It has been rough for me this entire month. For those who have been following my blog for some time or for those who have been following me on my YouTube channel; you may know that I recently had to take one of my guinea pigs to the Vet. My piggie, Twixy (Twix for short) started to drag one of his legs behind him and it became quite worrisome. He lost a bit of weight but he still had an appetite and was even pooping too which was a good sign.
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As a guinea pig parent, I try to avoid going to the Vet for several reasons. One of them being is that it's very hard to find a good exotic Vet where I live and when you do they are often expensive; at least here in America on the East Coast. Another reason is that when it comes to guinea pigs, you can always avoid visits to the Vet if they have a proper diet and a good home and I have been fortunate enough for my guinea pigs to thrive for so long.
Normally if any of my guinea pig's are showing signs of concern, I resort to several things; syringe feeding with critical care, upping with vitamin c liquids, checking to make their they're eating and pooping, and weighing weekly. I have also recently started giving my piggies CBD as well since they're at the age where arthritis kicks in. Most of the time, this is enough for them to get through anything, but when Twixy continued to drag his leg, I knew it was time to get him checked out.
After x-rays and an exam, it turns out that Twixy is slightly underweight but his bones are fine. Nothing was broken or fractured but he does have a small case of arthritis. Other than that, he seemed fine. After a physical was done, the Vet did notice a small lump under his leg opposite to the one he was dragging. She recommended that I get a CT scan, but that alone was too expensive for me. Since Twixy is a senior now, if the lump was cancerous, any surgery would only stress his body out even more. So, I decided to take home pain meds instead and would continue monitoring him.
It's been a few days now since we've gotten back and Twixy has gained a bit more weight and seems to be doing better. He didn't like his pain meds at first but now he doesn't fight me as much. He still trips over his foot but there seems to be more organic movement within his leg than before. Is he getting better? I sure hope so. It has been hard thinking that the lump on him could be cancerous, or it could be fatty tissue even, but not knowing scares me so I've been trying hard not to think about it.
As pet owners, I think we owe it to our pets to comfort them even if they are given a grim outlook. Cry behind closed doors if you need to, love them and pretend like nothing is wrong, keep fighting for them even when nothing seems to improve - but putting anymore stress on them will only scare them even more. I learned this working in Animal clinics and hospitals which helped me improve my ability to care for animals during their most stressful periods, when they're the most vulnerable and scared.
Until next time - Sarah
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