Remebering Boadicea

Boadicea (originally named Goldie) was our Boxing Day gift for 2014.  It was one of the more entertaining meet-and-greets as I was closed in a kennel with Cannoli and Boadicea.  Boadi had been in the system for months; I had seen her pop up on Petfinder in at least two different shelters while pondering a friend for Cannoli.  I was rather excited to adopt her after falling in love with her photo.

The many loaves of Boadicea

She came with a bad habit of biting.  I discovered a cage-mate of hers (they'd been split up in another shelter) had the same issue.  But Boadi soon learned biting wasn't necessary here.  I've never had a guinea pig make herself at home as fast as Boadi did.  Within a week she was far more relaxed than Cannoli was.  She quickly took advantage of her new digs and established herself as the head pig.

I Wasn't Ready

I knew with the diagnosis of kidney issues that Boadicea's days were numbered.  She had gained some weight last week, had been annoyingly cranky, and although she looked uncomfortable and ate slowly, she had mostly been herself.  On Saturday we refilled her pain medication and brought home a second one to keep her comfortable.  Sunday morning Boadi woke as her hungry cranky self, but after breakfast she started to fade.  By Sunday evening she was too weak to do anything.  We lost her on Monday morning.

I wasn't ready.

Making Rounds

Boadicea continues not to feel well.  Her attitude remains fairly bright, but her weight is low.

Sometimes I put Boadi on the floor after giving her the morning medication.  Usually she heads straight home.  Lately she spends several minutes checking out the nooks and crannies of the living room, ranging far wider than usual.  This last time she spent several minutes checking out the door to the deck.  She's also been attracted to my desk.  I have to shoo her away from all the wiring in the area.  Too much temptation for her!

She also follows me around the room.  It's pretty charming.  This day I had to herd her back to the ramp - I needed to get back to work.

Boadicea was rechecked at the vet last week.  There was more sludge, which made everyone unhappy.  Wedgwood was inspected by the vet, too.  The silly pig took a flying leap off the couch; we suspected she landed badly.  Wedge had been randomly crying and I wanted to make sure we weren't overlooking something serious.  The vet determined Wedg's right shoulder was sore and was told no more high jumps for her.

No Man's Land

When I clean the guinea pig cage I need to block off the ramp so Boadicea and Wedgwood won't try to get in before it's done.  This frustrates them, because they know where the ramp is and where it should go and they can't understand why they're not allowed to go up.  Any other time they're on the floor they have access.  Besides, a clean cage is so fun to check out.  Aren't you done yet?!?

This cage cleaning I happened to have set the grids up with a triangle dead zone.  I had thought the hay rack would distract Boadi and Wedg from trying to get to the ramp.  Nope.  They wanted to be as close as possible and managed to squeeze themselves between a gap in the grids, and then get stuck in this little triangle of space.

They were very determined.  They'd stuff themselves into the small area then try to move the grids or chew them.  Too bad for them, they got nowhere until the cage was all clean and set up.  Silly pigs.

Trial Separation

Guinea pigs are hard wired to drive out sick members from the herd.  In the wild that makes a lot of sense, especially if the illness is contagious.  With a caretaker it's not necessary, but it's hard to tell a guinea pig that.  Occasionally you'll find a guinea pig that will protect or care for a sick cagemate.  Wedgwood is not that pig.

I allowed Wedgie to oust Boadicea from hay or a the choice sleeping spot knowing there was more hay and cozies.  But when Wedgie harassed Boadi just for the sake of moving her along, I knew I needed to pull out the backup cage (amusingly called the pigeon cage).

I feared once separated, I'd never get them back together again.  Turned out not to be the case.  A day or two later, when I cleaned the main cage, I let them on the floor together.  They both returned to the clean cage and were happy. 

I've left the second cage set up, because it's only a matter of time before Wedg becomes a bully again.  For now, there's peace in this house.  I am content.

I Like Thursday: Lots of Links

Yeah, I'm kind of cheating with this post.  It's been a crazy, busy week, with tons going on, so I'm going to post some of what I've already posted about.  But there was lots to like!

