Seasonal Allergies - in January?!?!?

This weather is wonky - 12 or 70 - really?  As a result we have stuff in the air that typically wouldn't be and as a result the humans and the critters are suffering from allergies.  I have 4 critters that are impacted by allergies - Winston, Theo, Oliver and Phoebe.  They all manifest their symptoms in a different way.

Winston and Oliver are both affected in their eyes.  Poor piggers has a red swollen eye that is itching him like crazy.  Last night we did a good cleaning with a warm washcloth and qtips.  I flushed his eye out with colloidal silver and then gave him a Benedryl.  This morning his eye was much improved.  I cleaned it again and flushed it out once he came inside this morning and he is napping now.  I think we are on the road to getting it back to normal.  It's definitely something in the air - I have had to use my allergy drops for the last few days.  UGH!

Phoebe shows her allergies with a case of what is called button lip.  Her bottom lip swells up - poor girl.  I noticed it a bit inflamed yesterday.  She got colloidal silver on it topically and I put some in their water bowl - this morning it was back to normal.

Theo is my sneezer.  He hasn't been particularly bad this go around - maybe whatever has the rest of us going isn't on his list of things he is allergic to - lucky boy!

As always - I will keep a close eye on all of them to make sure they don't need to be seen by a vet.  In addition - my standard disclaimer - I am not a vet and the treatments I use for my animals should not be taken as advice.  Please check with your vet before starting any kind of treatment for any ailment.

Big Critter Updates

I have been bad about blogging lately - lots going on with getting back into the groove of work and such.  I have some great pics of the big critters.  I will try to do a post later this week with some pics of the little guys as well.

Puppies are doing great!  They seem happy and healthy and they are growing like weeds.  We are making great strides with potty training - a rough day here and there but for the most part they do pretty darn well.  They each seem to have their "thing" we are going to have to work on.  Tango is the chewer - thankfully he hasn't torn up anything important or valuable.  Charli is going to be the jumper - she loves to jump up on you.  Juliett is still the scared girl - very timid - we are working on her confidence level.

Emma is doing fantastic - she is so much more active with the babies around.  She gets a ton more exercise than she did before they joined the family - I would say a good 45 minutes to an hour of cardio a day now where she is running with them in tow.

Piggers is doing well - for the most part his attitude has improved.  He still has his moments but for the most part he is chilling out.  He doesn't try to kill the puppies through the sliding glass door - in fact I have been opening it a tiny crack and they have been smelling each other.  It will still be a few months before they get even close to introduced - I want to wait til Tango is fixed and they are bigger.

Here are some pics I had on my phone that never got posted:

Tango - with the crazy ears

Juliett - enjoying the mud after the snow

Charli - I think she looks like an adorable little fox

The three babies

Charli with Emma

Tango sleeping on his toys

Juliett

Charli

Juliett

Handsome devil Winston

Emma

Little critters are doing just great!  I will post about them soon!

Wintry Weekend Updates

Ummm - BRRRR!  This has been quite the cruddy weekend from a weather perspective.  We have seen everything from rain to freezing rain to sleet to snow.  Add to that the bitter cold and we didn't get much melting.  I would not want to be out and about tonight on the roads, that's for sure!!

While Winston was stuck inside for the bulk of the day again today he did at least do his business more regularly today than yesterday.  I think he was much more comfortable as a result.  He had several enrichment activities over the course of the day and I just took him out for his last potty break.  I will tuck him in soon.  He has been a pretty good pig given being inside 95% of the time....

It's a bit earlier than normal but I did put the puppies in their room so they could eat and hang out. It's been all critter all weekend while trying to keep everyone entertained.  I needed a bit of a break. They pups went out for some play time and a potty break.  I think they are over the snow and ready for it to be gone.  I am right there with them.  Emma has been in and out all day - she is way over it as well. All the dogs will go out one more time before we go to bed.

The kitties and the ferrets are not amused with me right now.  Tonight they had their second treatment of Ivermectin for ear mites.  None of them are big fans of ear drops.  Most of them are fairly stoic about it but a few - who I will leave nameless - are just a pain in the rump.....  They got fed and loved on and medicated for those who require meds.

So - everyone is in bed for the time being and I have a moment to relax....can't believe the weekend is gone already and its time for the work week to start.

