Piggie Post: Nellie Turns 5!

Ohai Everybody!

While I was taking my "I suck at blogging" break in November, a certain someone turned 5 and we threw a huge bash for her. How does one go about throwing a party for a guinea pig? Well, it's quite simple really... we just obtained a bouncy castle, and by bouncy castle I mean tub of hay that we dropped the pigs in.

Aggie was the first pig in and naturally she wasted no time and started chowing down. She had a grand ol' time at the party and spent the remainder of the night wondering why she wasn't always surrounded by unlimited amounts of hay. (Yup, this totally sucked to write... miss you Aggie)

Lucy was next to have a turn in the hay bin. Much to my surprise she HATED it. She kept trying to dig her way out of the bin. She was promptly returned to her cage to make room for more willing participants.

 

Pru and Maggie were next. They were good little noodles and had a jolly time frolicking in and eating the hay.

Eleanor and the birthday girl were next. This didn't last long though because Eleanor decided to be a party pooper and bite Nellie in the ass. Once Eleanor was removed against her will Nellie happily munched on all the hay her little heart could want.

 

 

Happy birthday Nellie Bellie! Time to relax and enjoy your senior pig years! I'm sure your mommy and sisters were celebrating with you too :)

Crippie's Tippie - When in doubt just give your piggies a crap ton of hay and they'll be happy

Back to Basics

Howdy!

I hope y'all have been having a dandy week thus far. Mine's certainly been interesting. Shall I bring you guys up to speed?

First off, someone hit my car in a parking lot... with me in it. No worries though, there was hardly any damage to my precious Penelope, just a scratch on the car and a few scratches to the rim of a tire. Seriously, it was so minuscule that I told the guy who hit me not to worry about it. It was a scary experience though. One of my main fears about driving is getting into/being involved in an accident and killing myself and or someone else. My thought process getting out of the car was "OH MY GOD! OH MY GOD! WHAT AM I GONNA DO? WHAT AM I GONNA... oh... wait... there's no damage here... oh... okay... we're cool." I was a lil shake-y for a while but I calmed down after an hour or two. Now I ain't even mad, just thankful that nothing worse happened.

On to cripple things, the past few weeks have suuuuuccccccckkkkkeeeeedddddd pain wise. How bad? Well, I spent most of my labor day weekend laid up in bed watching "Orange Is The New Black" because I was literally in too much pain to move. Side note, I really enjoyed that show. If I had a "busy" day it would take another day to recover, and I'm using the word "busy" loosely because I really wasn't doing all that much. Anyway, today I went to my pain management doctor to discuss everything. She gave my back a once over and we came to the conclusion that my gait and lack of strength in my back is causing the pain. She gave me some exercises to do so hopefully that'll help. We're also adjusting my medication schedule a bit. I usually take my meds at night. We're now splitting them up so I take some of my weaker meds earlier. This should help manage my pain better and keep it at bay longer. Fingers crossed that it works. On the bright side, my arms having given me much trouble over the past two weeks, which is a welcome change. Pity the other issues overshadowed that.

On to piggie things. Lucy-fer was on a bit of an asshole rampage for a few days, until we discovered "solitary confinement". And by that I mean we put her in a pet carrier and left in there for a little while. One night before dinner Lucy was acting up so I put her in solitary. Her case was on a chair next to me so I could see her the entire time. It was 30 minutes of "WHY AM I HERE MAMAAAAAAA" and lots of sad piggie eyes. She started to learn her lesson after that, but she truly learned her lesson a few days after that. Lucy had settled down, but one her favorite pigs, Maggie, was ignoring her. Lucy would go by Maggie, not touching her or anything, and Maggie would start freaking out and screaming at Lucy until she left. Well... one day I check them and I found Miss Lucy-fer sulking in a corner. I took her out for some one on one time and we had a nice talk. I think she's starting to realize that her actions have consequences.

