#nationalpetday and Violet's Trip to the Vet

Today is National Pet Day - I had such good intentions of taking pics of everyone and doing a formal blog post dedicated to the day - but life got in the way.  With vet visits, work, errands and chores the day just got away from me so I have no new National Pet Day pictures to share.  Bad critter mommy.

I will say this about my babies.  I adore them.  They are worth all the work and worry that comes with being a pet parent.  They bring me such joy each day and I know I am blessed to have them in my world.  We did some special treats today for the gang.  I spent some one on one time with each of my fuzzies today as well.  I do love those critters!

As for Violet - her vet visit was amazing.  Her glucose number was 77 which is outstanding.  We go back May 11 to continue to monitor.  I did get some cute shots of her at the vet's office:

A Look Back at the Weekend

The weather here was fantastic which meant lots of outside time for the whole gang.

We did some repairs on a piece of equipment and when we opened up the cover there was an adorable mommy mouse with her four babies hanging on for dear life - so adorable.  I am totally good with mice so long as they are not invading my house!  Mommy mouse stayed around for a bit to assess whether there was a possibility she might get to move back in to her winter house.  Once she figured out that it was no longer a safe place she moved on in search of  a new house.  This is not my picture but this is almost exactly what she looked like:

We also got to see the resident possum and I posted the picture of the turkey vultures.  A busy outside critter weekend.

Winston - the little pink turd - got let inside and put in his room but one of the 6 doors in his area was open without the humans realizing.  This meant he had access to the dog food - lots of dog food.  This is bad on several levels.  Pigs can literally eat themselves to death.  Needless to say - his little tummy was very full and he was very uncomfortable.  The other worry with dog food is that is the salt content.  Pigs can get what is called salt toxicity because they don't process salt well.  Thankfully - the new dog food I just moved Emma and puppies to has a fairly low salt content.  It seems instinctive  to push water and have him drink a bunch of water to wash the salt out of his system - but too much water can cause its own set of icky problems so its a fine line.  I made sure he had lots of fresh clean water available but when things like this happen I use watermelon.  Winston loves it and is has such a high water content that it helps flush the system without throwing all the electrolytes out of balance.  I skipped his dinner on Saturday evening and only gave him half his normal amount on Sunday.  Luckily he was active and still interested in food and all his systems were functioning normally.  Just to be on the safe side we did some canned pumpkin as well - it helps move things along and out the back end with all that pumpkin-y fiber.  Long story short - he is fine.  Happy and active - outside grazing and snoozing.

Puppies spend both days of the weekend outdoors.  Kitties and ferrets spent some time in the outside playspace as well.

It was a busy weekend full of spring chores - trying to get the inside and the outside ready for summer....

Week in Review

I can't believe we made it to Friday already!  I am glad because its been a long, polleny week....

The Pups -  Emma is doing just great!  Puppies are doing great too.

I had a freak out moment yesterday when I heard Charli barking and barking.  I went to see what the issue was and there was something in the pool.  I freaked for a second thinking it was Winston.... it wasn't as he was inside sleeping in his bed. It was a throw pillow that had blown off the outdoor lawn furniture.  :)





I have been checking the pups for ticks each day (and the pig too). Evidently I missed one last night on Charli - this morning it was ginormous - fully engorged.  Ick!  I am not cut out for that.....  I used rubbing alcohol to make it let go and pulled it out.  I put a circle using a Sharpie around the bite so I can see if she develops a rash or redness larger than the site originally.  And yes, I kept the tick - its in a ziploc bag.  I read somewhere you should keep the tick until you make sure there is no reaction.  If she does develop swelling, a rash, etc then you have the offending tick on hand and they can test it for diseases.

Hooray!  The mobile groomer comes next Wednesday!!  The puppies will get their summer cuts which will make checking for ticks so much easier - it will also cut down on the amount of dog hair I have to vacuum and for Tango especially - it will make them much cooler!  I will post before and after pictures for sure!

Winston - Piggers is doing fantastic!

Since we changed Winston's food he is doing so well!  He has been on it almost a month and I can see changes in his skin, eyes (not nearly so goopy) and in his general disposition.  He has been incredibly well behaved.  Very happy with the new food - in fact - I just ordered a two month supply yesterday.  If you have a piggy in your life I would highly recommend this food. http://www.sharpsminipigfood.com/

Kitties - the crazy kitties are all well!!

Oliver is really thriving - we have managed to put some weight on him - no more bony kitty thank goodness.  His appetite is great and his activity level is high.  He seems to be quite a happy boy.  His only issue right now is allergies - the pollen is nuts here and his eyes are pretty gunky.  I have been using my go to Colloidal Silver to rinse them out.  He hates it but lets me do it.

