Guinea pig drama and Valentine's Day

Belle snuggling in my pocket

I hope you all have had a great start to the new year. Our start was all about Belle, who had increasingly lost weight since December. She's usually weighs in the upper 900 grams (overweight in guinea pig terms) but in January dropped below 900, before starting to exhibit lethargy and lack of appetite. And anyone who knows Belle knows this girl can EAT! So when she shunned her favorite lettuce and cucumber, we knew it was past time to send her to the vet.

 

The vet suspected the malocclusion of her teeth problem returned, which in turn led to breathing problems and bronchitis. She was extremely weak, so the vet prescribed a week of antibiotics to fight the bronchitis before her next appointment where she had to undergo anesthesia to trim her teeth. We also asked the vet to take out an abnormal growth on the side of her thigh to have it tested.

Today, I am happy to report Belle is back in good health and happy (hungry) spirits! The growth on her thigh was removed, which turned out to be Trichofolliculomas, a common benign growth in guinea pigs. Her teeth were the main cause of her lack of appetite; one of the molars had form a pointy-like toothpick sticking into her tongue and one of her front incisors was cracked sending sharp shards into her gum. OUCH! The vet carefully removed the shards and trimmed the pointy  tooth. All better! Or so we thought.

Her shaven thigh and stitches

We were in for a surprise when we returned to the vet today to remove the stitches on her thigh and found out that somehow in the two weeks since her surgery, Belle has managed to severely chip off the front incisor that was cracked before. Yikes! The vet said it was no cause for alarm, took her to the back to trim it (no anestheshia required, whew!) and now Belle's back home munching happily away again. Best Valentine's Day gift she could give to her momma!

Of course we didn’t forget about Bert throughout all this. He got plenty of cuddles in bed too!

"I can sleep in any position."

Though it's still winter, we had some weird summery weather in the Bay Area this past month (climate change is real!) and it inspired us to start some seedlings indoors for our vegetable garden.

snow peas "Oregon Giant"

Cucumber. I almost gave up on these since they took so long to sprout!

And one morning, I caught a feral cat digging up the lettuce in our raised bed to do the dirty deed!

He was a such a cutie though, I couldn’t scold him. But he alerted me to the fact that our yard had turned into the pooping party ground of the local feral community. I dug up a whole grocery bag full of poop which they hid under all the mulch. I love the cats, but I do not love cleaning after them...or having them destroy the garden. :-\

Lastly, if you’ve made this far in the post, here was our simple dinner celebration for Valentine’s Day. To me, nothing’s quite as romantic and fun as cooking together, so DH and I whipped up Melisser Elliot’s Pasta with Asparagus in Lemon Cream Sauce from her book, The Vegan Girl’s Guide to Life. We subbed the asparagus with broccoli and the whole meal was quick to whip up!

 

Paired with candlelight and non-alcoholic cocktail, it was a simple and romantic dinner for two. For dessert, I had made the Chocolate-Orange Cake from FatFree Vegan Kitchen the night before. I love that it’s oil-free and yet still so soft and moist. Delicious!

I hope everyone had a fantastic day with loved ones. Wishing you all happiness and good health!