Operation Don't Let Angel Die

Ohai Y'all

I don't have a good excuse to why I have been a terrible blogger. Bit of a rut I guess. I'm thinking of topics I could write about. Do any of my lovely readers have and cripple questions and or topics you want me to cover?

Before I get down to business here, Nellie is still alive and well. She thanks you all for the ninja vibes.

Now... on to that title...

My Lhasa Apso Angel is fairly old, the vets think she's between 12 to 16 years old. She hadn't been feeling all that great this week. She has skin issues and it really seemed to be bothering her a lot, plus she was panting a lot... so we took her ass to the vet. Well... it turns out that her skin is the absolute least of her problems. Angel was diagnosed with congestive heart failure. Crap. My poor little girl had to spend the night at the vet while they gave her all sorts of fun drugs to keep her... ya know... alive. Luckily for us we caught her heart disease relatively early so we can treat it. She needs special heart medications twice a day. This isn't the worst news in the world... but if you know Angel, you know that she does NOT take to taking medicine lightly. She's like a pill ninja. You can put a tiny pill in a pill pocket and she will eat around it. Try peanut butter you say? LOL... she eats the peanut butter and spits out the pill. Angel is a freaking genius. How do we outsmart the genius twice a day? Especially when one of her pills needs to be ground up into food. Angel might be a smart dog, but she has one weakness... "beggin' strips". Normally, she would not be allowed to have beggin' strips, they go against a diet for her skin. Why break her diet? We know it's not ideal, but getting Angel her heart medication is our new #1 priority for her. She will not take her medications unless her food is jam packed with beggin' strips or whatever mind-blowingly delicious foods we can get for her. An added bonus to the beggin' strips; they make her so happy. We've accepted that she doesn't exactly have a "long" life ahead of her. So we keep her going for a little while longer, and she gets her beloved beggin' strips. It's a win/win. Helen is also making out like a bandit, as she gets to sample all the treats that Angel gets (Helen does not have any dietary restrictions), she was in a bit of a food coma last night ;)

So now everyone in my house is adjusting to caring for an even higher needs dog. Finding ways to get her to take her medicine, taking her out to use the bathroom constantly, watching her for signs of worsening help problems. It'll take us a few days to adjust to everything, but it will soon become our normal. In the meantime Angel request ninja vibes and Helen requests treats.

I can has beggin strip?

Did someone say beggin strip? (Also, you can really tell she's blind in this pic)

Crippie's Tippie - It is your responsibility as a pet owner to keep your animal alive for as long as humanly possible.

P.S. - Yes, Crippie is insanely happy that Walking Dead is back on :3 

The Waiting Game

Salutations,

Quick post tonight. I'm writing this from my sofa, where I'll be sleeping tonight so I can be sure that Mama Pig has a constant supply of food and water. While she seems to show signs of responsiveness to the meds she is very unwell. She is extremely lethargic and will not eat on her own, she is also not using the bathroom on her own. There's still hope that she'll pull through this, but at this point I don't think that will be the case. She's so incredibly frail and weak, it's definitely difficult to watch. I guess it's a waiting game at this point... maybe she'll start responding to the medication tomorrow.

In the meantime I gave her pain medicine to help her get comfy, so she is stoned off her ass and enjoying life. She's probably having awesome hallucinations about shiny things. She watched tonight's episode of "The Walking Dead" with me and my friend (off topic... but OMG AWESOME EPISODE).

Mama says "I would like some ninja vibes... and UNICORNS! I like unicorns, they're shiny. I like shiny things. Where am I? Who am I? What am I? WOW! YOUR AURA IS PURPLE!" Yeaaaaahhh... she's really stoned.

Crippie's Tippie - Use a small syringe to suction out a piggie's nose (seriously I'm proud of myself for figuring that one out)

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

Play It By Ear

Ello!

I hope y'all had a great weekend and Monday. My weekend went as well as it could have considering the circumstances. The unveiling went very well and I got to spend time with my relatives. We paid tribute to my aunt in the best way we could... we ate massive amounts of food and celebrated her life. My aunt was a very special person and she will never be forgotten. As her headstone says "Always loving... always loved."

In non-death related news, my sleep schedule is starting to regulate. Granted, I'm still falling asleep at ungodly hours of the night, but not as terrible as weeks prior. I'll probably obtain some melatonin one of these days to help get my ass to sleep faster.

It's hard to believe it's almost been a month since my surgery, and I'm pretty much fully recovered. The incision area is still a teensy bit sore, but it's completely bearable. The scar hasn't keloided yet, but it is a lovely dark pink color. Now that my sciatic nerve is free from irritation my right leg seems to moving easier, and my limp is getting better, my leg still drags a little... but it's not noticeable to the untrained eye.

