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My Princess Juliet

Maria_143

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As I am a newbie to these forums, I just wanted to share with you all my Princess Juliet who passed two weeks ago. Her passing was the hardest day of my life. Being a previous pet owner to other pets, I never expected such a tiny little soul to leave such big paw prints in my heart. :love: Rescuing Juliet was the best and happiest time of my life. I am so thankful that I got to meet her and had a wonderful 3 years with her. We rescued Juliet from abuse. She spent the 1st year of her life being totally mistreated and scared out of her mind. She did have a variety of health problems when she was with us, but we managed to keep them all under control. Unfortunately, it was a stone that took my baby away from me, which still is unreal to my family and I as she was on filtered water and a low calcium diet. I've attached pictures of our now piggy angel below and I think they speak for themselves as to the type of piggy she was. :love:
 

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Guinea Pig Papa

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Wow, what a pretty little girl, she's so adorable. She was so lucky to have gotten to you. My sincerest condolences on your loss, I can't imagine how you must feel. Pooper and Sly send wheeks to try and help comfort you. Rest in peace, little Princess.
 

Maria_143

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Wow, what a pretty little girl, she's so adorable. She was so lucky to have gotten to you. My sincerest condolences on your loss, I can't imagine how you must feel. Pooper and Sly send wheeks to try and help comfort you. Rest in peace, little Princess.

Thank you so very much. :love: We had the little angel cremated and she has a beautiful memorial where she was housed in our home. And Pooper and Sly are such adorable names! Sounds so much like a dynamic duo! :):eek:
 

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Yes, they are dynamic all right! They're both senior pigs now so they've slowed down a fair bit (Sly almost 5 and Pooper just turned 6 in July) Pooper had an original name though I can't remember what it was, he just pooped so much that Pooper started as a nickname and it stuck.
 

Maria_143

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Yes, they are dynamic all right! They're both senior pigs now so they've slowed down a fair bit (Sly almost 5 and Pooper just turned 6 in July) Pooper had an original name though I can't remember what it was, he just pooped so much that Pooper started as a nickname and it stuck.

Awwww! So cute! And congratulations on having 2 senior piggies! I think that is absolutely wonderful! I pray that our little Ginger (10-12 weeks old) who we recently adopted, will live a long, happy life so I too can one day be a senior piggy mom :eek:
 

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I hope she does too! Does Ginger have a friend? If she doesn't, please consider getting one. Piggies are social animals and really thrive with one or more friends. Poopy was an only pig for the first 16 months of his life and I felt he was lonely so Sly became our Christmas pig, and Poopy has done so much better with a buddy. Even though they had their battles and occasionally had to be separated when they were younger, the first thing they did was lie up against the divider against each other to feel better.
 

Maria_143

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I hope she does too! Does Ginger have a friend? If she doesn't, please consider getting one. Piggies are social animals and really thrive with one or more friends. Poopy was an only pig for the first 16 months of his life and I felt he was lonely so Sly became our Christmas pig, and Poopy has done so much better with a buddy. Even though they had their battles and occasionally had to be separated when they were younger, the first thing they did was lie up against the divider against each other to feel better.

Ginger does have other piggies in the house to play with, but for right now they have not yet been together as I am currently treating her for a URI, which I have a thread going now in the medical section all about that. And any input on that would be awesome since you've had your piggies for a while. When we first brought her home, because she was sneezing I decided to not yet place her with the other sows. Though they all talk to each other, which makes me happy :)
 

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Great decision on keeping her separated. Believe it or not neither one of my pigs had been ill until recently. Pooper was on Baytril back in late May and early June, and it was a horrible experience. He didn't tolerate it well and lost a great deal of weight. He's doing well now, he's gained back over 200 grams and just dealing with arthritis but he's doing super. Sly developed osseous metaplasia a couple of years ago but there is no treatment for it and he doesn't seem to suffer at all, though he is starting to have issues with his sight but nothing major yet, just noticing small things. Do you have Critical Care for your piggies? Is Ginger on antibiotics?
 

Maria_143

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Great decision on keeping her separated. Believe it or not neither one of my pigs had been ill until recently. Pooper was on Baytril back in late May and early June, and it was a horrible experience. He didn't tolerate it well and lost a great deal of weight. He's doing well now, he's gained back over 200 grams and just dealing with arthritis but he's doing super. Sly developed osseous metaplasia a couple of years ago but there is not treatment for it and he doesn't seem to suffer at all, though he is starting to have issues with his sight but nothing major yet, just noticing small things. Do you have Critical Care for your piggies? Is Ginger on antibiotics?

Yes! Okay so I am really glad you've posted on my thread because Ginger did NOT tolerate Baytril well either! Same as Pooper, lost interest in food and to top it off, the sneezing was continuing after days on Baytril as well. She is now on a new antibiotic, a probitoic, and a tiny dose daily of cisapride because my vet began to worry when Ginger's poop output diminished on the Baytril.
 

