[Gpdd] MISC.: Guido

Janna Willard janna.willard at gmail.com
Tue Sep 20 13:18:34 EDT 2011


Well, what happens when you forget which e-mail address you're subscribed to
a list with... is that the posts you make don't get through to the list.
*sigh*

Below are the three e-mails I sent this weekend, from the wrong e-mail
address.

-Janna

"Nobody realizes that some people expend tremendous energy merely to be
normal." Albert Camus
"I want to remake the world; anything less is not worth the trouble." Karen
Cushman


Fri, Sep 16, 2011 at 15:49
subject HEALTH: Guido

Hi everyone,

Last night when I gave the boys their lettuce, Guido didn't come out of his
igloo. That's not totally out of character for my cautious little man, so I
didn't really think much of it.

This morning, though, when I came to give them their breakfast, he was
sitting in the corner of his cage and hadn't touched his lettuce. He didn't
go for his noms this morning, either. And then he let me pick him up, which
is very alarming as he is so skittish and usually leads me a merry chase
around the cage when I try to pick him up.

His right eye is leaking, which of course is not a good sign, and there were
little crusties around his left nostril - also not a good sign. I had to
come into town today and so was completely unable to do anything for him
before we left, but I have picked up some chewable vitamin C tablets that I
will cut into quarters so I can dose both boys tonight. I also plan to move
Guido into the living room and feed him Critical Care every couple of hours.
I also have a bottle of immune system booster that I will give both of them,
and of course I'll keep an eye on both boys' weight.

This is all assuming that Guido is still with us when we get home tonight.
If he's moved on to the Bridge, I'll have to engage in preventative measures
for Batman right away - and it will be even more vital then. Does anyone
know if it's okay to give Critical Care to a healthy pig? (I'm guessing
not.)

There is no diarrhea, which is a good sign, I think, so I am hopeful that
vitamin C and Critical Care will at least get Guido through the weekend and
maybe I can get him in to see the vet on Monday, if not tomorrow.

My little man is four and a half, which is as old as I've ever had a pig
live to be, but he's been so healthy that I was hoping he'd make it another
year or two at least, especially with Batman to keep him company now.

There are more piggies at the SPCA who need homes, so if Guido moves on I'll
be going there in a couple of months to take in someone else who needs
loves, but... the new piggy won't be Guido. I know you all know what I mean.

-Janna

Fri, Sep 16, 2011 at 23:30
subject HEALTH: Guido - Update

Well, when we got home tonight I of course checked on the boys, and Guido
was a bit more active. I gave them each some vitamin C and Guido snarfed it
up like it was the best treat ever. Then I got my stuff organized and found
a towel. Upon closer inspection, I have discovered that the poor boy has
worms. No wonder he doesn't feel well! They were crawling around outside of
his bum. I have cleaned him up as best I could, but of course that won't
actually do the trick, so unless he loses his will to live overnight, I'll
be calling the vet tomorrow morning and hopefully I'll be able to get some
ivermectin to dose him (and Batman) with. The only thing I can think of for
him getting them is that the grass hay I've been feeding lately is our own
grass, cut and dried (definitely not moldy, but of course there are wild
animals out there who may have worms and then that gets passed on via the
grass). He doesn't seem all that interested in the Critical Care, but I've
gotten close to 5mL into him in the last hour and a half, so hopefully that
will get him through the night. I'm going to clean his cage out now and then
wash my hands before I check Batman over for worms and clean his cage.

-Janna

Sun, Sep 18, 2011 at 17:20
subject ANNOUNCEMENT: Rainbow Bridge: Guido

Hi all,

Guido was still breathing when I got up yesterday morning, but he wouldn't
take any Critical Care and didn't swallow syringed water. I held him and
kept him warm for his final couple of hours. We've buried him out by
Isabella and Robin.

Batman is healthy and as curious as ever. He was looking into Guido's cage
confusedly, so I've moved him right out of there (and cleaned out Guido's
cage). His cage is in the living room now. I'm hoping to get him to the vet
tomorrow, if at all possible, so that he can be dewormed and checked for
whatever else might have impacted Guido. Where there are worms there could
definitely also be mites, so I'm glad that the treatment for both is the
same!

In a couple of weeks I'll go back to the SPCA and see if they have any boys
around Batman's age. He's too sociable to be an only-pig. Maybe there's a
boy there who is also a large fellow; Batman is over 1200g now, and still
growing at only nine and a half months of age!

-Janna



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