*growl*

[Almi_]

Alright, so here is an update on Ginger.


We went to the vet yesterday. I got Dr. Hause again instead of Dr. Ness (ugh). She checked Gin over and said she was completely healthy except for the skin condition.

So of course the first thing she wanted to do was do a skin scraping. She explained to me that all they did was "pluck a few hairs" or something like that (even though I'm not that stupid), and took her in back to do it. I waited not even a minute before I heard Ginger squeal. I've never heard her make such a noise in my life. And when she came back, there was a sore, slightly bleeding spot on her bum.

I cuddled her while they looked at her skin under a microscope, and she was squeaking and licking/nibbling my arm, and she kept making a purring noise every now and then while I was stroking her. I've heard pigs do this before, but I'm not sure what it means - can someone tell me?

Well, anyway, the doctor was telling me that she'd want to treat her for mites anyway with Ivermectin [by injection] and have me come in every two weeks to get the injection (I assumed), even though the test was negative, and was saying that they're not always right. So then I piped in and said that I've heard you're not supposed to treat a guinea pig with Ivermectin until they weigh 340 grams (Ginger now weighs 270). She just kind of got this look on her face and was like, "Well, you need to be careful what you read..we will make sure and treat her with a safe dosage...[and such]" She seemed pretty annoyed at that, and I was frustrated because I could barely get a word in and tell them that I'm not an idiot.

So anyway, she went through the possibilities of bedding, and saying that whatever detergent I use to wash her fleece might be causing irritation. Which, I haven't put her on any washed fleece yet, it's all been new, and besides that, she had this problem when I got her.

Dr. Hause also explained to me that they could do a fungal culture (which would mean another painful skin scraping), which would cost around $50. I asked if I could wait and bring her back just for that in a couple of weeks (to see if she improves or gets worse) and if I had to pay another office fee to do so. She told me something along the lines of a "revisit fee" and that I'd have to pay it.

At this point I was sort of flustered and felt like I didn't have any time to think, so I just asked for a quote of what my bill was already and then I would decide.

Well, the tech came in (she's really nice) and explained to me what I was paying so far, and I asked her how much the "revisit fee" would be, if it would be the same as the $50 office visit or if it was cheaper. She was like, "Oh, no...you could just bring her in to get the skin scraping, and you wouldn't have to pay anything except the $50 for the fungal culture."

Yeah...at this point I was really starting to think that Dr. Hause was really only trying to get my money. *sigh* I liked Dr. Ness a lot better.

Anyway, I ended up deciding to not get the fungal culture done, since Ginger didn't seem to be in any pain or discomfort, and I have noticed that her skin looks normal where the fur is gone, and it's starting to grow back.

I gave her a bath last night (which she was such a good little girl for). Amazingly, she looks TONS better, and smells good to boot! I'm starting to wonder if maybe she was in some dirty conditions at the pet store and wasn't able to clean herself properly, and the urine was eating away at her fur. Because that bath seriously seemed to help. She doesn't even have flaky looking skin anymore.

Here's a few pics of her cleaning herself after her bath:

[Almi_]

I also did some hardcore cube cage building last night and this is the result - my wall of cages that goes right up to the couch. x_x:

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Both of the girl bunnies got cube cages, and so now I have Ginger on top of them instead of a table. (On the bottom left is another bunny cage, and top left is the rat cage.) And notice there is room for expansion. :] Here's a closer view of her cage (not sure what she's doing to her armadillo).
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At a different angle (can you spot her?):




And her taking a drink.

[MissGinger]

Is this an Exotic's vet?

[Cosmictadpole]

Awww, she looks so cute after her bath - almost curly! I hope she continues to do well. And that's frustrating about the vet. It feels really awful to be paying so much money and not even be sure if the vet knows what he/she is talking about.

[Almi_]

This is a place that specializes in exotics, and a vet that specializes in small mammals. There are two vets there that specialize in rodents, and that's Dr. Hause and Dr. Ness. I go to this place (even though it's more expensive) because it's the only place I know of that treats small animals where I live.

[Biscuit]

Move to Denver, we have great vets.

[OSUCavies]

Ginger is so adorable.

when I read that she squealed due to the skins craping I felt so bad because my piggy Layla did the same when it happened to her! Poor things. I know you are taking great care of her though.


I must say great job on the cage! I love how you made the bunny cage on the bottom, too! Ginger must be super happy in her new CC cage. Are you thinking about getting her a cage mate at some point after the skin condition clears a bit?


