What adventure has your Super Furry had today

[fortifiedwithtea]

Its been a sad start to 2013 for guinea pigs so I thought we all needed cheering up by sharing our stories of what our furry members of the family have been doing. This thread is open to all buns, ratties, piggies, hammies the more the merrier .

I'll start, Naughty Girl did this afew days ago but the girls have been very lazy today.

I had the hutch door open to encourage abit of floor time. My kids are not very tidy and had left a package of biscuits out. What I didn't realise was that they had been knocked off the table. Then I heard a crunching sound coming from behind the armchair. There was Naughty Girl chomping down on a package of digestive. In surprise I said her RL name quite loudly and she went running under the hutch with a please don't be cross with me look on her face. Needless to say biscuits in the bin

[nicky2512]

Our lovely wee piggie had to have eye removed when he was a baby. Hes now a happy boy of 4 years old. He also got a taste for ribena then too.

[KRITIQ]

Ah thanks. 'Twas a lovely break and quite nice to have the hogs with us. Must do that more often!

The maid came in yesterday and was introduced to them. About DBoar2 she said, "Oh, he must be the posh one then," to which DH replied, "You don't know how true that actually is." He insists he is of noble birth, born into a humble setting in the manner of Oliver Twist. Basically, he did act like he owned the place!

DH remarked that the photo of DBoar1 looked similar to one from a series taken of weddings from the hotel. Maybe it's the pre-raphaelite fur thing he's got going on at the moment (badly needs haircut.)

Would love to see more photos of all your piggies! :-)

[70isaLimitNotaTarget]

The boars are out tonight in their Pighouse (for the first time this spring).
It's mild , they have a haybox literally full of hay (I put in half a The Range bag) there's just enough room for their SnugglePad and two chubby boars.

Both were very excited to be out- like 2 little boys camping

I will be out at 6am to check on them tomorrow

[FernieB]

Love the photos KRITIQ - they look like Lords of the Manor! My boys are at yours having a holiday.

70 - hope your boys had a good night glamping.

[PickledMoomin]

That's reassuring to know. I was so worried about how he'd cope with one eye. His nose is slightly snotty today. Am keeping a close eye on him.

My boys are in their house tonight. They have their heat pad and lots of hay. I was tempted to put them out today but my DM convinced me otherwise. She was reluctant while his stitches are still in. They had lots of cucumber instead. Boar 2 looks enormous after a long winter. He's at least 3x the size as Boar 1.

[KRITIQ]

Love hearing piggie adventures! :)

Pickled, one thing to watch out for with "enucleation" is post op infection. Guinea pigs heal very quickly after cuts, surgery, etc., but problems can occur if the suture line heals while there is still accumulated fluid underneath that can harbour bacteria.

Did the vet prescribe post op antibiotics and probiotics? If he's got a bit of a runny nose, it might just be from a bit of secondary swelling in the nasal area. But just watch for any seeping around the stitch line, swelling or heat and get back to the vets asap (as it might need to be drained or antibiotics/different antibiotics.) My 2nd pig did have to go back for extra anti-biotics about a week after the original op, but was find after that.

Here's a photo of him the day after his surgery. I was still giving him some syringe feeds and extra water (hence the wet chin)

Here he is 2 weeks post op, munching in the garden with his companion.

And here he is 9 weeks post op.

I also had a piggie who had the same procedure back in 2003 and he lived quite happily for another 2 years, but did have some dental problems that had to be sorted every couple weeks - possibly related to his age as much as possibly the op (which left him pretty sore, chewing in a wonky way for a while and ended up slightly misaligning his jaw.)

[KRITIQ]

Aaargh, I'm useless with the links. Here's the 9 weeks post op one.

And, I meant to say best of luck - it can be really nerve wracking, but seeing the little fella progress is just so uplifting, and the extra cuddle time is precious! :)

[fortifiedwithtea]

He was still a handsome boy Kritiq. Similar colours to Fatimus, just in a different order and the same very hairy ears.

[PickledMoomin]

Piggie is back to the vet at 2. Woke this morning to find lots of discharge oozing from his eye. I gave him a little wash and run down (he's very smelly!) but it looks terrible. Hope they can fix him!

[PickledMoomin]

Thanks for the pics and info Kritiq. I won't post a picture yet. He isn't looking very pretty at the moment!

[PickledMoomin]

We're back at home. As suspected, the eye was infected and inflamed which had pulled at the stitches. They flushed his eye are the stitches opened. They can't restitch until the infection has cleared so my poorly pig has a gaping, infected wound where his eye used to be. It looks terrible. They have increased his anti bs, added a pain killer and have instructed me to flush his eye. He's very stressed by the medicines and the flushing and is pooing everywhere and thrashing his head around.
I've brought them back in and removed the hay from they sleep area to try and keep his socket clean. The vet gave me some toilet mats to use instead. He's such a burrower.
I feel so sad and don't know what to do to sooth his anxiety. He doesn't want my to hold him.

[70isaLimitNotaTarget]

Aw bless him Pickled.
GPs do stress out when you are trying to do anything that mean restraining them.
Probably keep him quiet and don't handle him if he doesn't want handled.
Do the necessary cleaning, flushing and medicine without 'pandering' to him iYSWIM. It's got to be done. He'll fall out with you anyway. If you try and cuddle him before, he'll still fall out with you.

