Update on Broccoli, the Guinea Pig with the Eye Problem

Hi readers, I've got some good news to share: the vet called about Broccoli's surgery, which was scheduled to take place earlier this week. Apparently all of the positive thoughts that readers like you sent his way really helped, because the vet called off the surgery. Broccoli is doing so much better than expected that she thinks it may be possible to treat him with medication for a bit and see how he does on that alone.

Now, he may still need surgery in the future, but for now he is doing well, is eating on his own, and can be weened off of the Critical Care so long as his weight continues to be up. He's a brave one that Broccoli!

Can Guinea Pigs Eat Atlas Carrots?

The humans have decided to try something called "Blue Apron" recently. In exchange for some of that money stuff they care so much about, a box shows up once a week with ingredients and recipes. While we can't eat a lot of this human food, this has been good news for us because it has meant that some new fruits and veggies have shown up at our door.

When we heard that a new type of carrot had arrived in the Blue Apron box, we had to wheek loudly until the humans agreed to let us review it. The carrot is called an Atlas Carrot, and it is no ordinary carrot. Here's how the Territorial Seed Company describes these things: "An out-of-this-world planet or Parisian Market-type carrot, Atlas has a delightful globe shape with a sweet flavor and dainty crunch." That's right, a round carrot! Can you believe it?

That's a carrot? Not an orange pepper?

Like all carrots, we can eat atlas carrots almost daily, but no more than the equivalent of 1 baby carrot at a time. We recommend having your humans cut your carrots into thin slices. That way, it will seem like you've got more to eat!

Broccoli, smell that for me. Are you sure it's carrot?

He seems sure, but let me give it a quick sniff to be sure.

Yes, that's definitely carrot! Yum!

Atlas carrots taste like regular carrots, but have a fun shape. We give atlas carrots 5/5 stars!

Guinea Pig has Puffy Eye

Hello there, fine readers. It's Lola (2) here, and I wanted to give you all some news on Broccoli's health. Unfortunately, he has been feeling sick lately, so the humans took him to the vet a few days ago. His weight was down, which is a strong indicator that something is amiss. The humans noticed that the tooth he broke off a few weeks ago hadn't been regrowing as it should, and figured this all probably had something to do with tooth pain.

The vet told them that there's something wrong with his eye, but they're not sure exactly what yet.
They had him sedated and x-rayed, and the good news is it isn't related to his bones, but they are concerned that there may be an abscess or tumor in the area behind his eye.

They are giving him pain medicine this week, and supplementing his feeding with Critical Care to get his weight back up. He's going in for surgery next week. They are hopeful that they can clear the abscess, but there are a couple of concerns. First is that he's an older pig and surgery is always risky.
The second concern is that when they go in, it could turn out to be a tumor and not an abscess, which would be very bad because it's harder to treat. Also, they are hoping it does not come to this, but if the damage is to his eye, he may have to have it removed! Poor Broccoli! However, they think it probably won't come to that. (Still, feel free to send positive thoughts in his direction!)

Broccoli is getting plenty of rest before his surgery next week.

There is a chance he can fully recover from this. We will know more after the surgery, but we are very hopeful. And he's hanging in there and is very good about taking his medicine. In the meantime, I'm doing my best to be a good cage mate to him as he builds up his strength. Stay brave, lion-pig!

Announcing the Winner of Our 2016 Halloween Giveaway

We used a random number generator to choose the winner of our 2016 Halloween giveaway, and the winner is ...

RANDI COOK!

Congratulations, Randi! You just won a guinea pig mask from Archie McPhee! Please send us an email in the next 30 days with your mailing address to cavysavvyaguineapigblog@gmail.com and we will mail you your prize.

Thanks to everyone who entered! If you didn't win this time, just remember that there's always next time.

Cavy Savvy 2016 Halloween Giveaway!

Regular readers probably saw our recent post on the Pokemon costumes from Cuddly Cavy Creations. We looked amazing, but did not enjoy getting them on. We figure that turnabout is fair play, so it's about time that we get humans to wear costumes of our choosing!

And we have just the costume in mind. This is a guinea pig mask from Archie McPhee :

Put it on, human! You'd look much better as a guinea pig!

We were thinking we'd just put this on the humans for cute pictures and post it, but then we had a better idea: make it a Halloween giveaway! We haven't done a giveaway in some time, so I think we're overdue.

Here are the giveaway rules:

• You must be a resident of the continental United States.
• You have to be a follower of this blog. To follow us, just click the "join this site" button on the right.
• To enter, leave a comment on this blog post expressing your interest in participating in the contest.
• All entries must be received by October 15th, 2016 at 12:00 pm (US Eastern time) to be eligible.
• One winner will be chosen at random from all eligible entries and announced on this blog on October 15th sometime after the giveaway closes.
• The winner will be instructed to email us to provide us with a mailing address to send the prize to. Winners must provide us with a mailing address within 30 days to receive their prize. (We'd recommend replying ASAP to get it in time for Halloween.)

Good luck!