Happy new year from Omelet, Dumbo and Truffle!

WiFi is down again at home, hence I am squeezing in this very quick update from el trabajo.

Here is a drawing of Omelet on my cell phone that Billye made last night:

I think it's absolutely great! Very true to life, if you ask me. :D <3 Omelet, my baby. Omelet has been scratching a lot of late. In fact, he scratched so badly about a week and a half ago, he fell upside down (like a turtle on its back). :(

On Wednesday, Billye administered 1 part neem oil and 4 parts olive oil to all the pigs in case they have mites. They will get a thorough Selsum blue bath tomorrow morning. You're supposed to keep the neem oil on your pigs for 2 days, then shampoo, then wait 5 days, then repeat again.

They look like total greaseballs. Billye says they look like the cool Spanish guys with their hair all gelled up, hehehe. I have not picked them up, so I'll be really excited when they're finally clean and grease-free again tomorrow. :D

OK, that's all for now. Here's hoping the pigs do NOT have mites!!! :X


Enjoy the Super Bowl and gooooooooooooooooooo Giants! Yay!!!

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

Happy Halloween (in advance)!

Truffle, Omelet and Dumbo all want to wish you and your family a very happy and safe Halloween this year! We wish that Tommy could be here for Halloween so that the entire brood can look for treats together. Love you so much, Tommy!

Billye put this together very quickly in MS Paint, LOL. He says it's very silly, but I think it's quite cute (and funny).

Dumbo takes his antibiotic and Omelet takes... a bath.

From last Sunday (October 17):

 Being a good sport by taking his meds with minimal 'wheeking'! Thank you for your cooperation, Dumbo! :-D

"Just so you human thingies know, I really HATE having that dumb syringe poked in my face!"

Dumbo gets rewarded with chew blocks for being on his best behavior during Medicine Time. :-)

"I'm ready for my closeup, you human thingies."

Not exactly happy, but extremely squeaky clean! :-D No more poopy butt.

"Where's my baby carrot? I'm soaking wet and have nothing to show for it?"

Weights are in...

Billye bought a food scale from K-mart yesterday and we weighed the pigs.

Surprisingly, Dumbo is 2 lbs. 9 oz! At Vinegar Hill on Sunday, they said he was 2 lbs. 1 oz?!

Here's the results that floored me: Omelet is actually heavier than Truffle. Whoa, did not see that one coming from anywhere! Omelet is almost THREE pounds (2 lbs 15 oz.) and Truffle is slightly less at 2 lbs 12 oz.

I do think Omelet feels noticeably lighter than Truffle and yet he is the fatter one... humph.

Dumbo is in the clear!

We took our youngest (LOL, I started typing "dumbest"!) one, Dumbo, to a place we've never been to yesterday afternoon. It's Vinegar Hill Veterinary Group out in DUMBO (not kidding :P), Brooklyn. Billye said that the technician thought he was prank-calling her when she asked for the animal's name and he answered, "Dumbo." Hehe.

We suspected he had a recurring upper respiratory infection as he would cough on and off during these last couple of months. His vet, Dr. Sara Neuman, seems like a great doctor and lady. I have my fingers crossed hoping she's a keeper. She was quite skilled with Dumbo and received him warmly and fondly in the examination room. She prescribed Sulfatrim for him and said she is partial to that med. She had a great bedside manner and seemed confident and knowledgeable. I thought it was quirky when she chose to divulge gossip about a fellow vet. It made it easier to connect with her. :)

It's been extremely challenging trying to track down vets that specialize in exotic pets here in NYC (such irony!), but right now I feel good about Dr. Neuman and her capabilities. She did say that she does make referrals, at least with G pigs, if she doesn't think she can handle the case presented to her.

Dumbo is doing well. His weigh-in was 2 lbs., 1 oz. He saw part of DUMBO, the Bridge and the promenade. He is slowly becoming a worldly piglet. He was really pooped when he arrived home. I think he hates the noise of the train because he'd run like crazy from one end of his carrier to the other. The gal on the train sitting next to me was excited when he darted from one side to the other. She yanked her earphones out of her ears to ask whether he was a dog and looked like she wanted to pee on herself from giddiness when I replied, "No, it's a guinea pig." People are funny sometimes. :)