Oliver came to Odd Man Inn in March of 2017. He was covered in filth. It was pouring. We were terribly young as an organization and very proud to rescue him from a small pig farm that was closing up shop. The owner said, “he’s a nice pig, and I hate to kill him.”
Oliver was a 10-year old Gloucestershire Old Spots. He was a big old grouch most days, but he still allowed us to lovingly tend him this last couple of years as his body started failing. He had been on our nurse visit list every day for at least a year. His ears were loaded with skin cancer from his previous life in the high desert of Oregon. He broke a tusk, which was a nightmare to manage. He had a mass on his chest that we continually observed and obsessed over. He went in regularly for cryotherapy and wellness checks. He had a lovely home here filled with all he needed to live in peace.
Oliver passed very suddenly. We were treating him for what seemed to be a mild case of cold intolerance, but the dramatic change in his status indicated something else was going on. Ultimately, we found out in his necropsy that he had a twisted gut, which is something pigs rarely survive. Oliver was survived by our original big pigs….Jolene, Ramblin’, Hanai, Sid, and Grace. They were his herd. They were his family. Losing him so suddenly was pretty painful for our team, but the beauty of having known him will always be what we choose to focus on, and we carry on by caring for Oliver’s loved ones with all the affection and protectiveness he had for them.