In pet news, we have a sad little pooch on our hands. Poor Angel has a double ear infection :( . She HATES having anyone touch her ears and God help you if you try to put medicine in 'em. Let's just say we're gonna have a lot of fun trying to muzzle her twice a day to give her the meds *sigh*. Oh well, the joys of being a pet owner. Angel's probably gonna hate us for the next few weeks. We do have some handy dandy turkey to bribe her into liking us again though. In the meantime she requests healing ninja vibes and healing yummy turkeys.

MY LIFE IS SO HARD!!!!!

Crippie's Tippie - Dog mad at you? Feed 'em until they forgive you ;)

Piggie Post: Is Your Pig In Pain?

Ohai Everybody

The Aggie Update - Her eye is looking oodles better, but Aggie hates the world. Aggie has been acting very aggressively today. She bit Maggie in the butt around 2am and they've been fighting since. Maggie getting a nip in the butt is not uncommon, 9 times out of 10 she deserves said nip. Today I watched them for a while, Aggie was attacking Maggie for no reason. We took Aggie out for some alone time and discovered that she, like Mama was having some tummy issues as a result of her antibiotics. So I made the executive decision to stop giving them to her. I gave Aggie some pain meds, let them kick in, and then put her back in with Maggie. Alas, they were still piiiiisssssseeeeddd at each other and almost had a full on brawl. We ended up separating the two. Aggie is now in a play pen on my dining room floor. Both are enjoying their "me time" very much. Aggie's tummy has improved a great deal already.

Aggie is acting aggressively because she is in pain. This is her way of telling people that she is not a happy camper. Every pig handles pain differently. Mama Pig cried when her tummy really started hurting her, and Emma practically froze in place with her coat puffed up. That being said, there are some tell tale signs that your pig is miserable...
1 - The pig is biting things
2 - Chewing random things
3 - Screaming bloody murder
4 - Changes in behavior
5 - Puffed up coat
6 - Lethargy

Spotting a pig in pain can be very challenging. You have to know your piggies. Aggie is the recessive pig out of the two. She's always such a sweetheart, if you give her food she'll love you for forever. Aggie is acting VERY much out of character, the only explanation is that she is not well. Upon examining her tummy and the "presents" she leaves us, we realized her tummy was bothering her. Again, you have to work with the understanding that if something is out of the ordinary... something is wrong.

Aggie is going to the vet tomorrow for her follow-up appointment. Aggie requests super healing ninja vibes. I hope we can stop giving her the drops, I also hope the vet doesn't kill me for stopping her anti-biotics. Fingers crossed!

Crippie's Tippie - If your pig is having minor tummy issues... give them lettuce sprinkled with water. They love it because it's freakin' lettuce and the extra water makes it easier to go to the bathroom.

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

Crippie Says The Darndest Things!

Ohaiiiiiii

The Mama Pig Update - It was another off night for Mama Pig. I took her out for monitoring and she was gassy and not pooping again. I did the toothbrush massages and forced her to wee a little and eventually she pooped. While I was massaging Mama I noticed that she is experiencing some hair loss on her sides. I went on the internet to see what in the hell was going on and I didn't get any clear answers. Generally speaking hair loss on a female guinea pig's sides screams Ovarian Cysts. The thing is she doesn't display any other symptoms of ovarian cysts... at all. Crippie will continue to observe her to see if I notice any of the other symptoms of cysts. I really hope she doesn't have cysts, they have nothing to do with her current issues. My gut is telling me that Mama Pig is pulling the hair out because her tummy hurts. Crippie is gonna change her game plan a little... I'm gonna stop using the toothbrush as a precaution (I dunno if it could rupture a cyst) and will switch to letting Mama Pig ride on top of the washing machine (a gentler less concentrated vibration). I'm also gonna obtain that baby probiotic and start Mama on that.

Nooooooowwww, about that whole Crippie Rant last night... Crippie has a clearer head today, I do regret how certain things came out and I'm so sorry if I offended anyone. "Normals" complaining about trivial things has to be my number one pet peeve, and I guess seeing an overload of whining from a bunch of people kinda sent me over the edge. But overall, Crippie doesn't regret it. I felt like it had to be said. And if anyone is wondering Crippie and her friend had a dandy talk about everything and we totally patched everything up, so in that regard I'm really glad I had that little rant. But in all seriousness, Crippie thinks that people (no one in particular) need to stop focusing on how much their lives suck and instead focus on the positives. The positives might be harder to spot sometimes, but they without a doubt exist.

