Lucy's Got Some 'Splainin To Do

Ohai Y'all!

Two posts in a week, I'm on a roll! I hope my lovely readers have been having a good week. The weather's been changing again... boo. Lucky for me my arms haven't been terrible, which, taking the barometric pressure changes into account is better than I expected. Unlucky for me, my back has been killing me! I don't have any known issues with my back and spine, me thinks the pain is a result of hip issues. I can't stand in one spot for more than 5 minutes. The solution? I'm looking into obtaining inserts for my shoes specifically for back problems. If that doesn't work, my plan b is to go back to using my crutch for instances where I know I'll be standing and or walking for long periods of time. Not ideal... but meh, what can ya do?

Apart from the pain I've been well. I celebrated my Grandma's 81st birthday on Thursday and today would have been my Grandpa's 83rd birthday. So the family celebrated by going to see a local production of "Footloose" and nomming on pizza. Definitely a good start to my weekend :3

Now... on to that title...

See that? See that adorable little pig? That's Lucy, and she's been in time out 5 times over the past two days. Miss Lucy-fer's been a raging asshole. Her crimes range from face and butt biting, fighting with Eleanor and Maggie, and my personal favorite... physically dragging Eleanor away from a food dish. *Sigh* I used to think Frida was naughty. Lucy wins. Lucy is by far the biggest butthead I have ever met. I checked her over and she's in heat, that and the fact that she's a baby explain the behavior. While checking her over I found that someone bit her in the face. Yeah, I tried to have a rational discussion with Lucy-fer that if she keeps acting inappropriately that she will keep getting injured like that. I don't think she listened because apparently she continued acting up while I was at work. The solution? Originally Lucy's time outs were comprised of solo time with a human and being scolded at while lying on her back. Clearly she doesn't care about that, so the new plan is a lil' more jail like. We have a travel case for vet visits. Lucy was tormenting Maggie earlier. Her punishment? Solitary confinement in the travel case. I'll keep ya updated about how the new time out system works. She behaved for the rest of the day after her release, let's hope she learned her lesson.

That's it for now I guess. I'm wishing all my readers a happy and healthy labor day weekend. 

Crippie's Tippie - If your pig gets into a squabble, check their mouths. It's a VERY common area for injuries. 

Random Crippie Crap!

Ohai Y'all!

I hope y'all are having a lovely week thus far. Thankfully I've been pretty well. I don't exactly have a lot of material to write a blog post about, so in the spirit of blogging regularly I figured I'd update y'all on all the random happenings of my life.

- My arms have for the most part been cooperating with me. YAY! They'll still catch from time to time, but it's just for a moment and it goes away. I haven't had to brace either of my wrists in a week. That's kinda a big deal cause I usually have to brace one of my arms at least once a week. Me thinks it was a weather shift causing all these problems. Freaking weather.

- The piggies are fatties. Tonight I was finally able to weigh the babies. Eleanor is a whopping 1,200 grams (a little shy of 2.5 pounds), Prudence is 1,000 grams, and Lucy is 1,050 grams. At least I think Lucy is 1,050 grams... you need to sit still to get an accurate measurement, and Lucy does not know the meaning of "sit still". I also gave Eleanor and Lucy their first ever nail trims. I am happy to report that I lived through the ordeal. Eleanor will forgive me sooner or later.

- Helen hasn't been feeling very well over the past few days. She's not sick or anything, but she got five shots on Saturday, and she's a terrible patient. So we've had a stoned lil' Shih Tzu on our hands. She spent the weekend either whining, crying, or sleeping, sometimes all three at once. Don't worry though, she started feeling better today.

- Angel has also been feeling "off" she has allergies and skin related stuff going on. She got some new medicines over the week and she has been bouncing off walls and humping pillows like a mad woman. She's quite happy with her life at the moment.

- I bought a book last week. If you knew me you'd know how much of a shock this is. I don't read, at all. I just don't have the attention span for it. What did I obtain? I bought "Maus" by Art Spiegelman. It's a graphic novel about the Holocaust. While I can't really read, I lurv me some graphic novels. The words are broken up enough to keep my attention, plus the pictures help too. I haven't started reading it yet, but I look forward to it. Can any of my lovely readers recommend any other good graphic novels for me? I've already read (and loved) Persepolis and I'm currently reading "The Walking Dead" issue by issue.

- I was surprisingly social this weekend. I had some friends over on Saturday to meet the piggies and have ice cream. My friends loved my piggies and my piggies loved my friends, judging by how the pigs opted to not wee on anyone! On Sunday I had another friend over for pizza, a movie, and course playing with pigs. The babies got oodles of attention this weekend and I'm pretty sure they enjoyed themselves.

