The Bad Pet Owner
There was a different post set to go up tonight but then this day happened.
It also has to do with the fact that Damion jokingly said before bed, ” are you going to write a post about what a horrible pet owner you are?”. Support is his middle name.
Tonight we found a piece of wood shaving impaled into our guinea pig’s foot. I don’t know how long it’s been there but we can’t get it out and it’s surrounded by all kinds of dry puss. Literally I feel like I could be sick about it. Princess Girly Girl was just holding it yesterday and offered it to me to hold but I didn’t have time right then. Neither of us noticed it, if it was there then. The piece of wood is huge! I don’t know how we missed it all day today. Today at least we should have noticed.
So why does this make me a horrible pet owner? Well have I ever told you about my dog, Gershwin? He’s old as dirt and just a little bit more ornery than a bull. He likes to pull his hair out for fun or when his allergies flare up. He can get a huge bald spot overnight or in a few hours on the day that he’s really set on having a good time. Every time I take him to a vet with this huge gunked up bald spot on the side of his body or his chest, I get really bad stares from the vet or lectures about what I should be doing differently. It’s one of those things that you’ve known the dog so long that you know his habits and we can’t find a vet that we like to stick with so it’s just 101 different conflicting opinions from different vets we try out. He’s also a bit claustorphobic and can’t be in confined places or have confining items like one of those special cone collars around his neck or he will try to kill himself to escape the situation.
One year when I was living with my dad he tried to dig out from under my bedroom door to escape. The carpet was toast and the wood sub floor had a chunk missing. Then there’s the time that he literally chewed through the metal bars of a dog kennel and I found him laying in a puddle of blood when I returned home from work. He just scoffs at chain link fences and pushes his nose through the links until he makes it a little bigger, a little bigger, and then big enough to fit his body through. The cone of shame? Shredded and left for dead.
So the vet that we’re taking the guinea pig to in the morning is also the one that saw Gershwin just six weeks ago when once again he had decided to remove all the hair from his back thigh. She was very nice but lectured me on putting a cone collar on him and tested him for thyroid disease, which came back negative. She also told me that he just tries to escape these spaces for attention and if I don’t pay attention to him than he won’t do it anymore. Yes because I sat there and watched him chew through the metal kennel bars and almost kill himself. (sarcasm) When I tell vets that he does it from high anxiety and allergies they just look at me kinda funny.
Tomorrow I’m going to walk in there with my favorite guinea pig that has a piece of wood lodged in his foot and they’ll probably look at me like I’m an axe murderer.
I’m just hoping that I don’t blurt out that I have to wait to bring the cat for the rest of her shots because I’m hoping the kid’s inflicted hair cut will grow out a bit more first.
We are good pet owners! We just have a semi balding dog with anxiety, a cat with a fabulous hair cut and a pretty sick guinea pig. I am hoping they can save the guinea pig, I am very worried.
And since I know someone will ask…. I did not take it to the emergency vet because they guinea pig seems to be doing well and most vets do not know how to care for guinea pigs. Special vets are required for guinea pigs.
EDITED: Joshua (the guinea pig) had a minor little foot surgery today and came out doing great! And it was about half the price of the last time I had to take gershwin to the same vet for pulling out his hair! Who knew guinea pig foot surgery was so cheap? He’s expected to do great.
Courtney Moore says
Poor little piggy. I think the vet will probably just lecture you on the bedding type in the GP’s pen. But, it seems like there is almost no “right type” of bedding for rodent pets. Everybody has an opinion. I don’t think you’re a bad pet owner. You’re being responsible and taking them to the vet for these minor issues. That’s more than most do. I’d have probably just tweezed out the wood, peroxided, and wrapped his foot. I’ve never met a vet I’m willing to pay. 😉
Anonymous says
Actually I never even saw the vet! We did take the guinea pig to the vet but since it was an emergency they just had me drop him off so they could fit him in and then I went back in the afternoon to get him. He did loose a toe nail and he was mad mad mad but I think he’ll be ok. 🙂 I’m just getting used to this “taking animals to the vet thing”. When I was younger and growing up we wouldn’t really take our pets to the vet but now with this crazy dog, Gershwin, I’ve had to deal with it a lot!