Priority # 1 :Cucumber

I made this awhile back :)

I even submitted it for guinea pig approval

Poe had a nibble to make sure it's got substance.

Sailing on calm waters

Where to begin? I have been so lax in recording the comings and goings of my piggy trio. For a long time, things have been bad. Both Poe and Tiramisu have had to overcome some serious bouts of illness. From my last post in Feb until mid of June I was repeatedly in and out of the vet first for Poe's URI and then for Tiramisu's UTI.

Poe had Baytril injections for 3 weeks to root out a very stubborn respiratory infection. She even had an asthmatic inhaler for awhile to help open up her lung tubies. Even after that she was still not 100%, I kept on fearing for a relapse, but slowly all the symptoms faded and we could stop all medication. I think her lungs just needed some time to heal.

Tiramisu had a UTI that just wouldn't go away (bactrim and baytril stopped working), it was related to her ovarian cysts and begrudgingly I opted to spay her. She's almost 5 so I was so so worried. She's such a spunky lil ray of sunshine that losing her due to surgery complications would be devastating. Luckily everything went fine and she recovered faultlessly. I hand fed her the first evening, and when I woke up later at about 4am, ready for another hand feeding session, I peered into her cage and saw her munching on pellets and hay! They managed to get some pee from her bladder during the operation so that it could be sent to a lab for analyses. Tiramisu had some badass new species of bacteria living in her bladder, vet said it was full of abscess'. Again, luckily, they could treat it with injections of Duplocillin (a type of penicillin). Don't panic! The vet was fully aware that penicillin is toxic to guinea pigs, but apparently they are able to tolerate injections of Duplocillin. So Tiramisu had jabs for about 3 weeks. And now she's bounced back :)

So we've been in the clear for about a month now, and I'm just super grateful that everyone is happy and healthy. I feel very blessed that I still get to see 3 beautiful fluffy faces every morning and I treasure their company everyday.

 This was taken in the summer, as can be seen by the abundance of green grass.

Right now it's more like this. There are 3 guinea piggy lumps under those blankets...

I got some fancy tunnels and cubes made for them, will do a proper post soon!

Back when we were young...

Baby pics of Tiramisu and Poe!

And a pic of young Sylbie, basically a baby herself before the other two popped out...

I wasn't too camera happy when every one was little, regret it now as there are not many baby pics of them...

It's been a tough start of the year for the sisters, Poe came down with a respiratory thingy again over Christmas, a then again beginning of Feb - I think it's recurring and we never got rid of it properly the first time. So she's been on a 2 week course of Bactrium and I've also started giving her vitamin C. Tiramisu went in to the vet recently because we noticed she's getting a bald patch on the side of her tummy. Aaah! All sorts of bad things like cushings disease and ovarian cysts spring to mind! The vet treated her for mites just in case and if her fur doesn't grow back in 2 weeks we will need to book an ultra sound. If it's cushings disease they can do nothing, but if it's ovarian cysts they will spay her - gulp*

Oh by the way, I finally found a vet experienced with guinea pigs! It's Jean Davidson and Carol (didn't catch her surname) at Craighall vet! They are really nice ladies (Poe saw Jean and Tiramisu saw Carol) but just be sure to phone ahead and make an appointment especially during the week, as sometimes they are not in. They are also experienced with spaying guinea pigs as apparently everyone sends guinea pigs and rabbits for them to spay. They are quite expensive, Poe had an x-ray done and that together with the consultation was basically R800! But I guess you pay more for a specialist. They even stock critical care, which I have only seen on the internets...

Poe's being perkier and Tiramisu's still eating and running around voraciously showing no signs of hormonal imbalance so I live in hope that our year will get better.

Trust

Poe has become more tame after being sick, she now lets me pick her up without trying to run away! Finally after 4 years I have gained her trust!

I know there are many guinea pig owners out there who spend much more time with their piggies and hence have a closer relationship with them. I don't cuddle mine that much because when I do hold them I always feel like it's more for me than it is for their enjoyment, they tend to freeze up and I'm sure it's much more stimulating running about with your fellow guinea pigs than it is being confined to the lap area of a giant. People don't understand why I have pets that run away from me instead of to me, but I have learnt to respect what they are comfortable with.

I think with guinea pigs (and this is true for all small furry creatures) everyone's first instinct is to scoop them up and interact with them on your (bigger, scarier, taller) level, when it mostly stresses them out (if they don't know you very well), because in the wild when a guinea pig is being grabbed and lifted, it's most likely fallen prey to something big and hungry.

So I mostly leave my girls alone, Sylbie especially gets stressed out when she's being cornered, she tries frantically to wriggle away and screams loudly. She's better once cradled in my arm, but she still mutters angrily and sometimes pulls my clothes. Tiramisu is so nimble that she just dodges my hands if I start bringing them around her. But all my piggies are friendly and curious when their feet are planted firmly on the ground, they come out of their hiding places when we approach the enclosure and actively run towards my hand (1 hand = food, 2 hands = suspicion) most likely in the hopes of edibles, but seem to also enjoy back scratches when they flop down and make their happy gurgling noise.