Well, that's about it over here. I hope y'all have a lovely week. Until next time!

Crippie's Tippie - Have issues reading? Give graphic novels a go. 

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

Three Is Not A Crowd

Hey Guys,

Thank you so much for your kind words on my last post. It really means a lot to me. I know I've lost pigs in the past and I was incredibly sad when I lost Emma and Mama Pig... but I am devastated that I lost Frida. She was always MY pig, we had a special bond. I'll never find another pig like her. I wish she was here with me, but alas she can't be... and I have to try to move on.

First and foremost, I have to make sure my piggies are ok. As always, I am checking Nellie and Maggie for signs of depression. I especially concerned about them because Frida died in her cage. They saw her, they KNEW she was gone. Mama and Emma died in quarantine cages. Maggie has been very mopey, she spent most of Monday in one of their hide-y houses. I actually removed the house to encourage some movement from her. It seems to have helped a little, but the laziness could be from the weather as well. I wasn't exactly worried for Nellie at first, on the count that she is as dumb as rock but over the past few days she's taken the habit of laying where Frida died. Frida died out in the open, not in a hide-y house, not in a corner, nothing. So for her to be there on more than one occasion is concerning me to say the least. I'm looking into long term solutions to keep them happy and healthy. Part of me wonders if I missed some signs of depression in Frida, that she had some sickness that slowly took over once Mama died. I dunno... but I cannot take that chance. For the time being I keeping them happy by given them extra snuggles, but more importantly delicious food. Let's face it, in the short term, food makes them happier. They got a fair amount of peppers on Monday (again, peppers are really great for pigs, they should have the red or yellow ones whenever possible). Today they got several super delicious treats. I gave them frozen watermelon cubes, yummy! Seriously, all pig owners going through this heatwave need to obtain some watermelon, cut it into cubes, put the cubes into the freezer until they are completely frozen, let them thaw a little and then give them to the piggies. This can also apply to cucumbers. Last thing I need is a pig to die of a heatstroke.

As for me, I'm just trying to keep busy. Making sure I keep Maggie and Nellie alive consumes some of my time... but it's depressing. Looking at their massive cage and seeing just two pigs there. It looks so... empty. I don't like that it's empty. I don't like that I only need three treats to feed all the pigs. Obviously there is only one solution to this... MOAR PIGS. Yup, I am looking to expand my piggie family. I would simply put Aggie in with Maggie and Nellie but that is a TERRIBLE idea. Aggie's nickname is "Fat Bastard" not only is she a fat ass, she's vicious with pigs she doesn't like. This attitude has caused injuries to both Maggie and Aggie in the past, so it is simply not worth the risk. Now, one does not simply acquire new pigs. I refuse to go to a pet store, so I'll just have to keep my eyes peeled on petfinder and Craigslist until someone catches my eye. I guess I'm looking for a new friend for Maggie and Nellie, but also a new friend for me too.

Apart from the pig hunt, I have Cripplefest to keep me occupied and happy. As sad as I may be at the moment I'm still very much looking forward to seeing my cripples and being attacked by a bunch of mini-cripples. I'm hoping that seeing a massive amount of cripple friends will help me cope with the loss of my furry friend.

Ugh... I don't know if it's just me... but it feels like there's been so much death recently. Actually, I kinda hope that's just me. I don't want any of my comrades to be sad. To make up for this extraordinarily depressing post, here's a picture of Helen being lady-like...

Ain't she a classy broad? Well, I reckon I should make an attempt at getting some sleep. Here's to hoping that all of our tomorrows will be better :)

Crippie's Tippie - Frozen fruits and veggies keep your pigs cool and content.

A Time to Laugh, A Time to Weep

Greetings,

Thank you all so much for your warm regards, they've meant a lot to me and to my family.

It's been a rough couple of days for me. It's funny, the weather was starting to improve and my pain levels were starting to decrease, I was on the up and up and then BAM... death. It doesn't hurt quite as much as it did when Emma died, purely because Emma's death was completely out of left field. She was practically healed when she went on a rapid decline and was dead within 12 hours. Not to mention she was only 3... she had so much time left. At least with Mama Pig I had those few days to brace myself for what was coming. She didn't respond to the medicine, she didn't eat, she didn't move. I'm convinced that she didn't die of the URI, but of old age. She just went on a rapid decline and she couldn't bounce back from it, regardless of how early we caught her URI (we caught it pretty early). 5 to 6 is the average lifespan for a piggie, so I don't feel completely robbed of time with her.

Regardless of how much I rationalize the situation, it still freaking sucks. Pulling out 5 treats and realizing you only need 4. Seeing 2 massive crosses in our yard (she's buried next to Emma). All that crap that reminds me that she's not here. I've been coping to the best of my abilities, watching funny youtube videos, eating lots of chocolate, fun stuff like that. It helps, I know that even though this royally sucks now, this too shall pass.

