The Return of Piggers

I am so happy - my sweet piggy boy has returned.  He had been MIA since early December when we got the puppies.  He was replaced by his evil, snarky, giant pink turd alter ego.  I missed my sweet, cuddly, affectionate boy.

Ever since he got the meet the puppies through the fence he has been such a love.  His behavior had improved prior to them meeting but I feel like we have really turned the corner.  Today I gave him the long strips of packing paper that sometimes come in an Amazon box.  He promptly tore it up into smaller pieces and put them in his bed - I can hear him in there rooting around getting them placed just right. I am so glad he is not mad at me any longer...

His eye is much better - maybe just a touch swollen but far better than it was earlier this week.  All the allergy sufferers are much better so whatever it was must have been washed out with the latest rain.

Here are some pics from this afternoon:

Little Critter Updates

My little critters are doing so well!!  I adore that crazy bunch!

Let's start with the kitties.  They are all doing very well.  Aggie is maintaining her new svelte figure (she lost a bit of weight after the vet identified that she was too chunky).  Oliver has kept on the weight he gained but he is still pretty skinny - I am working on that with some high calorie supplements - hopefully that will do the trick.  Miss Phoebe is doing quite well - she is happy and easy going.

Phoebe

Aggie

Somehow I didn't end up with a usable picture of Mr. Wiggly - aka Oliver.  I will try for one tomorrow....

And the ferrets - they are all doing just fantastic.  Violet seems to be really thriving on her meds - she is active, maintaining her weight and often I catch her playing and dooking (making the ferret happy noise).  The other girls are all just great.  Madison has come back full force from her baldness and she looks amazing.  Fiona is a lovely as ever and Tabitha is becoming more and more engaged wanting to be picked up even if it is only for a short time.

Violet

Fiona

Madison

Tabitha

And the boys - oh those boys.  They are all amazing!  I was worried that Theo might be losing weight so I started weighing him every day to ease my mind.  It worked since I weighed him for 10 days and he was within 10 grams of the same weight every time.  I think he looks thin because he doesn't have the fluffy winter coat like Bash and Kai.  Speaking of those two - they are both doing great as well.  All three are full of crazy ferret antics whenever I visit them in Critter Land.  

Theo on the right with Fiona - they are sleeping in one of their favorite spots - they got in a box that had a 8 pack of toilet paper.  Needless to say they shredded it to bits and the TP bed is a favorite of all the ferrets.

Kai on the left and Tabby on the right (and Bashy in the background - at least part of him)

Bash

Okay - sorry for the quality of these snaps - I got a new phone and I am still trying to figure out all the settings of the camera.  I figured something was better than nothing.  I will post about them again soon!

First Encounters

So - today was a huge first step in becoming one big happy herd.  This afternoon I needed both the dogs and the pig to have some outside time as I was out for an extended period of time this morning. I took the puppies and Emma through the back yard and let them out to play outside the fence - they love it out there.  Then I headed to the house and got Winston and let him out into the back yard for some outside time.

I went out the gate to take the dogs for a walk while Winston played in the yard.  He could see us and hear us and he was quite interested in the goings on outside his fence.  I was very nervous about what might happen when the puppies got close to the fence.  I thought Winston might be a big pink turd.  I was very pleasantly surprised.

My sweet little piglet was a perfect gentleman.  There was no biting or snapping.  There was no head swiping.  There was no charging at the fence.  Just sniffing and lots of wagging tails - Winston's and the puppies'.  He ran along side them up and down the fence line - great exercise for him.  He let out a few excited piggy barks (did you know that pigs bark - its the best noise!).  He did do some posturing where he would turn to the side - almost like showing them his rear end.  Not sure what that was about.

I am thrilled with how this first encounter went.  I am also very surprised given his turdy behavior when they first arrived.  Would I let them meet without the protection of the fence?  Heck no.  But - I will let them interface often - multiple times a week if not daily - to get them as used to each other as possible.  I won't introduce them until the puppies are much bigger and Tango has been fixed - but I am hopeful that these meetings at the fence will lay the groundwork for a successful transition eventually.

Just as a side note -- you cannot leave pigs and dogs unattended.  Pigs are pray animals and dogs are predators and sometimes instincts takes over.  When Winston was young he and Emma were inseparable.  As he got older and wanted to prove his dominance he became a bit of a putz to her. They are never alone together unsupervised these days.  While Emma is a herder by nature, Winston is an instigator.  I can see him pushing her - pissing her off to the point that they would fight and it wouldn't be pretty.  The puppies are also herders but they will not be unattended with the pig either. Every day there are stories on my Facebook news feed about pigs who were attacked by dogs.  Both animals end up getting hurt and sometimes the results are fatal.  So - I guess what I am saying is this is my PSA - NO PIGS AND DOGS UNSUPERVISED!!!

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....