YOU CAN SEE THE SADNESS ON HER FACE! It's been a few days since we've had that discussion and *knock on wood* Lucy has not gotten into trouble. She's been a very good girl. Maggie is still wary of her and screams whenever Lucy comes near her. Poor Lucy-fer, she just sits there like "WHAT DID I DO!?!?! I JUST WANT TO SHARE A HOUSE WITH YOU".

So that's about it. Fun week. Happy Friday everyone!

Crippie's Tippie - Just because an animal is aggressive at times don't assume it's evil

Seven Nation Arm-y

Ohai!

Sorry I've been away from the blog, I do have an explanation though. But first... PIGGIES!

The piggies are continuing to settle down and accept their roles in their little "society". Nellie is the boss pig, and Lucy has lovingly turned into her evil little minion. Lucy will gladly do Nellie's bidding. Recently Nellie's bidding mainly consists of nipping Eleanor in the butt. Lucy has been put in time out on multiple occasions for cornering Eleanor and repeatedly biting her. NOBODY BITES BABY IN A CORNER! Eleanor has kinda turned into a lil' recluse, she enjoys her hide-y places. It's funny how the song she's named after fits her personality. Prudence has probably taken the adjustment the easiest, her hobbies include comfortably lounging wherever possible and hanging around Maggie. Maggie has grown to accept the babies and she's actually quite fond of the attention they give her.

Last night I gave Eleanor some extra attention because miss Lucy-fer decided to block her into a corner on two separate occasions in one day! Poor baby needed some snuggles. So she got some extra cuddle time with me watchin' TV. While her experiences with "Wheel of Fortune" didn't amaze her "The Colbert Report" blew her little mind. She stood on my hand and watched the entire episode. She then browsed reddit with me and eventually fell asleep on my arm. Too freaking cute.

God I'm adorable...

Selfie! #NoMakeup ;)

Taking a snooze on mommy

Told ya she was freakin' cute.

Ok... moving on to why I was absent for a lil' over a week. Well...

Yup, BOTH of my arms have been bothering me for the past week or so! GO ME! Bothering is a wee bit of an understatement... MY ARMS FREAKING HURT! I think something either in my right forearm or elbow caught, basically rendering my entire arm useless. I used my handy dandy ace bandage to alleviate the problem for the time being. As for my left... I'm pretty sure something caught in my forearm towards my wrist. Again, ace bandage and hope I can manage it on my own. I wasn't posting because while I technically can type with one hand, I only do that when I HAVE to. Not exactly a comfortable thing to do. Plus, it would take ages to write the damn post! Oh well... fingers crossed that I won't need surgery for these bastards.

At least my nails look awesome :D

The tumors seem to have unhooked themselves for now *knocks on wood*. If it keeps happening then it's off to the orthopedist I go! If it's a problem with the arm I can deal, that would be a fairly simple surgery. If it's in the elbow region... eh... that could be trickier. Anything near a joint is always harder. Even then, it's my right hand... not my dominant one. It would probably be a harder recovery... but I'd live. Meh... in the meantime I'm just gonna act like it won't be a massive problem and hope that my tumors listen.

Crippie's Tippie - If you use ace bandages, try to obtain ones with velcro and or some type of self-adhesive capability. Nothin' worse that getting poked by those stupid pointy metal fasteners. (the ace bandage in the picture is velcro BTW, pretty sure I saved it from a surgery)

One Week

Yes I am singing that Barenaked Ladies song to myself right now.

I hope y'all have had a fabulous week. I've been pretty busy with the family and of course the n00b piggies.

Lucy, Eleanor and Prudence are slowly but surely adjusting to life with their new cage, new humans, and new buddies. Over the past week their relationship with Nellie & Maggie has grown from "We'll let you live... for now" to "I tolerate you, but I will keeeeeeeeeel you if you steal my lettuce". The n00bs definitely look up to Nellie and Maggie and see them as annoying older siblings who occasionally bite them in the ass. Lucy LOVES Nellie, she sees her as the ultimate role model. Nellie has already taught her the art of begging for noms.

