Houdini

Mabel had been doing well.  She'd been off all the meds since Labor Day.  Her fur had finally grown back.  She'd gained more weight.  Things were looking great!

Then a week or two ago, she started losing weight.  Her paw looked odd - I was afraid the infection had returned.  She's started to be needy, always looking for food and attention, and started to chew apart her cozies.  Clearly not feeling well.

Back to the vet.  More antibiotics.  No fun.

Soon after Mabel went back on the antibiotics, she started pulling this Houdini trick in the morning.  This first photo?  That is a guinea pig on the wrong side of the gate.  At 7am.  Surprised the heck out of me when I pulled the fleece cover off the cage.  How long had she been on the wrong side?  Just since we got up?  Longer?  I suspect it couldn't be too long for the lack of chewed furniture/boxes on the floor and no poo. 

I Like Thursday: Shopping Trips and Errands

It's been a busy weeks, picking up a lot of things.

Saturday included a trip to the Greenfield farmer's market.  I got to use my guinea pig and bunny picnic bag.  Isn't it cute?  Mabel thinks it's even cuter filled with carrots.  (Although Kiki and Mason ate the majority of the carrot tops.)

I was very excited to bring home a 25lb box of tomatoes to make sauce.  The house smelled delicious on Tuesday as we cooked them down.

Mabel's Foot Saga Continues

We continue to work on Mabel's foot.  The foot's tissue looks good, but the open wounds have been very slow to heal.  While we were at the Cape, her foot suddenly swelled up.  I called my old vet and decided to stop by on the way home.

The trip there was an adventure - with a flat tire and pouring rain.  But we made it.  The vet x-rayed Mabel's foot and called me back to review the results.  Mabel is missing bits of the bones in the two outer toes of the right front paw.

What? 

The infection was sever enough to have eaten away the bone.

We were sent home with more antibiotic and a renewed urgency to find a local vet.  I was very lucky to get an appointment at the South Hadley VCA on Monday (instead of the normal 1-2 week wait for a new patient visit).  The vet was interested that we had been wrapping the foot ourselves (and approved of our work).  Mabel's foot has healed a lot in the last week.  We came home with another antibiotic and will be returning in week for another x-ray and progress check.

Mabel, as always, is such a good girl.  Then again, foot wrapping includes lots of lettuce so it can't be that terrible.  She has handled the move amazingly well (including two trips in one week).  Mabel has been cage-bound for a couple of weeks, because the moving chaos.  I have not given her as much attention as I'd like.  I've just started letting her out on the floor again; she's learning the new layout.  But she recognizes the new kitchen sounds and still excels at mooching.  I'm hoping as we get settled in, and as her foot feels better, she will be more active again.  Fingers and paws crossed!

I Like Thursday: Happy July 4th

Mabel worries I'll steal her lettuce

Another week of chaos.  There's packing, contacting various businesses to start or end utilities, researching, whatever.  And Mabel has required trips to the vet nearly every other day for treatment (isn't she cute with the purple bandage?  it was green before).  Ugh.

But...

I'm happy that the boxes in the house are piling up.  The more stacked boxes, the less there is to pack. 

The Goodwill pile is growing too.  That goes on Saturday - I will have a clean spot ready to amass more boxes.

Paper Bag Nesting

I've been providing Mabel with paper bags to vent her frustration.  It's interesting how every guinea pig has a different approach to destroying a paper bag.  Some like to chew the folded edges.  Others like to pull apart the corners.  Mabel likes to rip long strips rather than just chew a hole in one spot.  The hay is tasty, too, but the bag is so much fun to pull apart.

Rough Patch

Mabel has had a couple of rough weeks.  She went to the vet because she was losing weight and had developed a wheeze.  She came back with a slew of antibiotics which quickly knocked out the breathing issues and the weeping eye.  However, in the ensuing week-and-a-half, she developed stomach issues and was showing signs of pain (she started destroying whatever cozy she could sink her teeth into and was chewing stuff on the floor).

We headed back to the vet on Wednesday.  More x-rays and a shaved belly for an ultrasound.  Poor Mabel.  X-rays seemed to indicate a possible blockage between the small and large intestines.  She was still pooping (which she demonstrated to the vet), so we were sent home with fluids (everybody's favorites... not), an analgesic and told to keep up with probiotics and gas drops.

