One evening last week, Rufus began acting very sick. He staggered around, unable to keep his balance & couldn't seem to chew, almost as if he'd had a stroke. It was after dark (when I can't see to drive) and the vet's office had closed, anyways. I was very upset & kept a close eye on him the rest of the night. A few hours later, about 9:30 pm, he had improved vastly and was able to stand better & was very hungry, eating lettuce, tomato & a bit of hay as fast as he could gobble it up. The next day he was sleeping a lot, but seemed almost back to normal, except when trying to walk, which still gave him trouble.
   My u.colitis had flared up again, even before this happened, so I was unable to go anywhere, but finally on Sat. it had calmed enough that I took him to the vet during a major snowstorm caused by a cold front from Canada called the "Alberta Clipper". The vet was about to close early due to the weather when I called, but was kind enough to wait for me to drive the short distance to her office. After a very thorough exam, she showed me where his leg was swollen & said that was probably causing him pain when he tried to walk, hence the lurching. So now he's on twice daily antibiotics for at least a couple weeks, plus a bunch of new veggies to provide extra fiber to help the impaction problem.The latter does seem to be helping & we spend less time wrestling as he is resigned to the strawberry flavored antibiotics. I also put warm compresses on his afflicted leg. A layer of aspen shavings goes on top of the newspaper on the bottom of his cage to provide a softer surface to walk on.
   We return to the vet in 2 weeks and he may need the antibiotics longer. The swelling seems to have gone down, at least a bit & I'm hoping that continues. I'll keep you posted on how my little piggy is doing & we'd appreciate any prayers or good vibes you could send. Thanks.

  
       
  Rufus loves tomatoes. I'll cut one of those small plum tomatoes in quarters & he will slurp it up as fast as he can. After a couple pieces, he has tomato juice all over his snout and chin. Sometimes the mush makes him look as gory as a lion having a zebra dinner on the African veldt. This leads to visions of mighty mater hunter, Rufus, sneaking up on unsuspecting vegetables and gobbling them up!
   I've been wanting to get a photo of him in his messy mode, but it's just not working.Posted is the best attempt, but I'll keep trying.

   
  Today was Rufus's birthday, he is 6 years old. Instead of a cake, he got a Birthday Salad, as he does every year.This time it had 2 kinds of lettuce(green leaf & romaine), endive, celery leaves, carrot shavings & grapes. It took him awhile to eat it all, but I think he enjoyed it.
   

   A friend spruced up a photo of Rufus for me to add the proper celebratory mood for welcoming the New Year.

    Happy Halloween from Rufus!