Puppies' First Snow

We are experiencing icky winter weather here - the puppies are loving it!!!  Emma does not think its fun at all - she went out and did her business and came right back in.  Winston HATES snow - I have taken him out three times with no success - getting ready to try again....

Happy Fourth Birthday - Violet and Theo!!

Holy Moly - my babies are 4 years old today!  Both Violet and Theo are happy and active today. Their morning started off with hugs and kisses, Violet's meds and their regular weigh ins.  They are doing just great.  A bit ago I went to get some bday pictures - they were not cooperative at all - and then they got to hang out with me in the living room.  I gave them some gravy (ferret food with warm water) which they both pigged out on.  They played and explored for about an hour and now they are back in critter land napping with their siblings.

Violet is quite stable at this point with the insulinoma.  Theo is the next to get his blood panel done.  I will schedule him in at the same time as Violet's next glucose test.

I took a bunch of pictures of these wiggly little stinkers - sadly these were the best of the bunch:

Sleepy Theo

Even sleepier Violet

Theo with Violet in the background

I would be remiss if I didn't take a moment to remember our sweet Finn - today would have been his birthday as well.  There is not a day that goes by that I don't think of that adorable boy.  I am so thankful that I have Bash who reminds me of him in so many ways....  Happy Birthday sweet boy - I hope you have having a big party with Isabel, Nigel, Clooney, Harlow and your grandpa!

Busy Day

Today was the opposite of yesterday in that we were busy all day rather than just hanging out.  It started off early with lots of chores - cleaning Winston's room, putting Christmas stuff away, cleaning up critter land, etc.

We headed out mid morning for errands - lots of errands.  On our list was a stop at the pet store for 'chewies'.  Each night when we put the puppies to be in their room they get a chewie.  It's a treat that is a bit longer lasting than a cookie so they settle down with their treat and get ready for bed.  I picked up several kinds because variety is the spice of life you know?  Emma gets one as well.  Winston also gets one so we choose carefully  to make sure whatever we pick is healthy for the pig as well.

After errands we hit a movie which meant the puppies were locked up in their room for a good bit of the day.  They did pretty well - there were a few puddles to clean up but not bad considering.  The weather was cruddy today so even if we would have been home Winston wouldn't have wanted to be out and about.  We got everyone out for some play time and a potty break and now we are hanging out.  The girls - Emma, Charli and Juliett are snoozing in the bedroom.  Tango is snuggling on the sofa with the hubs.  Winston is in his bed and the little critters are in a variety of places - I am about to head down there to feed the kitties, give them meds and give Violet her pred.

Thankfully I took tomorrow off as well so I get one more day to get back into the swing of things before I go back to work.  The holiday break went by so fast and was far to crazy - felt like downtime was minimal.... back to the grind soon!!

Happy New Year!!

We spent the first day of 2017 relaxing - it was nice.  The weather was rainy and foggy - the perfect day to lay low.

The critters were all great this morning.  Piglet and puppies were all up bright and early.  Puppies had a good bit of outside time as they don't seem to care about drizzle or light rain.  Winston had a bit less outside time because if one drop of water gets on him he acts like life as he knows it is going to end. I was a bit late getting meds to Miss Violet this morning.  Once I did get down to critter land I was worried because I have been trying to stay on a pretty tight schedule.  Well - needless to say - I worried for nothing.  I opened the door to find Bash racing down the hallway with Violet nor all that far behind.  She caught him, tackled and proceeded to wrestle for a good 5 minutes.  I guess she is feeling good!  :)  The other ferrets are also doing well - they are all seemingly healthy and happy. Kitties seem fine - they were snoozy due to the rain.  Emma - ah Emma - its raining so she's not a happy pup.  She did go out with the puppies several times but she spent the bulk of the day in front of the heater.  She is smarter than the rest of us.

Tonight - all three girl pups are snoozing in the bedroom.  Tango is out here in the living room with us.  He is such a chilled out little puppy.  The only negative I can come up with is that he is a bit - er - windy shall we say.  OMG how can something so little produce such a stench....

We don't have a ton on the agenda for tomorrow - laying low before we head back to the craziness of work after the holidays.  I am off to tuck in the pig and get the dogs settled for the night.  Happy New Year!!