Yay!!!

Just a quick follow-up to my very last post: Dumbo is fine - his bump turns out to be a cystic one, so the vet said to just ignore it.

Thanks for helping to cross your fingers, toes, eyes and hair! Dumbo thanks you too! :)

Dumbo visits DUMBO (Brooklyn) again.

Greetings! Or, shall I say, SEASON'S greetings!

Wow, long time no speak... or update/blog/write/post/inform!

My free WIFI here at home went MIA sometime in early July, hence the complete lack of updates. :X Still, that's no excuse, I know. *hangs head in shame* But I don't own a laptap or iPad or anything fancy, portable and type-friendly like that, so Starbucks' or anybody else's WIFI was not a viable option, ever. Hmm, OK, well, what really matters is that we now have free WIFI once again in our home and that's why you see this post today. :) YAY!

I got home not too long ago as I had to bring Dumbo, the all-black pig, to the vet out in DUMBO, Brooklyn. He was overdue by a hair for his annual checkup and we'd also discovered a bump on his left thigh area around mid-July. Since then we'd made sure to monitor it every couple weeks or so, and it's never really gotten any bigger or smaller and has virtually made no real impact on his everyday health. During these last several months, he's always had as voracious an appetite as ever! (READ: He is really fat! The vet took notice, too, remarking on how he's packed on the pounds, ha, since last year.)

Dumbo's vet, Dr. Neuman, over at Vinegar Hill, took his vitals and said he was fine. She then took a sample of the fluids in his bump (the medical term is 'cytology') and said I'd hear back from her either Tuesday at the earliest, or Wednesday, at the latest, while the sample gets sent to the pathologist. So now we just play the waiting game...

The vet said she is leaning towards the bump being a cyst, in which case we would just ignore it completely. However, if that bump on Dumbo's thigh has to do with the ever-dreaded C-word (sob), then she would operate on it.

Please, please, please keep your fingers/toes/eyes/hair crossed that it is not that horrible C-word and that it's actually a cyst (gosh, it would probably be the first time that anybody would be so utterly relieved and thrilled to have a cyst present)!!!


Anyhow, I shall bid adieu here. If I go another 7-8 months without posting, then I shall wish you all a very merry Christmas and a very happy, healthy, prosperous and fulfilling 2012 now! Farewell, 2011! :3

Easy way to change your Guinea pigs cage :)

  

Farewell, our little love. We hardly knew ye.

It is official as of yesterday morning around 10:30. Sammy is no longer part of our guinea pig herd. :(

Do not fear and do not despair!!! We gave him up for adoption to the Helping All Little Things Rescue, which works out of Southern NJ. We met up with Laura who acts as the NYC branch of the rescue for the handing over.

We will miss Sammy very much and already do. But considering everything that has happened over the last three weeks plus, this was truly for the best. We know he will find a very good home down there somewhere in NJ. For now, Laura  has taken custody of Sammy (for the next few weeks) to make sure he is on the right track and continues to eat and drink normally. I received an update via text from her yesterday afternoon. She said he is very shy and wouldn't move after she put him in a cozy. :(( Rest assured, though, she knows he will be fine.

Billye shot one final video of Sammy in all his awesome Sammy glory late Saturday night around midnight - you can see that video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DyqYf7g1E54

To see the rest of the videos that Billye made in the past, you can go to: http://www.youtube.com/user/billyemerrill

Sammy is still very young, I would say only about two or so months at this point. In that regard, he should not have any problems readjusting to a new home/family/situation/environment, etc. The only thing is how long it will take for a family to bring him and his fabulousness into their home. The absolutely FANTASTIC thing about the HALT rescue is they do not allow families with children to adopt their animals. (A million hearty YAY!s for that.) Plus, Laura is a great person, so if she is great, then by extension I would think everyone from the rescue is great too. I'm sad he is not in our home and part of our daily lives anymore but I am hopeful he is headed for a great life with really great people. :]

Sammu and Truffle's last time playing together.

Truffle: Sammy, you're gonna get in trouble!

Sammy: No, I'm not, Daddy!

