A Wink and a Wheek

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LynniePig

Post   » Fri Jul 06, 2007 1:19 pm


Love your pigs and pics. The cage looks great too!

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guineapigbillie

Post   » Thu Jul 26, 2007 3:08 pm


cute piggies

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Acanoffleas

Post   » Mon Jul 30, 2007 9:02 am


Holy cow, we've had quite the weekend. Our crazy pigs have been doing pretty well. Brick has a tendency to have moments of machismo, where he just runs around the cage and pushes everybody else around. Particularly Mo. We took to separating him from the group when he got overly pushy. Dan had Mo out on his lap on Friday and I noticed his eye looked a bit "funny." Well, after closer inspection and much frantic browsing on GL, I figured he had some sort of serious injury incurred from a Brick Confrontation. So upstairs Brick went - and stayed. We got Mo into the vet the next morning and the doc concurred he had an eye injury (he did a stain and Mo's cornea was scratched). He gave us some eye drops to give him 3x daily for 10 days. Mo seems fine in spirit, though, which is good. He's eating and playing as usual. I've been weighing him, and his weight is steady. The only real difference I notice is when I have him out of the cage - he lays with me, which isn't really like him at all. He's normally off exploring and doesn't like to be held to snuggle. The "mom" part of me is touched by the gesture that he feels comfortable just laying down with me and being completely vulnerable. The logical part of me is worried by it. To top it off, his eye just seems to keep getting cloudier - I called the vet this morning to confirm if this is normal, so hopefully I'll get a call back by this afternoon - the doc was in surgery today.

Meanwhile, Brick seems to actually be enjoying his penthouse suite. He has the 2nd floor all to himself, and he can see down into the first floor where everyone else is. He has his own pigloo, pillow/girlfriend, and cuddle cup. He's rolling in it, man. He's very attentive to what's going on outside the cage as well - I've noticed him watching when I sit with Mo to give him his eye drop. I wonder what he's thinking...

Dan and I are pet sitting for our friends this week while they're on vacation. Luckily they live just down the street, so it's just a quick jaunt away. But that's two more cats and one big Boston Terrier to keep an eye on. Oye vey. What. A. Wheek.

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Acanoffleas

Post   » Thu Aug 02, 2007 11:47 am


Thankfully, the week has gotten better with time. Our friends' pets have been battling fleas for awhile, and it figures that when their parents go out of town the fleas attempt to make a raging comeback. I can literally see the little suckers running through the fur on one of the cat's faces. Poor baby. I went out and bought flea collars, a flea comb, and some brewer's yeast/garlic supplements. I'm going to take their dog for a bath tomorrow at my salon (at PetsyesIworkthereMart). I also dusted the rooms with Borax. I have no idea if any of this stuff will help, but I have to hope that it will. Hopefully when their mom and dad get home they can give them their Frontline treatments (I have no idea if they even have any in stock right now, otherwise I'd do it myself).

Mo has a follow up appointment with the vet today to check on the progress with his eye. I think it looks much better. It's still cloudy, but not as bad as it was. I keep meaning to post pictures of it, but I forget to grab my camera cord to bring with me to work. I can definitely tell he's acting more himself, being IMPOSSIBLE to catch in the cage, making lots of little chirps when being held, etc. I'm going to have Mo with me here at work briefly before his vet appointment. I'm going to pick him up during my late lunch hour, bring him back to the office for about 1/2 an hour, then leave directly for the vet. That should be fun. Wish us luck.

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Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Thu Aug 02, 2007 2:07 pm


Try my handy flea trap. I have others using glass pie plates but like my white pie plate best because you can see them better. I am using a 15 watt bulb and have some florescents in the other two trap lights. This is incandescent.

Note: there are fleas and bitty spiders in it!

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Acanoffleas

Post   » Fri Aug 24, 2007 9:10 am


Well, it's been a while since I've updated on the gang. I know ya'll like pictures, but my camera has gone MIA.

Our friends are actively treating their flea problem, and I think they're finally getting the upper hand. Meanwhile, I've been a bit paranoid that I'd bring the fleas back with us, but thankfully so far so good. :)

Mo's eye has completely healed. I'm incredibly grateful for that. Bear's poop problems seemed to have sorted themselves out. The doc agreed with me that it was more likely a dietary issue, and she gave us a gentle stool softener to give to Bear when he has problems. I'm not keen on messing with their GI tracts, so we only ended up giving it to him twice, and he's been doing great since.

So, overall the gang is doing well. Mortar is approaching on his first birthday, and we've definitely seen a change in his personality. He's gotten more aggressive. I'd say about two weeks ago, you'd look in the cage and see Mo chasing Mortar around. Now it's the other way around. I've seen Bear and Mortar "play" fighting, and I've convinced myself that Bear has been teaching him how to stand up for himself and be more assertive. Well...it's working! Only Mo isn't so keen on the change, and I've found quite a few bite marks on Mortar's rump. I'm a bit paranoid that he's going to end up not getting along with Bear and Mo, but I'm hoping and praying that it's just a phase he's working through. Lord...I don't want to have to separate him, too.

