an additional freezer and had bacon alot. Rip to your piggy and i know your guy was everything happy when he came to live w you guys. Hugs. XO
You and Grace have our condolences.
Condolences to you and Gracie
My sincere condolences on your loss, I adored Orville and found his coming into your lives at sunset to be a great joy. I am grateful he did not suffer. And it was sudden and quick as could be. I will miss him greatly as he always had his smiling face to be photographed while lounging or snuffling for peanuts. Rest In Peace Orville, it’s a sad night now for me, but you brought joy to Grace and Maggie and no doubt many others . It will be a long time till I can ever look at a pig and not think of you and being tears to my eyes and heart. My frumpkin at sunset is gone now… 😭😭