Sammy: Daddyyy, where are you going?!

Truffle: I'm too shy, I can't face the camera!

Sammy: Daddy, let me clean your butt for you.

Truffle: OK.

Sammy: Daddy, I own you!

Truffle: You will be in time-out very soon, Sammy!!

Sammy: Daddy, what will happen if I walk off the bed?

Truffle: You will go SPLAT! like a pancake.

Now it's officially the end of the Sammy era. I shouldn't feel sad but he was a really special pig and I will miss him. He brought such a youthful and fresh vigor to our lives and home that our others didn't (mainly 'cause they are too old... ha ha ha, just kidding, Omelet, Dumbo and Truffle! geez, relax yourselves...).

Eeeeeee!! Baby Truffle!!! From August 2009. Here he was probably a wee 2 (or slightly less) months old.

More Baby Truffle because he. was. the. cuuuuutest. baby. ever!!!

If you look behind him, you can see what used to be Pepper's cage. Pepper was Billye's hamster and she passed on last March at just under a year old after having what very well might have been a bad case of pneumonia.

Me and baby Omelet back in August 2009. He was SO small. Hard to think he's just about a three-pound monster less than two years later! It's crazy to imagine he could actually fit in MY one hand, but as you can see here, he really did!

Young Tommy and young Truffle. Friends till the very end. <3

Three's company. :) L-R: Baby Tommy! Baby Omelet! Baby Truffle! Again, August 2009.

Before Tommy and Omelet's "friendship" (ha! were they ever really friends to begin with?) were on the rocks.

On a final note, thank you to all our military men and women who have served and continue to serve on our behalf. As it has been said many times, freedom is not free and we should never forget that.

Truffle and his embattled body.

Almost two weeks ago, we learned that Truffle has not one, not two, but three, bladder stones. :( :( :( :O

In a way, we were shocked but we also were suspecting that because of his progressively worse squealing and crying, he had stones (if it were a UTI, the sulfatrim would've already knocked it dead). Our stance is that we will not get surgery for the pigs for several reasons. I personally wouldn't want to put any of these beloved little guys through that and emerge from the whole ordeal not even knowing or being given an absolute 100% guarantee that they will be completely repaired and restored when all's said and done. So alternatively the vet put Truffle on a course of potassium citrate tablets and told us we need to give it to all our other pigs too, since in guinea pigs, it is frequently the diet itself that contributes to stones. (Although it can be and sometimes is completely genetic and no matter what you do to curb the calcium intake in their daily diets, it just doesn't do jack. 'Scuse the crudeness but the issue of stones is very frustrating and I've read that even vets do not understand completely why it happens! ARRRGH!!!!)

Since May 18, Truffle has been taking 1/4 of a potassium citrate tablet per day. As have Omelet and Dumbo. Omelet is funny, he tries to lick the stuff as it's coming out of the syringe. You'll keep seeing his adorable pink tongue pop in and out over and over. Hello, Omelet!!! It's not ice cream you're eating! However, these tablets are intended for dogs and so they are roast beef and liver flavored. (gag) Our poor vegan piggies.  But they seem to like it anyway....

Truffle was also put on a 2-3x per week course of subcue injections (in his neck area) of lactated ringers (potassium chloride and other Gatorade-for-animals esque contents). Aside from abundantly hydrating him, it's supposed to help (WE ARE HOPING) flush out his stones IF he can pass them on his own. The standard line when it comes to guinea pigs and this HORRID HORRID HORRID subject of urinary stones is that "Guinea pigs are not able to pass stones on their own" (visit www.guinealynx.info and you will see so yourself). BUT it HAS happened to other pigs (again, please visit www.guinealynx.info) and if you click on the "Forums" tab in the upper right side of the screen when the site comes up, you'll see random accounts of "my pig just passed a stone?!" success stories posted. It's trickier though when it comes to a boy pig versus a girl pig for obvious anatomical reasons (ouchie!!). Yes, so this lactated ringer, we've done 2x on our own since 5/18 because Truffle fights like crazy every time he gets it and the last time most likely has bruised him up real badly (he shakes our hands off when we try to pet his head, which he has never ever done). :(( :X We decided to give him a break from it to let his subcued region heal up a bit before we attempt another. Sigh... raising pigs is challenging in itself. Trying to nurse an unwell pig (READ: a pig with stones) back to health? It's like trying to move mountains. This we have learned the hard (i.e., hands-on) way.

