The Grey's Gang

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Catie Cavy
Supporter 2011-2020

Post   » Sat Aug 18, 2018 9:38 am


and a lovely tale. I'm so glad everyone is healing.

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Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Sat Aug 18, 2018 3:29 pm


Wow, it has healed wonderfully!

GreysGuineaPigs

Post   » Wed Oct 24, 2018 6:29 am


Little update: all the babies are doing pretty good! Maggie has struggled with GI stasis and bloat for the past month, and now she is trying to get over a UTI, but she's still in good spirits! I don't have a ton of pictures of all of them, but Maggie and Remy are the ones who will best stay still for the camera! As you can see, Remy's favorite pastime is eating lettuce and then sleeping on Mom while I study. The first pic with the lettuce was actually a product of perfect timing, she was actually throwing her lettuce around before eating it and I caught it in mid-throw...but since she's blind it's nice having one where she's actually looking at the camera!

I couldn't get the photo rotated...but...did someone say lettuce???
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Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Wed Oct 24, 2018 11:52 am


Great pictures!

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GrannyJu1
Supporter in '21

Post   » Wed Oct 24, 2018 12:34 pm


I LOVE your furbabies! They are so cute!

GreysGuineaPigs

Post   » Thu Jan 03, 2019 3:35 am


I have waited to post about this for some time, because it was a little too heartbreaking to share when it happened. As discussed before, Amelia was thought to have two sisters, and I adopted all three. As it turns out, one of them was a brother, missexed by the pet store and I was naive and did not check them before I left the store. I found out days later at home. I kept them anyway, with the boy separated of course. Amelia and Bailey did not seem to be pregnant for what seemed like a while afterward, but they suddenly got very large very fast. They both ended up having babies at the vet's office. They were both young, so when they started birthing and things didn't seem right, I drove three hours to an emergency vet. If this explains the severity, after the 3 hours drive, there was a copius amount of blood and they were still giving birth. The vet did everything they could, but nothing seemed to go right. Both Amelia and Bailey passed shortly after giving birth to a total of 9 pups between the two.

I am a full time grad student and at the time was in the middle of the semester plus working 20-30 hours a week. As much as I would have loved to have kept the babies, I knew nothing of taking care of orphan babies (let alone 9), and the more I learned, the more I knew I would not be home nearly enough to help these little babies survive and thrive. I reached out to a shelter that had significant experience in abandoned and/or orphaned pups. They were very knowledgeable, and they offered to take in all 9 babies. After vetting them thoroughly and hearing only good things, I made the drive there and they took in the pups. They kept in very close contact with me and kept me updated, per my request. They even let me come to the vet with them when they took the babies in for a checkup a month later (all of them sexed and separated accordingly).

One of the babies (who was actually born the smallest of all 9), the vet found, was completely blind. As I've mentioned, I have a blind pig already, Remy. After having Remy for several months, I knew that this baby would likely struggle a little and would be difficult to find adoptive parents. I knew I had to bring her home with me. So, I drove the trip back home with this little ball of fluff the size of my palm, anxious to see if she would get along with my (now) little herd of three (Maggie, Remy, and Rory).

Maggie never had pups, and she attatched to Remy like glue when I brought home her as a little ball of fur. Remy was still older than this baby when I got her, so I didn't know how Maggie would react to a new baby. Maggie is now well over 2lbs, so I knew if they didn't get along, the baby could get seriously injured. However, Maggie instantly went to her, curled around her, and it was like they were long-lost friends. Maggie became her cuddle buddy. Remy showed her how to do everything, and the baby followed her around like a lost puppy. Rory wasn't thrilled about the new pup, but she tolerated it until she got used to her. They're still not best friends, but they're ok with each other.

So, now my little herd is 4. The pup's name has changed once or twice as she has developed more an more personality. Now she is about 4 months old and we call her Peanut (after the Jeff Dunham character because she acts very silly sometimes, and due to her small size at birth). I don't love the name, since it was my dad's nickname for me as a child, but It's growing on me. I don't have many pictures of her yet, and I haven't gotten the ones I do have onto Photobucket, but I hope to soon.

It was heartbreaking to lose two very sweet girls, but Peanut seems to have relieved a little of the ache in both myself and her herd sisters. She sometimes still runs into walls, she's the messiest grape eater in the world, and she will bite your fingers off trying to get a carrot of your hand, but she is so very loved. I hate that we had to lose two beautiful, sweet piggies to get her in our lives, but I am thankful some good came of it and she's with us now, goofiness and all.

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GrannyJu1
Supporter in '21

Post   » Thu Jan 03, 2019 5:50 am


I'm so very sorry for the loss of both mums. I do sometimes hate pet stores, not least for this very reason. Rest in peace, Amelia and Bailey. At least one of your babies has a wonderful home with lots of companionship and mentoring.