A Happy Recheck

We went back to the vet last Thursday for a recheck.  Good news all around.

First, I was excited to see Dr. Holmes.  It was her first day back after a leave of absence.  I was glad to see her.

Second, Mabel gained 100 grams in less than two weeks.  No stones detected - so hopefully she passed them.  We'll keep an eye on her in case they return.  In the meantime, she's back to her normal moochie self.

Third, Dr. Holmes saw Wedgwood for the first time since her surgery in August.  She was happy to see Wedg doing so well.  The tumor seems to have stopped growing. 

Medicating Mabel

Mabel had been losing weight very slowly over December.  Not enough to be alarming, but enough that I was watching her.  Then early in the new year, she dropped another ounce and I found blood spots on the fleece.  You know what this means....

Road Trip!

The vet is not a place that any guinea pig wants to go.  It didn't take long to confirm that Mabel has a few tiny bladder stones.

Mabel does not like her face being touched.  I've tried to get her used to having her teeth examined.  Nope.  Not cool.  So giving her meds twice a day is a challenge.  (I tried taking videos, but it looks like I'm trying to strangle her - really, I'm not!)  She also won't stay in the bowl - I've had her leap out and try to leap into the cage multiple times.  Mabel likes the taste of the medication, but she still won't take them on her own.

Not What We Expected

Look at that Frankenstein belly!

Wedgwood went for stomach surgery on Tuesday.  Morning traffic was slow and aggravating - it gave me additional time stress about past surgeries that didn't go well.  I was a tad emotional when I got to the vet.  But the vet techs were wonderful, told me Wedgwood was everyone's favorite and assured me she was in good hands.  I left feeling better than I arrived.

Surgery started out well, but they soon discovered the culprit of the stomach issues - a large tumor growing out of her pancreas.  Not partial torsion after all; Wedgwood's stomach was being squeezed by the tumor.  Because of the size, position and amount of blood vessels entwined with the tumor, the vet was disinclined to mess with it.  It was a nasty surprise from how she described it.  We made the joint decision to leave it, but it was disappointing to put Wedgwood through the surgery and be unable to fix anything. 

Wedgwood Roller Coaster

Well, heck.

Wedgwood has been doing okay since her trip to the vet last month.  No veggies has been harder on me than on her.  We've had two short episodes of bloat, but otherwise have been doing well.  Mabel has been winning us over with her sly demands of lettuce on the side.

We returned to the vet for a recheck last week.  It was a disappointing trip.  I had been hoping we could surgically correct her stomach torsion.  However, the vet said she unwilling to do so:  research showed the odds were not great for recovery.  Wedgwood had x-rays taken, and to add insult to injury, had some scabs on her nose scraped off.  Not a fun time, but she was a very good pig.

An Unfortunate Twist

Wedgwood's weight has been low for a while with no apparent reason.  It had coincided with losing Boadicea and adopting Mabel, which I figured were both stressful events.  But it hasn't bounced back like I expected once Mabel settled in.  I dragged my feet in calling the vet - until Wedg blew up like a balloon on the 4th of July.  This had to be bloat.

The word "bloat" can strike terror into any guinea pig owner.  It's painful and can be fatal - no one ever wants to deal with it.  The weird thing was that Wedgwood moved around like nothing was wrong, eating and drinking.  Even when I picked her up, she protested in being manhandled, not wheeking or grunting in pain.  She didn't act sick.

The Dreaded Road Trip

Since Mabel has come to live with us, I've occasionally heard very faint wheezing from the cage.  It usually stops when I come over.  Once or twice I saw her right eye was a little goopy.  Her weight is stable, she looks fine.  But I caught her heaving slightly with the wheezing and that decided me.  Given my track record of sick guinea pigs over a holiday weekend, we headed to the vet on Thursday.

Road trip!  It was a chance to see how well they travel together in a single carry case.  They did very well:  some whining, but no tussling, no biting.  They simply chilled together on the ride.

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.

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.

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.