We (Billye and I) met up with Laura from Helping All Little Things (HALT) rescue who are based in South Jersey yesterday morning (more on why in a separate post). She is super knowledgeable and informed (!!) about guinea pigs, having had them as her own pets. She takes her pigs to the Center for Avian and Exotic Medicine (where Tommy went last fall right before he passed on) and raved about one Dr. Alexandra Wilson there ... and also suggested to us using the Chinese herb Shilintong. We later printed out a photo of one brand of Shilintong and took it down to Chinatown to see if any of the herbal stores there carried it. After combing through at least three or four stores, we found the pot of gold (or Shilintong anyway)!!! With the help of a really nice man from the last herbal place we visited. Guinea Lynx recommends administering 1/2 tablet in a CC of water 2x a day. I'm not sure exactly how this herb ("Snowbell leaf ticklover herb") is supposed to work or what it does but some pig owners have apparently experienced positive results with this herb. So now Truffle has swung the pendulum from Western to Eastern medicine, woohoo!! XD I feel like he's becoming a guinea pig in the proverbial sense of the word and not the actual (does that make sense?).

So we'll see how the Shilintong treats Truffle. It supposedly reduces pain and inflammation and is used (in humans) to promote urinary tract health (according to what I've read from other people's accounts on Guinea Lynx/other g pig websites and on the packaging I have in front of me). Laura (from the HALT rescue) said it helps relax the muscles "down there" so the pig can pass the stone. I've also seen an anecdote where the poster said with the help of an X-ray, she saw that the size of the stone in her pig had actually DECREASED whereas these blasted awful pieces of complete and utter uselessness are supposed to grow and grow and just keep growing... so I for one have my fingers crossed that Shilintong will do only good and positive things for those three stones in Truffle's body right now.

Speaking of X-ray...

This is Truffle's X-ray, which Dr. Sara Neuman was very kind to give Billye on a disc. If you click on the photo to enlarge, you'll see three distinct white spots. Those are his stones. According to Billye, Dr. Neuman said they're the size of pencil tips (at the time the X-ray was taken). That is, according to her, really small since most pigs with stones have really big ones by comparison at the time they get admitted for examination. Laura from the rescue, for example, had one pig whose stones were the size of her pinky nail. The potassium citrate tabs he (and Omelet and Duimbo) are taking are supposed to help prevent future calcium stones from forming and help keep more calcium from adding to his current stones.

My one qualm about this whole process is this: guinea pig stones are usually (more times than not) composed of calcium CARBONATE and less commonly calcium OXALATE (or other compositions). The potassium citrate bottle labeling says those tablets work in helping to prevent calcium OXALATE from forming (in dogs and, in our case, Truffle...?). Therefore, *how* would it be effective for treating calcium carbonate if it's not meant to work on that? Gah!!! Might we just be ramming our heads into a brick wall here? This is something that needs to be mentioned to the vet. Laura from the rescue says the tablets will not work in doing anything for the current stones except to prevent more calcium from adding to it (and letting it grow). So it is good in that sense, but I'm doubtful about the CARBONATE side of the story. :X :O

In other (positive) news, Truffle does seem like he's more active and energetic. He seems to be eating on his own although we still give him Critical Care by syringe 2x or so a day. We've been trying to wean him off the CC feedings. The bad news is when I weighed him this morning, he was down to 2 lbs. 9 3/4 (or 7/8 - the scale couldn't make up its mind) oz. That's down a bit from his regular 2 lbs. 11 (or sometimes 12) oz. or so. Gah!!! (for the trillionth time) I'm just hoping the reason for this is because he is pooping out the food he is eating or because he is more active since Billye expanded all of their cages Saturday morning.

OK, that's it for now. Oh, and yes, one more post to make directly after this one...

