Flashback: Sick guinea pig with a UTI at least four and a half years ago....$800 at the vet but he did recover from that incident. Ricci passed and I felt the need to get another Pig of Guinea. When I saw my rescued boy, I decided to adopt two of them. I learned immediately that they hated each other and two cages would be what I'd be cleaning out once a week for the last 3.5 years thus far. These piggies were dumped off by a river in the month of January, I am told. They, and a bunch of other small animals that had been rescued.
So imagine the familiar blood in urine and immediately my bank account started to shrink. Prescribed for now are doses of Baytril, which are in injection form. Something that I have Zay-ro experience in. I've now entered the world of dosing up a guinea pig. It sorta sucks but if I can do it really fast I don't hear him squeal. Either that or he's exhausted from the pain so he forgets.
Today I went to put the cap back on the needle immediately after injection and the (yes, I'm going to swear now) FUCKING THING WENT THROUGH THE CAP AND PRICKED MY FINGER! I felt sort of like Lucy in the Peanuts comic strip...."Argh! Dog germs!" Kyyo took the express train straight back to his cage and I pushed all the blood out that I could under running water. The whole time wondering, is this bad? It really was the teensiest pin prick. But to me it held the possibility of transferring an underworld of bizarreness into my body. Will I now have a UTI? Will I wriggle my nose more? Develop whiskers in an unfortunate spot, such as my ass?
Today is Sunday of course. Which means everything important on the other end of the phone is going to be answered by a service who will find me the On Call savior. Each vet told me to call my medical doctor. The medical doctor told me to call the vet. The farmer takes a wife, the farmer takes a wife, Hi Ho the Dario the farmer takes a wife. I explained to both parties that I need to talk to both. The vets know stuff about the guinea pig and meds that the people doctor would lose in a round of Jeopardy. One answering service demanded my credit card number so that I may graciously be charged $30 before allowing me to give my phone number to hot potato on. I understand doctors needing to be paid but I have never heard of charging someone over the phone for these services. I told the woman that no one else would be charging me today so why is she? Meanwhile, my anxiety level was challenging any firework to soar higher than it.
I remembered my old piggie, Ricci and the vet he'd gone to years ago. How they treated him like I wasn't even in the room. They spoke to him as if he was truly special to them. As a last resort, I called them. A kind woman named Dr. Lamb (seriously! How can you be a jerk with that name? It's impossible.) called me back finally. Her voice was filled with Sunday picnics, gentle waves of the ocean and a sterile petri dish. She said that she'd pricked her own fingers with worse and that part would be fine. Also that his skin has basically the same bacteria as mine and I would be fine. And for those who think that I am a hypochondriac (because I have been accused), the doc says that I did exactly what I should have in cleaning it out. Although I always wanted to be a vampire, Kyyo and I now have a bond. I guess I get to be part defenseless guinea pig. Not what I was striving for but it happened all in the name of dedication to make him better. Tonight I'll be keeping my eyes totally on that needle when I put the cap back on.
He's hardly been eating as well, so I've been bribing him with desperate highly coveted cavy items. Lots of red leaf lettuce and fresh grass outside. And really, these creatures in cages depend on us humans for everything. Once we agree to take them on, we need to remember that every single comfort comes from us. So in not knowing whether or not poor piggie is going to make it, I've been trying to punch my lazy streak in the nads and take him and his buddy outside to just enjoy the fresh air and eat as much lawn buffet as they can handle. It means a lot to me that if anything happens to him, his days held some enjoyment besides sitting in a cage.
Speaking of cage-ed ones, I must retrieve my buddy and give him tonight's dose of Baytril. I promise to turn my head away from Remus Lupin and Severus Snape as I do so.
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