Athena

A little less than a week ago we took in two female guinea pigs that were not being cared for by the children they were bought for. After they were surrendered , we instantly noticed that one of them has a head tilt and her left eye is cloudy. The girls came with the names Daisy and Buttercup. I felt that the head tilted girl needed a stronger name to go with her special needs/disability and to help overcome her physical obstacles. I renamed the head tilted girl, Athena. And her cage mate that has no obvious physical ailments ( just overgrown nails that are now trimmed) , Xena. After picking up and watching Athena , we also noticed how thin she is. She also would stay quiet in a corner and breathe heavily. After taking her weight- she weighed 714 grams , an adult female guinea pig should be at least 800 grams or more. Athena saw the vet and was found to have an ear infection, upper respiratory infection, a perforated cornea and angled incisor teeth. Poor girl!! Her eye was punctured and suffered trauma what our vet estimated to be months ago. We cannot do anything for her eye now. It healed the best it could. She may have limited vision, or most likely, no vision out of the left eye. She is now on antibiotics for the ear and respiratory infection. And then she will have dental work once she is feeling better. After three days on the antibiotic I can already see her spirits start to rise. She has more energy, more appetite and she is squeaking and exploring. She has gone from 714 grams to 719 already! I hope that she will steadily gain weight. Our vet said she may loose the head tilt. But, if she had the ear infection for a long time it may stay with her even after the infection is gone. Sometimes there is a residual head tilt even after treatment and good health. I am already completely in love with her. It would be a perfect story for her to be 100 percent healthy and be adopted with her best friend , Xena.