The "Guinea Pigs Rule!!" Movement/Truffle's Health News

Happy Mother's Day to all the wonderful and unconditionally loving moms out there!

We had to bring the ever adorable Truffle in to see Dr. Sara Neuman this afternoon. Since about Wednesday, we'd noticed he was having some breathing abnormalities - he would make this little hacking sound, sneezing and wheezing his way through the last few days. On Friday morning, a pretty big ball of green snot shot out of his nose, much to our shock (we'd never seen any of our pigs do that before). We got very worried and quickly started him on leftover Sulfatrim from Dumbo's last upper respiratory infection (URI) last October. Yesterday, he was doing a bit better, having improved a little with the wheezing and hacking. However, he does sneeze on and off. And a second round of snot came flying out of his nose (OK, hope no one is eating as s/he is reading this post, LOL). But this time, it was not as green or thick, which was a good sign. We'll take any good signs when we can get 'em!

However, early this morning, we noticed his appetite started dropping as he seemed to not want to eat any Critical Care from an open syringe. :(( :O :/ We had e-mailed Dr. Sara Neuman late yesterday afternoon to seek her advice. She replied to Billye that the red flag we ought to look out for was a complete stoppage of eating and pooping in Truffle. Because we saw that Truffle, always a voracious eater, really did not have his usual big interest in eating (or drinking), we went ahead and booked an appointment with Dr. Neuman today.

While at the vet, he received a couple of injections, one for hydration, the other to jump-start his appetite. He was out and about for a little over five hours in all today. He's very pooped right now, so it's obvious his first priority is to sleep. I hope when he wakes up and feels refreshed that he will head straight for his hay basket and food bowl. :] Dr. Neuman put him on a stronger antibiotic for the respiratory infection he has. It's called "Orbax" (Orbifloxacin). Truffle will need to be on it for the next two weeks. Aside from that, we'll dose him Reglan for his slowed GI tract to help get it up and moving again. I hope he will be A-OK. It's quite nerve-wracking but we've got all fingers crossed for a complete turnaround sooner than later. We hate seeing Truffle like this. :(

Obviously, it could have been anything that caused Truffle to come down with this URI, but my small unfounded suspicion is that maybe sleeping over and hanging out at Sammy's made him sick. (New pigs from pet stores are often notorious for suffering from URIs, hence the reason why quarantining the new pig from your established brood/gang/fraternity/etc. at the beginning is highly advised.) Anyhow, Sammy was a bit wheezy on and off around the same time that we noticed Truffle wasn't being his usual self. However, unlike Truffle, Sammy is an amazing ball of energy! (OK, I do acknowledge the sizeable age difference between Truffle and Sammy. :P) He still has his normal appetite and flies around his cage constantly, thinking he's a speeding bullet!!! It's quite entertaining to see.

Here are Truffle and Sammy in happier - and healthier - times.

Bonding over a snack of hay together.

This is Truffle yesterday afternoon. Sick and not looking like himself. :'( We would find him puffed up (a self-defense mechanism that sick or injured pigs use to mask their illness/injury from predators - a tactic inherited from their ancestral pigs who lived in the wild) in his igloo from time to time throughout the day yesterday.

The good news is he has maintained his weight, which is extremely important for any sick guinea pig. He was 2 lbs., 11 oz. This morning, he was about 2 lbs., 11.75 oz. However, he needs to start eating and drinking again, so he can do his usual bathroom business! 

***

In other news, Billye ordered a custom silkscreen thingamajig (LOL, I've no idea what the technical term is or maybe I'm just really tired right now) from Pearl Paint on Canal Street last week. So he made some very cool T-shirts with the silkscreen template. 

Two orange T-shirts for Billye and two grey ones for me. Buy 4 for $10 at a variety store, add your own silkscreen, and BAM! You've got four novelty/boutique looking T-shirts. :) In the upper left photo, Billye is showing off a pair of his underwear that he silkscreened yesterday. Guinea pig briefs - ha ha! And, yes, he used Truffle for the silkscreen, as  you can see in the bottom right photo.