Sorry to hear your vet visit was not the best, I have had some poor visits, myself in the past. I hope her condition gets better and be sure to go back to Dr. Ness since that is the one you like! I took my neutered male to a vet before (when I was trying to get him neutered) and they just treated him like some rotten rodent. He even like had some smug look on his face when I asked to neuter him. He even said "I don't deal with these things much", meaning guinea pigs and of course I took my 200 dollars elsewhere and got him neutered at a place that treated him like the king that he is! These are our pets and people need to realize that.
I mean, fish, rats, mice, lizards, turtles, cats, dogs we love them all the same and I think some vets are a little snobish towards certain animals that aren't dogs or cats. Which is ridiculous! If you are a vet, shouldn't you love and appreciate ALL animals regardless of size, weight, fuzzy, slimey, whatever?

Anywho, I got off topic.
Glad to see you got her to a vet, I hope the condition gets better.


Also-- the purr is usually a sign of comfort, to my knowledge. I thought it was similar to a cat's purr when they feel comfortable and maybe they like you touching that certain part of them?

Perhaps I'm wrong, but my piggies tend to make that purr when they like something that I do such as petting them.

[Almi_]

Originally Posted by Biscuit

Move to Denver, we have great vets.

Yeah. =P

Originally Posted by OSUCavies

Ginger is so adorable.

when I read that she squealed due to the skins craping I felt so bad because my piggy Layla did the same when it happened to her! Poor things. I know you are taking great care of her though.

I must say great job on the cage! I love how you made the bunny cage on the bottom, too! Ginger must be super happy in her new CC cage. Are you thinking about getting her a cage mate at some point after the skin condition clears a bit?


Sorry to hear your vet visit was not the best, I have had some poor visits, myself in the past. I hope her condition gets better and be sure to go back to Dr. Ness since that is the one you like! I took my neutered male to a vet before (when I was trying to get him neutered) and they just treated him like some rotten rodent. He even like had some smug look on his face when I asked to neuter him. He even said "I don't deal with these things much", meaning guinea pigs and of course I took my 200 dollars elsewhere and got him neutered at a place that treated him like the king that he is! These are our pets and people need to realize that.
I mean, fish, rats, mice, lizards, turtles, cats, dogs we love them all the same and I think some vets are a little snobish towards certain animals that aren't dogs or cats. Which is ridiculous! If you are a vet, shouldn't you love and appreciate ALL animals regardless of size, weight, fuzzy, slimey, whatever?

Anywho, I got off topic.
Glad to see you got her to a vet, I hope the condition gets better.


Also-- the purr is usually a sign of comfort, to my knowledge. I thought it was similar to a cat's purr when they feel comfortable and maybe they like you touching that certain part of them?

Perhaps I'm wrong, but my piggies tend to make that purr when they like something that I do such as petting them.

Thanks!

Haha, yeah, the bunnies really like their new cages too. Ginger has actually been in a C&C for maybe over a week now, though, but she was on a big table that I had. I like this better because I can take the table out and still keep the pig(s) off the floor. It also looks a lot nicer!

Yeah, I've still been keeping my eye out for a pig to adopt. No one has answered my replies to their CL listings (urgh) and there haven't been anymore. I asked about a pig train in another forum and someone (can't remember who it was, sorry!) helped me find a PF listing for Brainerd, MN (which is about a 2-3 hour drive from where I live). So I'm going to see how far they'll be willing to meet us, and if I can convince my girlfriend to come and help me navigate.

Of course, I don't want to jump ahead of myself until I know for sure that Ginger doesn't have something fungal. If she hasn't improved in two weeks, I'm going to take her back in to get the fungal culture done. I'm pretty confident that she'll be okay, though. Whatever was going on doesn't seem to have spread, and the fur is starting to grow back. She also doesn't seem to be in pain or anything. I think she was just annoyed before that I was ruffling her fur, and I suppose it was uncomfortable in that spot before. Now that all the fur and grossness is gone, she doesn't seem to care if I touch her there.

Haha, well, the vets mean well, Dr. Hause just seems to be a bit on the self-righteous side. I like all of the other vets and techs there, though. I used to do clinic observation there (to get into the vet tech program at North Dakota State University), and I've watched them at work. They really are great vets. It's just that Dr. Hause...

As for the purring...I can't tell if she's happy or annoyed. She's done it when I scratch behind her ears, and she's done it when I've been looking at her bald spot. She's also done it randomly in the cage when no one was by her. I've heard the pigs at work do it before at each other, too. Such a mystery to me.