Which brings me to Brick. Oh boy. He's so funny. He knows exactly how to play me, too. He'll sit up in his loft, watching the boys play below, and he'll run around trying to follow them, wheeking, digging at the floor trying to get down to them. And I think "Oh man, he's lonely." So I figure we'll try some one-on-one floor time. Nope. Not happening. Floor time quickly turns into rolling-ball-of-fur time. Brick is just so darn aggressive. But when he's with me he's a mama's boy. Like, cries-when-I-walk-away mama's boy, and licks my fingers and face mama's boy. Ironically, the only other animal he seems to tolerate is the cat, and even Shadow isn't so keen on that.

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Acanoffleas

Post   » Tue Sep 04, 2007 9:34 am


Well wouldn't you know that the husband had the camera at his office. HA! We took a "mini-moon" in DC this past weekend, and I respectfully requested he remembered to bring the camera home.
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SO! It's now September, and Mortar is *officially* one year old. Happy birthday Mortar!
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I recently bought a "dog bed" from work that was made of the same material as the favored red pillow. This thing is huge in comparison to the pigs, but they STILL fight over who's king of the mountain. Here's Mort with it all to himself:
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And last but not least, I think I finally figured out why Mo and Brick don't get along. Mo caught Brick "in the act":
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cutemomomi
Obey My Authority

Post   » Wed Sep 05, 2007 9:14 pm


Happy Birthday Mort Man, you and I share the same birthday month!
Hope your mommy will shower you with lots of yummy treats and cuddly hugs. :)

Acanoffleas, you two look so happy together. :)

Tracis
Let Sleeping Pigs Lie

Post   » Thu Sep 06, 2007 1:43 am


What a great "mini-moon". :)

Happy Birthday, handsome Mortar!

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1aicha
Ze French Piggies

Post   » Mon Sep 10, 2007 4:53 pm


I have two girls born sept 11. Audrey turns 21 and Maïté turns 9 :) September seems to be a busy month for us piggy lovers;)

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Acanoffleas

Post   » Fri Oct 19, 2007 9:27 am


Holy moly it's been a while! Any my how much has happened since I last posted. I've been out of town for the past month doing my grooming academy training for Petsmart. I'm happy to report that it was actually a great experience - I learned a great deal and all in all groomed 18 dogs during my time there. I'm now back at my home store and starting the Field Training practice portion of certification, meaning I have to groom 100 dogs with my manager's supervision and approval before I'm considered certified. Yee ha.

Well, while I was at academy, I happened to hear about a guinea pig that had been at this Petsmart for not quite a year. They called him The Kahuna because he was so big and "well endowed." They had moved him into their back quiet room where he was by himself. I took one look at this boy and instantly fell for him. I called the husband and asked if we could somehow work out a way to take in yet another pig, and to my surprise he said yes. So he was adopted out to me, i.e. given to me for free, and I'm happy to report that he's happy, healthy, and loving life in a *real* home. His new name is Mason, and, yes, he's a big, big boy.

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I met Mason on a Monday. I told Petsmart I wanted him on Tuesday. I took him home on Friday (I had class M-F and returned home on weekends). We put him in a temporary cage to adjust. On that Saturday I took him out and gave him free reign of the couch and boy...he was bucking and popcorning all over the place. He took well to the lettuce and veggies he was now getting, as well as the Oxbow pellets. He gets along pretty well with Bear and Mortar, but not so much Mo. I won't even attempt to let him meet Brick (what a bully that Brick is). Overall, he's incredibly sweet. It's fun watching him come out of his shell.

I'm so grateful that I was able to give him a home. I know everyone's opinion on pet stores, especially corporate ones, but I've come to realize that each Petsmart is run a bit differently from the next. I personally don't condone buying from pet stores, but I know that the animals in my home store are well looked after and whoever ends up purchasing them will be getting a healthy animal. The Petsmart I was at for academy gave me the same impression - Mason was moved to the back because he hadn't sold for a good while, and they received new pigs, who were babies and much smaller, and they didn't want them to fight (sigh). Every one of the employees knew about him- when word got out that I was adopting him, mostly everyone came up to me and thanked me. After that point, their pet care manager came to me with several questions on guinea pig care, and I'm happy to report that I wrote down Guinea Lynx's website for her, as well as Cavy Spirit and Guinea pig cages.com I honestly don't know if she'll use it, but I know at least she has it. Now I have to work on my home store's pet care manager...I enjoy working at "my" store because of the people there and because of our clients/pet parents. Oh, and definitely because I get to work with animals. The grooming thing is definitely a lot of work, but it's totally fun, too.

Anywho, here are more pictures of our new boy:
His second day home, pooped out after having run several laps around the couch
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Bear and Mason sharing a pile of hay
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And because this picture just makes me feel all warm and fuzzy, here's Bear, smiling:
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"I haz a new brother!"

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Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Fri Oct 19, 2007 3:44 pm


He's a cutie. And very lucky you took him home.

It's a shame older pigs are sometimes overlooked. I wish people realized what wonderful pets they make.

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