Product Review: Oxbow Simple Rewards Baked Treats with Peppermint

I wouldn't be surprised if, after all the types of Oxbow Simple Rewards we've tried already (including Apple and Banana, Bell Peppers, Carrot and Dill, Cranberry, Cranberry-Rosemary, Lavender-Chamomile, Papaya Medley, Timothy Treats, and Veggie Treats... and possibly others we've forgotten about!) that there weren't any new ones left to try. Well, it turns out there is! Today, we're reviewing Oxbow Simple Rewards Baked Treats with Peppermint, which our humans found at the vet's office the last time they refilled Buffy's medicine.

New Oxbow treats!

Good job, humans! Even though we weren't crazy about mint leaves, we tend to love Oxbow treats, so we have a pretty good feeling about this one.

Lola is still being fed separately because Broccoli and her haven't been able to settle their drama yet. She seems to like it. Our turn now!

I hope you're giving him a smaller one than you're giving me!

Chomp!

Although we hated mint leaves, the minty flavor in these treats is much milder. We loved them! 5/5 stars!

Product Review: Oxbow Simple Rewards Bakes Treats with Cranberry

We've had our eye on the new flavors of Oxbow Simple Rewards for a while now. We've already tried bell pepper, apple and banana, and carrot and dill. Now, thanks to the November Piggies Paradise box, we're able to try the cranberry kind just in time for Thanksgiving.

Speaking of Piggies Paradise, we have some sad news to share. We recently learned that they went out of business, so there weren't be any more monthly boxes to review. This is unfortunate; we thought the idea had potential, but it apparently just didn't catch on fast enough. Then again, we don't really understand human money and businesses; we just like the idea of treats and toys to review every month!

Since ordering the monthly subscription is not an option, we're just going to take our time with the products in this last box and review each individually.

We're thankful for the opportunity to try these, Piggies Paradise!

Now, let's dig in and review them!

Gimme! Gimme! Gimme!

Buffy is trying to be sneaking and eat hers without being seen. I still see you, Buffy. You're not very good at hiding.

As we've often said, keep in mind that treats like this are only supposed to be a small part of our diet, even if we beg for the entire bag. As long as you keep this in mind, these treats are great. Oxbow does it again--5/5 stars!

Product Review: Oxbow Simple Rewards Baked Treats with Bell Pepper

We're continuing on in our quest to try the new types of Simple Rewards treats from Oxbow. We already tried the Apple and Banana kind and the Carrot and Dill kind. Today we're reviewing Oxbow Simple Rewards Baked Treats with Bell Pepper. One of our readers commented that they liked this kind in particular, so we were particularly excited to give it a try. (We're also fans of bell peppers, which added to our excitement.)

Regarding treats like this, please keep in mind that they are only supposed to be a tiny part of our diets, if they are fed at all. Fruits and veggies also make fine treats. But just as humans like their cookies, even though they aren't a necessary part of their diet, it's fun to indulge a bit every once in a while. If you're not using Oxbow treats, however, you better take a very close look at the ingredients. There's some real junk out there.

This is delightful! Sitting on a comfy pillow, eating delicious treats...

The humans gave us the royal treatment when we tried this one. They put us each on a pillow individually and fed us the treats. And the verdict? They were just as good as the commenter on the previous post said they were!

Oxbow Simple Rewards Baked Treats with Bell Pepper gets 5/5 stars!

Product Review: Oxbow Simple Rewards Baked Treats with Carrot and Dill

As we've mentioned before, Oxbow has introduced several new five new types of Simple Rewards treats. We're big fans of Simple Rewards, so reviewing a new flavor was a no-brainer for us! This time, we're reviewing the Carrot and Dill kind. Long-time readers probably already know we love carrots, and we think dill is pretty good, too. We got a good feeling about this one!

Look at what the human's new program can do! You can see each of us eating the treat in the same picture!

The humans decided to feed up separately on a pillow to discourage fighting over the treats. And I have to admit they do have a point. Sure, I love my cage-mates Lola and Buffy, but when treats are involved, things can get a little crazy and it's every piggy for themselves!

These treats were just as good as we expected them to be! They get 5/5 stars!

(By the way, just a friendly reminder that treats like this should make up no more than 5% of our diet. If we keep begging for more, we encourage you to switch to some sort of vegetable or hay.)

Product Review: Oxbow Simple Rewards Baked Treats with Apple and Banana

We thought we had tried pretty much all the types of Oxbow's Simple Reward treats, but then back in February, Oxbow introduced five new types. Today, we're going to be trying one of the new types: Apple and Banana.

Please keep in mind that despite how much we beg and wheek, treats should only make up a small part of our diet.

We all loved these treats at first.

The humans gave us one each.

But after a few minutes, Lola and Broccoli got bored and left their half-eaten treats behind.

I see an opportunity!

