7 common mistakes in treating pig diseases, how many have you made?

In the process of raising pigs, pig diseases are unavoidable, but treating pig diseases also involves mistakes. Have you fallen into any of these 7 mistakes below?

1. Using antipyretics in large doses

Antipyretics: many people, when treating pig diseases, often cannot do without antipyretics, such as aminopyrine, analgin, and antipyrine, and they all use them continuously and in large doses. Some even use this type of drug on pigs that do not have a fever, as well as on pigs whose body temperature has already dropped back to normal. This is a wrong practice, because fever is a defensive protective response in pigs, and a moderate, timely fever has certain benefits for resisting disease. Fever is caused by pigs becoming infected with pathogenic microorganisms and developing inflammation, while antipyretic drugs can only reduce fever and treat the symptoms, but have no antibacterial and anti-inflammatory effect to treat the root cause. Long-term, high-dose use of antipyretic drugs may also cause a decrease in white blood cells in pigs and a decline in resistance. Therefore, antipyretic drugs can only be used on pigs diagnosed with high fever, and in combination with antibiotics for treatment, and they must not be used continuously or in large doses. Especially for pigs whose body temperature has dropped to normal, antipyretic drugs should be stopped immediately.

2. Using diuretics to treat urinary retention

In clinical practice, pigs with urinary retention and oliguria are commonly seen. When encountering such sick pigs, people are accustomed to using diuretics for treatment, and often inject them intramuscularly. In fact, urinary retention in pigs is mostly non-renal urinary retention, and in most cases is caused by inflammation of the bladder or urethra, or by stones. Obviously, this urinary retention is not caused by a low volume of urine production, but by poor urination. Therefore, treatment with diuretics such as furosemide is not targeted at the cause, because diuretics such as furosemide are drugs that increase urine production by the kidneys. For this, urinary tract anti-inflammatory agents, Chinese herbal medicines for expelling stones and treating strangury, or surgical treatment should be used.

3. Using moroxydine to treat all viral diseases

There are many diseases in pigs caused by viral infection, and moroxydine sounds like a wonder drug against viruses, so people often use moroxydine extensively and in large amounts when treating pig diseases. In fact, moroxydine cannot treat viral diseases at all. In veterinary clinical practice, moroxydine has been strictly prohibited. For viral diseases in pigs, Chinese herbal medicines with antiviral effects such as astragalus polysaccharide, houttuynia, Andrographis paniculata, and Senecio scandens can be used, together with dexamethasone, antibiotics, and other treatments.

4. Using antidotes to treat sudden-onset sick pigs with neurological symptoms

In recent years, there have been many clinically sudden-onset sick pigs with neurological symptoms (convulsions, twitching, circling, wild running, screaming, or falling down unable to rise, and foaming at the mouth). Because the symptoms of these pigs are very similar to those of poisoning diseases, people often mistake these diseases for poisoning and treat them with detoxification methods, such as injecting pralidoxime, atropine, and acetamide. In fact, the vast majority of these sick pigs are not poisoned, but are showing a type of brain neurological disorder caused by many epidemic diseases (such as porcine infectious encephalomyelitis, porcine pseudorabies, and swine streptococcosis). For this, sedative drugs such as diazepam, chlorpromazine, and encephalitis clearing agents should be used on the basis of antipathogenic treatment.

5. Using only antibiotics to treat diarrhoea caused by indigestion

Diarrhoea is one of the common conditions in pigs, and a considerable number of pigs with diarrhoea develop it because of indigestion. People also often use antibiotics to treat this type of diarrhoea, and the effect is of course very poor. For this type of indigestion-related diarrhoea, oral digestion-aiding drugs should be used, such as rhubarb and baking soda powder, multienzyme tablets, and yeast tablets.

6. Deworming pigs only once in their lifetime

The incidence of parasitic diseases in pigs is especially high, so deworming pigs is very important, and deworming should be carried out regularly. It should not be done only once in a pig's lifetime. After a pig is dewormed once, it may still be reinfected by worm eggs, which develop into adult worms after about a month and can still harm the pig's body. Therefore, pigs should be dewormed about once every 45 days.

7. Using penicillin to treat gastrointestinal infections

Penicillin is a good antibiotic with strong antibacterial power and few side effects, so people widely use penicillin to treat pig diseases. This includes gastrointestinal infections such as gastroenteritis, white scour in piglets, and colibacillosis, all of which are treated with penicillin. This is wrong. Penicillin should not be used to treat gastrointestinal infections. Instead, lincomycin, enrofloxacin, berberine, and mequindox should be used for treatment.