Eriathwens piggies

It's been a bit of a day, resulting in me curling up on the floor for a bit of a cry.. I'm really missing Brambles cuddles lately, when I've finished having a bit of a moment I look up to find Leonard has come over to lay near me, which was comforting. He's doing really well with his legs, he can get around so much easier and he even had it in him to play with some loo roll tubes while he was out earlier.

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Piggies are such good therapy.
You are still grieving for Miss Bramble - it really hasn’t been that long since she passed away.
Be gentle with yourself
 
Thankyou, they really are. I don't know where I would be without this little lot.
It feels like its been forever, yet no time at all, it's odd. I also realised that this is the first time ever, since I first started keeping piggies 17ish years ago that I do not have a long haired piggy...I don't know why that makes me sad, it's such a weird thing to be sad about? Grief is such a strange thing.

I've taken it upon myself to teach the piggies some tricks which is going as well as you could imagine XD but it's kept me occupied for a while.


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I definitely won't be putting animal training on my CV any time soon :lol!: it would help if they didn't know full well that they'll get treats whether they do what I ask or not :shh:
 
Well, in an effort to keep myself busy and give Leonard something to keep himself occupied with...I figured i'd see how he felt about basketball XD he wasn't fond of the ball I got him, so I might need to find another or make one, but he caught on very quickly that I wanted him to stand the tubes up! Next step..putting the ball in the hole, which I'm anticipating will take a lot longer to teach him :lol!: He's such a smart boy though.


 
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Leonard has gained 100g, the muscles in his thigh seem to be getting a little bigger and he appears to have stopped chewing where his spine was painful. The right picture was 10 days ago, the left was taken about 10 minutes ago.
He is so much happier, although still slightly painful when going to the toilet sometimes so we may have some wiggle room for additional pain relief yet, because I would like him as close to 100% pain free as realistically possible, but we are definitely on the right track!

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So am I! To start with we were aiming for Christmas/no worse. For him to actually be improving is above and beyond what I had hoped for. If I can get him to the warmer weather so he can get outside for some natural vitamin D, which they absorb and use better than that given orally, we may be able to re calcify the bone, even just a little. Really pleased for my little man :wub:
 
Leonard's still doing well :)
Ebony had an episode of of peeing blood and sludge today so I started her on the UTI tincture I bought and then forgot about. She had 1ml in the morning and I've just given her another 1ml before putting them to bed. She is peeing clear with no pain, which is quite a contrast to this morning!
Being a natural remedy I'm not holding out much hope for it being a fix, but after trying everything else it was worth a shot and seems to have helped a little so far.
She's not a fan of it though!

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So it's been a day! We've been to the vets again. Ebony will be getting 0.04ml Calpol twice a day to see if that makes her more comfortable.
Cinnamons lump was cleaned out properly, I need to keep it open and keep pulling the stuff out, if it gets worse it will be surgically removed.
Leonard's Calpol will also now be 0.04ml twice a day so it's in his system for a longer period. To see if that eases his pain any better although if this is the best we can get him, We're getting to the point of making a decision. We want to give him a good life, not drag out his death. I'm really not ready to lose another but whatever he needs he will get, and if that's to let him go then I'll have to just deal with it when the time comes.

He was very tired after his trip to the vets and we've been sat on the floor having a nice cuddle while he gets some rest.

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You are having a time of it with those piggies.
They are so lucky to have you care for them.
Don’t forget to care for yourself too.
Love the pictures
 
Thankyou! It's certainly been a bit of a roller coaster the last few months. Even the vet commented today on how its always complex problems we're having, i've promised to bring him an easy one one of these days that he can fix..but I'm glad to have his guidance, I am very prone to wanting to save the day, and I know I can go too far when in reality I need to stop, and let them go, and he is always reminding me that this will not be fixed, and we can only keep him comfortable, which I am grateful for, because I know when the time comes I will spend a long time agonising after whether there was more I could have done.
For now though, lots of cuddles and a strong drink. Tomorrow is another day and we can see how he gets on with his new doses :) and he is at least better than he has been for a while.
 
I am sorry you are having so much go wrong with your piggies at once, life does seem to go thay way. I know what you mean about prolonging death, getting the balance right is so hard. If Leonard is holding his weight, moving around, enjoying life and you can keep him pain free then he's not ready to go yet. Knowing when to let go is hard, I'm glad you have your vets help and support. My vets were brilliant when Bracken was ill, they heped me decide when the painkillers were no longer enough and there was no more we could do.