When Poe was on the vet's examination table recently, she kept on coming close to me and placing her front feet gently on my hand as if asking to be picked up and put back into her box (where she undoubtedly feels much safer). I feel super special to have earned their trust, and realize that guinea pigs just express it differently. I was so surprised when I was picking Poe up that she lifted her front feet and stepped onto my hand whilst I scooped up her bum with my other hand! What a mellow fuzz ball ^_^

I recently stumbled onto this blog and have been happily going through the archives since, this one post resonated with me and runs closely to my philosophy about keeping animals, have a read if you still care for more reading after my ramblings!
http://arabbitblog.wordpress.com/2009/09/19/bunnish-philosophy/

Tiramisu heart hammock

I made a series of winter piggy drawings. I drew each one with stuff that suited their personality. Tiramisu loves any hammock type thing and last weekend I caught her chilling on a makeshift pillow case hammock.  

I was trying to get photos of her sleeping - she lays her head down and looks super cute, but she was wary of me and I kept on waking her up...

Urrgh leave me alone human!

Awww...sulky sleeping?

She also lies strangely (like some dogs!) that I've never seen Sylbie or Poe do.

Poe vs pneumonia

Things have been quite eventful and mostly stressful in the guinea pigs' lives. It all started the weekend before last...

Short version:
Poe had pneumonia, she almost died! Then, the baytril antibiotic caused bloating/constipation/diarrhea and she almost died again! But she's better now and you can scroll to the end to see some more pictures!

Long version:
The piggies and I have moved back to my parents' house (this is as a result of me mildly failing at a functioning adult life - plus it's quite difficult for me to find a nice pet friendly rental so I opted out for the easy option due to sheer laziness...).
Anywho, I notice Poe not being her spritely self on Sunday and by Monday something was obviously wrong and we went to the vet. They kept her for x rays - Vet phones later and says that it was one of the worst cases of pneumonia they've seen and they gave her oxygen to help her breathe. They gave her a Baytril injection and by the afternoon she was reportedly doing much better and also eating some food. I went in after work to look at her x-ray and it was so bad. Her little lungs were all white because they were filled with phlegm/mucus (healthy lungs show up black on an x-ray because it should be mainly filled with air). My poor little Poe. She's probably been sick for awhile, but just hid it really well because she's a tough, obstinate little creature. I felt so bad for not spotting it sooner...

Timeline:
Mon: Pneumonia diagnosis, baytril injection (0.1 ml). Overnight at vet's
Tues: Same baytril injection, I brought her home
Wed - Fri: Go into vet's every morning for the baytril injection.
Fri: Vet says good news! Poe's doing great, they've also got the oral baytril so I can give her myself at home and not have to come in every morning. Poe is to have 0.05ml of baytril daily for the next 10 days.
Sat: I give Poe baytril through a needle less syringe. But by the afternoon she seems less energetic than the previous day.
Sun: Poe is very lethargic and not eating. I decide to stop giving her baytril. She is breathing fine (so it's not the pneumonia acting up). When I pick her up her stomach felt quite stretched and I could feel gas bubbling around. As it was Sunday my vet was not open and after phoning around and being referred 3 times I still failed to find a vet that is experienced with treating guinea pigs that can see her on the day.

So I research online and figure out that she's suffering from bloat most likely caused by the oral baytril. I try all the home remedies I found on guinea pig forums etc - giving her "poop soup" made from the droppings of my 2 healthy guinea pigs to restore good bacteria in her gut, massaging her belly to help her poop/fart, giving her olive oil (said to help constipation) and even putting her in a foot spa so that the vibrations can loosen any blockages. She didn't like the foot spa much, she kept on climbing out and trying to re-unite with her family in the cage :) Occasionally she would strain and arch her back trying to poop, and only very small mushy poops came out. One time she made such a large soft poop she was squeaking and straining for a while (it was scary). Poe kept on having diarrhea for the rest of the day, and I gave her poop soup another 2 times. So generally it was a shit filled day (couldn't resist hee). In the afternoon, I was starting to contemplate having to hand feed her but first decided to pick various plants and veggies from the garden (Dad's vegetable patch save the day!) to see if she'd eat any on her own - yes! she nibbled some spinach and lettuce! She continued to eat small bits of apple, carrot and cucumber through out the day, but expresses no interest in grass that she loved before. Encouragingly she also started munching some hay. Towards the evening Poe seems to be in the clear, she seemed eager for food (even standing up against the cage like she used to!) even though she'd only eat small amounts each time.

This Monday Poe looked much better (her poops are still very soft, but at least more normal sized and holding together). Appetite is still not back to normal, but her behaviour is more her usual self. She ate grass with the others and also had some pellets. I took her to the vet again and we agreed to stop with the baytril but I will observe her closely to make sure the pneumonia doesn't make a come back.