Prudence is in awe of Maggie but mainly the new contraption that is "The Giant Talking Box" (the TV) she watched "Wheel of Fortune" with us and was completely enthralled with it. Eleanor was also highly intrigued by the talking box, but it took her longer to realize how awesome it was. They have also learned the art of screaming whenever someone enters the kitchen. I'm working on teaching them that my whistling means food, not the kitchen floor squeaking. It'll probably take a little bit of practice but no one here minds the wheeking, it's adorable. In the past I taught the pigs that the intro to "Moves Like Jagger" and or "Dueling Banjos" meant food and that the theme from Jaws meant they were about to be tickled.

While they're getting more comfortable with their surroundings, Eleanor and Prudence are very timid. Here's Pru's face and Eleanor's butt. They are very comfortable with being snuggled by humans though. They really enjoy snuggles.

Nellie & Eleanor have pretty much settled their differences. Nellie is the boss, and she is completely content with that role. She's enjoying bossing the other pigs around. I do not see her moping around the cage anymore. I have not seen her or Maggie laying down where Frida died. The n00bs definitely have helped them move on.

Maggie is slowly but surely adjusting to the n00bs, she no longer cowers in fear in corners. She does however get very territorial over this hide-y. She loves it and threatens to keeeeeeel any pig that dare think they are welcome in it.

As for Aggie, Fat Bastard is still blissfully enjoying her solitude. Her new favorite hiding place is under the ramp for the second level to her cage. She's afraid to walk up the ramp, but she'll sleep under it.

Well, that's about it for now. I really should attempt to get some sleep. YAY INSOMNIA! 

Crippie's Tippie - Buy your guinea pig supplies (hay, bedding, food, whatever) in bulk

Piggie Post: NEW PIGGIES!

Greetings!

As promised, here's the story of our new additions...

Ok, well it started the day after Frida passed. As I mentioned in a prior post Nellie and Maggie were very mopey. The mopey-ness progressed over the next few days, and one of the only cures for the loss of a piggie friend is a new piggie friend, plus I really was not happy with the emptiness of the herd. So on Wednesday I started my search for a new pig, but it had to be the RIGHT new pig. Generally speaking it's easier to introduce babies and senior pigs to an existing group. A senior pig was unfortunately out of the question because I cannot stand the thought of losing another pig right now. I needed a baby pig. First I went to PetFinder. There were a few baby pigs in rescues about an hour away, they didn't scream out "MINE" but I kept 'em in my maybe file. I decided to check out Craigslist for teh lulz. Usually Craigslist pigs either come from a) Idiots who "don't have time" for their pigs anymore, or b) breeders. FUN FACT: If you see a Craigslist post for a baby guinea pig without the word "rehoming" or "adoption" fee, they are breeders. Do not support them. Most of the posts were idiots selling pigs, but none of them were close to me. I scrolled down a little and found a post from a month ago from my area. A rescue had acquired 3 young female pigs and they were looking to adopt them out. I figured I'd shoot the rescue an email inquiring about the pigs. Honestly I wasn't expecting much out of this inquiry, it was a month old after all. Anyways, flash forward to 15 minutes later. I get a facebook message from the rescue... because I went to high school with the person running the rescue! Small world ain't it? She told me that the piggies were still available, after I answered the basic adoption form questions she said I sounded like the perfect owner for the pigs.

Here's the thing, there was always a chance that the new pigs would not get along with Nellie and Maggie, if that was the case I offered to foster the pigs until a better home could be found. We settled on that agreement Thursday. So... when I wrote that post about wanting new pigs I actually had these pigs lined up. I would've mentioned 'em, but I didn't want to jinx anything.

