Hello,
I just wanted to update and let you all know that Rufus seems to be through the worst of it.
He is slowly putting on weight. He's now up to about 980g from a worryingly low 902g (considering he was 1,400g-1,500g on average to begin with).
His pee has also calmed down as well. Previously it was bright orange and it took about 2-3 weeks before that disappeared. The trauma Rufus' bladder had been through needed time to rest and repair (as I was very expertly advised on here) before going back to normal and that took longer than the vets expected so don't get disheartened (as I did) if it doesn't happen as quickly as everyone expects. I have to say patience, perseverance and hope would be my mantras for this experience.
I was concerned regarding his re-introduction to his brother Curtis. Curtis did try to be a bit of a bully to begin with taking advantage of Rufus' smaller size and also him not being quite back to his normal self, but after about a week of living together again, Rufus started to assert his dominance again and just lately we have seen him nudge Curtis if he tries to steal his favourite food from him so all looking good in that department as well. Maybe Rufus will be top piggie again at some point. We'll just wait and see.
I wanted to give an update from later in the recovery in case anyone comes on here and would like some reassurance. It does take time but you will get there. But also don't be concerned if things aren't back to how they were. Rufus went through an amazingly, difficult ordeal. And although my furry little companion has recovered well, he is not quite the same piggie. He hasn't gone back to his alert, nippy, crazy self (he was a bit of a loveable loony before) but he seems more calm and collected now. He also hasn't quite forgiven me for all those force feeds and has taken a shine to my partner as a result. That is fine by me as long as he is happy and I'm sure, with time, he will want to have cuddles with me on the sofa again (I also did all of the vets trips due to my partner actually being allergic to guinea pigs so that probably didn't help my case either
).
We have made alterations to their diets to reduce the calcium intake. Luckily we were on 100% Timothy Hay before and the nuggets we had were the lowest I could find anywhere after researching anyway so that helped. It is mainly the water and veggies that we have adjusted. Got a brilliant little water filter from Argos as we are in a very hard water area with presence of chalk and have cut out all high calcium veg like Kale. The forums on here for diets are great so please use them.
And last but definitely not least, the reassurance, support, knowledge and just the kind words on here made everything a little easier to cope. I was at my wits end when I joined this forum (as it may be clear by my early posts) and the help I received was fantastic. Don't be afraid to ask questions. If people can help, they will. If not they will point you in the direction of someone, or a website that can.
Don't give up. The whole journey will be exhausting and challenging both physically, mentally and emotionally but it will all be worth while in the end. My journey still isn't quite over as he is still in the later stages of recovery but I am sleeping (no more night feeds), he is happy and getting healthier and I couldn't ask for more than that.
To anyone's Guinea pig that has to unfortunately go through this, or any major operation, I feel for you and wish you all the best. And if you need to, don;t forget to ask for help. I've always been told there are no silly questions, just silly answers.
xXxXx
He used to hide under Rufus, which Rufus didn’t mind at all, but with that being previous normal behaviour, I was also a little worried about Rufus’ belly.
