Well, that could have gone better

Angus, hiding… for several reasons

Angus came back from the vet. Without having had his surgery.

Normally, after a touch of sedation, they put a snug little anaesthetic mask on a guinea pig, but he was a bit wheezy and “wasn’t breathing quite as well as they liked”. So, they tried to intubate him, but he’s only a half-grown little guy, and their smallest tube wasn’t small enough. They worried about pneumonia, so they took an x-ray. No pneumonia. Perhaps he’s got allergies - he sneezes a few times a day, not repeatedly but consistently, and has ever since we’ve had him.

They did get his neck shaved, which shows off the odd masses around his throat. When we first noted the problem there was one noticeable one. Now there are three in a variety of sizes. Everything points to a straightforward but still worrisome case of the “strangles” - abcesses in the lymph nodes, that must be drained/removed. They won’t clear up on their own.

He undoubtedly has a somewhat sore throat from all their well-meaning efforts, and a new distrust that previous vet visits hadn’t sparked. His cagemate, Molasses, with whom he has had joyous reunions in the past, was wary of him - he looked funny and smelled of antiseptic and anaesthetic when he came home.

It is a sad time in Pigville.

I look at the vet bill, and sigh. Poor little guy.