Since the blog has kinda taken a "cripples vs. normals" turn for the past few days, I figured I'd answer a related Crippie Question. "Why do you take offense to people calling you an inspiration? Last time I checked that was a compliment". Alright, here's the deal... it's not that us cripples find it offensive, it's just annoying as all hell when people say it insincerely or when they say something like "OMG you're disabled but you drive to work every day, you're such an inspiration". It kinda feels like we're being called inspirational solely because we're disabled. It's like saying "OMG you were a Jew in the 1940's in Europe, you're such an inspiration". It feels like an empty, meaningless statement... especially if you hear it over and over and over and over. That being said, if the cripple actually did something worth the compliment, it is seen as a such. People have said called me inspirational because of this blog and I don't see that as an insult at all... I'm actually doing something (blogging) and I'm relating it to my disability so the two things are related. BTW, thanks to all my "Crippled Comrades" who have had said those things about me... sorry if recent posts have made it seem like I didn't appreciate that.

So in MRI news... BOTH OF MY MRI'S HAVE FINALLY BEEN APPROVED!!! Now on to the next mini-battle, finding a hospital that can do them! Recently a shiny new hospital was built near Crippie so naturally we thought they would be able to handle my MRI but apparently they only do knee and back stuff. I'm still really confused about their inability to do my MRI... I thought all I had to do was sit in the damn machine. Oh well, we found another hospital that I can get the MRI done at, we just need to have the address changed with all the insurance stuff. Me thinks that this issue will be solved tomorrow (later today, whatever). Once that issue is settled it looks like I'll be able to schedule my MRI for Friday. If that's the case expect a lot of Rebecca Black parodies.

Crippie watched the final episode of House today. I must say, it was hard to watch one of my favorite TV characters go. I'm soooooooooooo glad that they ended on a high note instead of killing people just for the sake of killing people. What do y'all think? Crippie now eagerly awaits for a new show that focuses on someone with a disability *HINT HINT PRODUCERS*

Crippie's Tippie - If you're gonna call a cripple an inspiration, have an actual inspiring reason to do so

Crippie And Crack Squirrel

Ohai!

The Mama Pig Update - Mama Pig gave me a little scare tonight. I was planning on just monitoring her but I kept hearing grumbles from her tummy. She was getting very nudge-y and fidget-y. Not to mention she wasn't pooping. All these things added up means that she had a gas bubble and was very uncomfortable. Crippie used the handy dandy toothbrush, some massages, and I had to force her to tinkle a little but after two hours she passed all her gas (yes, guinea pigs fart) and got back to pooping like a normal pig. Phew.

Moving on to my totally awesome title. Today Crippie and her Grandma went to pay a visit to the piggies at the shelter. We brought a bunch of carrots for them and the rabbits. But, when we got there we got some very good news... ANDREW AND CHARLIE WERE ADOPTED!!! YAY!!!!! A local family who has adopted pigs before decided to add both Charlie and Andrew to their family! If by some stroke of luck their new parents are reading this I just want to say thank you for adopting these two little boys, they are very smart piggies and I hope you all have a fantastic life together. :D

Regardless of whether or not the boys were there, we still needed to give the bunnies carrots! So we went to the bunny and pig shed (the pigs were in separate cages from the bunnies, they were just held in the same room) to give everyone carrots. So Crippie was giving all the bunnies carrots and I was totally ignoring what I thought were empty cages on one wall, when all of the sudden I hear a noise and WHAM there is freakin' squirrel looking right at me! Much to my surprise there was a squirrel in one of the cages! This squirrel must have been really happy to see me and my grandma cause it was bouncing around the cage like you would not believe. It was almost as if it was saying "HI... I LOVE YOU... DO YOU LOVE ME... I DO TRICKS... LOOK AT ME... HI... HI... HI... HI... I LOVE YOU... LOOK AT ME... NOW I'M UPSIDE DOWN... LOOK AT ME... NOW I'M CLIMBING A WALL... I LOVE YOU... PLEASE LOOK AT MMMMEEEEEEEEEE". Crippie lovingly dubbed the squirrel as "Crack Squirrel" because it acted like it consumed massive amounts of crack. Then we noticed movement from a second "empty cage"... TWO MORE SQUIRRELS! These ones were a lot shyer and not on crack. I named them Bushy and Heidy. Bushy had a lovely tail and Heidy loved to hide. So yeah, Crippie got to play with squirrels today. I have no clue how they came to the shelter, all that matters to me is that I got to play with them. Now for the pics to prove that this did in fact happen!

Crack Squirrel standing still

Bushy being adorable

Crack Squirrel demanding either attention or my grandma's finger

Crack Squirrel wants to play

Heidy, not hiding for a change

Upside down Squirrel (probs Heidy)

Heidy and Bushy showing off

Crippie freakin' loves the local animal shelter, it's like a petting zoo! Since the boys are no longer there I won't have any reason to go for now, but I'll keep my eyes on their website, constantly checking for new piggies to help take care of. Who knows, maybe if the right girl comes along I'll add to my heard ;) If any of my readers are still in the market for a piggie but there don't appear to be any in your shelters check craiglist! Craigslist piggies often come from people who "don't have time" for their pigs anymore, so they need lots of love and treats! 