What is the bladder tincture you are trying? it sounds interesting. Both Spike and Peanut are on daily cystease and 10ml water/proc flushes. I had to go away for 4 days recently so they didn't get it on those days, when I came back I resumed their treatment and one of them passed a lot of sludge and blood so normally it must be working, I didn't think missing a few days would hurt, I was wrong! I will have to take them with me in future to keep the regime up, it must be the bulk of fluid in one go that helps as they are both good drinkers anyway.
 
Thankyou! He definitely enjoys his life, and hes gained another 30g, which cant be a bad sign. So hopefully there will be plenty of time yet, he has been a little sore today but he's still adjusting to his new pain routine, so tomorrow nay be better.
I really must get them both back on the cystease, I forgot to reorder some but have just done that now as I'm sure it helped!

This is the tincture I'm trying www.allnaturalpet.co.uk/tinctures/uti-tincture
She definitely seems to be showing some improvement although whether it's coincidence or not, I couldn't say. But it's worth a try when all other options aren't working out! I did message them beforehand to make sure it was piggy safe and they said that it was and that a lot of people had had success with it with their piggies with similar issues so fingers crossed!

I've just finished cleaning out Cinnamons lump again and it's looking quite a bit better, although seems bigger. I'm not sure if we will be able to avoid having it surgically removed to be honest given how much it refilled after having the vet clean it just yesterday.. but she's a big, strong girl who I'm sure will do fine. She was not impressed at having it poked at again!

Some pictures of her and some of Leonard chilling on his heat pad while I cleaned cages :)

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Ebony and Leonard have both had good days today, albeit after a bit of a rocky start for Leonard, but once his painkillers kicked in, he was great! I was able to get more of the stuff out of Cinnamon's lump today, so it is pretty much empty now. Just need to keep it from closing up really, it does seem to still be getting bigger although i've not measured it myself. The vet recorded it as 1.5cm, so i'll have to see how its going when I can find something to measure it with XD

Most of them decided to do a snatch and grab and dinner time, dragging their prizes under the hay or into their hideys! But I managed to get a few nice pictures of some of them :)

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Leonard more than doubled his usual floor time today, usually he asks to go back to his cage after 15-20 minutes having gotten sore, but I have only just put him back, 45 minutes after getting him out! He was learning to be a bowling ball today, knocking down loo roll tube towers which he very much enjoyed, he would knock them down, popcorn then come over for his reward.
While coming over for his reward one time, he stopped a little short, but I fed him a couple of pellets anyway, when he moved again I noticed he had done a massive wee, without so much as blinking! No pain whatsoever with his legs, no squeaking or straining, usually I only have to look at his eyes to be able to tell he is going to the toilet even if I can't hear him (that sounds weird...I know :lol!: but he just has this look in his eyes when he is in pain) and there was no trace of anything.
So I think it's safe to say the new doses and frequencies of his painkillers are working! I was so relieved I sat and had a little cry. In fact he did 3 wees in total while out, and all were fine!

I never thought my life would revolve so much around other creatures toilet habits... :doh:XD
 
Thankyou! Hugs are very much needed at this point. Leonard's had another good day, although I believe he is becoming incontinent, he seems to dribble urine more than stop to pee properly but it's not painful so if he needs wiping and barrier cream regularly then so be it, better that than pain or not having him here!

He has decided that it's much more fun to knock tubes over than any other tricks he's learned Haha he's had a great time knocking them down and popcorning around the room. And he's decided to become a bowling ball XD the girls also had a meeting amongst themselves although I'm not sure what was on the agenda! I don't think Pumpkin was invited either..bless her. They always make me think of that 'fat bottomed girls' song.


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I got little man a new toy while I was out, it was half price so I figured why not! He's certainly had fun with it even if he doesn't quite understand what he's meant to do with it. (He also took ages to notice id balanced a pellet on his head XD)
He is still having his floor time, we've been here over an hour now! Longest he's been pain free yet! He has been much drier today although still dribbling a little. His belly fur is stained yellow in spite of all the wipe downs and barrier cream I've put on, so if he's feeling up to it tomorrow he will be getting a nice warm bath.

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