Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Cats and pigs and fish, oh my!

Since we adopted Hot Fudge, I've felt like I'm living in a pet shop with the cat, the guinea pig and the fish to think about. Well, recently I've felt more like a veterinarian. Kady cat got sick with a respiratory infection of some kind. She goes around the house sneezing and snorting, and I have to hold her down for medication twice a day. Yesterday the guinea pig got sick with an upset stomach. The bad thing about guinea pigs is that if they get sick, they can die pretty quickly. Last night I pretty much thought he was a goner and I made sure to have the girls hold him and say goodbyes. Well, the pig made it through last night but wasn't looking good at all. I've been giving him water and dissolved food by syringes multiple times today. While he doesn't look normal, I have to say that he's now fighting the feedings more (which seems to be a sign of strength). I also got him some medicine to slow down his system. Today I bought him some Timothy Hay, which several people on the internet recommended. He was interested in sniffing but not eating. I'm hoping the pig will be able to recover.

Kady cat, on the other hand, was very interested in the hay! In fact, while I was trying to syringe feed the pig, Kady decided to get all the way in Fudge's cage to get his hay. When I got Camille to come over and hold the pig for me, Kady wanted no part of coming out of the cage. She grumbled and stiffened up when I tried to pull her out so that I couldn't have gotten her out of that little opening. She did pretty soon come out after some heavy scolding! Kady doesn't seem to have any instinct that the pig would be food, but I certainly wouldn't leave her alone with him.



Here is a picture from last week when Fudge decided it was okay to eat food that Lily was holding. Lily thought this was just the best!

(From last week)
We have a little fence that we set up on the tile, and we made him a little house which he loves to hide in.


No comments: