FriendlyTails® - Animals Helping People Heal
"Improving quality of life with friendly tails."©
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I thought about blogging at 1:44a when I couldn't sleep (it's 6:15a now), but instead I decided to check-in on the little animals that I'm giving extra TLC to for health improvement.
My living room has the lovely addition of 2 kennels. In one, Zorra bunny, my little black Holland lop, whose health only seemed to improve after I brought home her guinea pig cage mate, Apple. She's been on a 10 day course of antibiotics without him by her side. I thought she would improve if she were reunited with him. Briefly, it worked. :/
In the other kennel, another Holland Lop bunny named David Bowie (yep this bunny is a rock star and has the eyeliner and groupies to prove it!). How my husband puts up with all the "Shannimals" that come home, never ceases to amaze me, but his heart is as vast and magnificent as our oceans when it comes to the love of animals, despite his suggestions of "shouldn't they be outside in the hutches."
Sure I have hospital hutches in the yard, but I'm better able to monitor their progress if they're in the house. And this turns out to be quite valuable as at 1:44a, perhaps I woke due to a sixth sense nudge as normally I sleep peacefully throughout the night. I noticed that the lettuce, carrots and food put inside Zorra's kennel went untouched. Favorite treats not eaten? Something is wrong. Zorra is exhibiting signs of lethargy and disinterest meaning I must take her back to the vet. Bunny's mask symptoms very well. Apple, looked a little bristly which is out of character for this short-haired guinea pig.
After a closer look at Apple, his eyes looked dull when they should be sparkly. I ran my hands down his body and he seemed slimmer, which surprised me. He seemed to be doing well since I brought him home to be with Zorra. It was a happy reunion between them. Even so, it's not like a guinea pig to avoid a favorite treat.
Guinea pigs have, metaphorically speaking, a bottomless stomach! It's actually amazing how much they can eat. In a one hour pet therapy visit, one guinea pig can eat over 6 romaine lettuce leaves at a single setting. Since these went untouched, I thought I'd take a peek into his mouth, and there it was... the culprit.... long teeth. The length of his teeth have just grown to where the front top and bottom incisors touch perfectly. Imagine yourself trying to eat if your top and bottom front teeth edges aligned perfectly... it leaves a big space preventing your back teeth from touching and chewing anything is out of the question.
While I provide all the therapy bunnies and guinea pigs with water, pellets, toys, hay, and wood to chew... this is the first experience I have had where teeth have overgrown. The toys and wood are there to help them wear the teeth down and provide an activity to prevent boredom. Guinea pigs' teeth grow throughout their lifetime, just like horses. Since his are long enough to prevent him from chewing, I'm going to take the leap that they are too long to drink as well (hence his bristled coat... a sign of not only feeling poorly, but perhaps dehydration as well).
I grabbed the little piggy and brought him into the bathroom where I gave him (5) 1cc syringes of water, apple juice to boost his system and dose him with Vitamin C in case he is deficient, and some Oxbow Critical Care food supplement which provides protein, vitamins and minerals for herbivores (veggie eaters).
Next, Zorra, who's just huddled quietly inside the kennel. She's stopped eating again after seemingly recovering. Darn! This made my stomach sink. I took her out and gave her some Critical Care by syringe as it's important to keep a bunnies digestive system moving. Afterward, I checked on David Bowie.
He looked bright and alert, and begged to get out of the kennel by pawing at the door. I opened up the door and let him out to stretch his legs. He hopped up to me for some petting, did a brodie around the living room, then I looked at the clock and decided at 2:45a that I should get back to sleep. I tucked him away for the remainder of my zzzzz's.
This morning Apple will see the vet for his teeth, Zorra has an appointment as well, David stays home for another 9 days to finish his antibiotics and be closely monitored.
Meanwhile, the other therapy animals, myself and volunteers await a day of working with clients at an Alzheimer day-care center downtown. I just know the whole time I will be preoccupied wondering how Apple and Zorra are as they will dropped off at the vets office for care.
I love these little furry souls, their lives touch people in miraculous ways. In the future I'll blog more about that. It seems since I have started this blog, I'm mostly discussing animal care. I guess that's because it preoccupies my time at present. It's rare that my furry ones get sick, but like people... it happens from time to time. More later...