And if y'all were wondering, I don't think Crack Squirrel, Heidy, and Bushy are up for adoption.

Crippie's Tippie - Squirrels are humorous little buggers, but they would make terrible pets.

Rice Crippies

Ohai,

The Mama Pig Update - We are continuing with the two salads treatment today because of the very positive results of last night. Crippie cannot even begin to describe the looks of joy on their faces when they see their salads. Again, the pigs were very content and had adorable food comas... I swear some of them were smiling! Guinea pigs have teeny tiny bladders, so normally when you have them out for a prolonged period of time they will wee and poop on you. Mama Pig hasn't been doing that for the past couple of weeks. Tonight Crippie wanted to see how well Mama Pig's bladder worked without any massages or flushings of any kind. So, Crippie took a dog bed, put one of those waterproof covers on it, put Mama Pig in it, and just let her be. Mama Pig and I watched one of Crippie's favorite shows "16 and Pregnant" (DON'T JUDGE MEEEEEE) for a good two hours. I do believe Mama Pig is a middle aged woman trapped in a guinea pig's body... she really enjoyed it! She would watch the screen, purr when she heard people fighting, and gazed with wonder at the pretty colors. Thankfully Mama Pig was able to take massive wees and poops ALL BY HERSELF!!! YAY MAMA PIG!!! Crippie is finally starting to feel optimistic about her prognosis. She's made it past the two week point (when we lost Emma) and she is able to pee and poop all by herself!!! Crippie is gonna keep her with the double salads for a few more days until her tummy fully gets back into the swing of things.

Moving on, Crippie was planning on visiting the boys today but I just wasn't feeling up to it. That and I was called in to work early so I didn't have time. I'll go see them on Thursday. But yeah, Crippie had a rough day pain wise. It's all rainy and muggy and boy howdy did I feel it. All my joints felt achy and damn near all of them were popping, snapping, and crackling. I literally sounded like rice crispies. While sounding like a cereal is mildly entertaining I was realllllllyyyyyyyyy uncomfortable. Crippie had to constantly pop my wrist and shoulder at work and my hips and arms made crackling noises when I moved. I kinda wonder if anyone heard me... Do any of my readers make super fun noises and can people hear you?

So yesterday I mentioned that I have a little reaction time issue. Crippie figured now is as good a time as any to discuss it a little more. Crippie has MHE. MHE is a genetic disorder which causes a lack of heparin sulfate to be produced in my body. This causes the bone tumors. Recent studies also show that this heparin sulfate deficiency causes "Autism like symptoms". While Crippie isn't exactly Autistic, I do display some "Autistic Tendencies". This delayed reaction time is one of them. A split second decision takes about 1 or 2 seconds for me. Doesn't seem like much, but it can add up. For example tonight Crippie was opening a new bottle of soda. I know to open the bottle slowly and I was watching the bottle to see if it was gonna overflow. It really started to fizz and my dad yelled "CLOSE THE SODA" about 1.5 seconds later I closed it. The soda didn't spill luckily but it was obvious that it took me a second to process that information. It's rather annoying at times. If someone is trying to tell me something that requires a lot of thought it takes me a few seconds to figure out what the hell they are talking about. Crippie is trying to train herself to process things faster, and I'm getting slightly better at it. Believe it or not, video games seems to be helping me with this. They require you to pay very close attention to something and you need to time things properly.

Also, Crippie was thinking of making a video of general guinea pig tips. Does anyone have any piggie questions they'd like to hear me answer?

Crippie's Tippie - Don't be dissin' "16 and Pregnant" and video games, they actually serve some purposes. 

Back To Business

Ohai!

Crippie hopes everyone has been enjoying their week thus far. Mine has been getting increasingly better. Mama Pig is slowly but surely continuing to recover. Crippie is still flushing her out every night but it's becoming so much easier. Since Crippie doesn't have work tomorrow I'll probably be flushing Mama several times tomorrow, hopefully that will get the remaining crap out. 

Since Mama Pig has been feeling better all the piggies have really enjoyed mooching off her illness. She needs extra food and it is impossible to just feed one piggie ;). Also Nellie and Aggie really love Pedialyte and water mixed together, so they get a little bit of "special juice" when Mama gets it. 

