Blaze, Memorial Day and May the guinea pig

I am so very sorry that I haven't updated in a while, it has been a busy week. Last Friday was Lucy's wake, and then afterwards Ray and I went out for some pie with my Aunt and cousins. I had banana cream in case anyone wanted to know. Saturday was the funeral, and it was very emotional and hard on everyone. Even the priest spoke of how shocked he and everyone was over Lucy's passing, then he spoke of Lucy's wonderful character and her selflessness, everyone had tears in their eyes. I am still in disbelief that she is gone...
On Monday we had friends and family over to the house for an outdoor picnic. I was nervous that it was going to rain, but thankfully the weather held out and it was nice. I set up the exercise pen outside and had our own guinea pigs in it, Yabbo and Prince, I'll add a picture of that.
Blaze the guinea pig was adopted. He now has a nice family and home and a male guinea pig he is friends with. Here is a picture of him.
May , April and Zoey the female guinea pigs and Ace and Gizmo the male guinea pigs are now in a foster home while they await being adopted. Foster Mom, Andrea let us know that May had peed a bit of blood so off to the vet she went. She saw Dr.Fijas, He felt around her abdomen area and she did squeal in discomfort when he touched her bladder area. He told us it could be one of three things; a tumor, stones or a urinary tract infection. We were nervous about it being a tumor or stones since she is 5 years old, making her a risk for surgery. We started with X-rays which revealed no stones or tumor, Whew! A urine sample showed us that she indeed has a urinary tract infection. Her foster Mom is now treating her with Baytril twice a day and May should be tip top in no time, she is in great health for her age :)
I am not sure if I wrote about the two new gerbil arrivals , Rogue and Storm. They had been abandoned at a Petco store. We also have new chinchilla arrivals; Molly, Lilly and Skye. They will be adoptable and on Petfinder very soon.
I just added the Mom rabbits , Sierra and Chelsea to Petfinder. They have recovered from their spay surgeries , no more scares from Chelsea, she is all healed and back to herself. I am also adding some hamsters to Petfinder too, the group of unwanted babies ; Aqua, Splash, Scuba and Bubbles the boys- Wren, Dove, Robin, Pigeon, Swan and Raven the girls.
That's all for now, I promise to keep up better from now on.

Family Loss, Chelsea and Gerbils

Today my family lost a very special and important member. She was my Mom's cousin and my Godmother, she was always there for every one of us. Her passing was a shock to us all, there didn't seem to be anything wrong beforehand. I was floored when I heard the news from my Mom and my emotions ran wild, from shock to utter sadness to denial. But hearing my Mom crying so broken hearted made it real even though all I thought was , " How could this be?" The whole family will be grieving for Lucy, she was always one of a kind, and we may never stop feeling the loss. She also donated every month to Life Long Tails, she was a big supporter to what Ray and I have started and have continued.. that's how she was , she supported everything within the family, she was the strength that always held us together. It's hard to write "was" when it comes to Lucy , she was just here yesterday. She will be missed more than words can express.
Chelsea the bunny started eating and drinking by the next morning after her spay surgery. She was still a little off all day, not as active , not eating quite as much as she normally would. Today , though, she is back to herself completely.
We have 2 new arrivals, they are female gerbils. There is a black one with a bit of white on her head, her name is Rogue. And an all black one, her name is Storm.

Sierra and Chelsea Spayed and Marsh Adopted

I am pleased to announce that all three guinea pigs that saw Dr.Fijas last week are doing fantastic. Prince's fur has grown back in completely, Yabbo's eye looks nearly perfect and Blaze's ear looks clean and he is done with is medicine. Someone is coming to see Blaze tomorrow, it is possible he may have a new home and family.
Marsh the Syrian hamster was adopted today. He's a bit of a nervous little guy, he squirms and tried to jump from your hands. His new Mom is understanding of his behavior and needs. It is quite possible that Marsh will calm down and become comfortable with being handled by his new Mom, he'll get that extra one on one attention and TLC he needs and deserves.
The two Mom bunnies Sierra and Chelsea were spayed today. When they arrived home after their surgery , I was surprised at how groggy they still were from the anesthesia. Sierra has really perked up tonight and has even eaten some fresh mountain grass. But Chelsea remains in one spot looking uncomfortable and hasn't touched any food, even the fresh leafy greens. I will be giving them both their pain meds very soon, I hope this will help Chelsea feel better, enough that she will drink and eat. If she doesn't eat by the morning, I will call Dr.T , she may need reglan and some force feeding of critical care to get her back to her normal self. Let's hope she bounces back after the pain medicine.
Here are some pictures of Marsh.