(GP2 got hay in his fatty eye over a Bank Holiday. DD held his muzzle, I wiped with boiled,cool salted water and non-fluufy gauze. He hated the whole thing but was mighty relieved- so was I- when a piece of hay came out)

Is there anyone else who will do the nasty stuff so that you can share the blame?

Hopefully after his antibiotics and painkillers kick in he'll have a comfortable night.

[PickledMoomin]

We're sharing the jobs. I did his medicine. I hate the though of flushing. Hopefully no swap of jobs tomorrow.
He's cwtched up with Boar2 in the dining room. Feel bad for removing their bedding but I've left the heating in tonight and it's quite mild indoors.

[KRITIQ]

Oh no, sorry to hear this, but it's good you got him back swiftly and got it sorted. My boys' rodentologist (when we were in Wales and had one) said that post op infections happen about 4 out of 5 cases, just because of that healing over thing. My other pig who had it done was one of the few who didn't get an infection. But, the op was done by like the best guinea pig eye surgeon on the planet, so we were very lucky!

It does sound unpleasant and it's awful doing things that you know upset them, but 70's advice is really, really good. Fingers crossed the infection goes quickly, and then he'll start healing really fast and be back on his paws in no time. So long as he's eating, drinking and pooping (even with your help for the first two of these via syringe) it shows he's still got that fight in him and is trying to get better.

Massive beverage of your choice for you and restful night for both your boys.

BTW, you said cwtched - if you are anywhere near Cardiff, and need a 2nd vet opinion, I can highly recommend someone! :)

[PickledMoomin]

Just about to do the nasties again. May have to wait until DD leaves for school. She's quite upset about it.

You got me! Which vet? It'd be handy to have the details.

[KRITIQ]

I don't know if I'm supposed to do this, but it's this one Mark Bridges. He's like Dr Doolittle. I swear one of my pigs nodded when he spoke to him. His cage side manner is wonderful. He did the op on Boar 4 of 8 which didn't get infected. He would have done the op on Boar 6 of 8, but it got worse over the weekend and had to be done by the emergency vet - it was okay though.

After some effort though, I have found a similarly wonderful vet in Edinburgh Crichton www.vets4pets.com/find-a-practice/vets4pets-davidsons-mains/meet-the-team/.

Vets who "get" guineas are precious things!

[KRITIQ]

Whoops, I'm lousy with links. The Edi vet is Scott Crichton.

[PickledMoomin]

Thanks for the link.

It's not too far from me so I'll call them on Monday after the consultation to get a second opinion if I feel he isn't improving quickly enough. GP2 is very grumpy about being indoors. He's been sulking and hiding since last night

[KRITIQ]

Ah, I suppose I can understand the grumpiness! Good luck with everything and don't hesitate to contact Mark. He's a gem.

[PickledMoomin]

Thank you.

The eye seems to have sealed over and I can no longer flush it. He's refusing to take the anti bs. I have to hold his head down and I feel terrible for doing it. He's tried to bite me twice.
We'll hopefully be back to normal next week.

[guineapiglet]

Greetings one and all. Have been moving house over last couple of weeks, so lovely to catch up, and hear what you have all been up to. Kritiq I loved your photos of your holiday in Bonnie Scotland, I would love to stay somewhere where guineas are allowed and made welcome. Your boys looked really happy and as if they had had a great time!
Its starting to warm up a bit now, so lets hope all the guineas will be able to get out and about more and do the lawn mowing. Our new house has a very small courtyard garden so am thinking about how I might go about getting some new guineas and where would they go etc. As my kids are older they would definitely be MINE!! :)

[fortifiedwithtea]

Hi guinea, I was wondering where you were. The last time we moved was the last time we were tidy. The house looked lovely with no clutter and a million toys. Then we unpacked . Need I say more. Been in a mess ever since.

Looking forward to your "I have piggies" announcement .

[FernieB]

Maybe we should run a sweepstake on how long it will be before guineapiglet gets piggies. Probably within the next couple of weeks.

[guineapiglet]

Hi all and thanks for messages Fernie - sad to say I don't think your sweepstake will run at the moment. My dear one and I have had a walk around the garden and looked at the shed which is FULL of boxes and stuff we will probably never open again. We have had to considerably downsize from our home in the north, so no spare runs/hutches etc now and more importantly, no grass. After watching the delight with which my girls used to attack and devour the lawn each day, Im not sure about having guineas with no grass, but there is potential to have a lawn at the front, so that is a possibility. I can't have them indoors, although I know many of you do, but my son is so very allergic to them, and I would hate to go down that route again. The girls used to love grass at this time of year, after being indoors on hay for so long. At the moment, I am going to think about being a 'foster' carer for the animal rescue down the road, and also on here offer my little garden up to any Hampshire guineas who may need looking after/for holidays etc if any Hampshire guinea mums are reading.

[70isaLimitNotaTarget]

Harness your inner Alan Titchmarsh and build a raised bed then turf it

I'd say the keeping outdoors would be more of the challenge, this year winter was freezing though strangely, the boars water bowl didn't freeze once.
(Unless you can build a little annexe to your house that you can keep ambient temperature for them?)

The Rescue down the road will be delighted to have willing and able volunteers. Are they cat/dog/furries or mainly rabbity/rodent.?

Snakes?
Lizards?
Tortoises/turtles?
Spiders