Emzmum
Junior Guinea Pig
Hi, not been around for ages but thought I'd share the story of my brave girls with you. Misti and Crackers lived in a large c and c in my dining room. Unfortunately, we had rats get i n (they actually tunnelled in! We live in a very old farmhouse). Anyway we had put down traps and poison but they werent eating it because they were eating the guinea pig nuggets. So one night i removed the nuggets - I wish I hadn't. I was woken up at 3.30am by the girls screaming. I ran downstairs and the rat was trying to kill them!
It had gone for their faces and they were covered in blood. Misti had fought back and came off worst: torn ear, damaged eye and deep wounds all over her head. Crackers had wounds too, full depth so that her skull was visible. So there I was, 3.30 in my pj's nursing and bathing my poor girls. I cleaned them with warm water and put them in their travel bag with lots of hay and put them in the bathroom.
I honestly didnt expect to find them alive next morning, especially Misti, but they were. Both were very shocked though, listless and having small fits. I pulled a sickie at work and thought i would need to have them pts. However, they pulled round during the day and started eating and drinking. The vet gave them antibiotics and painkillers and Misti had drops for her eye. All was going well. I got a large indoor cage and put them in the front room, which they love! The rats were caught and dispatched ( one was especially vicious and my hubby took delight in getting his revenge with a broom handle ).
Then, a week later, what we thought was scabbing on Misti's head, fell away revealing a large patch of skull! The skin had died. Crackers is the same but it hasnt come away yet. The hole is too big to close up and we're hoping that some skin will regrow. Misti's eye looked terrible as she couldn't blink and it was drying out. So it looked like she would need an eye removed and some serious skin rearrangements!
**warning photo not for the squeamish **
It had gone for their faces and they were covered in blood. Misti had fought back and came off worst: torn ear, damaged eye and deep wounds all over her head. Crackers had wounds too, full depth so that her skull was visible. So there I was, 3.30 in my pj's nursing and bathing my poor girls. I cleaned them with warm water and put them in their travel bag with lots of hay and put them in the bathroom.
I honestly didnt expect to find them alive next morning, especially Misti, but they were. Both were very shocked though, listless and having small fits. I pulled a sickie at work and thought i would need to have them pts. However, they pulled round during the day and started eating and drinking. The vet gave them antibiotics and painkillers and Misti had drops for her eye. All was going well. I got a large indoor cage and put them in the front room, which they love! The rats were caught and dispatched ( one was especially vicious and my hubby took delight in getting his revenge with a broom handle ).
Then, a week later, what we thought was scabbing on Misti's head, fell away revealing a large patch of skull! The skin had died. Crackers is the same but it hasnt come away yet. The hole is too big to close up and we're hoping that some skin will regrow. Misti's eye looked terrible as she couldn't blink and it was drying out. So it looked like she would need an eye removed and some serious skin rearrangements!
**warning photo not for the squeamish **
poor piggies and poor you 
I'm sitting at work with my hand over my mouth. Your poor poor girls, and poor you! What an awful shock! 