I arranged to pick them up yesterday. Once I met the new pigs I knew they'd be mine. They were so friggin cute! First thing I did though was double checked that they were all girls. Seriously, whenever you obtain a guinea pig CHECK THE GENDER FIRST! Once I was certain they were all girls they were placed in a box and into my car (the box had a seatbelt around it). They were very good during the car ride and barely made a peep, granted that was probably because they were freaking terrified. By this point Nellie and Maggie were clearly sad so I wanted to get this introduction over with ASAP. They needed friends damn it! So the new pigs were placed in a giant playpen in my living room with Nellie, Maggie and a big ass bowl of salad. The biggest tip I can give anyone who is introducing pigs is feed them. The food distracts them enough and kinda works as a "peace pipe". The introduction went fairly smoothly. Two of the new pigs and Maggie quickly accepted recessive roles. However Nellie and one of the new pigs did not. New pig thought SHE was the boss and Nellie thought SHE was the boss. So they spent an hour running around the cage and biting each other's butts. I supervised with a towel to break up any bad fights, but I mostly let them work it out. Remember, as long as no blood is shed they're ok. Eventually they got tired and stopped fighting. By this point all of the other pigs were sleeping so I declared the introduction a success. I put all five pigs in their new cage expecting a new battle but I was pleasantly surprised. The new pigs were like "THERE ARE SO MANY TOYS HERE" and happily roamed around the cage. Nellie would periodically bite one in the ass, but again to be expected. Maggie clearly does not like change as she spent a few hours hiding in a corner. The cute thing was one of the new pigs loves Maggie, she would sit by her while she was cowering in fear. Again, no blood was drawn so that means that over the next few days the "Quints" will learn to be buddies. That also means that I am again the proud owner of six guinea pigs.

Wanna meet my new babies?!?!

This is Eleanor, she is a grey, cream, roan and white shorthair. Her coloring is so unique, I love it. She is the one who was fighting with Nellie. Even though she is the dominant one of the new pigs she's very timid at the moment. She SCREAMS when you touch her in the cage (she's louder than Aggie which says something) but once you remove her from the cage and put her on your lap she turns into quite the snugglebug. She kinda reminds me of Emma sometimes.

This is Prudence. She's a white, cream, black, and chocolate brown shorthair. Again, beautiful color and such a pretty face. She is, without question, the sweetest freakin' thing I've ever seen in my life. She is enthralled with Maggie and she LOVES her new humans. She loves to give nuzzles and kisses. She was actually kissing my grandma's face earlier. SO DAMN ADORABLE!

Last but not least, this is Lucy. She's a black, red and white shorthair. She has the same coloring as Frida and some of her marking are similar. I think she is a month or two younger than the other two. Here she is sleeping through the introduction. Lucy can be best described as "special", apart from sleeping through intros her hobbies include fearlessly wandering the cage, outsmarting other pigs for food, sleeping by water bottles, and apparently swimming. As if her having similar markings and colors to Frida, they also share a similar manner when dealing with humans. Lucy's idea of being affectionate is nibbling you. Not quite as painful as a bite, but not a pleasant experience. Oh well... nothin' time won't fix. In the meantime, Lucy can only be handled by people who don't mind the nibbles.

I cannot begin to describe how happy all of the humans in house are. We felt incomplete before them. Losing Mama Pig and Frida in such a short time put a massive hole in our hearts. I'm actually getting kinda emotional right now just thinking about them. Lucy, Eleanor and Prudence are not "replacement pigs". I will never be able to replace Frida, regardless of how Lucy is eerily similar to her at times. Prudence is quite the cuddler, but she's not Mama Pig. Eleanor is a cuddly lil' butthole, but she's not Emma. Now that all the pigs are settling in everything feels as it should. Everything is back to normal, a new normal, but a normal nonetheless.

Crippie's Tippie - Never buy a pig from a pet store, always adopt

Lovely Frida

Hey Guys,

I don't know how to even start this post, so I'm just gonna say it. Frida got sick over the weekend and she passed away early this morning. To say that I'm devastated is a vast understatement.

We originally got guinea pigs for my sister. We intended on getting two, BUT there were three babies. My mom picked out baby Emma first, because she was s'darn cute. My sister had the choice between picking Nellie and Frida and she chose Nellie. Thus Mama and Frida were left at the pet store. I didn't mind at the time because believe it or not I didn't want any pets, at all. Well, over the next couple of months I realized how awesome piggies were, so when we spotted Mama Pig and Frida still in the store a few months later we happily scooped them up. 