The piggies seem to be adjusting. We put new toys in now trio's cage, so that keeps them occupied. Nellie doesn't particularly seem to notice that anything is different. Maggie is to enthralled with her new hay-based to toys to notice anything. Frida on the other hand... she knows. As I said in my last post they were very close. I've been taking Frida out for lots of one on one snuggles, just put her in a bed and let her listen to her favorite musician Lady Gaga and her new other favorite Skrillex (I don't know why she likes that crap, but she does).

I was blasting Skrillex for her... she promptly fell asleep

She is showing some signs piggie depression. Mainly behavioral changes. She's turning into the asshole she once was, standing on Nellie's head, nipping Nellie's butt. Stuff like that. We'll just have to give her special attention until she adjusts. Just a friendly reminder, piggie depression is a very serious issue. Pigs can become so consumed with grief that they stop eating, become sick, and ya know... die. So be sure to take extra good care of your surviving furbabies. Supply them with goodies and treats. Their feelings are pretty easily influenced. 

I just realized that I had 2 posts about death this month... what the hell man? 

And if anyone is wondering, while yes my family normally does kinda celebrate Passover, we didn't this year. Granted, we had Matzoh Ball Soup and I've been listening to the "The Prince of Egypt" soundtrack several times a day. But no one in the house is exactly in the mood to do much for the holiday. 

So yeah... happy Passover to all my Jewish readers, and I hope all my goy readers had a lovely Good Friday

Crippie's Tippie - Seriously watch your surviving pigs like a hawk. Make sure they are entertained and well fed. 

Mama (Pig) Drama

Ohai Everybody

Yup, it's a piggie post today... all about our attention whore Mama Pig.

Mama Pig recently turned the big 5, meaning she is now officially a "senior pig" (average life span of a guinea pig is 5-7 years). She takes her vitamins daily and is usually very spritely and evil in spite of her age. She has recently taken to eating the cage as a subtle way of saying "ADMIRE MY BEAUTY... or feed me. Either or really".

FEED ME

FEED ME

FEED MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

Well, today she wasn't like that, at all. I came home from work to find a limp lil' Mama sitting on my grandma's lap. She had been extremely lethargic and uninterested in food all day. My first thought was "oh crap Mama's dying". Upon closer inspection I found crust on her nose, slightly labored breath, weight loss, and a bit of a puffed coat. This means one thing and one thing alone, an Upper Respiratory Infection (URI). My next thought was "If I don't get her to a vet she'll die".

The face of a sick little piggie :(

For those of you unfamiliar with URIs and piggies... they can kill a pig... very, very easily. If I did nothing about this Mama would probably be dead within the next 48 hours. Definitely be dead with 72.  Time is definitely an important factor when treating URIs. If you think your pig might have one (and it's pretty obvious when they do) GET THEIR LITTLE PIG ASSES TO THE VET ASAP!

Naturally it was later on the day when I found out about Mama, we called our local exotics vet about her hours. It was 5:50 and we found out her shift ends at 6:00 (CRAP) but luckily for us our vet is AMAZING and was willing to wait for Mama. So we rushed her to the vet. The vet totally agreed with my diagnoses of a URI. She had to give Mama some fluids via SubQs (they injected saline into a pocket in her skin to keep her hydrated, it buys time for the antibiotics to work). Mama was a very good girl for most of the visit, except for the whole "THE THERMOMETER GOES WHERE?!?!" thing. The vet said she wasn't running a fever nor was her breathing terrible, so hopefully we caught it in time *knocks on wood*.

Unfortunately Mama has to be on antibiotics again, I don't know if y'all remember the last time Mama was on antibiotics, but she got reaaaaaallllllyyyyyyyyyy sick from them. I mentioned this to the vet. She told me to keep Mama ridiculously hydrated. Let's hope it keeps her healthy.

Tomorrow I'm gonna start Mama on "Critical Care" feedings to make sure she's getting all of the nutrients she needs and then some.

So yeah... Mama requests ninja vibes.

Crippie's Tippie - VETS... TAKE YOUR PIGS TO THEM

Fuzzy Wuzzy Was A Pig...

Ello!

I hope y'all had a nice weekend. The weather was craptacular here, so I spent the weekend with Glenn the heatpack. Today was also kinda sad because it marked the one year anniversary of my guinea pig Emma's passing :(

I still can't believe it's been an entire year since my little Fuzz Ball left us. It certainly doesn't feel like it's been a year.