Now the Mama Pig seems to be stabilizing Crippie can start blogging about things other than guinea pigs... shocking! In cripple news, I'm still waiting for approval for my MRI. We're gonna call tomorrow and be all like "Ohai, I can haz approval? kthnxbai". Crippie really wants to get the ball rolling with this thing. I want to get this damn MRI done, find out whats going on, and treat it. Crippie feels like this Fanny matter is holding me back. Crippie isn't afraid of this pending MRI at all... I'm not claustrophobic (I rather enjoy small spaces) and I'm not prone to headaches. I'm not afraid of having Fanny removed if need be. At this point, Crippie just wants to nip this thing in the butt (pun intended)

The rain has also been kicking Crippie's ass and furthering her desire to get this damn MRI done. I really don't enjoy saying "the rain is making my arthritis and sciatica act up", definitely doesn't sound like something your average 23 year old would say. Oh well, Crippie is coping with the weather as best as she can. I have a bottle of extra strength tylenol at work and I've been popping several of those bad boys a day. Crippie is also having a flare up in her right hand and index finger. Crippie tries to stretch out her fingers and muscles when this happens, it makes my hand look like a claw but it's oddly comfy. Currently my hand is wrapped up in an ace bandage, again feels surprisingly comfy. 

So that's about it folks. Mama Pig is getting better and I hate changes with barometric pressure. I eagerly await to blog about things other than sick piggies, like the Tony nominations for example! 

Crippie's Tippie - Be cautious if you plan on popping tylenol like candy. Like most pain meds it can do damage to your tummy if you have massive amounts of it. I try not to go over 2,500mg a day, but that's just Crippie.

Piggie Post - Nurse Mode

Greetings,

Crippie swears that she will return to talking about living with disabilities really soon, but for now this is kinda consuming my life. 

As most of you know Mama Pig has been sick for a little over a week now. If you've missed it here's what happened so far.

1st- She started peeing blood, a lot of blood. Either a sign of a UTI or a bladder stone (bladder stones can be very hard to treat and fatal). First we monitored her and tried to flush out whatever was bothering her. 

2nd- She stopped peeing for a while. This event could have been FATAL if left untreated. Thinking this was a sign of a bladder stone I put her in a warm bath and gave her massages with my hands and with the all glorious electric toothbrush. I was eventually able to stabilize her. After this incident we knew she needed to see a vet ASAP. We couldn't get an appointment immediately but Crippie was able to keep Mama stable until she was able to pay a visit to the vet.

3rd- Mama sees the vet. She is prescribed anti-biotics to help with the UTI. We also receive pain medications, motility drugs, and emergency food. 

4th- Mama willingly takes her medicine and shows signs of improvement. She's still a little lethargic at times, but she is recovering from a massive UTI

5th- Mama starts crying in the middle of the night. She cannot poop. This event could have also been FATAL if left untreated. Crippie flushes her out with pedialyte and massages her with a toothbrush for a few hours. Eventually Mama passes some poops and some gas. BTW, gas can be a very serious problem for pigs. She stabilizes and I decide to use some pain medication from the crisis kit.

6th- The following day Mama seemed relatively normal, until she started crying again. She can't poop again and she seems gassy. Again, FATAL if not treated. Continued with the toothbrush and pedialyte method although it is not a successful as the last night. She stabilizes again.

7th- She starts crying during the day. Same possibly FATAL problem. Crippie treats her with the pedialyte and toothbrush but it is not working well. We also try to give her a hot bath. It yields some results, but not enough. We start to suspect she is having a reaction to her antibiotics and we decide to stop giving them to her. We also decide that another visit to the vet is in order.

8th- Mama sees the vet. It's been 24 hours since she's had medicine, so she's feeling slightly better. The whole experience of going to the vet scares the crap out of her... literally. She manages to pee and poop for (and on) the vet. The vet does NOT think Mama Pig has a stone of any kind. She agrees with our treatment of stopping the meds. The vet gives us more pain meds and tells us to make sure Mama Pig eats.

9th- Mama starts to feel better. She remembers that food is delicious and starts eating everything in site. While it is still challenging, Mama is able to pee and poop all by herself. Crippie will help Mama Pig clear out her system over the next couple of days by giving her pain medicine at night and flushing her with a water and pedialyte mix. The toothbrush is not needed for now. In other words Mama Pig has taken a turn in the right direction. 

Yup, for the time being Mama Pig is getting better, but Crippie isn't celebrating just yet. Mama could take another turn for the worse at any time and I can't lull myself into a false sense of security. You've gotta keep an eye out for suspicious behaviors like being all puffed up in a corner, or crying, not wanting treats, etc. 

Mama Pig wants to thank everyone who has been sending purrs and prayers. She says she can feel the ninja vibes penetrating her tummy and making it easier for her to poop :)

A very relaxed Mama Pig after taking some pain meds

Crippie's Tippie - Remember people, Guinea Pigs live for eating, pooping, and peeing. If they are not doing one of those things something is horribly wrong. 

