Another Animal Problem

Things go in cycles at Starsmet.
It seems like every animal is awaiting it's turn to become the 'problem child' of the store.

Last week, it was the cats. They were all sick. And I had to deal with the shelter in charge of them, and get them to come take the cats back. They tried to bring us kittens that were 'too small' (they didn't weight enough, which may be why the others got sick last time because we didn't check weight.) but luckily Ceri caught them, and only accepted three of the eight kittens into the store.

The animal before that was the bearded dragons.
We couldn't keep them alive. Especially the fancy bearded dragons. For whatever reason, they would just up and die. Not enough heat, too much stress in traveling, they didn't like the food, they came in too small, whatever reason, they would be active one day and dead the next. Super crazy.

Well this week...
It appears to be the Guinea Pigs turn.

We already had two Guinea Pigs in the back room being treated for goopy eyes, missing fur, tilted heads....
Well this week we added like...four more.
Seriously, we don't ever get so many Guinea Pigs in our sick room at once. For so many different reasons. I mean, each guinea pig has a different problem! How is that even possible? I don't even know.

But the one Guinea Pig I'm concerned about, I found yesterday.
Well a worker found it the night before and put him back in the sick room.
They'd noticed that he was limping around and so isolated him to help that back foot heal.
They'd also made a note that it might be broken.

Well. When I went in to check in on the animals the next morning.
I saw the note.
And decided to check it out.
First time, I didn't notice anything out of the ordinary, you know, beyond him having his back leg pulled up against his body. He wasn't using it. It flopped around when he moved. But articulating the leg...there didn't seem to be anything broken.
So I thought it was like the Fancy Bear we had in the sick room a couple of weeks ago, because he also had been limping and not using a back leg. But that healed on its own. We just needed to give him time by himself to recuperate.
So I thought this was the same thing with the guinea pig.
I made my notes.
Almost left...and decided to check again. Just in case.
I felt along the leg...and encountered a bump. It was pointy. I noticed a bit of dried blood around it.
So I added a note. "may be broken."
Almost left again, decided to recheck.
I felt that bump -hard to do with the guinea pig wiggling all over, and tried to follow it.
Yah, it felt like it connected with a bone in it's leg. And watching the guinea pig move around, he wasn't using it. There was a bump.
I got worried. A broken leg is no laughing matter, and if it was broken, it definitely needed to be looked at soon. Super soon.

The problem? It was Reth's day off. It was Cinres's day off. And those are the only two people in the entire store that are allowed to take any of our animals to the vet.
And they weren't in the store!
Total problem.
And a dilemma.
I mean, I love to get second opinions. And I didn't want to call Reth and have her show up...only to have it turn out to be nothing.
But should I wait? Wait until the next day? Wait another twenty-four hours?
That, just didn't feel right.
I mean, it's a broken bone! Those aren't fun to have!
If. If it's a broken bone.
I compromised a bit. I waited until the store opened. You know that 'you can now call the phone without people getting mad at you' hour.
I figured, then if it wasn't a broken bone, she couldn't be too mad as I didn't wake her up super early to come on in.

So I called her. And actually managed to reach her. Which was a total relief as she never responds to messages, and doesn't always answer.

I told her that I thought this guinea pig had a broken bone, and it was a stress reliever to have her trust my judgment enough to get right out of bed, call the vet, and come pick him up.

When she got here, she agreed with me that 'something was wrong' She wasn't willing to say that it was broken, even though she could feel the bump, but she said that the leg was super swollen. (something that I hadn't noticed) and that was enough cause for concern.

It was a relief to have her take him to the vet.

But I'm still in the dark.
As he hadn't returned from the vet by the time I left work today.
So I don't know much beyond that Reth called the vet, and whoever she talked to said that they were pretty sure he did have a broken leg, but they would call us with the results later today.
Well, later didn't mean before I left.

It's good to know that I was probably right in that he does have a broken leg.
I just want to know for sure what's wrong with him.

lol, I think Reth is bugged by a different question.

"How did he get hurt in the first place?"
It's a valid question. I mean, I'm not sure there is anything in the cage that could actually break a leg.
Hay Wheel...if the leg got caught in the bars and it was spun...not likely.
Homes no.
Chew home. No.
Food dish? I guess it could have got caught. Between the dish..and the holder holding it? Again not likely...
Maybe the door itself? The particular door we have to get into the cage has been known to catch Chinchilla toes in the past.
But...Chinchillas love to jump and tumble and run up the walls and do flips, making it more likely for them to get toes caught where the shouldn't.
But a leg?
I mean it wasn't a toe for this Guinea Pig. The bump was a little above the 'ankle.' meaning that the fibula or tibia was broken. Probably the fibula...we'll see. But to get that caught in the door, also seems highly unlikely.
I don't think it was the cage?
Was it one of the guinea pigs that injured it's cage mate? No idea.
I do know that this particular hamster was put out on the floor on Tuesday, after being returned earlier by a customer.
But nothing out of the ordinary was noticed then.
Yet somehow...Thursday...it's leg is now most likely broken, and swollen.
Did something happen at the customer's home...and it just took a while for it to show up?
Or did someone mishandle him the night we put him out or the next day? As it was the next day, in the evening that it was noticed something was wrong.
Unfortunately, the one who isolated him, I haven't seen yet, so I don't know for sure if there is a story behind it. Hopefully I can find out from them if anything...weird happened that they notice that night.
Because all I can think is...that someone just grabbed him the wrong way, or was rough with him in some way and that's how the leg got injured.

We may never know the why of the injury.
But hopefully we find out the what and a possible how.
I guess I'll find out tomorrow. Hopefully.

Until you next see these words;
I'll be watching the leaves.
Enjoy the day!

-Sarnic Dirchi

The Dream

I was coming from my parents church with my sister. The day had a...darker quality to it. Where it felt like a storm was coming or something. We got in the car, and were racing someone to get home first. It was a bit of a problem for me, as there were a lot of roads, turns, and construction, but we made it. And there...it just got weird. I kept finding eggs. Like Chicken Eggs. Only, not just chicks were hatching from them. Everywhere in the home and outside, I found eggs, some unhatched, some hatching, and different animals with in them. Little kittens, mice, chicks, random creatures that I don't know what they were. It was getting crazy as shapes started coming out of them...

Then the unholy tones of daylight pulled me away....
and I became myself again. :)

-S.N.D