Guinea pigs at the vet

Here is what happened at the vet with Prince, Yabbo and Blaze the guinea pigs. Prince's fur loss on his belly doesn't seem to be anything bad at all, Dr.Fijas did a skin scrape and took some fur and nothing bad showed up. There are many short nubby furs which could be fur that has been barbered ( by himself) or fur growing back in. I am to keep an eye on Prince's belly, and so far it looks better, not at all worse. Yabbo's eye was damaged, it seems he somehow perforated the cornea of his eye, I don't know how. He now has antibacterial eye drops to go in his eye twice a day. Blaze has an ear infection, he now has antibacterial drops to go in his ear twice a day.

Ritz the hamster was adopted on Friday, his new Mom is located in PA, she has other hamsters in her home too. Two female degus were adopted too. Ray helped with the adoption since I was at work, and he told me that one of the girls got loose and hid under the washing machine. But all is well, Ray moved the machine and her new Mom was able to retrieve the slick little girl. I guess she got a little spooked.

I just gave all of the 11 baby bunnies a pedicure, their nails weren't too long just getting a bit sharp. One of the boys has some fur loss by his neck just behind the ears, and their is some scabbing and scratch marks, which could be from him itching. I already have an appointment for him to be seen by Dr.Fijas on Thursday at 10AM.

I have also named the new hamsters. The girls are - Wren, Raven, Swan, Robin, Dove and Pigeon ( bird theme there) and the boys are- Bubbles, Splash, Aqua and Scuba ( water theme)

Here is a picture of newly adopted Ritz.

Skippy and Alex , New hamsters

I am in the midst of making dinner for Ray and I, it is chicken Terryaki. Thought I'd make an entry as it is heating up.

Good news- The hamster from the other day didn't get the food stuck in his cheek pouch , after some time he did push out all the food on his own. I was so relieved to see that.
The little hamster boys Alex and Skippy were adopted :) These brothers were so attached to each other , they had to be adopted together. Now they are home, their new family is amazing, they adore hamsters.
Yesterday a new family of hamsters arrived. Babies of various ages, from different litters. We have 5 girls and 4 boys . It may take me a while to come up with good names for them.
Tomorrow I'll be seeing Dr.Fijas with three guinea pigs. One is Yabbo, he is our own guinea pig, he has a neurological disorder. His left eye has suddenly become cloudy and droopy looking, I am worried. Another guinea pig, Prince, has some fur loss on his belly. And Blaze the guinea pig has a black crusty on his ear that I thought was a scab but it hasn't gone away or changed over time, I am afraid it may be something else. I will write back after the vet visit to let you all know how they made out.
Here are some pictures of the brother, Skippy and Alex

Pumpkin, Abby and Oscar

Thursday this week started out with a vet trip. Our older dwarf hamsters, Paprika and Spice, who have been retired from being adoptable since they are over 2 years old, needed a nail trimming. The newest guinea pig rescues, Claire and Juliette , had a wellness exam done. The girls are in excellent health, Dr.T checked their fur, skin, eyes, ears, heartbeat, etc, everything is great. He really loved their easy going nature too , he knows they'll be adopted quickly and be wonderful companions. Then, I also took in one of the albino hamsters from the group of 43 dwarf hamsters that were dropped off here many, many months ago. If you remember, Otto, a hamster from that same group had a mass of food impacted in his cheek that had to be surgically removed. Now this albino boy also had a mass of food stuck in his cheek. Thankfully this guy had the food wad closer upwards to his mouth. Dr.T had to sedate him and scoop out the mess, no surgery was necessary. It was a dried up hunk of food and what not, that was stuck to the skin lining of his pouch. I am baffled as to why this is happening. I told Dr.T that we have many hamsters here, MANY, they are eating all the same foods and on the same bedding,etc. Why is this only happening to the group of 43? Which is less now, some have been adopted or are in foster care ( I will be asking foster Mom's if they are noticing any lumps in cheek pouches right after this entry post) Dr.T does feel this is genetic, these hamsters are more than likely all inbred, sister and brothers mating and sons to Mom... that is how 43 resulted, the person couldn't tell boy from girl and kept them all together and they resumed having babies with each other. He also told me that the cheek pouch should be moist and keep food inside moist and moving. Everything is so dry for these hamsters ( for Otto and albino) that it dries up in the pouch and won't move when they try to push the food out. I have bad news too, as soon as I brought the albino home, he wedged food in his mouth again and I do believe it is stuck once more. He'll be going back in again to see Dr.T, we need to figure out what to do for these hamsters, food sitting in the pouch too long can result in a bad infection.
Good news! Pumpkin and Abby the guinea pigs and Oscar the gerbil found their loving homes yesterday:) They actually all went home to the same family. A Mom and two , adorable and smart sons choose Pumpkin and Abby , they were looking to adopt two girls , and really liked those two. I will miss pumpkin though, she was extraordinary , not only in looks but her personality shined. Of course, Abby is a sweetheart too. I really loved how gentle the sons were with the piggies and Oscar, you can tell they grew up with animals and were shown the proper way to handle and treat pets. It is so good to see.
Here is a picture of Abby and Pumpkin, Pumpkin has the crazy hair. I never took any pictures of Oscar, he was with us for barely a week.