A Promised Road Trip

Boadicea recovers (hay and napping) from an exciting morning

I haven't heard any crying from Boadicea in over a month, which has been wonderful.  But the slow weight loss continued.  I threatened Boadi that if she dipped below 950g, we'd be taking a trip to The Mean Lady.  (My vet is a wonderful woman, but we figure the pigs may not hold her in such high esteem.)

Two days in a row Boadi dipped into the 940s and true to my promise, we visited the vet yesterday.  I also informed Wedgwood she'd get squeezes from the vet techs, who were happy to oblige. 

It was a jam packed morning.  Boadicea was weighed and examined - I even had a hand in it, as the vet instructed me how to feel Boadi's lumpy thyroid.  Oh, not another thyroid pig!  She does not present classic hyperthyroid symptoms, but I know thyroid diseases shows up in all sorts of conflicting ways.  I was astonished to feel her thyroid.

Not So Bodacious

What guinea pig doesn't work hard making beans?

I called the vet to make an appointment for Boadicea.  The receptionist misread Boadicea's name and thought it was Bodacious.  Excellent!  We had considered that as her name at one point.

Unfortunately, Boadi is not feeling so bodacious.  There's been occasional blood and crying.  No stones were seen on either xrays or ultrasound.  A week of antibiotics hasn't seemed to do anything.  She has good days and bad days, and otherwise appears to be her usual loafy self.

Some of what has me concerned is that Wedgwood has upped her butt-headedness.  She appears to be picking on Boadi far more often.  So something's not right, but we're not sure what.

I brought the vet a poo sample yesterday for more tests.  I hoping this gives us a diagnosis, otherwise, there will be more tests in our future.

Wellness Check

I don't take my guinea pigs to the vet for annual check-ups.  I keep pretty good track of their health.  I do take them for a baseline visit when they're healthy, sometime soon after I adopt them.  I made that mistake with Bertie - her first visit was after she wasn't feeling well.  Her illness was subtle in the beginning and I believe baseline records would have helped.

Boadicea needed a refill of arthritis medication, so I took the opportunity to bring them both and get Wedgwood on the books.

I'm so pleased that these two are good travelers; they don't fuss and are fairly calm.  It makes the trip go so much faster when pigs aren't screaming at each other because no one wants to share the cozy.

Gone Much Too Soon

Cannoli unexpectedly left us very late on Wednesday night.

She had struggled to keep her weight up, even with the hyperthyroid medication.  She'd been in the 720-750g range, which was her new normal for several months.  I was giving her extra pellets, even separating her from Boadicea to ensure Noli was eating enough.  I gave her extra critical care, which she sucked down 15cc at a sitting.  But about a week ago, she dropped to 680g for a few days; suddenly she was averaging 690g.  That was just not right.  At the same time she stopped being as interested in the critical care, I had to coax her to eat it.

We went to the vet on Wednesday afternoon for an examination and a blood draw.  Vet visits can be stressful, but Cannoli appeared to handle it well.  She was exhausted on the way home, yet looked fine when she hopped into the cage.  But a few hours later, at dinner time, she looked depressed and was not interested in pellets or lettuce.  I called the vet and discussed what we wanted to do.

Parrot Plumes

I am so excited to share this quilt.  I fell in love with this pattern when I saw it on a Blogger's Quilt Festival post over a year ago.  I downloaded the pattern and printed it out.  Then it sat waiting for a reason to make it.  Knowing where a quilt is going seems to help with my creative process.

Dr. Holmes has been my vet for over 10 years.  Has it really been that long?  She's been with me through the ups and downs of eight guinea pigs.  Early last year she started her own practice (Holmes Family Veterinary Clinic).  I know she likes parrots, plus the old office had some wonderful feather prints I admired.  The walls in the new clinic were so bare.  Excellent!  That was the inspiration I needed to make the quilt.  A congrats/Christmas/thank-you gift all wrapped into one that could decorate the new place.  During the year I kept my eye out for African greys and pinks, and macaw blues and greens as I dreamed of a feather quilt.

As I planned the quilt I realized it was going to be a stretch project: a new pattern to try, a lot of white space to quilt and a flange binding to sew.  I was a little concerned packing a bunch of new techniques in a single quilt.  What if they all went wrong?  But it seemed like the perfect opportunity to try them.