Anyhow, please send healthy and healing vibes to Truffle. He is absolutely the sweetest pig in the world, his heart is as big as any that has ever been made and he is full of SO much love and kindness. I really hate seeing him have to suffer. I hope he bounces back quickly.

Have a good Mother's Day.

Until next time...

New guinea pig (on probation) and new photos of old guineas!

Hello! Happy official spring to our flock of readers (and everyone else)! We have a new addition to our guinea pig brood. Yes, he is on probation as we are not quite sure yet where this all will go. But right now, he seems to be settling in pretty nicely. :) Although he did have one (big) mishap when he arrived home last night - Truffle was doing a customary domination ritual upon being introduced to the new baby Sammy (Billye named it and I completely agree - this little guy looks like a Sammy indeed), so Sammy needed a place to run away to and managed to get his tiny little head stuck in the wire cage! It was a truly terrifying moment and one where none of us knew how it would turn out, but somehow with Billye's coaxing, he was able to maneuver his head out of the wire bars. :( He looked OK and we don't think he hurt himself badly. He's been eating here and there, so his head and neck area might just be a bit sore. Otherwise, he seems to be doing fine.

Meet Sammy! He is extremely small and we guesstimate that he is probably around 1.5 to 2 months at most.

He is really cute. We saw him at PETCO Saturday afternoon and were pretty sure some lady with her daughter was gonna buy him, so we walked out of there content and hopeful that he was on his way to a good home with someone who seemed like a caring individual. But then Billye said Sammy was still there when he went back yesterday after work. :( The lady must have chosen the other piglet she was cuddling. Sammy is rather skittish but it's quite understandable. Truffle, his new best friend and adopted "daddy," has already formed an attachment to him.

This is such an adorable photo of Omelet. He is sleeping here, completely unaware his mug will soon be posted on the Internet for billions and trillions to see. XD

Truffle, Sammy's best friend/"daddy." :) <3 <3 <3!!

And that's it for now. Today will be Sammy's first full day in our home, so we shall see how it all goes. He lives separately by himself for now, with intermittent periods of visits from Truffle. 

Till next time...

XOXO

Random collection of (sort of) oldies but goodies!

Another animated graphic that Billye made. :)

Truffle maxin' and relaxin'! He required a trip (his first one in over a year) to the vet at the beginning of February because he was experiencing some worrisome poop irregularity/bowel movements and had all but stopped eating his dry pellets and was not consuming his normal amount of water. His vet, Dr. Sara Neuman in DUMBO, Brooklyn, saw him and, according to Billye, was so smitten by him that she gave him not one - but two! - kisses on his head. :) His last vet and her assistant, whom we have stopped seeing, also were quite fascinated by him. Truffy is quite the ladies' man! No worries, all - Truffy is happy and doing just fine these days. :) He LOVES to eat and poop once again.

He is quite a spoiled little guy. :)

I do not have any photos of Omelet and Dumbo to share right now, unfortunately. I mean, I DO have some, but they both have the dreaded red eyes from flash photography in their photos and so I'd like to spare them the... embarrassment? Heh heh.

Around mid-January, we bought our very first BULK bag of hay! This is a 25-pound bag you see there on the right. Buying hay in bulk like this is a very good deal and is very kind to our pocketbooks. Almost two months later, there is still a decent amount left (about 20%, maybe?). LOL, we look like we just came back from a field trip to the neighborhood farm. That hay looks so out of place in our apartment. :P

And now I sadly bid thee all adieu! Adieu, my friends. Till next time... (which I hope is not three months from now!)

Happy belated Valentine's Day.

Happy belated Valentine's Day to our legions of loyal and devoted readers (ha! ha!) out there! I'm only three weeks late, but better late than never as some wise old soul once said. I haven't updated this baby in a long time, it seems. Yikes. :/

Billye created the following animated graphic:

We saw this at one of our local Rite Aids and it was snapped up right away. Guinea pigs just aren't featured on a lot of mainstream merchandise, so this was a rare find. 


Some recent (relatively...) photos of the piglets coming up in a separate post.


Happy almost spring! :)