I like this shed/playhouse that was raffled at Windmill Weekend.  It somehow missed last week's post.  Isn't the squid neat?

Boston Fall Pignic 2017

The day of the pignic started foggy and cool.  But we trusted the weather forecast and headed out with Boadicea and Wedgwood.  Turned out to be a great day for a pignic.  A little humid, but comfortable. 

I had strongly considered leaving Boadi at home since she's not feeling well.  But she and Wedg had been traveling well, I thought an afternoon of fresh air and grass wouldn't do her any harm.  That little pig hit the ground eating; I think she enjoyed the day thoroughly.  Boadi would come over every time I approached the cage and I saw her flirting with other attendees. 

Kidney Issues

All the girls were at Chick Weekend

Boadicea has had a lot of ups and downs in the last two weeks.  Her health issues prompted me to bring her and Wedgwood to the Cape.  Thankfully, these two are much better travelers than Cannoli was.  So their unexpected addition to Chick Weekend was less stressful than my last attempt at including the sows.

The long drive down didn't slow them down.  Boadi and Wedg made themselves at home as soon as I had the travel cage set up.  They happily explored, just like any cage-cleaning day, then settled in to eat hay and pellets.  Wonderful!

So... Boadicea had not improved after the vet removed her stone.  In fact, her weight continued to go down and we returned to the vet over Labor Day weekend.  Not cool.  Teeth were fine.  Ultrasound showed nothing unusual.  Blood was drawn.

I Like Thursday: Some Small Stuff

It's a small like this week.  I've been dealing with a lot of not-likes:  stressful work, sick guinea pig.  So I'm happy to have any likes!

I liked meeting up with my mother.  We met at Fabric Place Basement to pick fabric for a quilt I'll be making her.  I spotted this lovely brown batik.  Isn't it pretty?  I needed to bring it home with me.  Mom got it for me - thanks, Mom!

I also liked that we managed to swing $10 off the purchase, even though I had forgotten my coupon at home.  Yay!

Well, That Wasn't Fun

Nobody wanted to be at the vet, especially Boadicea

Boadicea has continued to very slowly lose weight.  Then she took a plunge well under 900g last week.  I stuffed her with Critical Care, gave her some extra attention, and hoped it was like the other dips that she'd bounce back in a day or two.  When that didn't work, I called the vet.

Not the way I wanted to spend my Saturday afternoon (especially since I had to navigate Gillette Stadium traffic on the way home).  It was a fruitful visit - this time there was definitely something wrong.  Poor Boadicea got manhandled, then x-rayed, then manhandled some more.  But we discovered a yeast infection and a small stone.  No wonder she was losing weight.

Who's Missing?

Nothing quite like walking by the guinea pigs' cage and finding only Wedgwood.  Wait, what?  The gate was closed, the cozies were empty.  There should have been two rodents.  Where's Boadicea?

That paper bag wasn't quite as empty as it looked at first glance.  There's a butt back there.

Strawberry Treat Balls

My first attempt with the cardboard treat balls were met with mild interest.  Both pigs got bored quickly and failed to remove all of the treats.  I kept trying.  Lo and behold, strawberries did the trick.

Boadicea had the biggest learning curve.  She kept rolling the cardboard balls around expecting the treats to pop out, just like the egg-cersizer.  The strawberries were enough incentive enough to keep trying.  Her favorite move was to grab a flap and shake it up and down.  Wedgwood preferred to chew the flaps until she could reach in and pull out the strawberry top.

Hey - whatever works!

Getting Comfortable

Most guinea pigs excel at being loafy; Boadicea is a master of chill.  We caught her several times over the last two weeks.  This pig seriously knows how to veg.

First Rob caught Boadicea trying to bury herself under the hay.  This was probably her most unsuccessful attempt of getting comfortable.  The bundled hay didn't really allow her to hide under it, which I suspect was her end game.

But later attempts were far more successful. 

I Like Thursday: Progress

It's funny - there are many weeks that I get to Tuesday or Wednesday and think:  I have nothing for my Thursday post!  Then like magic, all sorts of things pop into my head.

After a dry spell of sewing, I've started to make progress.  Then inspiration hit and I've got three different things in the works.

