This archive report was first published on 21 September 2019.
As a veterinarian, I have encountered numerous cases of unusual animal behavior, but one that stands out in my mind is the case of a pig farm in Meru where two of the 3,000 pigs were urinating blood.
Juliet, the owner of the farm, was worried about the situation, and I assured her that the description she provided did not signal the presence of a disease that could result in farm closure.
After reviewing the case with my colleagues, we settled on Porcine cystitis-pyelonephritis complex (PCPC) as the possible cause of the disease.
PCPC is a bacterial disease that involves the infection and inflammation of the urinary tract from the urethra to the bladder, the ureters, and the kidneys.
The disease is caused by various bacteria that live harmlessly in the pig's urinary tract, but can multiply and cause infection when the environment is not clean.
To treat the disease, we prescribed two antibiotics, a short-acting antibiotic to be given into the vein immediately and repeated into the muscle once daily for five days, and a long-acting antibiotic to be given into the muscle immediately and repeated on the fourth day of treatment.
Fortunately, the pigs responded well to the treatment, and the sow behaved normally after three days of treatment.
PCPC can cause heavy losses on a pig farm if the disease is neglected, and it is essential to maintain high-level farm hygiene and provide pigs with quality drinking water at all times to prevent the disease.