Guinea Pigs = Serious Business

Hi Y'all

Crippie's just popping by to say that posts are probably gonna be very short and sporadic this week. The reason being is that Mama Pig is still very sick. It seems that she manages well enough during the day, but she struggles at night. Crippie has been up taking care of Mama Pig well past 3am for three days straight now. We're gonna try and take her to the vet tomorrow. Mama Pig is one tough cookie and Crippie is gonna do everything in her power to keep her alive.

Crippie's Tippie - Guinea Pigs require a lot of work. Crippie literally spent three hours today pumping Mama with fluids and physically helping her urinate and defecate. This is by no means easy or glamorous, but piggies are completely worth fighting for.

All Hail The Magic Toothbrush

Greetings,


 I hope everyone enjoyed their May 4th. Before I begin my post Crippie wanted to pay tribute to the 4 students killed in the Kent State Massacre 42 years ago. May we never forget Jeffrey, Allison, William, and Sandra and may we never let it happen again.

Crippie's day was certainly interesting to say the least. The weather is changing again and that caused my hip to hurt a lot. I tried to sleep it off once I got home from work, it kinda helped. Crippie spent most of the night chilling cause I was achy. Pretty much a normal "its gon rain" night. Well, at least I thought it was.

I was getting ready for bed, just relaxing when all of the sudden I hear one of the guinea pigs crying. Their cries are very loud and you can tell that something is wrong when you hear it. At first Crippie thought it was Maggie, because she get can a little screamy when she's in heat. I went to check it out and much to my horror it was Mama Pig. Frida and Nellie were sleeping far away from her so they weren't harming her or anything. She was just sitting there crying. This is reaaaaaaaallllllllyyyyyyyyyy bad. It means that it is hurting her to pee and poop.

Crippie had to spring into doctor mode and fix Mama. First I gave her some pedialyte and then I observed her for a few minutes. She tried to wee and poop but she started screaming again. Next step was to get her to empty her bladder. Crippie did this by massaging her tummy with an electric toothbrush. I covered the toothbrush with a ziploc bag for sanitary reasons and I held part of the toothbrush to ease the amount of vibration she would feel. After about 2 minutes of massaging her tummy (with a focus on the bladder) she started defecating. Boy howdy did she ever need to poop. How do I phrase this lightly? Mama Pig probs got a little constipated by the meds. The pedialyte and toothbrush fixed the hard poop problem and once the poop was able to come out maaasssssssiiiiiivvvvveeeeee amounts of crap came out. Sorry if this isn't the most pleasant topic, but this kinda stuff comes with territory of pig ownership. After Mama passed the massive amount of crap she still needed to wee (to prove there is no stone blocking the path). All I can say is all hail the magic toothbrush. After a few more bladder massages she started weeing. Crippie continued the massages for two hours, periodically giving her water or pedialyte. Eventually massive amounts of wee and crap were freed from Mama's tummy. After that ordeal she was pooped (pun intended) so I put her back in the cage. Before I put her back I gave her some pain medicine. Metacam is also an NSAID so it should also help with any inflammation. Poor Mama Pig, as soon as she got into the cage she got comfy and fell asleep.

So yeah, Mama Pig is definitely not out of the woods. I'm gonna keep a super close eye on her for the next few days. If the medicine is making her constipated we'll just have to constantly keep her hydrated and keep giving her pedialyte. I don't think she'll object to that ;)

Crippie's Tippie - Electric toothbrushes can help save piggie's lives... good to know

I'm Not Afraid

Greetings!

Sooooooooo sorry I wasn't able to post a blog update yesterday... internet crapped out :(

Anyways... Mama Pig's vet appointment was on Tuesday. From my research I made an educated guess that Mama Pig either had a bad UTI or bladder stones. Bladder stones killed Emma. The vet agreed with my educated guess and put her on some anti-biotics in a hope that it is a UTI. They're pina colada flavored and Mama Pig is very happy about that. She seems to be responding positively to the meds thus far but it's really to soon to tell. Crippie will be monitoring Mama for the next 3 weeks. Crippie also requested that the vet provide us with a "crisis kit" in the event that Mama Pig (or any of the pigs for that matter) take a sudden turn for the worst and we are unable to get to a vet. A guinea pig crisis kit consists of the following items...
1) Oxbow Critical Care - If you ever need to force feed your pig... this is what you feed 'em. This can be purchased online as well.
2) Metacam - Pain medicine, sometimes it will help ease the problem enough so the pig will make it through the night... other times it helps your pig cross the bridge without pain. Either way it's a must have.
3) Reglan - It's a motility drug that can help if your pig stops pooping and weeing and/or if your pig develops bloat. Bloat is damn near always lethal. Emma's bladder stones caused an inability to wee which caused bloat. I had some Reglan in the house so I gave her a 16th of a pill and it helped ease the bloat a little... it didn't save her, but I think it helped a little.
4) Pedialyte (you can obtain this yourself) - Its just a good thing for a sick pig to have in general, plus they freakin' love this stuff! I bought a little four pack of it in a "mixed fruit" flavor for the pigs (don't buy one big bottle... buy several little ones because this stuff expires within days of being opened). Anyway... I was giving to Mama Pig in the syringe and while she was happily drinking away all the other pigs had looks on their faces and were practically saying "DO WANT NOW' so Crippie had to gave everyone some. Aggie damn near ripped the syringe out of my hand she loved it that much.