Knock on wood - Phoebe isn't suffering from her regular bout of button lip.  (Her bottom lip swells sometimes because of her allergies).  So far she seems pretty unaffected by the pollen so far this year. She is doing great - we have worked on slimming her down a bit so she is looking great - ready to break out the kitty swimsuit!  :)

Aggie is fantastic - she has lost weight as well and is just my healthy, easy going, happy go lucky girl.


Ferrets - the business is great!!

All the ferrets are doing amazingly well!  Violet seems to be feeling great.  She is very active and is playful and makes the dooking (ferret happy noise) often.  She has a glucose check next week - fingers crossed her number is holding strong.

Everyone is going through their spring coat change right now.  By far - Bash is the one who is the most noticeable.   He goes from a very dark, thick, furry coat in the winter to a much lighter, much shorter coat in the summer.  He and the others seem to be feeling just great - they are all full of mischief!

I have been letting the kitties and the ferrets out of critter land into the living room to explore and play for an hour or so each morning this week.  They love it!

All in all this has been a great critter week!!

Easter Buddy

Winston signed up for an Easter Buddy and his fabulous Easter basket arrived today from Cupcake and her mom.... boy was he spoiled!!

Opening his package

Opening his card

Super cute stuffed piggy

Adorable fuzzy piggy

My personal favorite - adorable baseball pig with blue bunny ears

Modeling his new ears

Testing out his new blanket

YUM!

Lots of lovely things for Easter!!! 

Thanks to Cupcake and her piggy mama Rebekkah - Winston loves everything!

March Look Back and April Plans

Wow - March was a whirlwind and an epic fail in regards to posting.  My goal was 15 posts - I did a whopping 8.  Ugh.  Things are incredibly busy with puppies and work and travel and spring cleaning and projects - whew!  I am finding it tough to fit everything in.

Looking back a March - it was a great month for the zoo.  First off - we got the little pups fixed which is important for their health and prevention of little inbred puppies.  They did great and are fully recovered.  We finally got Violet's glucose number where it was supposed to be.  Woot!!  And.. our Emma dog turned 14.  Holy Moly!  Winston is doing amazing - we started him on a new food that is a special formula for "mini pigs" and he is really doing well.  I have noticed changes in his skin, his allergies (not nearly as severe) and his demeanor - he is a pretty chilled out pig since we changed. Ferrets are all doing so well - I am quite please.  Oliver is doing great on the weight front - he is no longer skin and bones and I think he is feeling good.  Aggie and Phoebe are both doing fantastic as well.  I am very happy with the state of the zoo at this moment.

Looking forward to April - puppies need their summer haircuts - I have sent an appointment request off to the mobile groomer so they can get their haircuts at home where it will be much less stressful. Violet will go in for a glucose check just to make sure that good number is holding.  We have lots of of outside projects so I am guessing the gang will spend lots of time outdoors over the next month. We will likely do a critter Easter celebration as well.  Shooting for 15 posts this month - maybe I will actually make it....

Happy Birthday Emma

So - I am a terrible dog mommy - I let Emma's birthday come and go without posting a thing.  We did do a very low key celebration to acknowledge our girl is the big 1 - 4.  Holy cow - 14 - where does the time go?  Thankfully she is a healthy, active pup!!

The puppies liked the birthday treats - not a huge fan of the birthday hats.  Winston got to celebrate as well - although he did his celebrating in his room because he is a well.... pig and he would steal everyone's treats.

I grabbed a few snaps:

not cooperating with the hat - dirty snout

second try went better

Charli is unimpressed with the hat

Tango isn't loving it at all

 Juliett wasn't having any part of the hat at all!

The beautiful birthday girl

birthday treats for the piggy

Bubbles...

I was out and about the other day and at the checkout of a store I was in they had a tube of bubbles.  I thought maybe the critters would like bubbles - um - not so much.

• The puppies are afraid of bubbles - they ran and hid in the bedroom when I blew them inside and they ran away from them when we tried it outside.  Emma has no interest in bubbles inside or outside.  
• The pig is interested in bubbles - he can hear them popping around him but his eyesight is so poor I don't think he can see them.
• The ferrets are really not interested in bubbles at all.
• The kitties were the only ones who liked the bubbles.  Phoebe was interested for a second and then went off to do other things.  Aggie was mesmerized by the beauty of the bubbles and Oliver was a bubble killer popping them with his paws.

At least one part of the zoo liked them....