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Last year, the Duchess Fund was honored to sponsor the attendance of Dr. Bruce Lawhorn at the national potbellied pig Symposium in Ft. Myers, Florida on the week end of April 19,th. On Saturday morning at the Holiday Inn in Ft. Myers, Dr. Lawhorn spoke to pet and shelter owners and rescue volunteers. He was introduced as follows:

Dr. Bruce Lawhorn Introduction - Symposium

As most of you know, the Duchess Fund is a charitable, non profit organization and operates on donations only. Those donations have enabled us to welcome Dr. Lawhorn here today.

The Duchess Fund is honored to sponsor Dr. and Mrs. Bruce Lawhorn at the 2002 Symposium. Dr. Lawhorn is a professor and Extension Swine Veterinarian, Dept. of Large Animal Medicine and Surgery, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas.

Dr. Lawhorn received his Veterinary Medicine degree, his Veterinary Science degree and his Veterinary Microbiology degree from Texas A&M.

It would take me too much time to list his many other academic appointments, accomplishments and honors so I’ll go right to what Dr. Lawhorn has done for potbellied pigs everywhere.

Some of us at the Duchess Fund have networked with Dr. Lawhorn since 1992. He has always been exceptionally generous with his time for potbellied pig owners and their veterinarians. A typical example, and only one of many, 5 years ago one of us referred a blocked pig in Alaska to Dr. Lawhorn. On Easter Sunday night, at midnight, two Anchorage veterinarians, on their hands and knees in a barn, catheterized a 300 lb potbellied barrow with Dr. Lawhorn on the other end of the phone guiding them. The pig recovered and is alive and well today.

The Duchess Fund referred a pig owner who had an extremely ill pig with a temperature of 106 to Dr. Lawhorn. Dr. Lawhorn met her at Texas A&M at 7:00 AM. The pig was admitted. The owner went back after work to visit her pig. At 6:00 PM she found Dr. Lawhorn administering medication to her pig. She told us she wondered if he had stayed with her pig all day, he seemed so caring and concerned. Her pig recovered after 6 days.

After consulting with Dr. Lawhorn over a period of a few weeks, a veterinarian sent a Louisiana pig owner to Texas A&M. She drove 18 hours so her pig could receive the skills Dr. Lawhorn could provide. Again, her pig recovered as a result of many diagnostic tests and Dr. Lawhorn’s knowledge and experience.

More recently, a pet owner contacted us prior to taking her pig to a university for treatment and surgery. We provided her with Dr. Lawhorn’s number in the event the veterinarians had questions once they opened the pig up. While the pig was actually on the operating table, the university vets phoned Dr. Lawhorn to describe what they saw and, based on his expertise, the surgeons were able to make an appropriate decision.

When we did the trials on thyroid reference ranges, he guided us throughout that procedure with great detail. He was featured in our Porcine Stress Syndrome article and answered all the many questions that were raised as a result of the first documented case .

I talked to Dr. Lawhorn throughout Duchess’ illness and sent him each diagnostic test as it was done. Her treatment and lab work went on for months. This gave me the peace of mind that everything was being done for her that could be done. He was also on the phone with my local vet just a few hours before she died.

Owners and veterinarians alike have reported back to us at the Duchess Fund after a medical situation has been resolved. They all express how patient, caring and helpful Dr. Lawhorn has been.

Dr. Lawhorn is a household name in the potbellied pig industry and has been for 12 years. He has devoted countless hours to our pets and for that we are extremely grateful. The fact that he is here today is yet another example of his dedication...and again we are grateful.

In short, he’s the MAN !! Please welcome Dr. Lawhorn!!!

While speaking to this group, some of the topics he covered included: anesthesia, crystals forming in urine (and prevention), constipation, intubation and thyroid reference ranges (Duchess Fund research project). He cautioned the audience about supplementing with Vitamin E/Selenium. Dr. Lawhorn expressed his willingness to work with individual veterinarians on questions they might have. He encouraged pet owners to have their vets call him directly or email him as that will save time.

After speaking to pet owners and rescue people, we traveled to the veterinary clinic where the wet lab was being held for the attending veterinarians and veterinary technicians. Dr. Lawhorn then spoke about various medical issues on potbellied pigs that he has seen at Texas A&M University and presented some very interesting slides and information about these cases, some of which included: Melanoma growths removed, a metastatic melanoma on spinal cord, a growth in the mammary system of a 200 pound potbellied pig, abscessed roots of teeth, stricture in spiral colon, fat necrosis in abdomen, fractures and repair of the distal humerus, a one year old pig that suffered from Phycomycosis resulting in amputation of ½ of the leg (recovered and doing well today!), a prolapsed rectum, bladder stones, cryptorchid neuter, psychogenic water consumption, a spayed pig with vulva bleeding resulting in endoscope showing clot on cervix (from undissolved sutures), a pig that had salt toxicity and, last, a pig that had skin (paper thin) sloughing.