Nellie was my sister's pig, Emma was my mother's, Mama Pig was my Grandmother's and Frida was mine. I named her Frida after my favorite artist, Frida Kahlo. The black stripe over her eye reminded me of her unibrow. FUN FACT: I was originally going to name her Zora, because the black markings on her face kinda reminded of Zorro's mask. She didn't look like a Zora and she became Frida. Anyway, as soon as Frida got home she snuggled up with me, she was extraordinarily content, then I touched in a spot where she didn't want to be touched and she bit me. In other words, she was always a cuddly, vicious little butthead. 

Frida was always above the other pigs, literally, as she would use the faces of her cagemates as step-ladders. Need a carrot? Just step on Mama Pig's face! Need lettuce? Just step on Mama Pig's face! Want to see out of the cage? Just step on Mama Pig's face! Need to make sure you are fed before Mama Pig? Yup, you guessed it... FACE. Mama Pig usually forgave her though, I mean how could you not forgive that face.

Don't let the cuteness fool you, she was an asshole at times. She used to nip and occasionally bite people frequently. Guests were urged to approach Frida with caution and children were NOT allowed to touch her. People admired her from afar. In her younger days Frida was the reason she and Mama were not housed with Emma and Nellie. The one time I had Frida and Emma together for a playdate Frida almost bit Emma's leg off (And Emma could hold her own in a fight). Over the years though she learned that she could love piggies other than Mama.

Once they were combined into a cage, Mama Pig, Nellie and Frida became best buddies. Frida and Nellie hardly fought and having a new friend made Frida so much happier. She was a changed piggie! No more were the days of constantly yelling "GET OFF OF HER FACE FRIDA! SHE'S YOUR MOTHER!" Frida was now a kind, snuggly, no bite-y pig. She didn't even mind when I added Maggie into their mix. I thought that Maggie and Frida would kill each other but surprisingly they became fast friends. Maggie was even seen giving Frida kisses last night. Nellie would snuggle up to Frida whenever I put her back in the cage after giving her medicine. 

Frida loved food. I mean she LOVED it. And it showed, she developed quite an impressive double chin which she used as a comfy pillow. If you pushed all of her fur up she kinda looked like a lion, and her head would almost be in the shape of a perfect circle. 

She was funny, for a guinea pig she had very specific tastes when it came to music. She loved Lady Gaga, particularly the song "Pokerface". I played it for her last night on my phone, she perked up and relaxed. She was also a champion tinkler. God help you if her butt wasn't on the towel. One time she shot pee clear across my sofa, the entire couch had to be washed. 

She enjoyed a good nap

A good grooming

And a good snuggle

She let you know when she was going to keeeeeeeeeeel you

Even if she was going to kill you, she'd forgive you if bribed her with food and or tummy rubs.

Frida would have turned 5 in October. She is predeceased by her sister Emma and mother Mama Pig. Frida is survived by sister Nellie, roomie Maggie, loud neighbor across the room Aggie, those giant creatures who stayed with her last night Helen and Angel, and her humans all of whom miss her greatly. Goodnight Frida, I hope you have an unlimited supply of peppers, watermelon, and faces to step on. You were the best guinea pig anyone could ask for. Mommy misses you so much and I'll never forget you.

Viva Frida

Crippie's Tippie - Don't take your pets for granted, their time with you is far too short :(

We Can Work It Out

Yo!

I hope my crippled comrades had a fabulous weekend. After a craptacular Friday my weekend went really well. It didn't rain so I was in a much happier place pain wise. The biggest reason my weekend was awesome is that *drumroll* MAGGIE IS LIVING WITH THE TRIO!

YUP! You heard me right, Maggie is now living with Mama, Frida, and Nellie. Here's how I worked miracles and got this to happen.

1) Maggie had mini "play dates" with each of the other pigs on their own, to gauge their reactions. No one tried flat out attack the other pig. No one was thrilled to see her, but at the same time no one wanted to kill her. 