Emma was a freakishly cute pig, and she thought that she could use that cuteness to get away with being a little demon pig. She found ways to make enemies with Maggie, Aggie, Frida, AND her own mother! Not to mention how she'd boss around poor little Nellie, constantly stealing her treats and grabbing lettuce out of her mouth! Even though she hated a vast majority of the other pigs, she LOVED her humans. She'd snuggle for hours with you. What can I say, she was a smart girl... she knew to love the things that gave her salad, and hate the things that she'd have to potentially share said salad with.

Her grave marker is about 8 times longer than she was

I like to think that Emma is somewhere with unlimited salad and lots of comfy things to pee on, watching over her sisters, mother, and those two random ones that were super weird. 

We love you Emma Rose and we miss your terribly. RIP Fuzz Ball <3

Crippie's Tippie - If your pet is sick, take 'em to a vet

NHBPM - To Share or Not to Share

Ello!

Yesterday I opted to take my own advice and sleep instead of blog, got to sleep at decent hour :)

Now on the NHBPM blog prompt... I wasn't thrilled with today's choices, so I went and picked one from earlier in the month.

Disclosure post. How do you decide what to share? What do/don't you share?

Alrighty, this blog is about me and being a cripple. Thus I share things relevant to that topic. If something of use occurs with my health I'll post it. I do want this blog to be an accurate representation of what it can be like to have a disability. There are many aspects of being a cripple that are by no means glamorous. Whether its having 17 staples on your butt, not being able to open your cup to pee in at the doctor, or having a tampon shaped scar on your wrist... it's part of my reality. On the same note, even though I try not to blog when I'm in a bad mood, there are times when a massive Crippie Rant pops up. While I'm not always proud of what I say in those, they're pretty good examples of some common cripple frustrations. That's why I don't delete 'em.

What don't I share? I keep most of my life private. I don't discuss matters pertaining to my family. That's mainly for safety reasons. While I talk about work in a very vague sense, I NEVER go into great details (as much as I might want to) cause ya know... I don't wanna get fired.

There is one subject though that I will gladly give 110% full disclosure on... MY ANIMALS! Yup! Maybe it's because they're so freakin' adorable, or that they won't care if I post their pictures here, or that I don't have to worry about hurting their feelings. But I love my piggies and pooches to bits, so if something out of the ordinary happens to them (good, bad, whatever) I'll post about it. If I take a cute picture of Nellie sleeping, you bet your ass I will post it sooner or later. Speaking of animals, Angel's second anniversary is this Sunday :3. We must prepare some special noms for her.

I guess to summarize, I am a rather private person... that being said I'll post anything that I believe to be relevant to the blog, and lots of guinea pig pictures. Lots and lots of guinea pig pictures.

Crippie's Tippie - When possible, try not to be in an overly bad mood when blogging.

Sandy Land

Why Hello There!

Hurricane Sandy...  yeaaaaaaahhhhhhhhh

I seriously hope that all you guys stay safe and sound over the next couple of days. I live in New York and will probably be on high alert from Sunday through Tuesday night. Well, this certainly explains why I've been in so much pain over the past few days... I CAN PREDICT HURRICANES... YAY ME!!!

But in all seriousness... this Hurricane has the potential to suuuuucccccccckkkkkkkk. Personally, I live on a road with tall trees very close power lines. Hurricane Irene took out one of our trees last year, and the freakin' Halloween snow storm took out some more of 'em. If y'all could sending "STAY WHERE YOU ARE" vibes to my remaining trees it would be greatly appreciated. 

I figured since we're dealing with the "storm of the century" I'd make a quick little checklist of things cripples, guinea pigs, and dogs need.

CRIPPLES

- YOUR MEDICATIONS

- Disposable heat or ice packs, hand warmers might also benefit 

- If need be, use glow in the dark tape to mark things in your house (canes, doorways, whatever) 

GUINEA PIGS

- Enclosed Hiding places (they need them for warmth)

- Fleece (also warmth)

- Food & Hay for at least a week. If you are running low, Oxbow brand pellets and hay are acceptable

- Disposable Hand warmers (if it gets insanely cold you can wrap one in a sock and put it in their cage)

- If possible, move pigs away from windows, etc

- Bedding, if you use fleece you might wanna pick up some extra because you might not be able to wash it. If you use carefresh I recommend Kaytee Clean and Cozy. 

DOGS

- Food 

- Coats (if necessary)

- Puppy pads, newspapers, extra paper towels, baggies, garbage bags... anything you might need in the event that it is too dangerous to walk your dog. 

There ya go, I like how most of my tips are for guinea pigs... lol. I really hope that nothing terrible happens to in this storm and that each and every one of my readers makes it through safely. I'm sending "PLEASE DON'T LET ANYTHING BAD HAPPEN" vibes to y'all.

