Callie is almost 5 1/2 years old. She is a mixed Abyssinian/Peruvian guinea pig. I got her from Craigslist in July 2007 along with her two babies. I rehomed one of them to a vet tech student from ASU . The other was an awesome little pygmy sized guinea pig that was blind and mostly deaf and never grew past about 3 months old. She was missing a tooth or two and was nearly what was commonly described as a Lethal. Cici did have a very small amount of pigment on one of her ears and that discluded her from the Lethal criteria. She lived until 2 1/2 years old when she presented with a tooth root abscess and was too small and losing weight to undergo general anesthesia and was euthanised in my presence.

Callie has had issue with a waxy ear and dry skin flaking around her lower back and hindquarters. It’s being treated with epiotic for the ears and microneem for her fur.

I requested the vet to help me with another issue. She’s getting lighter. Last weight that was documented that I was able to pull was from March 2012: 971 grams.

I weighed her at 842 grams. The next day was 845 grams and today was 835 grams. Six months and over a hundred grams later, we’re looking at surgery.

Her ovaries appear enlarged. It’s presumed to be ovaries because it’s symmetrical on each side, though one is slightly more bulbous than the other. We tried to drain them with a butterfly needle and either it wasn’t giving much or the masses were more solid than cystic. There is a chance the ovaries could also have multiple cysts and we didn’t strike it rich with any of them. Lupron isn’t very much of an option right now at $90 per shot and requires three rounds and may only temporarily shut down the reproductive system. An ultrasound would tell more but would be almost $100. A more conventional solution is to open her up for a spay. There is definitely something there along the ovaries but could also be vascular. We’re scheduled for Friday afternoon. It may turn out he finds something inoperable and I don’t see my girl again.

I’m upset but you wouldn’t see it unless you knew me well. My mind is going. Little Bastard went through a growth removal and came out of it well, but a suture head embedded and got infected. He then had an abscess that I treated successfully but then came down with pneumonia. Before my ratty’s departure I had went through so many options with Emerson. He wasn’t eating well. He was losing weight. He was my guinea pig pride and joy. We ran bloodwork and treated him for possible thyroid issue. He was given anti-inflammatory medication for a polycycstic kidney that was found by ultrasound. He declined until he was lifeless and I put my boy down. Necropsy showed he was twisted up inside with tumor entangling his intestine.

Prior to my boys I had taken my favorite little old lady pig and my angel, Coco, in for a spay as she had already shown a history of ovarian cysts, having had one rupture during an aspiration 6 months before. She had another rupture during the visit and an allergic reaction sent her into respiratory distress and she passed out. Vitals were still lowering even after the abdominal cavity had been drained of a significant amount of cystic fluid. Coco was euthanized in her sleep.

It was a rough year. Please just let Friday go textbook.

In the meantime I am feeding her Critical Care and was disappointed to find that the store that carried watermelon juice in a bottle is no longer carrying it. I put a small watermelon through the blender and had to separate the pulp myself. Watermelon juice has worked better for me in Critical Care than pineapple juice, orange juice, apple juice, plain flavored or baby food added.

She has taken 15-16mL so far this evening.

Cheers