I like the points on my latest blocks.  There are just so many corners that are supposed to line up.  Turns out, they way the blocks are ironed, stacked, then sewn came out perfectly, with almost no effort on my part.  Woot!

I like crayons.  Makes me feel like a little kid any time I use them.  I pulled out the box that has been gathering dust for years so I could get a feel for the design of my next quilt. 

Boadi Birthday Number Four

Today we celebrate Boadicea's fourth birthday.  This pig continues to be Ms. Mellow and lives for nose scritches and dried corn husks.  Plus she's still the master of the dubious look.

Why Would You Do That?

A few days ago I wrote about Boadicea and Wedgwood enjoying a pile of freshly dried corn husks on the floor.

What I didn't share was the badness that occurred soon after.

Both guinea pigs decided that it was the perfect day to do some exploring on the floor upon eating their fill.  There was a pig train through the living room, to my desk, then back to the couch.  At this point Wedgwood returned to their cage.  I made the foolish mistake of walking into the next room to talk to Rob.  I returned to the living room just in time to see a spark of light.  Right next to that spark was my computer power cable and a naughty Boadicea rodent.

Just look what she did!  There are four nicks in the jacket before the big chomp that clipped through several of the wires.  I hope that pig got a bit of a jolt for her trouble.  She high-tailed it back to the cage as I came running into the room.

Why, why! does she always go for the power cables?  Why not something a little less expensive, like the electric cord for the lamp?  It had been years since she's taste tested a power cord, and I had become less vigilant.  I spent the next several minutes checking every power cord and cable in the living room (there's a lot of them and some are really long).  Thankfully this was the only one she decided to taste test.

Windy Day Husks

It's corn husk drying season - the time of year I get strange looks for "dumpster diving" the bin next to the corn at Stop & Shop.  I feed my guinea pigs fresh husks and silks.  I shred and dry the extra husks (link to my how-to post) to use them well into the winter.  Drying works best on calm sunny days.  On windy days the corn husks can end up all over the deck.  It's a mess and I lose husks!

I normally dry them on a sheet.  On breezy days, I've taken to spreading the husks on half the sheet, folding it over, then placing something heavy on three or four of the corners (potted plants are great!).  The husks don't dry as quickly, require good strong sun, and need to be uncovered and stirred a few times to dry.  But it works, and is a lot better than chasing bits of husk across my deck.

When I brought in the latest batch, I plopped Boadicea and Wedgwood in the middle of the sheet.  Wedgwood was such a dope - she took off for home as soon as she oriented her self.  Boadicea paused for a bit, then decided it would be silly to run off when surrounded by her favorite food.

All the Toys

I recently posted about the cardboard treat balls I made up for Boadicea and Wedgwood.  It included a video of Boadicea opening one of the balls.  What I didn't show you was Wedgwood being an unmitigated pee-face. 

Several times Boadi contemplated going elsewhere, but obviously really wanted to play wit the new toys.  Equally apparent - Wedgie wanted all of the treat balls to herself, even if she couldn't get into them.  She actually abandons two of them to chase Boadi away from a third.  Really?  You're that greedy??

What a rotten little rodent.

On a side note - who knew guinea pigs could move that fast in reverse?

Cardboard Treat Balls

We saw a home-made toy demonstration at the Pig-a-Palooza in May.  I liked the toilet paper tubes filled with treats.  They look like a smaller version of the egg-cersizer.  I gave them a try last week.

Making them was easy.  First, you need a piece of toilet paper tube, cut to about thee inches long.  Then you cut four evenly-spaced slots on one end.  The other end also gets four slots, but staggered from the first four (so they don't line up across the tube).  Fold in the one end, tucking the flaps under/over each other.  Flip it over, fill it with something good to eat, then fold the flaps on the other end.

Terrifying Orange Ice Pack

On most warm days I put an ice pack in the guinea pig cage.  I wrap it in a cozy to keep the hay off it and to soak up some of the moisture when it sweats.  Usually the guinea pigs will ignore it - occasionally I've seen a pig snuggle up to it or sit on top.  But last Monday, there was panic.