This was good news for me since I never got sick of them, and got to eat their leftovers without being harassed!

What treat? There was no treat here. You must have been imagining things!

If I was the only one rating these treats, they would get a perfect score. However, I need to take into account the views of my cage-mates, who were less enthusiastic than I was. Therefore, Oxbow Simple Rewards Baked Treats with Apple and Banana get 3.5 out of 5 stars!

Product Review: Oxbow Simple Rewards Cranberry-Rosemary Medley

We love Oxbow Simple Rewards! We've tried several kinds at this point, including: Timothy Treats, Veggie Treats, Lavender-Chamomile Medley, and Papaya Medley. All of them were good, so we have high hopes for the one we're trying today: Oxbow Simple Rewards Cranberry-Rosemary Medley.

Yay! Oxbow Simple Rewards treats!

This is nice! We're all gathered around, enjoying the new treats...

Hey! How dare you challenge my dominance! My treats!

The humans clearly need to cut back on the amount of treats Broccoli is getting. He's getting so big that he's challenging my dominance! I don't like that!

Anyway, these treats get 4.5/5 stars. We generally loved them, although we were more excited to eat the pellets than the cranberry bits.

Product Review: Simple Rewards Veggie Treats

Today we're going to review Simple Rewards Veggie Treats.We liked the Simple Rewards Papaya Treats and Timothy Treats, so we couldn't wait to try the veggie treats.

Can't wait to try it!

Yum!

Those treats made us really thirsty! Let me at the water bottle, Broccoli!

These treats were just as tasty as the other ones, but I think they must have had a lot of salt in them because we couldn't stop drinking from the water bottle afterwards. We give them 4/5 stars.

Neutering Guinea Pigs

Hi humans. As you may know, the new male guinea pig, Broccoli, underwent surgery recently. The humans decided to neuter him so that he will one day be able to live in the same cage as us. As it stands now, Broccoli is all alone his his own cage. When the humans let him out, he wanders over to our cage and tries to chat with us through the bars. The humans saw how badly he wanted to join us, so they decided to have him neutered.

A few notes about neutering: always be sure of your vet's credentials. The fact is, it's risky to neuter and spay guinea pigs, so it's best to see a vet that specializes in small or exotic animals exclusively. Unlike vets that also treat cats and dogs, small animal specialists have likely performed hundreds of spays/neuters on small animals, and you want your vet to have a lot of experience.

The reason why neutering a guinea pig is risky is because guinea pigs tend to fare worse than other types of pets when it comes to anesthesia. While the risk that a guinea pig will die under anesthesia is low, it's still a risk, and you'll want to be sure that you're doing the best you can to help your pig survive it.

Make sure your guinea pig is a good candidate for neutering. Your vet can help you discern whether your boar is a good candidate or not. Broccoli is young and healthy, and so he was a perfect candidate for the surgery. He first saw his vet to determine if he would be a good candidate, and then saw the vet a second time for the surgery. Then, they kept him overnight for observation and then the humans took him home. The total cost of the process was the vet visit ($77) plus the neutering ($320) plus the Oxbow Critical Care ($14). The vet threw in the cost for the Meloxicam pain killer for free (would have been $20). You should be aware humans- it's a big commitment.

Male guinea pigs don't need to be neutered unless you want them to be able to live in the same cage with a female guinea pig. Even if you think you wouldn't mind having baby guinea pigs, I would strongly advice you not to get your females pregnant- in the United States, there are already too many unwanted guinea pigs who need homes, so it's better to adopt one than breed more. The second reason to avoid pregnancy is because if your female guinea pig hasn't been pregnant and given birth by age 8 months, she may die. Something having to do with the pelvic bones fusing in nulliparous guinea pigs. Anyway, it's a bad idea all around to get your sows pregnant.

Broccoli underwent his surgery this past surgery, and it went fine. He's recovering well. The humans have to check the scar on his abdomen daily to make sure it's healing right. 

He has to take pain medication by mouth once daily and the humans have had to supplement his diet with Oxbow Critical Care for a few days until he's eating more. He absolutely hates the Critical Care, but at least the humans reward him with timothy treat rings when it's done.

It'll be two more months until he can join us in our cage. We can't wait to finally meet him!

Review of Simple Rewards Timothy Treats

Simple Rewards Timothy Treats are great! I usually don't like being held as much as Lola does, but if the humans feed me this stuff while holding me, then I don't mind being pet by them. (Actually, I'm still not crazy about it, but don't tell them that. These things are worth it!) 5/5 stars!

This is what you should look for the next time you're at the pet store.

What's that smell? Is that what I think it is?

It is! YUM!

Hey, could you please move? Please? I want some more!

As you can see, certain piggies in the cage have trouble sharing (hint: it's not me!), so the humans now feed us our Simple Rewards separately, giving us each 3 per day. I would prefer getting more, but at least I know I'll get some.