Mama Pig like Pina Coladas & Getting Caught in the Rain

So yeah, that's the story there. Oh, almost forgot to tell you... throughout this whole experience the person most affected (besides Mama) is without a doubt Frida. She looked so concerned whenever we took Mama out of the cage to take of her and she would nuzzle and kiss her as soon as we put her back in. If Mama was sleeping in a tunnel Frida would sleep right beside that tunnel even if that meant that she wasn't hiding somewhere (most pigs like to be hidden when they sleep). It's probably the cutest thing I've seen in a good long while.

Moving on to cripple news, tomorrow is my orthopedist appointment. People ask me if I get nervous about doctor's appointments, especially one's that could deliver bad news. Honestly, I don't get nervous.  When Crippie was younger, you bet your ass I was nervous... I wasn't used to being sick. Now I'm used to this stuff. Crippie's actually looking forward to my appointment. I'm rather curious as to what condition my hips are in now. As soon as I get a copy of my x-ray I will totes post a comparison of the old and new ones. Judging by my recent problems I don't think this visit will bring much of good news, but as long as the bad news can be treated I'm OK. Of course, I hope that I won't need surgery... or least if I need a surgery I hope it's an easy one, not one of those "LOL... LET'S REPLACE YOUR HIP" kinda things. I will definitely keep y'all posted with what the doctor says.

Crippie's Tippie - When going to a doctors appointment of this nature dress accordingly, no metal, tanktop under your shirt, shoes that the doctor can properly gauge your gait in, etc.

April End She Will

Howdy Y'all

It's hard to believe that April is over. That means the 30 posts in 30 days challenge has come to an end :(. Even though Crippie didn't follow most of the prompts, and I missed a few days... I consider this a success.

Now for the Mama Pig update. We couldn't take her to the vet today. Alas, our usual vet's office no longer treats guinea pigs. We were able to find a place in Jersey that can take care of a pig, but their particular vet that handles pigs wasn't in today. *Sigh* Yeaaaaaaahhh... so tomorrow Mama Pig will definitely go see a vet. If you are considering getting a Guinea Pig, remember they are technically "exotic pets" and not all vets are prepared to treat them. You'll need to find a good exotics vet who knows what they are talking about.

So what's wrong with Mama Pig? I'm still not gonna jinx anything by telling you, but let me put it this way... without some form of medical intervention she would die. Another word of advice to pig owners, if you pig is sick... help them. Please don't leave them in their cage to die. Crippie can't believe that there are people who do nothing if their pigs get sick, not even trying homeopathic treatments. How can people think that these guys are not worth saving? If I were to hypothetically opt to do nothing with Mama Pig she would stop eating, stop weeing, stop pooping and die a painful death... this process would of course take a few days so I'd be letting her slowly suffer. C'mon people, if you buy a pet accept ALL the responsibilities that go along with it. One of your responsibilities is to keep your animal alive for as long as humanely possible.

Sorry that I'm ending my 30 posts in 30 days with "Debbie Downer" posts, but I do hope that those pictures of the goats helped make up for it. Hopefully in a few days I'll be able to go back to my normal cripple posts :)

Crippie's Tippie - Where are the good exotic vets? Check www.guinealynx.info to find one in your area. If there are none, call around and see if anyone has experience with piggies.

Crippie Visits The Goats

Salutations,

Mama Pig says thanks for the ninja vibes, she's gonna go to the vet tomorrow and hopefully the doctors will be able to make her all better. Crippie is very worried about her. Everyone in the house is. We can't lose another pig... not now. Once the situation with Mama Pig is over I'll discuss what's wrong with her but I am petrified of jinxing something.

In the meantime, while Mama Pig was snoozing my dad and I took a trip to the shelter to see the boys. He loves piggies as much as I do. Crippie trimmed Andrew and Charlie's nails. I was expecting a huge battle but it went surprisingly well. Charlie tried to shoot poop at me... but that's really not terrible. I was also better able to gauge their health... both Charlie and Andrew look very healthy. Andrew is also getting used to being held, he didn't cry as much and he let my dad hold him for a few minutes... SO ADORABLE.

