Pigs n' Space: Hello Sunshine!

A lovely and rare sunny day in the TP. Here, Oliver and Rusty enjoy warming up in the little rays of sunshine we get in our apartment. I love the first picture! It looks like Rusty's smiling and Oliver is goofing for the camera! On the right, Olive takes a little lie-down while Russ keeps a watchful eye out.

I'm really appreciative of the good times like these. Pigs are such delicate creatures. We got a pretty harsh reminder of this a few months ago. We found out that Oliver's back molars were overgrown due to malocclusion, which is when bottom and top molars don't line up. Since guinea pig teeth continuously grow, pigs need to be able to gnaw and chew in order to wear their teeth down. When they can't do it naturally, that's when the vets (and vet bills!) come in.

This all happened shortly after our San Diego trip. Oliver's appetite was down, and he was getting slim. He was also in obvious pain: his eyes were teary and he had an all-over sad, hunched demeanor. When we got him to the vet, it turned out that (on top of the tooth problems) Oliver had contracted pneumonia due to pain and stress. So we had to treat that first with antibiotics before the vet could anesthetize him for the tooth trim. Luckily we have a wonderful, smart, experienced exotic vet in SF, Dr. Herman. She said that Oliver's back teeth were so overgrown that they were touching in the middle and trapping his tongue underneath, which prevented him from swallowing. And, because his teeth weren't occluding, there were a few long, sharp points on his teeth that were poking him in the cheek and tongue, causing lacerations! Poor thing was in so much pain before the tooth trim.

So Dr. Herman got Oliver all treated and trimmed up, and a few days later we were able to bring him home. His recovery was slow. We were really worried about him--he wasn't bouncing back very well at all. He wasn't eating on his own and lost a LOT of weight. The BF and I were up til the wee hours every night and waking up at dawn every morning for two/three weeks so we could assist-feed him Critical Care (a powder from the vet that we mixed with water, formed into a mash, stuck into a needle-less syringe, and squirted down the pig's throat). It's messy and feels like you're torturing the poor thing, but it really was the only thing keeping him alive. We averaged about 50cc a day of Critical Care, and still Oliver was losing weight. He was down to about 860g and looked anorexic. And believe me, the Nicole Richie-look is NOT a good look for pigs!

Miraculously, Oliver started eating on his own again. He's had one tooth trim since May and is due for another one on Monday. He has to go to the vet's every month for a tooth trim. I always get a little (more like a lot!) worried whenever he's up for another trimming. I drop him off in the morning, and the vets keep him there for the day. I think I worry the most about the anesthesia, which is always a risk. But lately Oliver's feeling really good, he's happy, and his weight is way up (almost 1100g!). Rusty helps out by keeping Oliver company and scampering about the apartment together, not to mention he's put on some serious "sympathy grams" too. (Russ is up to 1250g and he's not even a year old!) They're buddies and are inseparable.