Piglet diarrhea is currently one of the important diseases in veterinary clinical practice. After piglets become ill, their weight gain decreases, and severe dehydration can lead to death. It has therefore become a major factor affecting piglet growth.
Piglet diarrhea is a typical multifactorial disease and is currently one of the most serious piglet diseases. It is mainly characterized by elevated body temperature, depression, foul-smelling watery feces or yellow-white-gray watery loose stools, vomiting, and severe dehydration. It is also an important cause of piglet deaths. Piglet diarrhea has long been a major problem for the pig industry and a bottleneck restricting its development. It ranks first among the harms affecting the pig industry and seriously threatens its healthy development.
Piglet diarrhea is a common disease with many possible causes. The common types generally include pathological diarrhea, physiological diarrhea, and stress-induced diarrhea. Pathological diarrhea: diarrhea generally caused by individual or mixed infections with epidemic diarrhea, transmissible gastroenteritis, rotavirus, Escherichia coli, and other pathogens; physiological diarrhea occurs because piglets’ physiological systems are not fully developed, their digestive systems and temperature-regulation functions are immature, they have low resistance to external factors, their immunity declines, and their digestive function becomes disordered, leading to the proliferation of pathogenic microorganisms in the intestines; stress-induced diarrhea is caused by factors such as weaning, environmental changes, and feed changes. Piglets are especially prone to weaning stress after weaning, which can lead to diarrhea.
There are many causes of diarrhea in piglets, but the main reasons it does not resolve despite prolonged treatment are as follows:
(1) Poor environmental hygiene: feeding troughs are not properly disinfected, and the surrounding area is dirty;
(2) Improper treatment: some customers only give injections and do not administer oral medication after piglets become ill. In fact, oral medication is the most effective treatment for enteritis;
(3)When treating diarrhea in piglets, failing to stop the diarrhea and allowing it to continue for a long time can easily cause dehydration and lower the piglets’ resistance, further worsening their condition;
(4)For diarrhea caused by indigestion, antibiotics are used instead of digestive aids. This destroys the normal microbial flora in the digestive tract, thereby worsening the condition and making it difficult to cure.
Treatment measures:
(1)When piglets develop diarrhea, it is best to determine whether it is caused by Escherichia coli or indigestion. If the diarrhea is caused by Escherichia coli, use antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, and antidiarrheal treatment. If it is caused by indigestion, use treatment to strengthen the stomach, aid digestion, and stop the diarrhea.
(2) When treating diarrhea in piglets, oral medication should be the primary approach. If their body temperature rises, antibiotics may also be injected. Ensure that sufficient clean drinking water is available for the pigs to drink freely.
(3) During the treatment of diarrhea, appropriate measures to control diarrhea should be taken for a certain period (except in cases caused by feed poisoning) to prevent acidosis. If there are signs of dehydration, fluid replacement and cardiotonic medication should be administered by injection.
(4) For diarrhea caused by indigestion, using antibiotics instead of digestive aids can disrupt the normal microbial flora of the digestive tract, thereby aggravating the condition and causing it to persist despite prolonged treatment.