Sorry, but I need to do a bit of venting with a bit of recent bad news.
As many of you know, I share my house not only with Walter, but with two rabbits, and what used to be three guinea pigs.
Here's the story of the guinea pigs and the bad luck that seems to follow my animals.
When I first moved out of my parents house, I wanted to get a suitable apartment pet. Mike and I went to a local pet store and looked around. We were thinking a hamster or some other small rodent, as I always thought they were too fun to watch!
Then we met Murph. A tiny little peruvian (long haired) guinea pig, all alone in a big cage, of course we had to take him home. We purchased a cage and every single guinea pig friendly toy we could find. I loved Murph (or Murphalurf as we called him), he was wonderful, and so fun to play with. I learned very quickly why they're called pigs. About a month or so after we adopted Murph, we though he needed a companion. We went out and found a little white and orange peruvian female and named her Lily. They lived in the same house together, though we found out quite quickly that they didn't get along too well.
One night, while at a different pet store, we spotted a white abbysinnian cross (long spikey hair) female, and of course, couldn't resist temptation and brought her home too....thought she may be a better companion for Murph that Lily. We named her Abigail Appleseed (Abby), and set her up in her own cage as we had a neuter scheduled in a few weeks for Murph.
In the weeks that followed, there was an accident with Lily, and unfortunately passed away following an injury to her foot. (#1)
One evening we had the two remaining pigs out to play, careful not to get Murph TOO close to Abby (didn't intend for babies), however, nature seems to take it's course and within seconds innocent little Abby was impregnated by Murph.
It was quite amazing following her through her pregnancy though, the gestation period for GP's is actually longer than that of dogs and cats. However a week before Abby was due, we came home and Murph had died unexpectedly, and I was heartbroken. (#2)
Abby had her babies, three in total at 5:00 in the morning; two little girls (Daisy and Calla) and one little boy (Max-my favorite). It was incredible (the pictures I posted are of the three babies on the day they were born), they were covered in hair, eyes and ear open and already eating solid food and vocalizing...absolutely amazing. Unfortunately, it was about 3 weeks after the babies were born, we woke up one morning and Abby was dead. (#3)
Let me remind you, this all happened in the span of about four months...it's very disheartening when you have three animals die unexpectedly in a four month span.
So, we tried again. We were out at another pet store (seems like this is all we ever do) on a very snowy night, looking at guinea pigs. There was an open pen in the small animal department with a young red mini rex rabbit. Mike bent down to look at a guinea pig and this rabbit just jumped right into his arms. She didn't struggle to get away, she just laid there, content. He looked at me and I said "No, there is no way we're getting a rabbit, they're dirty, and poo everywhere..." (this was before I knew that they could be litter trained, are as clean as cats, very trainable and social). He put her back into the pen and she immediately came over to me and hopped in my arms. Ok, she had me. It took only another 30 seconds of discussion and we signed the papers to take her home. The next day we learned that she had a very tough time eating her hay and pellets, so I checked in her mouth. It was the most awful sight I ever saw. Her incisor teeth were so overgrown (rabbits and guinea pigs, like horses, have continuously erupting teeth that are ground down and maintained with roughage, unless they have a predisposing condition or a hereditary trait) that they had curled out of her mouth. I took her into work with me the next day, and once monthly there after, to have her teeth trimmed. Her name was Roxy. I never had a pet like Roxy. She opened my eyes to the world of rabbits. And because of her, I can't see my life without a rabbit. She was so much fun, she cuddled all the time, was very well litter trained and I had even clicker trained her...she was a good friend, and I am glad that it was us who adopted her because she got the medical treatment she deserved, rather than just being ignored or euthanized.
One night, about 6 months after we adopted her, we walked into our bedroom (where her cage was) to a horrific sound of Roxy screaming. If you have never heard a rabbit scream, let me tell you it is a gut-wrenching sound. We immediately ran her into the emergency clinic to find out that she had a urinary tract infection and began to treat her with pain medication and antibiotics. Two days later she stopped eating. This is considered an emergency in rabbits. Fortunately I was able to bring her to work with me every day for treatment, unfortunately not ONE of the vets at work wanted to treat her. I had to phone specialists in different cities and provinces to get treatment plans for her....we did everything we could for her; force fed her, gave her IV fluids, pain medication, antacids, etc. Friday, she started to open mouth breath and we had to unfortunately euthanize her.