Crippie's Tippie - Don't do anything stupid that might jeopardize your life over the next few days

Nellie & Frida Turn Four!

HOWDY Y'ALL! 

Hope y'all are having a great week. Things have pretty uneventful on my end. We're kinda working out a system for giving Angel her ear drops... it takes three people but it gets done. Her ears are starting to feel better already. 

The big news for today is that Nellie and Frida are officially four years old! I don't know their exact birthday, but Nellie was between 6-8 weeks old when we obtained her in early December. So I guess and celebrate their birthdays in mid October. I'm definitely a proud mama today :)

These little pipsqueaks have changed soooooooooooooooooo much in the past four years. Nellie started out as a loud, adventurous asshole. Once she grew out of her asshole toddler stage she became a quiet little snugglebug. She can stay on her human's lap for HOURS on end. Nellie is gentle soul who will give you kisses if she deems you tasty enough (she has deemed me to be quite delicious).

Frida also started out as an asshole, a violent one at that. She used to bite people when she was younger. Whenever company would come over they were not allowed to touch her and children were not allowed to hold her for YEARS. Frida used to step on Mama Pig's face to get our attention, I mean she would literally use her mother as a step ladder. Manners were learned with time and now with her new friends and bigger cage Mama's face is no longer trampled. She has learned to appreciate a good cuddle, except she still tries to bite you when she wants to go back in her cage. Frida loves music, especially Lady Gaga. Although she likes anything with a good beat really. Frida has grown in more ways than just maturity... she also uses her double chin as a comfy pillow. 

We celebrated their birthday with food, snuggles, and some Lady Gaga. Needless to say I have some very happy piggies tonight. And how... PIGTURES 

BABY NELLIE!!!!!!!! (I'm kicking myself for not having baby pictures of Frida)

The birthday girls!

I figured they were looking at something really nifty...

NOMS!!!

Frida being beautiful

Nellie and her "I'm peeing on you" face

Of course we didn't only celebrate ONLY Nellie & Frida's birthday's today. All the pigs had some extra treats to celebrate Emma's birthday as well, even though she will forever be three. I think she'd be happy to know that her sisters and mother are still very well loved and VERY well fed. Miss you Emma, mommy loves you <3

Crippie's Tippie - Cherish every moment you have with your pets, they're only here for such a short while

Out And About

Aloha!

I sincerely hope that none of my readers had a case of the Mondays today. My Monday was certainly not dreary.

Let's start off by saying that I've pretty much been in my room for a week. I was starting to feel a little bit like this...

But today I was finally well enough to get out of the house! YAY CRIPPIE! I ventured out and ran some errands with my mom. We obtained a new heat pack to replace my beloved NPH. I have decided to name this one Daniel Radcliffe, because... well... he's yummy. The journey to get the heat pack was a rather small one and I was kinda sore afterwards, but our next destination was to get food for the pets and the thought of seeing some piggies perked me up. So off to the pet store we went. Oh my lawd did they have some cuties! I finally got to see a texel (curly haired pig) in the fur. Holy crap was it adorable!

It was hard to get a good shot of it because of the cage, but you can see the walking wig. It's also hard to tell in this photo but this piggie is being stored in an insanely small cage with horrible bedding, no hay, and crap pellets. My local petsmart treats their pigs better than this (THATS SAYING SOMETHING)! It's disgusting, utterly disgusting. I'm tempted to go back one day and tell the owner to use some damn carefresh at least. On the bright side, all of the pigs are in separate cages so at least there won't be any accidental babies. If any of my local readers go to this local pet shop (email me if you want to be sure of which one) mention to the owner that the pigs, rats, hamsters, bunnies, gerbils, etc need better bedding. This my friends is why I strongly advise against buying a pet from a pet store.

Apart from that general anger towards the pet store, my outing was very successful. I got a heat pack and the dogs got some food (I don't buy products for the piggies there, because, well, they suck), I got to see some insanely cute pigs, not to mention I was not in my bedroom for the entire day. It's funny, to a lot of people this day could have been ordinary, even lackluster. But for me it was pretty exciting. Even if I wasn't recovering from surgery a venture to the pet store would have made for a fun day. Me thinks this could mean something negative about my life, but I'm gonna take this as I good thing (SHOCKER). I see the good in the mundane (and potentially negative) aspects of life. I figure this is the life I've got... so I might as well enjoy it.

Crippie's Tippie - Don't let negative situations overtake the positive ones

I'm Still Not Afraid

Howdy Y'all! 

It's almost August 16th, and y'all know what that means right? It means that in a mere one month and two days I will be bidding adieu to Fanny the Ass Tumor. If it sounds like I'm excited, that's because I am. I cannot wait for her to be gone. I wonder what it will feel like to have her out, I'm sure my sciatic nerve will thank me. 