2) Wide Open Spaces - This intro had the potential to go VERY poorly. They needed a very large open space so they could run the hell away from each other. I opted for outside on my lawn because they could have ample space plus unlimited noms so they could eat their feelings. Also this is neutral territory for all involved. 

3) I stood guard with a towel, prepared to break up any fights. Again, NEVER BREAK UP A PIG FIGHT WITH YOUR HANDS, YOU WILL GET BIT! I did have to break up one fight during their introduction, but after that squabble Maggie learned her place and they all more or less stopped fighting. 

4) While I was introducing the pigs, my mom was cleaning the trio's cage out. She used a different smelling cleaner than what she normally uses and she rearranged the cage a little. That way when the pigs went back in the cage, they'd all think it was a new cage. 

We've gotten through the first phase of the introduction, they're all in the same cage. But the new quarter is still not on good terms yet. That'll take a few days. Maggie is probably gonna have a rough couple of days, she spent most of tonight crying in her house. We're making sure she has plenty of secure hiding places, I will also be monitoring her weight carefully over the next few days, to make sure she's eating and drinking. The next few days might be challenging, but as long as Maggie has friends in the end, it'll be worth it. And now... PICTURES!!!

Do you have friends for me?!?!?!

FRIENDS!!!

My name is Maggie and you are my white glowy buddies!

I HAVE BUDDIES!!!!

The Quartet (Frida, Maggie, Nellie, Mama's Butt)

Crippie's Tippie - During introductions, a little fighting is to be expecting, but stop the intro if you see  blood. 

Yup, I'm Insane

Ohai August

I hope all my readers are having a lovely week. I'm still kinda recovering from Cripplefest so I'm a wee bit tired. I better hurry up and recover because there will be another massive event at my house on Saturday. Approximately 60 people will be coming to my house for a cumulative "LOL, my mom and grandma are old" party. I'm gonna have to clean soooooooooooo many things tomorrow... oy! 

On top of that general craziness I have my own guinea pig drama to deal with. As y'all might remember, the last time we heard from Aggie & Maggie they were in separate cages because they now hate each other. Well, I gave them some time to forget that they want to kill one another but alas, it does not seem to be working. Whenever I put one close to the other they goes all "bath salts"on each other and try to eat the other's face. *Sigh*. Aggie is still rather content being a solo pig. I have not noticed any changes in behavior from her. Maggie on the other hand is depressed. She just sits around her cage and sulks. I can't just leave Maggie alone in her cage and I have very limited options. I could trrryyyyy to put her with the trio, but I don't see that ending well. My other option is to get her a new friend. Since Maggie is a little asshole getting a buddy for her is no easy task. Generally speaking it's easier to either get a senior pig and or a baby pig, they are not as likely to hurt them. I can't afford to take care of another senior pig now, not to mention that I really don't want to go through the whole introduction process again when the senior croaks. So it looks like I need to find a baby guinea pig that Maggie will like. My plan of action is to contact the nearest guinea pig rescues and shelters, ask if they have baby pigs, and ask if I can bring Maggie over for a "play-date". Since Maggie is such a butthead I can't just adopt any baby that I want, if she doesn't like the n00b I'm screwed. Maggie has to be the one to choose her friend. What can I say, I'm a crazy guinea pig lady. I've already contacted the nearest rescue (an hour away from me) asking about a play-date, no response yet (keep your fingers crossed readers). In the meantime I'm checking Craigslist and Petfinder to see if any new piglets pop up. Oh, if by chance any of my local readers are looking to rehome a young, female guinea pig... hit me up.

So yeah, things are slightly hectic around here, but it's all good. It's definitely a change from the usual. Again, due to the craziness, I don't know if I'll be able to post this weekend. I'll try though.

Crippie's Tippie - Cannot say these this enough... if you want a guinea pig, ADOPT. Also, guinea pigs are hard freakin' work. 

Maggie's Tippie - Unless you're a weirdo like Aggie, piggies like to be with other pigs. If you're adopting pigs, make sure that we have friends.