She was the first animal that I had to decide to euthanize. I was such a wreck, my mom and brother had to come and pick me up from work. (#4)
She was the first animal that I had to decide to euthanize. I was such a wreck, my mom and brother had to come and pick me up from work. (#4)
Thankfully, I don't work there anymore.
When it was the right time, Mike and I decided that we needed another rabbit, so we adopted Loki and shortly after that Lucy, and thankfully they are both still with us today.
Last Christmas, as you all know, we adopted Blitz. And unfortunately, he only shared 6 months of his wonderful life with us as he passed away at home from complications of a very strange inflammatory condition in which he endured two open heart surgeries and was happy, head bunting and purring the entire time. (#5)
Then came Walter.....sick all the time.....battling a bit of pancreatitis/gastritis again....but I don't want to get into it.
About a week and a half ago, we were cleaning and bathing the three remaining guinea pigs, when we noticed that Calla had dropped a ton of weight and was not wanting to move, she had blood coming out her back end and was having difficulty breathing. I treated her with everything that I could for that night and decided to bring her in the next day......however, the next day she had passed away in her cage with her brother and sister along side of her. We did a post-mortem and found that she had passed away from cancer, likely from her reproductive tract and had spread throughout her organs. (#6)
I had been noticing over the last week or so, that the two remaining guinea pigs had not been wanting to eat their pellets (still eating veggies and hay). I thought maybe it's because they're still in mourning...yes, many animals that are bonded to others will go through a mourning phase as one passes away. I picked up Daisy, who has always been the alpha female...and FAT may I add....had lost a ton of weight...very skinny along her pelvis. This got me worried. I picked up Max, and he had lost a bunch of weight over the last week too, though not as skinny as Daisy.
I brought both of them into work today for exams....couldn't find anything wrong with Max. However, we found a large mass in Daisy's abdomen. We aspirated it and collected clear fluid.
The diagnosis for now is a cystic ovary, however we will have to wait for the pathology report. As I read up on cystic ovaries in guinea pigs, I realize that there is a good chance that she could have concurrent cancer elsewhere in her reproductive tract as well. There isn't much we can do. We could spay here, however I have a good feeling that at this stage of the game she wouldn't survive the surgery as guinea pigs are not the best surgical candidates in the first place. At this point, we likely will just have to palliate her, until it's her time to cross the bridge, and this would make it #7 in three years.
The diagnosis for now is a cystic ovary, however we will have to wait for the pathology report. As I read up on cystic ovaries in guinea pigs, I realize that there is a good chance that she could have concurrent cancer elsewhere in her reproductive tract as well. There isn't much we can do. We could spay here, however I have a good feeling that at this stage of the game she wouldn't survive the surgery as guinea pigs are not the best surgical candidates in the first place. At this point, we likely will just have to palliate her, until it's her time to cross the bridge, and this would make it #7 in three years.
I am beginning to think that I'm a bad pet owner, though I pride myself on continuously educating myself on many different topics of animal health. It just seems that we keep adopting these sick animals. I understand that it's better us adopt these animals as we are able to give them the best life and health care possible, however it is beginning to become emotionally draining on me. I look at many other pet owners and think "why can't I have a pet who just needs an annual check up once a year, why do mine either just spontaneously die, or develop a strange medical condition that cannot be cured, or are just continuously sick" WHY!!??
I'm sorry for this long rant, I'm not looking for sympathy from anyone, I'm just looking for some understanding.
I love animals, I would take every single one in that needed a home and some TLC, but I just can't do this anymore. I have a box of urns that sits on my bookshelf, and that box is full.
If I could have one thing this Christmas, it would be for the health and well being of my family, and this includes my furry family. I know that some of you are sitting there and saying "they're just animals, or it's just a guinea pig..." No....it's a life. A beautiful life that God put on this earth. And a guinea pig or a rabbit, is just as important as any other animal in my mind.
Like I said, a life is a life, and any life is worth saving.
Posts
