Penny's Progress

Many visitors ask me with sadness in there tone if Penny is getting better, oh yes she is!!

If you simply look at the enormace amount of fat on her upper back from her first few days here compared to a few days ago, you can clearly see she is doing awesome.

Carport Penny

Paula, Jim , Cliff and I attacked the carport early this morning. We went back and forth as to where , better, less work, more work and how much time we had to accomplish it all and we devised this temporary piggy run. The weather is mild and she is safe from being bothered by the others until our future piggy yard unfolds. We tried to make it as cozy as can be , as you can see by the red carpet Jim and Paula arrived with.



Amazing enough is her hooves are great, she must of been on pavement on her daily travels. But notice the heavy fat folds closing over her eyes and the amount of fat she is carrying on that little frame and short legs. Disgusting , feeding her until it is killing her.

We finished with her set up at about 12:30 with my truck filled with stuff i saved but need to part with so off to the dump Jim and Paula went. They got back about 4 with my truck piled high with pumpkins.. yahooooooooooooo

Poor Paula has been down here every day working hard. And tomorrow we start early loading two pigs for the vets.. I'll then head to work and Paula will take the 1.5 hour ride to the vets.

Penny is Home

If your here on a Saturday morning before i have had a chance to drink a second cup of coffee do not let me answer the phone. And because our creator has taken care of us every step of the way in this such as: surprise donations, another pig being sponsored, new volunteers coming into our lives and a fund raiser when we need it the most. I however should not expect a piggy yard complete with housing to magically appear when a new pig arrives here.

Paula, Cliff, Susan , Nancy and I were soaked and filthy when the horse trailer pulled up. Thankfully we had just finished what needed to be done and after making sure all the pigs were put away we opened the door. Penny the little perfect pig i remember has been fed so much her body has simply inhaled her. Her beautiful condition has turned into sparse gray patches of bristles with masses of fat , a face unrecognisable and the gait of a sore animal. We have a lot of work to do Miz Penny.

Penny waddled around the carport and no doubt was exhausted from trying to stand up in a horse trailer. No bedding or bales of hay to protectively confine her movement for the ride. She is going to be stiff and tired for a few days while trying to keep her unfit self up right in a moving trailer for almost an hour. Thankfully she didn't really hurt herself in there but honestly we won't know that until the morning.

I had planned to bring Penny directly into the house but in her current condition and after what she just went threw i quickly grabbed a pile of blankets and found a safe place in the back of my carport. She strutted her cute self off to all her admirers and then found that pile of blankets and fell into them exhausted. I have fed them all dinner and she had a big drink and i added two huge lawn chair cushions for under her self and covered her up in wool blankets.

Bringing her into the house is out of the question because she can hardly walk.
She will not be able to manipulate a potty tray or be willing to go out in the morning with any great speed, and i got to go to work every day here.

Now I could make room for her out at the barn but no way is that little fat pig going to find it easy getting out there. And i still have Jack out there who once recovered from his neuter will go in my one empty piggy yard as he will fit into little Teddy Bears of a house no problem.

I need a very large house and a very large portable pen STAT. And I will make her a place in my carport. Me thinks this is my only option until our creator opens that window again and saves us.

I told Penny I should of just brought you here from the beginning and yet as I speak to her out loud what comes into my mind is that she would of missed all of her adventures. Penny seems to have assumed her life has been just that as i don't feel any sorrow or depression. She is a logical pig and my psychology when speaking to them is presented the the same way. Knowing and believing in fate and destiny she is where she is supposed to be now. Still i shake my head as people wonder why we are so strict with our adoptions. Moving from home to home from family to family would leave anyone one with no sense of belonging and that love doesn't last forever. My promise to Penny as I kissed her bristles tonight was that i would love her forever and that I wanted her and no we are not just a place where unwanted pigs come. I assured her that all the best ones simply come here.

Is my Pig too fat?

Is my pig too fat???

The picture of these three together is a few days after arrival. Look at them now, can you tell who is who from the before picure?


As you know by now pigs live for food and that is the quickest way to a pig’s heart. It is up to you as there prime caregiver to understand the degree of their intelligence and the metabolism of your pig to keep that heart happy and healthy.

The life you set for him or her if you don’t moderate what your feeding them could cause severe medical problems stemming from excess body fat such as heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure , and arthritis to name a few.


Who wants to lie around too heavy and be miserable and depressed because it is too hard to get around from being over fed? You have seen over weight people on TV who are trapped in there homes from the inability to emotionally regulate what they eat. This is not the case with pigs as your the one who is feeding them so you’re the one who has the control of what is going into there mouths. It is your responsibility as there caregiver to make the correct choices for them. Sure you can over feed a pig and sure you can misunderstand there reluctance to get up or be cranky when asked to go out. As long as you push the feed bowl under his snout why would he have to get up? And this highly intelligent species will work that “feed me” here button with you if you don’t understand pigs and enable this type of behavior.

Can your pig see? Excess body fat will turn into fat folds above his eyes shutting off the air and his sight out. A painful transition to blindness as his eyeballs infect under the skin and deteriate. As in all species it is up to us to determine the fine balance for them so that they are healthy and active. I have never met a pig unless medically compromised who will not spring to his or her feet with snout in the air and a waggy tail at visitors here who may come bearing treats. No matter what condition they come in, they are eager to meet new friends. In more cases seen today an over fed pig will be reluctant to get up, is cranky and is now medically compromised from being over fed.

An over fed pig will eventually not want to get up, not want interaction from any one new near him or her and is reluctant to get up for any reason unless to relieve themselves. There only active sense left is scent and if you’re not the feed wagon then its get away from me. They fall into depression because sight is poor and there inability to move freely may now hurt little legs because (possible arthritis now) they are carrying far too much weight. The heavier they are the smaller there world becomes and they will simply lie down and wait to die day after day as there existence is nothing more but being fed.