One Day Mooooorrrrreeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

Hey Y'all!

I'm apologizing in advance for what will probably be a total lack of posts over the next week or so. Cause... CRIPPLEFEST FESTIVITIES BEGIN TOMORROW! w000000000000000000000000t. While the event itself isn't until next Sunday, cripples are gonna start trickling in tomorrow... and staying at my house :D. So it's gonna be a weeklong cripple sleepover. It's like a normal sleepover except we gossip about hot doctors. Anyway, it's gonna be "cray cray" down here and I don't think I'm gonna have any opportunities to blog. I'll try to tweet about my adventures though, and I'll probs be posting some pics to instragram too (I'm @scarwars10... FOLLOW ME)

Everyone here has spent the past couple of days getting ready, it's been insane. On the bright side, my room is finally freakin' clean. It took a lot of assistance from my sister... but now it looks like a civilized person lives here :D We're almost done getting ready, tomorrow I have to put Maggie in her new home. (we had to find the spare cage... took a while). Maggie is very excited about Cripplefest too... she likes my friends.

I don't know if I've said this enough but, I'M SO EXCITED!!! I can't wait to see all my crippled friends. Alas, I don't exactly have friends that I can physically "hang out" with... so actually being with all my buddies is awesome.

And since some of you guys have been asking me "What's gonna happen with Aggie and Maggie? They can't stay in those cages" I know that keeping them in pet store cages is far from the ideal situation, but it's temporary. After all of the Cripplefest stuff over I'll have time to devote to bringing them back together. I'll do the buddy bath followed with massive amounts of salad to hopefully seal the deal. If thhhaaaaaaaaatttt fails, again, I'm gonna have to look into other options, like maybe obtaining a new friend from them, possibly a neutered boy. Honestly I have no idea, we'll just take it one day at time with those little buttheads. Maggie has been extra "special" for the past few days, instead of drinking from her water dish like a normal pig, she's been dunking her damn head in the water. Silly pigs.

Anyways, yeah... I don't think I'll be seeing you guys for about a week or so. I hope y'all have a fantastic week! Much love - Crippie

Crippie's Tippie - When hosting cripples at your house, be sure that you have something comfy to sleep on. 

It's Hard Out Here For A Pig

Greetings

The Aggie Update - The chubster saw the vet yesterday. Apart from meeting a new friend (a little girl who gave her lots of rubs) Aggie received a clean bill of health! YAY AGGIE! I'm not doing a victory dance though. Aggie appears to be a little traumatized from the past week. She was taking her emotions out on Maggie and the two had to be separated. Once we got come from the vet I let Aggie recover on her own for a few hours. I planned on putting her and Maggie together that night following a salad introduction. They ate their salad together, but then started to squabble again. I then decided to let them hang out on neutral territory, the sofa. Unfortunately they had a full on brawl. I was able to pull them apart. While I was putting each of them in "time out" I noticed that Aggie had been bitten in the face, more specifically her mouth and nose. So, for those of you keep track at home, Aggie has managed to injure her eye, nose, and mouth all within a week. I cleaned the wounds and they weren't deep thankfully, BUT Aggie and Maggie cannot be housed together with their current temperaments. So for the time being Maggie has their cage, and Aggie has a playpen on the floor. 

I'm still in a total state of disbelief. Maggie and Aggie have been paired together since Maggie was about 4 weeks old (and she'll be 3 in February). While they've never been an affectionate pair, they tolerated each other. I can't believe that they would fight like this. Ugggggghhhhhhhhhhhhh. The life of a pig owner, right? 

So, what am I gonna do? Alright, I know that Maggie and Aggie are capable of being nice... they've done so for two and a half years. I just need to get them to remember that they like each other. First, I'm gonna let them both cool down for a few days. Hopefully they'll forget that they were fighting. Next I'm gonna try a "Buddy Bath". A Buddy Bath is when you put some water in a tub, and put both the pigs in the tub. The pigs freak out, forget that they're fighting, lose whatever scents they had, and they bond about the whole experience. Essentially it should act as a reset button. Both Maggie and Aggie are good candidates for Buddy Baths because they both HATE water. I'll probs do that on Tuesday... *fingers crossed*.