As I've said before, I'm rarely nervous in the weeks prior to surgery, even when I'm not particularly thrilled about the surgery in questions. There would be times when I would get a little uneasy though, mainly when I would get the forms for the surgery in the mail, or getting my pre-ops done, etc. Well, yesterday I received the forms for my surgery... instead of thinking "Eh crap, surgery" I thought "YUUUUUUUUUUUUUSSSSSSSSSS". Lol, just as I was typing that Fanny sent a shooting pain up my spine. Maybe she doesn't like that I'm saying bad things about her ;) Bring it on, you won't be my problem for much longer!!! 

In guinea pig news, the Mama, Maggie, Nellie, and Frida are continuing to bond. Maggie is so happy to have company that her appetite has increased dramatically. When she was alone she hardly touched her hay, now she'll nosh on it throughout the day. She's starting to grow on the rest of the group, her introduction is actually going a lot smoother than Nellie's intro did. I'm pleasantly surprised with how well this has gone, and I'm kicking myself for not doing it sooner. 

In dog news, Helen went to the vet a few days ago for a check-up and some vaccines. While she was a very good girl the shots hurt her shoulders and they made her verrrrrryyyyyy sleepy. Helen is a lazy bum to begin with, so this just made her even more tired. How tired do you say? Well.......

She fell asleep while walking to her dinner. Helen is feeling much better now, but that was probably one of the cutest damn things I've ever seen in my life. Also, how trippy is my kitchen floor. Gotta love the 70's! 

Alas, I should probably head off to bed now, I've got another busy day ahead of me tomorrow.

Crippie's Tippie - try to see the good things in every situation. On the dark side I'm having surgery, on the bright side I will finally be rid of Fanny! 

Four's Company

Salutations!

The Quartet wants to thank everyone who called them adorable. Phase Two of the introduction phase is going quite swimmingly. Maggie had a rough day yesterday with lots of tears, but today she made a complete 180. She was wandering around the cage, eating, drinking, hanging out with her new buddies, etc. She seems very excited about the new living arrangement. Nellie, Mama, and Frida aren't exactly as enthralled as she is, but they tolerate her. One thing I've noticed with the piggies in general is that they are happier when in larger groups versa just pairs. When Mama and Frida were in a cage by themselves they would constantly bicker, Frida would stand on Mama's face to get attention and just be an all around asshole. Once Nellie joined the mix they were all visibly happier. Just goes to show ya folks, unless your pig is a freak of nature like Aggie, the more the merrier.

To those of y'all wondering how the lone wolf is doing, she's very content. Aggie's always been a bit of loner, she seems much more relaxed now that Maggie is no longer stealing her hay.

In cripple related business, I was rather achy today. I think I might've pulled a muscle in my bum during yesterday's introduction (I had to bend down to move piggies). Nothing a little heat won't cure but still, weird. I'm also contemplating obtaining one of those heated chair massager things for work. Me thinks it could help my back and bum. Can any of my lovely readers recommend any good ones?

Fanny probably had a role to play in today's pulled muscle (she rubs against that one). This might be my first surgery where I am really, really, really excited about having it. Also, I found out that I can't keep Fanny in a jar once she's removed. Alas, I guess I'll just have to stick to pictures ;)

Sorry for the short-ish post, I'm super tired and I've got a long day ahead of my tomorrow. Night y'all!

Crippie's Tippie - Pigs are very social creatures, they like having oodles of friends

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.

Give Peace A Chance... Or Not... Whatever

Greetings

Soooooooo... Buddy Bath....... yeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

I tried, I really tried. I put them in the water, they freaked out and huddled together. Brilliant, it was working. I took them out to dry off. They were freaked out and were still huddled together, AWESOME. 20 minutes later Aggie bites Maggie in the ass and they start fighting again. CRAP. I figured that they needed to sort out some dominance issues, okay, I played referee and let them work out their issues blocking them with a towel whenever they started to attack each other. After about 30 minutes of blocking some potentially nasty fights, they were still mad as all hell, ready to pounce on the other one. I took each pig out to examine them for bite wounds and discovered that Maggie had been bitten in the lip. After that I decided that it is not safe to house Maggie and Aggie together in their present condition. Maggie and Aggie will now be housed in individual pet store cages, not the ideal situation but it has to be done. Maybe I'll try the buddy bath again in a few weeks, but for now... not gonna happen.