We extend another big thanks to him for his dedication and taking the time to spend the long week end in Florida

Your continued support and contributions to the Duchess Fund enables us to fulfill our many goals.

Back To Symposium 2003

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Barbara Baker, President and Founder of The Duchess Fund announced the results of the first year of operation. The Fund is now a charitable, non-profit corporation, The new web site is up and running containing the medical data base and Dr. Michelle Brush, DVM, a Cornell University graduate, has joined the panel. Most importantly, their work is helping to make a difference in the health and care of potbellied pigs everywhere!

"I had no idea that so many pet pig owners and institutions in the veterinary medical field would want to get involved in helping us understand and treat these wonderful companion pets. I should have expected this overwhelming response since I have four pet pigs of my own and lost one, Duchess of Pork, to a little understood devastating liver illness," said Mrs. Baker.

Universities throughout the country are turning over their medical records for the database. Pet owners here and around the world are contributing needed fund and invaluable medical records. Veterinarians are now able to use this information to assist them in diagnosing and treating pet pigs.

The work goes on, the growth and interest has helped expansion. Committees are being formed. Hundreds of records are not available to health care professionals.

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As the internet grows by leaps and bounds, so too does an interest in everything previously inaccessible and exotic. That includes exotic pets.

But with this new trend in companion animals comes new responsibilities. Tellingly, the trade in exotic pets frequently has led to dangerous encounters, disappointment, and abandoned pets. It is also leaving many veterinarians confused as to how to care for animals for which there are few case histories, little research, and no veterinary specialties.

Potbellied pigs are one example of this predicament: veterinarians usually are at a loss as to how to deal with the health problems of these animals. Despite the fact that there are many experienced swine practitioners, the primary goal of these veterinarians is to maximize pork production. So when it comes to serious ailments requiring surgery or other interventions, many owners will find themselves confronting tragedy with few available resources.

Barbara Baker found that out the hard way when her Duchess of Pork, a two-year-old purebred potbellied pig, died of liver disease after suffering from seizures during the last year of her life. Duchess' diagnostic work and postmortem raised more questions than answers.

That's why Ms. Baker founded the Duchess Fund, a medical database of potbellied pig medical case histories, available on the web, and compiled with the cooperation of universities nationwide.

"I founded it right after the death of my Duchess of Pork," she explained. "She had the best veterinary care that money can buy-she had a board-certified internal medicine specialist-but still did not respond to treatment."

Veterinarians could do nothing for Duchess, despite redoubled efforts and all the technology of small animal medicine at their fingertips.

"That's a perfect example of why the Duchess Fund needed to be started," Ms. Baker said. "There is just not enough medical information on treating potbellied pigs-a veterinarian just has to use his best guess, walking into an unknown area."

After just a year, the Fund has seen incredible growth. While Ms. Baker was secretary of the North American Potbellied Pig Association since 1994, for the last year she has devoted most of her time to the Fund, which until recently was a charitable project under the Association. In fact, the Duchess Fund is growing so quickly that Ms. Baker just announced its incorporation as a separate nonprofit charity.

"When I founded the Duchess Fund last year, I had no idea that the growth would be this rapid," Ms Baker said. "We are now in a position to create committees for the Duchess Fund, such as a fundraising committee, public relations committee, and other to further enhance our operation."

The Duchess Fund also recently announced the cooperation of Purdue University, which will be providing the Fund with all of its medical records on potbellied pigs. Currently Cornell University, the University of Georgia, Ohio State University, Washington State University, Oklahoma State University, and the University of Florida also are participants in the Fund.

The Fund also has seen a notable increase in publicity: the cable channel Animal Planet recently taped a profile of the organization. Ms. Baker is happy about the publicity, hoping that her growing medical database will allow veterinarians to help potbellied pig owners avoid misfortunes similar to that which she went through with her own pet.

"I'm hoping that this is going to better equip veterinarians, and give them something to work with," Ms. Baker said. "If they're treating a disease and they can pull up case histories to see if there's something helpful, that's certainly a start in the right direction."