Thank you for taking in a tiny helpless baby and providing a good home for Peanut.

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Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Thu Jan 03, 2019 9:28 am


I understand why this update was hard to write. You did all you could for the little pregnant guinea pigs. Peanut sounds like a treasure.

Here is hoping this year is a good one for you and your pets!

GreysGuineaPigs

Post   » Fri Jan 04, 2019 10:46 am


Thank you both!

I am very thankful for the shelter. The rescue still has 5 of the 9 piggies living there that haven't been adopted yet, and they often send me pics and updates...all five are happy and healthy! The remaining 3 were actually adopted together by a family that is friends with the rescue owner, and sometimes they post pics of them on the rescue's facebook page...they also look very happy and healthy. I could not have asked for a better outcome for them!

I hope you all have a good year for you and your pets as well.

GreysGuineaPigs

Post   » Tue Jan 08, 2019 2:43 pm


A little update, although it's a little sad. Last night around 6 pm, Peanut started having light sneezing. As the night progressed, the sneezes continued to grow closer together, and she was starting to act very lethargically. I laid her on my lap for extensive lap time to see if I could tell what else was going on. By 10 pm, she began having a very runny nose, it was starting to dry on her nose and mouth, and was she cleaning her nose obsessively, at least when she wasn't sneezing. By this morning, there was no improvement; her breaths were sounding a little "clicky" and she would occasionally cough. I worked this morning but the vet was able to get me in on my lunch breaj...soooo Peanut came to work with her mom today so we could get there and back on time!

Unfortunately, Peanut was just diagnosed with pneumonia. The poor thing does not feel good at all. She got her a shot of dexamethasone and a big bottle of oral azithromycin to take home. Thankfully, the vet gave me a huge bottle in case the others have already caught it and aren't showing symptoms yet, so I won't have to bring them all in for the same thing. Every time something like this happens, it is so mind boggling... I've always been careful to not have her in a draft, I didn't allow her face to get any water near it when she had to have a bath, she's never been around children, and she hasn't been anywhere that is known for it, such as a pet store. Yet, somehow she caught it, and I now understand why the first warning you hear about guinea pigs is URIs. This stuff does NOT mess around. The degradation of the poor piggy's health is far more intense and fast than I could have imagined.

Here's hoping that she has a speedy recovery and the others are spared from it. For all those who have ever dealt with piggy respiratory issues...I am so so sorry. This is not an experience I'd wish on anyone!

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Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Tue Jan 08, 2019 3:02 pm


I am sorry she is ill. You will want to weigh daily and perhaps review:
www.guinealynx.info/handfeeding.html
www.guinealynx.info/antibiotic_advice.html

GreysGuineaPigs

Post   » Wed Jan 09, 2019 3:45 am


Thank you, Lynx. Fortunately, she is still eating by herself, and she still has a big appetite! She's still lost a little weight, from 290 g to 283 g. The vet said to not be concerned about that small loss just yet, since her body is burning so many calories trying to fight off this infection, but I will definitely have to keep an eye on it. She's already so little that she can't handle to lose very much; her hip bones and spine are still very prominent because she doesn't have much fat on her. Before this started, I was already trying to help get her weight up, but she eats constantly and just isn't gaining much yet. However, there's no telling how long her body was fighting this infection before her symptoms started showing; the vet said that blind piggies are even worse about hiding their illness than normal since they already have increased vulnerability. While she hadn't lost weight until just recently, that may have been why she hasn't gained any lately.

Since Remy is blind as well, and she spends the most time around Peanut, I'm keeping an extra close eye on her as well. Maggie already gets weighed daily because of her tummy troubles, so I've added Peanut and Remy into that nightly routine. Rory absolutely hates being weighed (or picked up for that matter), so I'm holding off on daily weighing unless she starts showing concerning signs.

Even though the others have already been exposed, the vet suggested separating Peanut to lower the chances of the others catching it if they haven't already. It will also allow me to keep a better eye on how much she is eating and drinking, and how the antibiotics are affecting her poops. As soon as I got home, I reconfigured their loft area to give her her own little recuperation cage. She started sniffing around and acting a little panicked, and then she started crying. When Remy started crying, too, and standing against her hidey to try to see into the loft, I realized they were upset because they couldn't find each other. It was so sad, but it's good to see that the two have bonded so well! However, if she doesn't settle down soon, I may let the antibiotics do their thing for a day or two and see that she's still eating, drinking, and pooping well, and let her go back down with Remy. From What I've read, the stress from being separated won't do her or Remy any favors and Remy has already very likely been exposed.

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