My guinea pig, Chii went up to the vet yesterday at 2:30. She was not eating or drinking much, had a runny nose, and crusty eyes. Our vet office actually recently got a small animal specialist, so Chii was in good hands.

It turns out that she has a problem that one of my previous guinea pigs have had (I've owned about 10 over the course of 15 years... I currently own 4.) Her back molar is not sitting straight in her jaw. It's a common genetic defect among guinea pigs. Their teeth grow their whole lives. If the molars are angled in, they grow over the tongue, trapping it. If they are angled out, they grow into the cheek, causing a lot of pain. Chii's right molar is growing into her cheek. Because of this, she wasn't eating or drinking properly for weeks. This weakened her immune system, making it easy for her to get an eye infection and a cold.

So... $110 later, I'm left with lots of goodies to build up her strength in preparation for her dentist appointment.

1. Every 3 hours, I must give her several eyedroppers full of water.
2. Every 3 hours, I need to mix a critical care powder with vegtable baby food and more water. She needs to eat 1 full squirter or more of this.
3. 3 times a day, she gets eyedrops.
4. 2 times a day, she gets antibiotics.
5. 1 time a day, she gets pain medication, which makes her act drunk.

*face to keyboard smash*

Monday Chii goes back to the vet where she'll first get xrays. This will determine how often this problem will occur. It's not something that can be fixed perminately, but her tooth can be clipped back to normal size periodically. The vet said that for some guinea pigs, it can grow to be a problem every 2 weeks, and for some, it could take as long as 6 months to a year. She'll then get her tooth clipped if I want to go through with it. (A nice, $250 appointment. The xrays are expensive. The clipping alone would only be $120)

I hate to put a dollar value on love, but this is a problem. If the vet predicts that this is going to need to be maintained more than once every 2 months, I may put Chii down. I can't clip the tooth myself. It requires special tools, skills, and anethesia. I can't afford that kind of appointment on an extremely frequent basis, and it's tramatic for the guinea pig as well. If I let her tooth just "go" it'll grow into her cheek again, cause extreme pain, and she'll die of thirst and starvation. I'm hoping for a positive diagnosis. I don't mind taking the guinea pig up for a tooth clipping a few times a year. She's a cute, happy, talkative little piggy. I love her bunches :-(


In a happier, more entertaining vein, The Ultimate Showdown of Ultimate Destiny is a very fun, catchy little flash animation. You know you always wanted to see Jackie Chan, Gandalf, the Power Rangers, Indiana Jones, Chuck Norris, and a Care Bear battle it out to the death. The custom song is available for download if you find it as addicting as I do.