DO NOT WANT... AT ALL 

IN THE NAME OF ALL THAT'S HOLY... SAVE ME AGGIE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Now that I'm dry... I think I want to kill you again

In other news, something miraculous happened at work over the weekend. My office isn't exactly handicap friendly. You need to climb a few stairs in order to get to the door, there is a ramp... but it was chained off. It's been that way for as long as I've been there. I told the higher powers from the very beginning that the ramp should be open... cause... ya know... it's kinda illegal to have it blocked. Alas, my request to open the damn ramp had fallen onto deaf ears until now. I mentioned to my boss that I will be having hip surgery, and that when I return to work I'll be needing that ramp. FINALLY after working at this place for close to 11 months, THE RAMP IS USABLE!!!  I had "The Eye of the Tiger" playing in my head as I triumphantly walked up the ramp to the door. YAY! VICTORY!!!!

I cannot stand seeing modern buildings disobeying the ADA. It irks me beyond belief. You can walk in your store, restaurant, sidewalk, whatever... great... kudos to you. But just because you can that doesn't mean that everyone can. Maybe a day will come when you can no longer walk. Have fun trying to go places my friends. Good luck opening that heavy narrow door. Have fun getting your wheelchair down that crowded sidewalk. Oh, can you not fit in this aisle... oops. This bathroom isn't handicap accessible,  is that alright with you? I forgot to mention that the elevator doesn't work. People should start hiring cripples to test out their buildings, or maybe we should put the architects in wheelchairs! Let's bind their legs and let them have it out. I'm not asking for much, I just want things to be handicap accessible.

Crippie's Tippie - MAKE THINGS HANDICAP ACCESSIBLE... IT'S NOT THAT HARD

One Week!!!

Yo!

I hope all my crippled comrades had a lovely weekend. My weekend went rather well all things considered. Cripplefest begins in one week and I am soooooooooooo pumped! I can't wait to see all of my fellow crippies! Of course, events of this magnitude require lots of preparations, so I'll be very busy this week getting ready.

Today's agenda mainly focused on getting supplies and making sure that our pets look their best. We took Angel out for a hair cut. For an abused dog that occasionally hates people, she sure loves her outings to the groomer. She was smiling throughout the entire car ride, she got to smell some awesome new dogs, AND the awesome new dogs actually liked her (she has a habit of trying to befriend really scared or really angry dogs). Not to mention all of the attention she got from the actual groomer. She was very much content until the nice groomer lady tried to groom her face, then she got into her "DO NOT WANT" mode and kept trying nip the groomer. *Sigh* Lucky for us, the groomer knew how to deal with her and managed to give Angel a very stylish trim, complete with a bow in her hair.

After the groomer we made a surprise visit to one of my fellow crippies. It's funny, when I was younger I thought I was the only person in the state of New York with MHE... LOL fail... turns out there are several families throughout the state with MHE. One such family lives a mere 15 minutes away from me. I can literally drive to this house without a panic attack, thats how close they are. Anyway the girl in the family with MHE recently had her first surgery, so we stopped by to give her some pressies. Just seeing this little girl hopping around on her crutches obviously brings back memories of my early surgeries. But I know that she will have the support of hundreds of people, she will never feel as alone as I used to feel. If she ever feels that way I can drive to her damn house and make her feel better. How amazing is that!

In piggie news, Aggie is still in the playpen. Maggie seems to miss having a buddy in her cage and is constantly looking around, hoping that someone will be there. And for all of you that are wondering why I can't just put Aggie back in the cage now, I cannot underestimate how dangerous fighting guinea pigs are. Guinea pigs have very sharp teeth. They can do some serious damage. I've been bitten by the pigs before, it breaks the skin and it freakin' hurts. I'll try the buddy bath either tomorrow or Tuesday, whenever I have a good amount of time... and I'll def take pics... no worries ;)

To make up for the general sporadic-ness of this post... here's some pictures of the piggies

Um, Frida... that's not how you use a cuddle cup

I AM SO FREAKING CUTE... LOOK AT MEEEEEEE

Where the hell am I?

Crippie's Tippie - If you're obtaining a pressie for a child who just had surgery, be sure to get a little something for their siblings (if any)

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.

Eye Carumba!

Salutations!

I hope all my crippled comrades had a lovely "Oh right, today's Thursday" day. Crippie's day was certainly interesting to say the least. I spent most of my day taking care of the piggies. I gave Mama Pig a quick once over and she seems to have fully recovered. Mama Pig is going to be 5 soon, and thus she'll be a "senior pig". I'm going to do everything in my power to keep her here for as long as humanly possible, but I'll do a post on senior piggies another day.