Phew! So it's been a rough week for Poe. She's a real lil trooper, who managed to trundle on no matter what :) an awesome good natured beastie who tolerated being prodded and man handled and having feeding tubes shoved in her mouth without complaint.

Sorry for the essay style post! I thought I'd be thorough because reading other guinea pig owner's experiences online really helped me pin point what was wrong with Poe and what I can do when a vet is not available. Maybe some one will be able to find some answers here through my experiences! Here are some links I found useful:

http://undercoverguineapigs.blogspot.com/2010/08/dealing-with-bloat.html - Read the comments too, this is where I found out about the olive oil treatment.

http://www.guinealynx.info/forums/viewtopic.php?t=58041 - home emergency care that helped a guinea pig make it through the night.

http://www.guinealynx.info/handfeeding.html - useful info on hand feeding.

I would also like to add that (this is probably re-iterated many times on the web already):

1. Don't be complacent! You know your guinea pig, and if anything is amiss, never delay taking them to the vet!

2. Always google your vet's prescription to check that it is in keeping with standard guinea pig treatment and the medicine is safe for guinea pigs. My vet is really nice, but they are not specialized in treating small animals (seems like very few are in Johannesburg) - they are close to me so it's easy to take my guinea pigs there first. I find that they know the basics (and hey, they did get Poe better) but are oblivious when it comes to the nuances of guinea pig care (no probiotics even though I asked about it, never heard of poop soup) and don't seem to have any other means of treating guinea pigs except for baytril.

3. If you are in Johannesburg with a sick guinea pig, you can try terrace vet in edenvale (http://trvh.co.za/index.php) - I took Tiramisu there when she was had a URI as a baby. They seemed more familiar with exotic small animals. After phoning around I was also referred Craighall vet (http://www.craighallvet.com) - reportedly familiar with treating guinea pigs, but I had to make an appointment to see a vet, and only by Monday afternoon. Apparently they work to an appointment system, so always phone first. You can also try my vet (Paulshof vet), they've have some practice on my guinea pigs! And they are gentle with them which I like. Don't ever go to Parktown North Veterinary Hospital, they are an exotic vet, but when I took Poe and Tiramisu in for a simple eye infection the vet man picked them up by the scruff of their necks (aaaaah they are not puppies you loon!) and also advised me to keep them on wood shavings because that's what he did when he was a guinea pig breeder (what century are you from? There are better products now!) On top of that they are really expensive (over R400 for consultation).

Hooray! you made it to the end! I took these photos of Poe on this Monday, she was still a bit fragile...

I found Sylbie with her feet out chilling today, cute :)

What my guinea pigs eat : Pellets

My three love their pellets, any clinking sound of their food bowls will immediately trigger much excited scurrying round. Sometimes when I start dishing out for them before I fence them off (after cage cleaning), they run in frenzied circles around my feet like tiny dogs ^_^

 Hmmnomnomnom! Sylbie has such a good natured face…

 This is how Poe eats - she shoves her face into the bowl and doesn’t lift it until she’s eaten all the tasty bits.

Everyone gets their own bowl, else they bicker and Tiramisu will usually miss out. I tend to put down the bowls starting from the right. Sylbie has now wised up and runs to the far left to wait for the blue bowl so she doesn’t have to squish with the youngsters. And yes, their food bowls are ashtrays… they are hardcore like that :p 

But really - its functional, the perfect size for a guinea pig, and heavy - so no tipping.

Currently I feed my girls Cavia Nature (made by Versele Laga). I’ve previously fed them Cavia Crispy and Cavia Complete. This Guinea Lynx Forum link discusses the differences between these products more thoroughly. Cavia Crispy contains a lot of corn and wheat (possibly up to half of the product weight), which I would pick out, marking a very laborious stage of my life... Cavia Nature has less corn bits, but there are these hard round beans and the odd sunflower seed that I would pick out for fear of them choking on it. I basically fill the blue bowl (about 50g) and then distribute it evenly between the three bowls daily. 

Versele Laga is (I think) the most premium guinea pig food available in Johannesburg and Pretoria (possibly whole of South Africa?) In my experience, many pet shops and even vets are not very knowledgeable about pellets made specifically for guinea pigs and will happily tell you to feed them rabbit food. I used to feed my girls a mixture (of rabbit pellets and guinea pig pellets) because Versele is quite expensive. It is also hard to find as not many pet stores stock it. I get my pellets from Cat Box Hyper, they are by far the cheapest for both guinea pig pellets and hay. Especially hay, which some pet stores sell for R40 for a small bag that would last me a week, at Cat Box Hyper its about R18. I used to also get my supplies from Animal Kingdom (there's a branch in Pretoria) or there is a pet shop inside the massive Pick 'n Pay Hypermarket on Atterbury (Pretoria) that has competitive prices.