While we were there Crippie managed to find the goats! As soon as they saw us they starting being total hams. One was like "I'M ON A ROCK... LOOK AT ME!", another was like "I'M ADORABLE... LOOK AT ME!" Here are some pics to prove my point...

 

 

Crippie's Tippie - Looking for a pet... GO TO YOUR LOCAL SHELTER

Piggie Post: Sick Piggies

Greetings,

SO MANY PIGGIE POSTS... my goodness. Honestly, most of it is because I am focusing on piggies rather than my doctor's appointment Thursday. 

Anyway, I apologize for not posting yesterday. Ya see, Crippie went out to see a show (I'll discuss it in a future post when I'm in a better frame of mind) when I returned home I noticed blood in the trio's cage. Upon examination I discovered that it was from Mama Pig. I don't want to go into too much detail or ask well wishes or anything because I really don't want to jinx anything. Crippie will say that Mama Pig is being treated and monitored and will probably be making a trip to the vet either tomorrow or Monday. I'm not gonna say "Mama Pig will be fine" because a) I can't guarantee that and b) last time I said that Emma died. 

I think it's pretty safe to say that Crippie is freaking out. I can't lose Mama Pig now. I'm still trying to cope with Emma's death. With all the medical crap going on right now I need my pigs to help me get through it. Crippie is going to do anything and everything in her power to keep Mama Pig alive. 

As my mini-freak out suggests, when piggies get sick it can be very serious. If you notice that your pig is acting weird or if something is clearly wrong... here's a list of what to do.

1) Pigs live for eating, pooping, and peeing... if your pig isn't doing those things get them to a vet ASAP

2) If your pig is not in "immediate" danger, get your ass on the internet to look up what could be wrong with them. My old standby is www.guinealinx.info. They have tons of medical info and tbey make it relatively easy to get a vague diagnoses. I would discuss what I found with Mama Pig but again... don't wanna jinx it

3) Guinea Pigs simply do not get better on their own, whether it is homeopathic medicine or a trip to the vet, you have to do something.

4) For minor guinea pig ailments homeopathic methods could work. For example, Nellie and Frida are prone to minor UTIs I give them an herbal supplement called Shilingtong

5) Pigs can take a turn for the worst verrrrrryyyyyyy quickly, Emma showed improvement for weeks before suddenly dying. 

The average guinea pig life span is 5-8 years, if you take care of your pigs and get them help when they need it hopefully they will live a long and healthy life. Mama Pig is probably 4.5 years old, God I hope she makes it to 5. 

Crippie's Tippie - Take care of your pigs, they deserve it

Awe, Temporarily Crippled Puppy

Ohai Everyone!

Crippie hopes all of her readers are having a lovely week this far. The weather is still kinda kicking my ass, but at least my allergy meds are keeping the whole "not being to breathe" thing at bay. Apart from the weather there isn't much new and or excited to report about... oh wait, Crippie forgot to mention that her dog is now the biggest cripple in the house.
On Sunday night our not blind dog Angel was perfectly fine. When we awoke Monday morning Angel was not using one of her front paws! She was hobbling around the house and wouldn't let us touch her paw, so clearly something was wrong. We took her to the vet and the vet figured that the probably sprained or twisted her lil' footie sometime during the night. She was given pain medicine and she'll be fine with a few days rest. Lucky for us Angel enjoys resting so that won't be a problem. Unlucky for us, Angel can't go up and down stairs for now so someone has to carry her. No big deal right? Lol, wrong. Angel was more than likely abused by prior owners and does not like being picked up... at all... ever... under any circumstances. To solve this fun little problem, my sister has to wear really thick gloves and a really thick jacket in order to pick Angel up (once she has her Angel tends to settle down, it's the whole picking up process that is tricky). Any tips for picking the dog up readers?
Since Angel's pain meds are keeping her comfortable and she'll be all better in a few days, I have absolutely no guilt in saying what I'm about to say. Crippie is getting a kick out of having a dog that limps around like she does. Her tails wags when I say "WHO'S MY LITTLE CRIPPLE... YOU ARE!!!" I also find it amusing how she has mastered the "My paw hurt... I deserve treats" look. She will limp towards you and stare at you while dangling her paw. Angel's alway's been smart that way, I guess she takes after her auntie ;)

My life is so hard, woe is me. Bacon would make it better though, yeaaaaaah, bacon

Crippie's Tippie - Injured doggies deserve more treats ;)

Angel's Tippie - Why just injured dogs? I deserve more treats anyway!