Keeping your piggies healthy is a challenge. Apart from the whole "you need an exotic vet" thing, it can be very hard to tell when your pig is sick. Why? Because they hide it like nobody's business. Piggies are animals of prey, so their instinct is to hide whatever ails them so that predators won't see them and think "LUNCHTIME"! Vigilance is key with piggies. You have to know them, what their normals are, how guinea pigs are supposed to be. If your pig is acting "weird" chances are something is wrong. If something is slightly wrong with your pigs appearance, something is wrong. If anything is out of the ordinary... something is probably wrong.

Why am I going on like this? Welllllllllllllll... earlier today all of my pigs were happy. They were in watermelon induced food comas and everything seemed fine. Tonight they got their salads... Aggie starts wheeking and everyone else follows. They all eat their salads without issues. About two hours later I take Aggie out for cuddles. She seems perfectly fine... at first. As soon as looked at her face I knew something was wrong. Her eye was cloudy. The first thing I did was checked her eye in different lights, and it was definitely cloudy. Then I gave Aggie a once over, and I check her for signs of pain. I opened and closed her eyes without any issue. She didn't seem to be in pain, but she could've been hiding it (and probably was). Next I took a really good look at her eyes. Aggie's eyes are black and their eyes are normally clear and bright. Her eye was without a doubt cloudy and the parts of her eye that were supposed to be white were red.

At this point I know what the problem is... Aggie got hay stuck in her eye. Upon closer inspection I found the piece of hay and removed it. It wasn't an easy thing to do, but I put her on her back, I let her fight me for a minute, once she realized that she couldn't win she let me remove the hay. I used a tissue and my fingernails to carefully extract the inch long piece of hay from her eye. I then cleaned her eye, gave her some pain medication, and most importantly some watermelon because Aggie likes to eat her feelings.

Hay pokes are a somewhat common problem for piggies. They eat hay all day, every day. Aggie love her hay and dives into it as soon as I bring it to her. Frankly, I'm surprised she's managed this long without getting a hay poke.

Well, now that she's been poked, here's what were are going to do... Aggie NEEDS to go to the vet ASAP. The vet will prescribe either drops or an ointment for her. We'll treat her, and she'll be better in a week or two. It is essential that you take your pig to the vet for this issue. If not your pig will develop a nasty eye infection, go blind in that eye, or possibly lose the eye.

We are going to call the vet first thing in the morning, in the meantime Aggie is stoned off her chubby little ass. She is quite content with the world and thinks everything is pretty. Here are a few pictures so that other piggie owners will know what an eye injury looks like (the photos aren't graphic or anything)

Her good eye. Black, clear, and bright. (Also slightly glassy from being stoned)

The bad eye. Grey, cloudy, weird texture on eye, slightly closed

Close up, you can see the general area effected

Crippie's Tippie - Stay informed about general pig illnesses, I knew this was a hay poke and I began treating her immediately. For more information about piggies and eye issues go to http://www.guinealynx.info/eyes.html

A Grand Day For Driving

Yo!

Happy July everybody!!! I hope everyone had a lovely Sunday. My day went very well. I saw a local production of "A Grand Night For Singing", which is a revue of Rogers & Hammerstein songs. The production was fantastic and I enjoyed every minute of it. I also have to mention that I DROVE TO AND FROM THE THEATRE!!! YAY CRIPPIE!!! I know it might not seem like a huge deal but I had never driven on those roads before. I managed the to drive both ways without a panic attack and with only minor swearing! Granted, they're were people in the car with me, so that helped my anxiety of not knowing where I was... although it heightened my anxiety about killing everyone in the car in a fiery blaze. Maybe after a few more trips to this location I'll be comfortable enough to drive there by myself!

While I am making strides in lessening my driving anxiety, there is still a loooooooooooot of room for improvement. I'm trying to figure out the best way lessen my anxieties. Technically I know how to drive on highways and all that jazz... so it's not like I need to take lessons. Maybe I should just go driving with a GPS one day and see where that takes me. I drove today because I was forced to do so. Perhaps necessity will drive me to suck it up and drive to new places? Do any of my awesome readers have any tippies for driving anxiety?

I asked Nellie what she thought about my driving situation, her response was this...

"Why yes I would love some watermelon! Wait... that wasn't what you asked me? Oh well, everything sounds like 'would you like watermelon' to me. Speaking of which, I really want watermelon"

All of the piggies have been in "GIVE ME SOME DAMN WATERMELON" mode for the past couple of days. We kinda have to be careful. If someone in the house opens the fridge at 2am for some late night nosh, one of the pigs *coughAGGIEcough* starts screaming bloody murder. That one pig triggers all of the pigs to start screaming. As much as it breaks their little hearts, we cannot give them watermelon whenever they want it. If we did that they'd be conditioned to scream whenever they "need" watermelon, which is always ;). 

Crippie's Tippie - Necessity is the mother of learning how to suck it up