When my family and I lived in the city, my sister boarded her horse at a boarding facility across town since we didn’t have horse property at the time. We became very good family friends with the lady who owned and ran the barn.
One day when my sister came back from riding, she told me that the owner had just gotten a baby potbelly pig. She said he was the cutest and tiniest thing she had ever seen.
I have never gotten to be up close to a baby pig before and if you know me, then you know I want to give all the animals snuggles and love.
I hopped in the car immediately because I needed to see this baby pig. As soon as we got there, I fell in love with him and I hadn’t even gotten in the pen yet.
He was a little round grey ball with black spots and the cutest pink nose. The owner named him TidBit and we found out he was rescue pig that she gave a home to. I instantly gravitated towards him, and it was seriously love at first sight.
Obviously, he was a little shy at first but after this day, I began to go with my sister every time she went to the barn to ride to play with him, and he warmed up super quickly.
I began to research pigs every night because I was determined to be his best friend. I asked our friend if I could start training him and she happily gave me the go ahead.
I instantly dove in and was teaching him every trick in the book (including how to dance to The Git Up by Benny Blanco) and harness training him so I could take him on walks around the property and neighborhood.
Little guy was a pro and caught on very quickly. Pigs are one of the smartest animals to walk the earth. He got to the point where he didn’t need to be on a leash and just followed my red boots everywhere.
I spent day after day with him and sometimes twice a day. I adored this pig, and it broke my heart every time I had to leave him. He would oink for me when I got there, and he would oink for me when I left.
After we spent about a year together, my family decided to move to property where we could keep my sister’s horse at our house and get more farm animals. My cousin started breeding Nigerian Dwarf Goats so my parents knew my sister and I were not going to stop until we got a pair.
Once we had bought a new house, I was heart-broken that I had to leave TidBit. It was apparent to every person that boarded there, me and that pig were best buds.
My birthday was coming up and it was right before we moved. The owner of the facility told me she wanted to give TidBit to me as a birthday present. She knew TidBit would be depressed without me and wanted me to take him with us.
I was ELATED and so excited! TidBit was mine and he was going to live with us. I would walk outside every morning and every night, and he would be there waiting for me. I wouldn’t have to drive to see him ever again.
I loved living with him! It was a dream; he was my first farm pet and one of the first members on our new property. We hung out all the time and I even snuck him in our house sometimes (don’t tell my dad).
After two weeks TidBit was starting to act funny. He was going up to the barn to take naps, not wanting to play as much, and I noticed a difference in him when he would go potty. (Yeah, I know it’s weird but when you live with lots of animals, you notice these things).
I have a lot of anxiety, and I went straight to the worst-case scenario, but I brushed it off. Maybe he was having a few off days after the big move.
A few days later, I noticed that he was having trouble urinating, so I was making sure he was hydrated. I became very worried so after some research I read that sometimes pigs can get urinary tract infections, and you can get them over the counter meds. I went to get him some and kept him on it for a few days but it was only getting worse. TidBit started to pee blood.
We took him to a new vet up by our house and it was a traumatic experience. They told me that they did exams on pigs, but it was very clear that they never had. Without doing a full exam or checking his temperature, they said he had an infection and could give him a shot and it should clear up within a few days. At this point I was desperate and knew my baby was uncomfortable, so we agreed to give him the shot.
Like I said, I’m pretty sure this vet and these vet techs never touched a pig in their life. Apparently, they didn’t know how thick and tough pig skin was and kept jabbing the needle into his hind leg. The needle wouldn’t puncture, and they kept making him bleed. We told them to stop, and we weren’t going to keep letting them try and took him home.
I think it was the next morning when TidBit couldn’t urinate at all and I knew something was extremely wrong. My sister and I were calling vets all over Southern California to see who knew pigs and if they could see him as an emergency case.
We finally found a vet who saw pigs as a specialty and told us to bring him in immediately.
As soon as we got there, they rushed him in and got us in room right away and the most fabulous vet ever was able to see him. She spent a lot of time with him, and us and it was clear she knew a lot about pigs.
She took him in the back for X-rays and came back with devastating news. TidBit had developed urinary stones, and they were so big they needed to be removed with surgery.
Pigs don’t do well under anesthesia. There little bodies don’t handle the chemicals well, so surgery is a really dangerous option for them. She promised that she would take the utmost care of him and do everything in her power to get the stones out.
We had to leave him there and drive back home. I was at a lost without my little friend. They were starting surgery right away, so I didn’t even have the chance to give him a kiss before leaving.
That night, we received a call from the vet office and it was the doctor performing the surgery. She said she had gotten most of the large stones out but there was one still there that was giving her lots of trouble but she was still going to try.
The medical bills were racking up. When pigs go to the vet, they are considered an exotic animal and it’s a large bill already because of their breed for an exam. On top of that, we had the X-rays, so surgery on an exotic animal just added to the bill.
The vet called back about an hour later - it was beginning to become very dangerous for a pig to be under anesthesia this long. She began to get emotional when she talked to my mom and said she wasn’t able to get the stone out. She said he probably wouldn’t pass it when he woke up because it had caused a blockage. She told us it was entirely up to us what we wanted to do.
He was still asleep at this time and my family, and I decided that it would be best for him to put him down so he wouldn’t be in any more pain.
My heart shattered into millions of pieces. This was my boy, my little friend and someone who followed me around every day. I hated this decision more than anything, but my piggy couldn’t urinate, he was uncomfortable, we tried medication, and he wasn’t eating his favorite food - pineapple. When a pig doesn’t eat, that’s the sign something is definitely wrong.
The next day, the vet called my mom back and apologized. She felt awful and didn’t sleep at all that night, thinking about me and TidBit and how upset I must be. She said she wanted to give us TidBit’s ashes free of charge if we could come pick them up.
The next day, my sister went to pick up his ashes - but they had a small surprise for us. Not only were they giving us his ashes free of charge but with it a beautiful wooden box with TidBit’s name engraved, a sewn pig heart pillow, and TidBit’s hoof print which the employees helped pay for.
I was so touched by this even though I was so still heartbroken to lose my boy. But this vet made me feel a little less heavy.
After TidBit’s passing and feeling less sad, I was researching what could cause crystals/stones in pigs. TidBit had been fed way too much Alfalfa hay and citrus. Alfalfa hay is extremely high in sugar and cannot be a staple diet for pigs, especially male pigs whom are more prone to getting stones.
TidBit is fully the reason why I love pigs and is why I strive to give my girls the best life I can possibly give them. The hardest part about having animals is definitely losing them but making their lives the best possible lives I can give them is the highest honor.