Guinea Pig Papa

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Same thing with Pooper. He was on it for almost two weeks in different form. He was on the liquid for 11 days and he was so bad on the Saturday that I was certain I would lose him. I took him off the Baytril and within 48 hours he was a different pig. Ginger is definitely too young for Baytril if she is only 10-12 weeks old. Pooper in his heydey was around 1500 grams and I first noticed he was breathing wrong on May 24th. Back and forth to the veterinarian and by June 20th he was down to 1038 grams. I was dying inside and I was sure that if he didn't pass away I was going to have to have him put to sleep because I couldn't bear him suffering. He's now doing very well and as I said he's packing on the weight and is now back up close to 1300 grams
 

Guinea Pig Papa

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If Ginger won't eat on her own Critical Care is a godsend for sick piggies. I got a bag of the apple banana flavour and Pooper liked it so much he would eat it on his own out of a little bowl. Now he gets his arthritis tablets mixed with Critical Care and fed to him by syringe and he's like a baby, he can't get enough of it.
 

Maria_143

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This is exactly what I am experiencing with Ginger! Back and forth from the Vets and all of the above as you have stated. And it's been 48 hours since Baytril and she has improved so much while on Bactrim. So I am hoping she continues to improve. Critical care is on hand if needed :)
 

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It was my experience with the Baytril that the poop output dimished not because of motility problems caused by the Baytril itself, but more so that the loss of appetite caused by the Baytril that led to dimished poop production. Not eating means not pooping. I thought Pooper was eating ok, but tiny poops and not many of them meant that he wasn't eating and that the Critical Care was essential. Piggies are almost constantly eating and so when I realized that he would munch for a minute or two and lie down for four or five hours that wasn't nearly enough.
 

bpatters

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Actually, [MENTION=35161]Guinea Pig Papa[/MENTION], it's almost never necessary to separate pigs for URIs. A URI is contagious before the symptoms even appear, and by the time you notice it, all the pigs have been thoroughly exposed. All separation does is stress out the lone guinea pig, who's not used to being without its cage mates.

The only time I separate for a URI is when a pig takes suddenly and seriously ill -- goes from being fine to hunched up, lethargic, not eating, etc in a matter of hours. If it's just a matter of sniffles and sneezes and the pig is eating fairly normally, I just leave them together.

Also, be aware that Critical Care is very high in calcium, and should not be used on a regular basis except in very small amounts because of the danger of contributing to bladder stones. I give my pigs an occasional glob of it so they remember what it tastes like if they need it when they're sick, but never on a daily basis.
 

Guinea Pig Papa

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I did not know that, bpatters. Everything else I had read had stated to separate an ill pig to avoid any other infections in other piggies. And Poopy is on the Oxbow Joint support tablets, which he of course won't eat on his own. So they are crushed up and mixed with a half tablespoon or so of Critical Care for flavour to ensure that he eats them. I've been considering trying it without the critical care at all to see if he'll take it that way but I've been more concerned with him getting them in him than anything else.
 

bpatters

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Most URIs aren't that contagious. I've had several pigs that have been treated for one, but left in the same cage with the others, and never had another pig get sick.

I actually think the stress of being separated is more of a danger to the lone pig than the possibility of sickness is to the cagemates. Stress depresses the immune system, which a pig with an infection doesn't need.

When I have had to separate pig (recovering from surgery), they've chewed the bars and otherwise indicated their extreme displeasure at being isolated.

All that said, you do have to pay extra close attention when one is ill to make the sure the others aren't getting sick. If I've got a sick pig, I weigh them all daily in the mornings before breakfast, and check all the others for symptoms as well. And, as I said, if an illness comes on very suddenly, I do separate, even though I know the others have already been exposed. But if it's quick, then it's a virulent infection, and I'd rather not have the continued exposure.
 

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I totally understand that. When Pooper and Sly used to fight and had to be separated when they were young that was the first thing they would do is chew the bars and do their damnedest to get back with each other, except they would end up fighting again. They eventually grew out of it but it took over a year.

I tried Pooper tonight with his "cookie" (Crushed joint support tablets mixed with water in a syringe) WITHOUT the critical care and he still gobbled it up like candy so I think the critical care is unnecessary at this point.
 

Maria_143

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So glad Pooper took his meds easily! Hooray! Ginger actually ate the majority of her Vitamin C tablet and is beginning to get back to her normal self. :eek:
 

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That's great news Maria! I had guinea pigs when I was a kid, but I was young and never really grasped the concept. I got Pooper back in 2010 when I really didn't want to look after a pet but I could not believe how I fell in love with him and the place he took in my heart. Now I can't imagine life without either one of them. I'm so glad Ginger seems to be getting better. I'd love to see pics of her :)
 

Maria_143

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I will try to post pictures as soon as I can of Ginger! Because she is so young, she is quite squirmy still. I am hoping that this new antibiotic knocks this out of her.
 
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