Xabi Vet & Cage Update

News from the vet:

Xabi is at a low weight, but not UNDER-weight. However, if he drops below 900 grams, she would be concerned. At the time of the vet appointment he was at 914 grams. 

She listened to his heart, lungs, guts, ears, mouth, and eye. She said to just keep putting ointment on his eye. It's really difficult to do without it getting smeared all over his fur by his eye. Then, when it dries, the fur around his eye gets pulled out in clumps when he cleans it. He's developing a little bald spot. :( She also said that what he has is called Horner's Syndrome. Which I think we knew, but had forgotten. Or didn't know the name of, but knew his symptoms.

The next thing she said is that with the bickering going on between Harvey and Biscotti, Xabi is probably not getting as much food as he normally would. We decided to do away with the current cage design, and make a simple, no-loft cage (which is a shame, since the loft minimizes hay debris getting everywhere), with 3 separate sections. It has worked out really well! See below:

Originally Harvey was on the left, Xabi in the middle, and Biscotti on the right. I figured Xabi could be a good buffer between the two trouble-makers. But then Scotti just bit the cage incessantly until we decided to try putting him in the middle. He is much happier now. He just needs to make sure he is in charge. He's the center of the universe! 

It has also been kind of fun making sure the pigs get exclusive rights to their favorite things. Harvey got his straw teepee, Biscotti got his pigloo (although he prefers the tent, but it's dirty right now), and Xabi got his barn. He LOVES to lay on top of it. He has always loved being on top of things. I've wondered if it makes him feel more secure, since he has worse eye sight. 

It's also really easy to clean. Plus, all 3 pigs have separate food bowls, hay racks, and water bottles. It is easier to monitor their droppings, as well. Before it was impossible to tell which droppings belonged to which pig. 

Xabi, before the vet visit. D'awww

I'm happy to report that he is now at 924!

Xabi's Weight Problem...

Poor Xabi keeps losing weight, despite the fact that I always see him muching on pellets and veggies. We're not sure what's going on, but he has a vet appt. on Friday, and I'll keep this blog updated with the diagnosis. Hopefully it's nothing serious. Poor pig!

Piggy Picnic...Pignic

My mom bought us this little pig-carrier that we can take to the vet, or, as I decided yesterday, on a picnic! The pigs were nervous-squeaking the whole walk (which is like 2 minutes) to the green area at the center of our apartment complex.

 

"IF YOU THINK I'M GOING TO COME OUT OF THIS CARRIER, YOU THOUGHT WRONG!"

"Oh, you brought parsley? You didn't mention that..."

"Um, excuse me? What incentives do I have here?"

"Oh, well, this is acceptable."

(I LOVE this photo! Hahaha!)

Here's Biscotti the Not-So-Brave. For all of his rumble-strutting, he is the most nervous in situations like this. He is cautiously testing the waters, here. 

Carrots make everything easier.

Isn't that right, Scotti boy?

Xabi Chops, being cute. (And in focus, for once!)

Eventually they all got out of the bag! Aren't they adorable?

Favorite Spot

Now that we have a loft, the pigs have found their new favorite spot. It is on top of a little bed that my mom made, that I put in the corner of the loft. 

Post-feast fatigue. "So...full...can't...move..."

 Xabi has a fiesty side-eye. Reminds me of Lucille

Biscotti, the bossiest of them all, taking a nap. Probably exhausted from all of his rumble-strutting.

 Isn't he so cute? This is before they spread hay everywhere. Here Biscotti is soaking up the morning sun on a weekend. (Although, to guinea pigs, every day is a weekend)

Harvey, settling down for a 15 minute interval of sleep before going back to the regularly schedule program (eating).

More Loft Pictures

I'm really happy because the piggy boys seem to be really liking the loft. In fact, it is now Xabi's new favorite place. This doesn't surprise me because he has always loved getting up high. Whether it be his barn or on top of the pigloo, he always wants up high. 

I'm also really happy because 1) I have been able to feed the boys separately much more easily. And 2) the loft gets messy with hay all over, but the rest of the cage doesn't. 

Clean(ish) cage. You can see Harvard in the Pigloo and Xabster up top.

"Everything the light touches is my kingdom."

Messy loft. It will be much easier cleaning one small blanket than a full sized blankie. 

Cage Expansion...again

I recently made yet another expansion to the pig cage. It is something I'm both proud of and a little embarrassed by. I'm not sure how long it will last, because it's going to be a pain to clean, buuuuut, let's just let the illusion play itself out, shall we?

Ta-daa! A new loft! We'll see how long it lasts. They don't seem overly excited about a new ramp. I'm not entirely sure they know how to climb it yet. They can also run all the way around underneath the loft, and there is a little cubby with a bed, too. 

Fancy ramp with side walls.

Xabi, the forever black blur.

"Oh, you just spent hours expanding our cage to an even larger size and added on a new fancy loft? That's nice. I think I'll sleep in my tiny, shabby, old teepee instead. Night night!"

Xabi's Progress

I weighed Xabi a couple of days ago and I'm happy to report he is doing better. Slowly but surely he is gaining weight back.

(It probably helped that I weighed him after he had a hearty dinner of romaine lettuce)