For One Week, We Had A Pet Pig

Those of you that follow me on Instagram may have seen my stunned/surprised/shocked post last month when my sweet husband bought me a pet pig for my birthday.  He left the house that day saying that he had to “go see about something on Craigslist” and came back an hour later with this:
pet mini pig pot belly pig pink family piggy
Here’s the deal, ever since I was in high school, I have wanted to have a pet pig.  Not an outdoor farm pig, but a cute, pink, lives in your house and walks on a leash, type of pig.  Mind you, I didn’t have a clue of the how’s and why’s of owning a pig, I just really liked the idea of it and thought it would be fun.  And my sweet husband always goes above and beyond in the gift department and loves giving me surprises, and yes, he got me one – SO SO sweet of him!
pet mini pig pot belly pig pink family piggy
At first, I was excited and shocked.  I never suspected that he was getting me a pig and I kind of didn’t know what to do.  I’m a major planner-type personality, so I had so many questions – what would she eat?  What shots does she need?  Does she need mud?  Will she get along with our dog?  Ect… ect…ect…  I immediately began doing TONS of research on having a pet pig, and the more I read, the more nervous I became.  I read that they need lots of time and stimulation to keep them from getting destructive in the yard and home.  They need special training just like a dog, to keep them from becoming dominant, especially with kids.  I also found out that Colorado laws  say that you can only have a pet pig if they stay under 70 lbs, and that there is no guarantee that she would stay that small, and that it is not uncommon for pigs like this to reach 100+ lbs by the time that they are full-grown.  Which meant, that if she grew over 70 lbs down the road, we would have to give her up – sad!
pet mini pig pot belly pig pink family piggy pet mini pig pot belly pig pink family piggy
We also researched and made calls about the cost of shots and spay for the pig – because she was a “mini pig”, she couldn’t go to a traditional livestock vet because they are considered to be specialty cases, and she would need to be seen by an “exotic vet” – read:  expensive.  The medical cost to keep her was WAY (wayyyyyy) more than we ever dreamed.  Between these costs and the weight laws, Tristan and I both agreed that the best thing for her and our family would be to re-home her.  We were able to find her a new home with a loving family almost immediately after listing her, so we were so happy about that.  Now, let me just say that we completely understand that we should have done this research before getting the pig, and we wish that we would have, but in the end, it all worked out well.
pet mini pig pot belly pig pink family piggy pet mini pig pot belly pig pink family piggy
The kids thought she was pretty special and fun too.  They loved to hold her and feed her spinach leaves (her favorite).  She didn’t like the process of being picked up, but she seemed to like being held.  Oh, and she was kinda obsessed with our dog, Tuppy.  She would follow her around and oink her head off if Tuppy went upstairs without her – ha!

So, for my birthday this year, I got to live out one of my dreams of having a pet pig!  I totally don’t regret our 8 days with her at all – it was really FUN and I learned that having a pet pig wasn’t exactly what I thought that it would be;)  I also learned that Tristan keeps surprising me even after 13 years together.  And that he’s the sweetest guy ever.  <3
Stephanie-May

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