In non-guinea pig related news, I drove to the gas station today :). It might not seem like a newsworthy event, but the local gas station is on a road that I'm not exactly comfortable with. But, I've been memorizing the road for a few months and today I finally drove there! Granted, my mom was in the car with me for support, but still... I DID IT! YAY CRIPPIE! It's only a matter of time before I get more and more comfortable driving to new places. My next task will be to drive to a completely new place with no practice runs. I need to find a place that would be worth the panic attacks. Any local readers have any suggestions of really kick-ass places? There's a guinea pig rescue in New Jersey... maybe the thought of piggies will help me get over some fears :D

Crippie's Tippie - The occasional guinea pig squabble or nip is not a huge deal, once blood is drawn however, separate the pigs.

Limping In The Rain

I should do Broadway puns more often...

The Aggie Update- Aggie is pissed at us. Emotionally she's in a sad place. People keep putting drops in her eyes that burn, people keep giving her medicine that she does care for anymore and probs causes minor tummy issues, AND to top it off... she's in heat... so she's just pissy in general. Aggie's always been a very emotional little pig. On the bright side her eye looks sooooooooooooooooo much better. It's almost back to normal. She has a follow up vet appointment on Friday, let's keep our fingers crossed for good news. Here's a few pictures of the patient so y'all can see her cute lil' face...

Woe is meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee 

Her eye is looking good though, it's clear and mostly black. 

Aggie sleeping in a dramatic pose

Ain't she just the cutest damn thing ever? Anyways... yesterday was a rather weird day for me. I had a long day at work, but it a productive day. I wasn't achy or anything. Nothing felt out of the ordinary. Then while I was driving home, maybe a minute or two before arriving to my house, my damn ribs catch. For those of you who have hurt your ribs in some form or another know how much rib injuries hurt. So there I am driving, with the left side of my torso BURNING. I held my side with one hand, focused on the road, and got home. Once I got home I collapsed on the couch with a heat pack. While I was there Fanny decided to be all like "YOU'RE GONNA REMOVE ME... F$#% YOU... I'M GONNA IRRITATE YOUR ENTIRE LEG!". It's pretty safe to say that I was really uncomfortable. About five minutes later it began to pour. Once it started raining I got reallllllllyyyyy achy and stiff, to the point where I was not able to get off the damn couch. So, I stayed on the couch until it stopped raining. Eventually I migrated to my room and stayed with my glorious heat pack, NPH. While the pain wasn't as bad as it was earlier... there were a few rough patches throughout the night.

The whole incident was rather odd. Usually I feel achy for a day or so before rain. This whole thing was so sudden. My pain scale went from a 2 to a 8 within 15 minutes. The rain was also weird too, it went from "very light drizzle" to "torrential downpour" within minutes. I dunno... maybe that had something to do with it.

Lucky for me, this episode was short lived. My rib stopped hurting within an hour or so, soooo much better than when my rib caught for two and a half weeks. It's day's like yesterday that remind me how much I hate Fanny. I cannot wait for September 18. I'm hoping this is disdain for her will make me less nervous when surgery time comes. I've never hated a tumor as much as I hate Fanny, and I've had some real asshole tumors. Maybe I'll get through this surgery without getting sick beforehand like I usually do. I realllllyyyyyyyyyyyyyy hope that I can psych myself into not getting sick come surgery day.

Before Crippie heads to bed I have one more picture to share with you. Maggie wants you all to know that it's hard being her. Whenever Aggie gets pissy she takes out her frustrations on Maggie. Poor Maggie keeps getting nipped in the butt.

MAGGIE BUTT!!!!

Crippie's Tippie - If you're ever driving while you get really bad pain episode, pull over if it's reallllyyyyyy bad and you can't focus on the road. If you can focus, slow down a little and put all your attention on the road. Concentrate only on driving. Think about nothing else. It distracts you from the pain.